temporary food concessions
You may have noticed the food cart craze sweeping the nation. I gotta say, it’s been a long time coming and I’m thrilled.
About 25 years ago I, and several other food concessionaires created, what might have been, the first “food pod” in the state. We found a vacant lot with easy access and visibility and arranged our booths so customers could easily pull into the lot, select a meal from one of several menus, and be back on the road within minutes. Unfortunately, our food pod failed miserably. Maybe our menus and booths were wrong for the venue. Maybe our market’s preference for corporate fast food was too entrenched. Or, perhaps it was a good idea whose time had not yet come.
But, on the bright side; the experience taught me the real difference between a food cart and a food concession.
In my mind, whether we are talking about food stands, food carts, food trucks, food booths, food trailers, or food concessions, they all fall into one of two categories; stationary or temporary.
A stationary food cart, trailer, truck, or kiosk is essentially a conventional “storefront” operating full-time at a single location. Though they are usually hard-wired to utilities, they are on wheels and are considered mobile food units by the health department. Some food trucks and light-weight carts are not hard-wired and may follow a daily routine or route. These are also licensed on a yearly basis as a mobile food unit. A food stand or tent that is not on wheels cannot be licensed as a mobile food unit. All of these are usually referred to as food carts or food trucks.
A temporary food booth sells food at short term venues, such as; fairs, festivals and special events. Any style of booth, whether it is a cart, trailer, tent, truck, or wooden stand can be licensed by the health department on a temporary basis as a temporary restaurant. These are usually referred to as food concessions or food booths.
There are major operational differences also. Over the years I have run both temporary and stationary food booths, and am partial to temporary booths selling at short-term special events. My bias is purely personal. Both types of booths have serious advantages and disadvantages. Perhaps your experience can contribute to this list.
stationary food carts
Stationary Food Stand Pros:
- Stability. The daily and weekly routine of opening, closing, and shopping for supplies.
- A full-time income. Working full-time creates a consistent income.
- A full-time schedule. Working five or more days a week, year around, expands sales and creates a steady market base.
- Menu flexibility. A food cart can more easily experiment with a variety of unique menus and successfully develop a niche.
- Familiarity. Getting to know your steady customers can be very rewarding.
- Operational ease. Once the business is started, the daily operations are not difficult.
Stationary Food Cart Cons:
- Stability. The daily and weekly routine of opening, closing, and shopping for supplies can make you feel like a slave to your business.
- Managerial restraint. Lease contract obligations can restrict independent decision making.
- Time investment. Running a business full-time requires a tremendous investment of time.
- Commitment. The hours of operation must remain consistent or sales will suffer. Your customers depend on you to be open during your regular hours making it difficult to take personal time away from your business.
- Bureaucracy. The visibility of a stationary food cart requires a willingness to abide by all the governmental rules and red tape. Licensing requirements can be very involved.
- Large initial investment. It takes a relatively large amount of capital to start-up any stationary food cart, no matter how small.
- Boredom. When business is slow being cooped up within a small food cart can be boring, or become claustrophobic.
- Vulnerability. Uncontrollable and unforeseen events can greatly impact and jeopardize your investment. Lease conflicts, road construction, and unforeseen competition are just a few of the many uncontrollable hazards that can ruin a business. If a location does not work well for you it can be difficult to pick up and move your business to a new location.
Business location is a key component of a temporary concession as well. The difference is that whereas a stationary food cart has the same location week after week, with sales remaining somewhat constant over time, a temporary concession has a new location on a weekly basis, for good or bad. And, a temporary concession’s sales will vary as widely as does the quality of the events, and location within each event.
Continuing on…
Temporary Concession Pros:
- The possibility of making a relatively large amount of money in a short period of time.
- Independence. Complete control over the management of your business.
- Limited time investment. Most temporary concessions operate seasonally, enabling owners to spend time doing other things during the off-season.
- Diluted risk. If for any reason an event bombs the next event provides new possibilities.
- Variety. Every event is different.
- Autonomy. The concession business is a cash business, has minimal licensing requirements, and is relatively unregulated.
- Family. Families who operate their concession together share the workload and spend time together experiencing different communities. Young people gain confidence by learning a work ethic, responsibility, cash handling, and public relations skills. This could be the perfect seasonal family business.
- Fun. What could be better than earning a living in a relaxed environment where people are there to have fun?
