Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

    Good day. we are a new vending firm in DC trying to take hot dog vending to a new height by introducing wonderful new dishes as alternatives to the bland and generic street vending foods. Can any restaurantuer or vendor give us advice on how to make a success of this idea.

I like the idea, I once saw a business which was a street vender with the "cart" and they did organic italian food.  Are you trying to do just better tasting food or healthy meals?

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Erik
www.usspin.com
www.unitedbusinessalliance.com

Hi Dellecampbells:  I have some knowledge in that area and may be of some assistance to you.  I read that you`re looking for alternatives to the bland.  What type of alternatives have you entertained?  I`m not familiar with the regional tastes of DC and that very much makes a difference in what you choose to serve.  Let me know and I`ll try to be of some assistance.

 we are simply elevating the quality of the food to taste better but health is not our primary concern in selection of our materials even though it is not fast food unhealthy like our chicken shawarma or spinnach and fish wrap is clearly healthier than our spicy grilled sausage or double cheeseburger

In DC the street scene is so hegemonous. Everyone is selling ONLY boiled hot dogs out of dingy looking carts. we want to spice it up with live barbeque, shawarmas, shish kebabs, gourmet coffee in the morning amongst other things. we feel us having a kitchen in our trailer gives us a significant advantage. we are trying to be the leaders in concept creation i n this field, we will be the first ones out there with uniforms a website and many other innovations we are in the process of thinking of. I`d love to get you input

There are seemingly similar concepts up and running in the US.  I can tell you this because I have a hand in coordinating some of these concepts and getting them rolling. 

Having a NSF kitchen in your trailer does give you an advantage but your health department dictates.  For every level of kitchen and every venue there is a classification that dictates what you can safely prepare and what you can safely serve AND how much~ given your space.  If you haven`t done so already, please collaborate with your health department.  They`ll let you know what the possibilities and limitations are for your county and let you know if they differ any from the state rules which does happen from time to time.  Once you have a good idea of what you can do maybe more people in this community will be able to assist with suggestions.

 Thanks for your reply. We took consideration of the dept of health months ago and found that they require us to have a deep fryer, generator powered fridge and freezer, exhaust hood, fire suppression system, and some other credentials like a food handlers management licence. most of our goods are approved with the semantic exception of shish kebab and shawarmas, but gyros are allowed and once we remove the kebabs from the sticks we are in compliance and so we are pretty straight in so far as that aspect.

     As far as your knowledge of these sorts of enterprises please tell all. I am very interested. I also would like to know of any trade journals in our industry. Washington has never had any thing of the sort that we are putting together and we have no way of projecting our sales or success. Any other experience you have had in any city would help us a great deal. we are in fact looking to put together a system of operation so that when we expand our employees will have full knowledge of how to operate the business. But we have gotten quotes from trailer makers and many other pre-operational prerequisites have been met, so we are simply eager to learn as much as we can to stay ahead of the pack. My instincts guide me to believe that the potentials of our enterprise are a cause of excitement because our competition is really not trying to compete on our level which makes us speculate on our expansion and sales possibilities.

So your menu selections have already been determined?  You stated most of your goods are approved.  I`m not sure if by goods you mean menu selections or equipment. 

You can get a subscription to the best trade mag in our industry at www.foodindustrynews.com.  Well worth the $ 49.95, three year subscription fee. This magazine is published monthly.