Yours Truly in 1984, proud of her first food booth

Carnival Press is a small independent publishing company that specializes in educational resources for food concessionaires. It was started in 2004 with the publication of my first title, Food Booth, How to Get Started and Be Successful in the Food Concession Business. That initial title was entirely produced by me to test the marketability of the book,and the adaptability of me to my new role as publisher. The book did well (I'm still learning), and I soon released two revised editions, the sale of which finally paid for the professional book production of this latest edition titled: Food Booth, The Entrepreneur’s Complete Guide to the Food Concession Business.

Initially Food Booth was written to fill a niche. Twenty-four years ago when I started my concession business there were no books or other resources about starting a concession business. Conducting due diligence was extremely difficult and, as a result, very few new concessionaires had any knowledge of the business before they got started. The process of learning-by-doing took several years and prevented most new vendors from experiencing enough success to keep them in business long enough to establish their business.

This lack of educational resources is still the situation today. As someone who values the independence and sense of well being one gets from owning one’s own business, I feel bad for the many, many folks who, by starting a concession business, have a real shot at improving their financial situation but fail for lack of solid information. I also feel bad for those who need to invest a good chunk of money just to learn if running a food booth is a good fit for them. Further, when the new business fails, the novice vendor may mistakenly conclude the business won't work.

Over time I hope to offer additional high quality educational products, relevant resources and networking opportunities to help new concessionaires achieve the level of profit and reward they seek in their start-up concession business. I welcome any suggestions you may have for products and resources that you believe would be a benefit to new vendors. BF