Temporary Concession Cons:
- Sale time limitations. Annual earnings potential is condensed into a very short season of opportunity. What’s worse, each event has a limited period of optimal selling time.
- Risk. Breakdowns, poor weather, poor health, low event turnout, faulty event organization, and employee no-shows are just some of the many things that can prevent an event from producing the way it should. This risk is magnified by the limited sale opportunities of the season.
- Uncertain income. High risk and event variability make it nearly impossible to calculate future income.
- Lack of control. Certain factors that greatly affect sales are uncontrollable. Most notable are weather, economy, and decisions made by the event coordinator, such as space location, duplication of menus, over abundance of competition, and poor planning.
- Physical demands. Stocking up, traveling to and from events, setting up, conducting business, and tearing down are physically and mentally stressful. Doing these tasks repeatedly over the course of the season can be mentally and physically exhausting.
- Menu restraint. A food concession cannot easily experiment with unique menus. It can be a challenge to develop a menu that is highly sale-able while at the same time be unusual enough to secure event contracts.
- Managerial complexity. The managerial tasks of a transient food business can be complicated. Booking events, securing multiple licenses, traveling, staff management, bulk quantity food product management and handling, and vehicle maintenance, are all time consuming, energy consuming, and costly.
Incidentally, in case you have ever wondered – that last point is the main reason you’ll pay twice as much for a corn dog at a fair.
Classic Moms and the internet Transportation Suitcase as well as the Jumbo Cooking timer Moms and the internet Transportation Envelope have a zippered, fully-lined plastic handbag and of elasticized within pouches to safely host
80. I was just seeking this information for a while. After 6 hours of continuous Googleing, finally I got it in your site. I wonder what’s the lack of Google strategy that do not rank this type of informative web sites in top of the list. Usually the top web sites are full of garbage.
Thanks! I’ve wondered the same thing.
I simply want to mention I am very new to blogging and honestly loved your web site. More than likely I’m going to bookmark your blog . You amazingly come with great well written articles. Thanks for revealing your web page.
Perfect work you have done, this site is really cool with great information.
Hiya, I am really glad I’ve found this info. Nowadays bloggers publish only about gossip and web stuff and this is actually frustrating. A good site with interesting content, that is what I need. Thanks for making this website, and I will be visiting again. Do you do newsletters? I Can’t find it.
Pingback: Le Cercle - The Ring en Streaming Gratuit
Ashley has been ready to conclusion the idea, [but] they desired to watch for Demi to actually do it
Some truly quality posts on this site , saved to favorites .
I simply want to tell you that I am just new to blogs and actually liked this page. Very likely I’m want to bookmark your website . You amazingly come with exceptional articles. With thanks for revealing your blog site.
Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If doable, as you acquire expertise, would you mind updating your blog with further information? This can be very helpful for me.
I wished to thank you for this great learn!! I undoubtedly having fun with each little bit of it I’ve you bookmarked to check out new stuff you put up
Highly rated post. I study something completely new on completely different blogs everyday. Deciding on one . stimulating to learn the paper content material from different writers and learn a bit one thing from their website. I’d like to use certain of this content material on my weblog you’re mind. Natually I’ll give a hyperlink right here we’re at your internet-site. Appreciate your sharing.
Good job
I also prefer Watchmen and Spider-Man over this.
Some truly nice stuff on this web site , I enjoy it.
Thanks for taking the time to debate this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If attainable, as you achieve experience, would you thoughts updating your weblog with additional data? It is extremely useful for me.
I must show my appreciation for your kind-heartedness for individuals that must have assistance with your niche. Your special dedication to passing the solution all through was definitely good and has usually empowered professionals like me to arrive at their desired goals. Your own invaluable help signifies much to me and even further to my mates. Warm regards; from everyone of us.
I recently stumbled on your website and are actually reading along. I imagined I might depart my 1st remark. I really don’t know what to say except that We have enjoyed reading.Great weblog,I’ll keep going to this blog site quite frequently.
Hi there, You have done an excellent job. I’ll definitely digg it and personally suggest to my friends. I’m confident they’ll be benefited from this site.
Wow! Thank you! I constantly needed to write on my blog something like that. Can I include a part of your post to my website?
It’s OK to laugh at adults killing other adults.
Nice article and Nice blog greetings!
Hiya clever points.. now why didn’t i consider these? Off topic barely, is that this web page pattern merely from an ordinary installation or else do you utilize a personalized template. I take advantage of a webpage i’m looking for to improve and properly the visuals is likely one of many key issues to complete on my list.
