First Day...

Hey everyone... sharing the day with you.

First day on my new dog cart at the ball field (men's softball league). I didn't know what to expect, of course, so I brought every dog in the stash along with every bun, etc... more Gatorades than I could possibly sell and too much water. But it was 6 hours on the field (selling) and it's the Memorial Day weekend and they were having a tournament... so, I planned for a big crowd.

Not so big crowd, but prettymuch a steady stream of players and friends... once someone left the cart, another would come by a few minutes later.

This is good in the sense that I wasn't frantic. Kept my dogs under control, nobody griped about the time it took to grill the buns, and gave me a feel for what worked best for me. NOT so good in the sense that in the course of 6 hours, we only made $169... I had hoped for more.

The good news is that many folks did not expect me to be there today and asked if I was coming back. When I said I'd be there every Sunday afternoon, they were very positive about "not having to lug their lunch to the field." They were particularly happy when I said I'd be trying to have different things on Sundays (as opposed to weeknights)... like meatball subs and sausage and pepper sandwiches etc.

Today we just did regular 8/1 Old Neighborhood dogs and bigger 5/1 Pearls. I have Sabrett red onion sauce and I had saurkraut today. Other days, I'll have the Sabrett sauce and cheddar cheese sauce, or chili for chili dogs. I told everyone that I won't have everything all the time... the cart just isn't that big, but I'd try to have a variety at any given time. I'm still running the numbers as to how many of each we sold today, but I'm tired now and will finish the numbers tomorrow.

I'm exhausted, but I found that the next time I can carry less and therefore lug fewer coolers with me. I found that I can use one (left) glove and a set of tongs (in the right) and not touch any food. I also found that when I use a damp cleaning rag on the back work surface of my cart... I will steam-burn my hand in a matter of seconds!!!! Everything else went pretty well though... I've had a lot of reading over the last 10 months, and a lot of helpful info from all of you to refine the process of what works and what doesn't...

Oh, and the big surprise of the day was when the flex-line on my sink water pump (my sink is pump driven, not gravity) SPRUNG a LEAK and spewed water all over the inside of my cart causing the entire surface of my work-space to steam up.... I learned that if I pull off the red clamp on the battery which drives it, I won't ACTUALLY get electricuted This is a GOOD THING!!!! My husband will attend to that water line before I have to be functional again on Weds night.

Well, that's it for now... I'll be trying again in a couple of days, cooking up those dogs that didn't get cooked today. I was so pleased with myself though, in that all my coolers stayed below the 40 degree mark and all my pans stayed above the 140 degree mark. My husband said I had an issue with my thermometer... poking everything in sight. I told him that this is a good habit, and if he EVER cooks on my cart, he'll be doing that too

You Go Girl! Was your $169.00 GROSS Dollars or NET Dollars?

THANK YOU for blogging your travels there... Too many people show up, ask questions and then disappear.. It's good to hear someone reporting their ups and downs, as you have. (Ya, there's been a couple others, but after one or two reports, they're history.. Could be they get too busy, or the the business was a failure).. But all the input is greatly appreciated here!

I do alot of softball games. $169 for your first time out really isnt that bad. Your positive feedback about being there everey Sunday is a good thing, and its true, sales will build. Right now I am doing rec department girls softball, usually two evenings a week. They have a game at 5:30 and one at 7:00. I try to get there between 4:30 and 5:00 and stay till at least 8:00. During this time I will usually sell $200 or so. You will build up to more than that on tournament days im sure, so keep up the good work!


dw

quote:

Originally posted by Janski

First day on my new dog cart at the ball field (men's softball league).The good news is that many folks did not expect me to be there today and asked if I was coming back. When I said I'd be there every Sunday afternoon, they were very positive about "not having to lug their lunch to the field." They were particularly happy when I said I'd be trying to have different things on Sundays (as opposed to weeknights)... like meatball subs and sausage and pepper sandwiches etc.

Today we just did regular 8/1 Old Neighborhood dogs and bigger 5/1 Pearls. I have Sabrett red onion sauce and I had saurkraut today. Other days, I'll have the Sabrett sauce and cheddar cheese sauce, or chili for chili dogs. I told everyone that I won't have everything all the time... the cart just isn't that big, but I'd try to have a variety at any given time.

I'm exhausted, but I found that the next time I can carry less and therefore lug fewer coolers with me.

Janski

Congratulations on your first day on the job being a success.

Just a couple of thoughts:

I know your mindset on doing different things on different days. I wanted to do the same until I had some very disappointed customers that didn't buy anything because they had come by the stand to get something they had had the week before. I get bored easily and really like to cook so I wanted to do this sandwich or that one, for a week or two and then something different the following week. But when customers drove up and I didn't have something that I had the previous week they were disappointed and some tried something new but others just said well I'll check back next week and drove off.

