5yrs and 1st and goal... more new photos added

With all the tax money that state gets it sim to me that central and eastern washington doesn't get a dime to make life more enjoyable like the west side does. And Seattle can have the rain. But the last thing that Spokane had was the world fair and that was in 1974. Was there about 2yrs ago and in the 10yrs that I've live here in Omaha, Nothing changed. Here there is a 9.68% tax on restaurants in my county that 7% tax base+2 1/2 % for the restaurant tax and selling in this county I have to use that tax amount when selling in the van. One for you, nineteen for me; TAX MAN....

Barbeque barn


I use to deliver there when Sapp Bro was there and the last time I was there out at the pilot about 1 1/2 yrs ago. I also del at the flying hook (J).  My younger brother lived in Yakima for about 5 yrs and now lives in Spokane as well as my oldest brother. Mike

 
Sapp Bros is gone? I used to stop there years ago. When out that way we used to normally head to the orchards for Apples or hit the fields for potatoes and or french fries. Hmmm....

I had driven for Coremark a retail chain supplier out of Spokane and that was one of my drops till it closed. Had a bad first day at opening day of my business not for the customers, they were coming out of the wood work . Just thought that Id try flying by the sit of my pants and now looks like I need a new pair.
I've been waiting for the permit from Sarpy Co. to come in the mail so I can get my permit in Douglas Co. I've got a receipt  from Sarpy but they won't  accept the receipt here in douglas.
Now this is a state inspection and they won't take there own receipt. Ok  so yesterday at 7 am I start to prepare the meat that I season the day before. Got the brisket and the pork butt in the smoker at around 11am. At 2am the meat was ready and was melt in your mouth. the brisket was so juicy and the pork just fell off the bone. A real good smoke ring. By the time all said and done 5am. 9am saturday, this is where the seat starts giving way. I tell my wife who worked all week at her job! Hey honey will drive around and find some place to setup.... 4hrs later were driving home and the mood in the vehicle was anything but fun... hun turned to HOT. I told you should have found a spot...uh! Ok but sometime's you know you got to take chances. yea.
Ok I see a Biglots parking lot and say let ask them? The manager kinda him an hawed a little and went to ask another manger who tell me that he smokes whole hogs and that he's general district manager was available to be reached until Monday and that as far as he was concern it was ok to setup. I haven't lost anyone or bent your ear to far, sorry Anyway I said Id be back in 2 hrs with the van and cow. Id showed him some photo's and  said that Id help bring people to his business. which I did. I had 6 people waiting for me to open the window before I got the meat to temp. It took 45 min to warm both trays of meat in the cow and add them to the pans in the warmer and stir in. started to server and the next thing I know i GOT A GUY ASKING WHO'S OWNER. I step forward and raise the old hand and say here i am. FOOL! that I am . He ask me? Who gave me permission to setup there and that he was the owner of the lot and that I had to get off the property. Now one of Biglots employee tell me that this guy doesn't own the lot and rents it as does Biglots. Now bloods boiling, and this is a christian book store. I walk in and and ask him again if he was the owner of the land and said yes. I ask for his name and he asked what for? I said I'm going to reseach his claim and write the BBB and make a complant with the city of Lavista in Sarpy Co. He shot back at me that I didn't have a licence and permit to do business the County. Now I've got to remember I'm a christian too and not tell him.. Ok all drop this part. But it's hard to think with 3-4hrs sleep. I did leave as the manger of Biglots came out and said he was sorry for the problem and that if I get to setup in my own County to call and he would like to come up and eat. I told him all buy... Just a long day!  I need to add that I have all licence and permits and tnsurance to operate in Sarpy county. My reciept for the HD is the permit untill the hard copy comes to me in the mail!!!!

one thing to remember about dealing with strip mall sort of places.....
 
the business only has say-so over the parking lot in front of their store, and in some places ive seen, that only extends out to the parking directly in their storefront
also, the "big dog" renter usually has say over the larger part of the lot..... i would imagine big lots was probably the biggest renter there...
 
not knowing the exact circumstances and layout, i think i would have had to think real hard about telling that guy to pack sand.... i also would have informed him that i would sue his ass for any lost revenue if i found out he wasnt who he said he was.....
 
sorry to hear about your first day blues.... chalk it up to experience, and give the wifey a nice long foot massage
 
aahhh, just re-read the part about the different counties..... 

yea sounds to me that with out a permit or license for that county your sh#* outta luck for waging any campaign on telling him anything and I think he knew it! Good luck in the future.

You need those permits. It is a real struggle around here. The county I set up in loves any and all business they can get, to bad they are not the norm. Most areas that I would like to do business will not allow me to set up, even for special events in some cases. But, this is MI and we did not earn last place status in the country to own a business for nothing, the rumors are true.
 
 

I have the permit for Sarpy Co. but it is just a receipt at this point.  Douglas  County wants a copy of the "real" permit.  So until that comes, I am only legal to work in Sarpy County.
 

im wondering why a "christian book store" owner would have a problem with a food truck ??
were you blocking any of his parking ? i thought you guys turned the other cheek and all that brotherly love sort of stuff ??