Thanks a lot for providing individuals with an exceptionally pleasant chance to check tips from here. It is usually very nice plus stuffed with a great time for me and my office friends to visit your site no less than three times in one week to study the new stuff you have got. Not to mention, I’m actually happy with the wonderful tactics you give. Certain two tips in this posting are rather the simplest we have all ever had.
You ought to essentially think about engaged on growing this blog into a significant authority in this market. You evidently have a grasp handle of the matters everyone is trying to find on this web site anyhow and you could definitely even earn a buck or two off of some advertisements. I’d explore following current topics and raising the quantity of write ups you place up and I guarantee you’d start seeing some superb focused site visitors within the close to future. Just a thought, good luck in no matter you do!
Now you will have your new site and also you’re keen to begin making some sales! However, how can you make gross sales in the event you wouldn’t have excessive volumes of visitors to your web site?
I conceive this website holds some very great info for everyone. “The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.” by Diogenes.
Perfectly written subject material , regards for information .
Just observed your site on google and that i believe it really is a shame which you usually are not ranked larger because this is a fantastic publish. To alter this I determined to add your website to my RSS reader and i will make an effort to mention you in one among my posts simply because you truly deserve much more readers when publishing content material of this top quality.
I ain’t going to Jail.
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There’s no point in being a damn fool about it.
Great post and right to the point. I don’t know if this is actually the best place to ask but do you guys have any thoughts on where to hire some professional writers? Thx
I recognize there’s plenty of spam on this website. Do you want help cleansing them up? I can help amongst classes!
I wanted to thanks for this nice learn!! I undoubtedly having fun with each little bit of it I’ve you bookmarked to take a look at new stuff you post
you could have an incredible weblog here! would you wish to make some invite posts on my blog?
Spread hope in the lives of others by donating to those in need!
It is always nice to see an blogger that goes the extra mile! There are simply so many blogs on the web that spam copyrighted work all over the place. Kudos to you for evading the temptation. I will definitely be back soon!
Admiring the persistence you put into your blog and in depth information you provide. It’s great to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same unwanted rehashed material. Excellent read! I’ve saved your site and I’m adding your RSS feeds to my Google account.
Many thanks for an incredible put up, would examine your particular others posts. many thanks for your ideas within this, I experienced a trifle struck by this short article. Thanks again again! You wanna make a great time. Portrays natures best by the great info here. I do think if a greater number of people considered it doing this, they’d have a very better time period get the hang ofing the difficulty.
Hello! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a team of volunteers and starting a new project in a community in the same niche. Your blog provided us valuable information to work on. You have done a marvellous job!
Admiring the time and effort you put into your blog and detailed information you present. It’s nice to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same outdated rehashed material. Wonderful read! I’ve saved your site and I’m including your RSS feeds to my Google account.
Cool list of resources in this way, web designers can quickly depict their vision in a more finalized fashion, and hopefully win some more clients in the process.
Hey just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text in your content seem to be running off the screen in Ie. I’m not sure if this is a formatting issue or something to do with web browser compatibility but I figured I’d post to let you know. The layout look great though! Hope you get the problem fixed soon. Kudos
Truly beneficial thank you, There’s no doubt that your readers would probably want far more items along these lines carry on the excellent work.
Hi there would you mind sharing which blog platform you’re working with? I’m going to start my own blog soon but I’m having a difficult time deciding between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design and style seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something completely unique. P.S My apologies for being off-topic but I had to ask!
First she thinks that Halle Berry remotely resembles her enough to play her in a movie. Then she makes that OUTRAGEOUS statement that she could have been a prima ballerina? Really? Aretha is a great singer, but she is dilusional! Probably comes from years and years of people sucking up and blowing smoke up her as s!
Observed your write-up pretty exciting without a doubt. I seriously experienced reading through it and you make quite some excellent details. I will bookmark this internet site for the future! Relly terrific write-up.
Observed your content very appealing in truth. I genuinely liked studying it and you also make rather some excellent points. I will bookmark this web-site to the long term! Relly wonderful write-up.
Discovered your article incredibly fascinating certainly. I genuinely loved examining it so you make rather some excellent details. I’ll bookmark this web page for that foreseeable future! Relly excellent post.
Discovered your short article very intriguing in fact. I definitely loved looking at it and also you make really some very good details. I will bookmark this web site with the potential! Relly terrific report.