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The food concession industry offers
many opportunities for budding entrepreneurs to start their own
businesses. Although a fully equipped food concession trailer can
easily exceed $50K, there are excellent entry points into the
industry for capital investments in the $3K to $5K range.
The most economical and cost effective
entry point is a vending cart. New vending carts can be obtained
for less than $10K and used units for as little as $3K. Vending
carts come in a variety of configurations. From pretzels, hotdogs,
sausages, and ice cream to more complex mobile barbeques and
smokers. Most vending carts are towed to the location behind a
vehicle. There is no need for a special or heavy-duty vehicle.
eBay is an excellent venue for buying used vending carts, concession
trailers and other needed equipment.
If interested, but hesitant in
entering an unknown industry, vending cart franchises are beginning
to appear. It is however important to remember that a franchise is
not a guarantee of success and you must perform due diligence on the
franchisor before signing on the dotted line and turning over your
franchise fee.
The primary key to success as a
vending cart operator is location! An operator needs to locate a
high traffic area that is not currently being serviced. You may
identify a location that appears to be excellent, but before you run
out and buy your vending cart make sure that the owner or tenant of
the property will allow you to utilize it and if so, at what cost or
fee.
Many vending cart operators will
operate on parking lots of big box retailers and providing you have
obtained the necessary permission this is usually an excellent high
traffic location. Another good area is industrial parks with a
light and medium truck traffic.
Vending carts require licenses and
health certificates. It is important to check with your local city
and county licensing and health departments to identify their
specific requirements as they do vary in different cities, counties
and states.
An operator must also remember that
they are generally operating on his or her own and will need to
arrange for relief during that operating period. As well, an
operator must also consider, depending on what they are serving that
they may need additional product delivered to the operating location
in order to maintain service.
Numerous websites exist to help
operators and those considering becoming operators of a food
concession business with regulations, equipment, carts for sale and
tips and tricks of the trade.
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