I was 100+ feet from his front door and on the edge of the parking lot.

Hello all ,
Good luck BB it is a pleasure reading how you have put this all together !!
It is hard  when push comes to shove without the right paperwork
Benzee

Big lots and the book store are in Sarpy Co. For which I have the right permits to do business in that county......
My commissary is in Sarpy county and had to get permited to use the commissary in Sarpy. I can't get permited in Douglas County till i get the permit of the hard copy from Sarpy County in the mail.

New sign
Have my Douglas Co inspection in the mourning at 10:30 and hope to be operational this weekend.

touchdown! Got permited this mourning and my pop licence this afternoon in Douglas County. The Inspector was impressed with the work that my boys and I had done in the truck and had no issues at all with vehicle. The Lord is good to me! We will be opening this Saturday. Got permited also for the state of Nebraska in any county.

good luck! thats a New sign?

Buck & Vi's
Not the picture of the barn but the wording is new Buck. Its rustic looking barn. lol

good luck! thats a New sign?

Good luck buddy , let us know how you do
 
Benzee

Barbeque barn

Buck & Vi's
Not the picture of the barn but the wording is new Buck. Its rustic looking barn. lol

good luck! thats a New sign?

yea I know i was playin

The misses and I setup at what going to be our regular spot and had a much more enjoyable day. The first customer was the owner of the land and said that everything was fine how we setup. Gave us a $9.00 tip. Had lots of support from nabours that have kept an eye on me for 5yr building this business and 4 of them came out yesterday. One of them hands me a $100 bill for a $9.00 sandwich and says keep the change, there no way I did have the correct change and gave it back to him and gave him the sandwich. This person was one who help me cut and weld the hood system in the truck. Over all we did about $150.00 for 6hrs selling on your first day and will take that anyday over our very first day of sales. I feel stressed with every customer and hope this goes away with time. And I'm not use to someone handing cash yet and useing  register. But this will work out with time I hope. After we got home I died two hrs later just couldn't keep the eyes open any longer,around 10pm. We started at around 8:30 am open up at 11:30 am and closed at around 7 pm. The first customer was around 12:30 pm. I think if I'd have more signage it would been better but this is a learning curve. If any one has any thoughts please let me know as to what might help. I don't have any money for ads or such just mostly word of mouth.

 






 

1 1/2 pound turkey legs and at that  wieght this birds had to have been 4'7" tall. lol.

Angus beef brisket had less than 20% fat trimed off and very good looking meat.

Will I learned a hard lesson in advertising this week I don't have or should I say I didn't have the money t have the vinyl sign to put on the side of the van so my wife had made up a foamboard sign that I tape to the side of the barn to show that I have BBq somewhere in the world other than at home!!! LOL just maybe for sale in the truck. Well Thursday when I got to the lot to setup the wind storm blew off the sign on the drivers side of the truck as the same as the sign on the passenger side a week earlier. so for all of Thursday and 3/4 of Friday I sat with only $50.00 for the 2 days. Until I ran across the street to Stickman Grafics and had them make a 3 colour BBQ sign and the cost $97.00 and within 2 hrs I had 4 customer and had almost payed for the sign in that 2 hrs. I'm not completly satsfied with how the sign was applied buy me and my son but it wasn't your fault for the wrickles in the second B in BBQ because when they layerd the three colours thy had a air bubble in between the black and green with yellow on the bottom.Will I learned a hard lesson in advertising this week I don't have or should I say I didn't have the money t have the vinyl sign to put on the side of the van so my wife had made up a foamboard sign that I tape to the side of the barn to show that I have BBq somewhere in the world other than at home!!! LOL just maybe for sale in the truck. Well Thursday when I got to the lot to setup the wind storm blew off the sign on the drivers side of the truck as the same as the sign on the passenger side a week earlier. so for all of Thursday and 3/4 of Friday I sat with only $50.00 for the 2 days. Until I ran across the street to Stickman Grafics and had them make a 3 colour BBQ sign and the cost $97.00 and within 2 hrs I had 4 customer and had almost payed for the sign in that 2 hrs. I'm not completly satsfied with how the sign was applied buy me and my son but it wasn't your fault for the wrickles in the second B in BBQ because when they layerd the three colours thy had a air bubble in between the black and green with yellow on the bottom.Will I learned a hard lesson in advertising this week I don't have or should I say I didn't have the money t have the vinyl sign to put on the side of the van so my wife had made up a foamboard sign that I tape to the side of the barn to show that I have BBq somewhere in the world other than at home!!! LOL just maybe for sale in the truck. Well Thursday when I got to the lot to setup the wind storm blew off the sign on the drivers side of the truck as the same as the sign on the passenger side a week earlier. so for all of Thursday and 3/4 of Friday I sat with only $50.00 for the 2 days. Until I ran across the street to Stickman Grafics and had them make a 3 colour BBQ sign and the cost $97.00 and within 2 hrs I had 4 customer and had almost payed for the sign in that 2 hrs. I'm not completly satsfied with how the sign was applied buy me and my son but it wasn't your fault for the wrickles in the second B in BBQ because when they layerd the three colours thy had a air bubble in between the black and green with yellow on the bottom.

Will I learned a hard lesson in advertising this week I don't have or should I say I didn't have the money t have the vinyl sign to put on the side of the van so my wife had made up a foamboard sign that I tape to the side of the barn to show that I have BBq somewhere in the world other than at home!!! LOL just maybe for sale in the truck. Well Thursday when I got to the lot to setup the wind storm blew off the sign on the drivers side of the truck as the same as the sign on the passenger side a week earlier. so for all of Thursday and 3/4 of Friday I sat with only $50.00 for the 2 days. Until I ran across the street to Stickman Grafics and had them make a 3 colour BBQ sign and the cost $97.00 and within 2 hrs I had 4 customer and had almost payed for the sign in that 2 hrs. I'm not completly satsfied with how the sign was applied buy me and my son but it wasn't your fault for the wrickles in the second B in BBQ because when they layerd the three colours thy had a air bubble in between the black and green with yellow on the bottom.Will I learned a hard lesson in advertising this week I don't have or should I say I didn't have the money t have the vinyl sign to put on the side of the van so my wife had made up a foamboard sign that I tape to the side of the barn to show that I have BBq somewhere in the world other than at home!!! LOL just maybe for sale in the truck. Well Thursday when I got to the lot to setup the wind storm blew off the sign on the drivers side of the truck as the same as the sign on the passenger side a week earlier. so for all of Thursday and 3/4 of Friday I sat with only $50.00 for the 2 days. Until I ran across the street to Stickman Grafics and had them make a 3 colour BBQ sign and the cost $97.00 and within 2 hrs I had 4 customer and had almost payed for the sign in that 2 hrs. I'm not completly satsfied with how the sign was applied buy me and my son but it wasn't your fault for the wrickles in the second B in BBQ because when they layerd the three colours thy had a air bubble in between the black and green with yellow on the bottom.Will I learned a hard lesson in advertising this week I don't have or should I say I didn't have the money t have the vinyl sign to put on the side of the van so my wife had made up a foamboard sign that I tape to the side of the barn to show that I have BBq somewhere in the world other than at home!!! LOL just maybe for sale in the truck. Well Thursday when I got to the lot to setup the wind storm blew off the sign on the drivers side of the truck as the same as the sign on the passenger side a week earlier. so for all of Thursday and 3/4 of Friday I sat with only $50.00 for the 2 days. Until I ran across the street to Stickman Grafics and had them make a 3 colour BBQ sign and the cost $97.00 and within 2 hrs I had 4 customer and had almost payed for the sign in that 2 hrs. I'm not completly satsfied with how the sign was applied buy me and my son but it wasn't your fault for the wrickles in the second B in BBQ because when they layerd the three colours thy had a air bubble in between the black and green with yellow on the bottom.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=lf#!/photo.php?fbid=215495085141528&set=a.195122253845478.47907.100000431140276&type=1&theater

Sorry for the double double double post,lol. As for the I didn't have the money for more3 signage I was at church last wek when a friend said he had something for me and that he would have to stop by and give me it,at the time I thought it was a another cardboard sign lol, well this morning he seen me at church and gave me a envelope and said it was from a doaner for out of the countrythat wanted to help and that he just was to give it to me. I open it and there in the envelope was a 1000 dollar check. The LORD IS GOOD!!! Hebrews 13:2 it's whats in my serving window. Praise GOD...

Great looking build and yes, you have been blessed. We have been doing the festival thing for a while, but with a trailer under us,{ as small as it is} it has really changed life for us for the better. Best of luck to you . That is a beautiful rig you have made!
 Jon and Angie,
 Po' Folks

Thank you for your comments Pofolks. I just started this April and it's has changed my whole thought process as a person from a employee to an owner. Hard one to put your head around until you have to pay for it yourself. a LOT OF THINGS AM CLUELESS ON and just will learn on my own with small step forward and big step back, but hopefuly not to many bumps and bruises. I'm blessed with help that I've learned from people here and the knowledge that they have. Mike

Just some updates I've got some things that may help others. First ones out of the box thinking. And was thought of by my neighbor and is legal when used to tansmitt within 200' of your vehicle it's a FM transmitter and using a mp3 to loop a ad that I'm going to make myself.Then put up a sign with the channel that I wll transmitt on and hope for people to listen. second I got a 150 feet of chasing christmas light 3 wire with a controler that I'm putting up on the top edge of the truck roof and use on dark days and at night. I use buildasign.com for my banners and ordered a realty sign with 18"x24" sign for 65 dollars and free shipping. I just hope that it helps me 10% more per day in a week of sales.

i never knew you could do that with an FM transmitter! i had thought of that, some of the realty companies around here have AM transmitters that they use to hawk houses with, but most of the people i know dont even know how to get their stereos on AM, lol
i will definitely check into that :)
thanks ! 

Blackmagicbox.com $99.00 and $10 for external antenna. Cost $10 shipping Total $120 had it in less than a week and works good. FM sims a better choice as you said there a lot of people that don't want to move there radios off the FM side. Its the same thing as XM radio. google article 15.239 For FCC rules.

moblie black box http://www.mobileblackbox.com/content/view/40/75/ is the name.