I'm sure they just got a desire for gumbo or what ever and drove to the stand to get gumbo, but when I didn't have any, nothing else would fill the bill.

So if I were you, I'd consider getting my menu locked in stone and stick with it with two exceptions. Those being:

1. Slow sellers can be dropped and replaced but only after your really sure it will never increase in sales.

2 Daily or nightly specials can be your creative outlet. That's were your creative juices get to flow and you get to pick something to cook that you feel like serving on that day or night.

And of course things could be different where you work and live but here in Springfield and from my personal experience, those are some pretty good rules to follow.

But most important yes I'll bet you were DOG TIRED when you got done and will be most days, but what a great successful day for your first time out congratulations you deserve it.

Jack

That's not a bad day, Janski!
My first week was a disaster but I kept plugging away and now my sales are where I want them.
There is a learning curve to the operation of a cart. You'll learn something new every day.

Thanks everyone... I appreciate the encouragement. I was pretty tired last night and kinda discouraged with the earned income. PS: that $175 (I couldn't count last night, recounted this morning) was the GROSS income... not profit. Fortunately, my agreement with the softball league is for a percentage of the profits... so I'll only be accountable for about $10.50 for the day. The better I do, the better they do, we're all happy. I have a guy at the liquor store who wants to charge me $40/day... no matter how I do. I'm not ready for that yet.

Hubby looked at the water line this morning and says it's not a big deal to replace the hose, so we should be good to go by Weds.

My 16-yr-old son is annoyed that I hadn't mentioned his help yesterday (so I'll mention him now). We started out with me cooking and he handled the money for me... so I only had to focus on the food and the cart, though we worked together on making sure the amounts charged were accurate (new menu and all that). He did well.

As to the different menu items (Jack), I was planning to only do those on Sundays when I'm at the field from 3 to 8 PM, and I was planning to get a chalk board to advertise ahead what the next week's special would be, so they would know ahead of time. I would still be doing 2 size dogs routinely, but have room only for one special item at any given time, whether that's cheddar cheese, saurkraut, meatballs, or sausage and peppers... though with the chili dogs, I think I can get creative and get the chili and the cheddar cheese sauce (and my Sabrett's red onion sauce... routinely available) on the cart all at the same time. I'll let you know how all that goes. On my weeknights when I'm only working the field for 2 1/2 hours, I'll be sticking to dogs only, chips, drinks.

And Uncle Vic, I plan to keep posting as much as I am able. I have learned quite a lot from those who were kind enough to share their wisdom with a newbie... I like to write (and have a captive audience) and I like even more the potential to help others out with some of the lessons I learn along the way. I'm thankful that this forum is available and so well attended by experts and newbies alike.
I'll keep you posted on how things go, and I look forward to continuing to learn from all of you.

Thanks again, Janice

I'm glad to hear that things have gotten started in a pretty good way. It's better for things to be a bit slower than you wanted to be, rather than be completely overwhelmed. It gives you a chance to better evaluate every phase of your service and figure out how to better serve your customers.

Congratulations

Please try grated cheese. You can buy the "fake" chedday preshredded for a much lower price. I used to put it on a taco bar and no complaints. A mound of grated cheese (Cincy style) is so musch nicer than a glob of whizz.
britt

Keep up the good work. Hang in and you will find your way. Heck i am still looking for my way.
But i do agree w/ Dr. stick to having a carved in stone menu and then do "specials" I have disappointed some and now try very hard NOT to do that. I have had to take some things off the menu and i keep the menu smaller and just do "specials" and that seems to work. It is always a work in progress, hang in and enjoy. I am still very new to this but i already know this.... you will have good days, REALLY good days and some really "CRAPPY DAYS"

UPDATE on the week so far: Sunday was OK, but when compared to the rest of the week... it was outstanding! I'm sorely disappointed with my evening weekday games, and even if the sales double, it might not be worth my time during the week. Wednesday, I only grossed $38 in 3 hours... and yesterday, it was only $28!!! I'll see what happens next week after everyone knows that I'm there, and if it's still a poor showing, I might just work the League's Sundays, drop the weeknights, and find another 6 hours on Saturdays. I also have the option of looking into the Boys' Little League field on Mon and Tues nights... which might work out better.

Who was it that told me the adult league was only looking for BEER!!!! I think I got asked 5 times last night if I had beer... and I'm parked RIGHT UNDERNEATH the big white sign which states "NO alcoholic beverages allowed anywhere on the premisis of the field".... yeah.... We'll see what happens.

Things can be a bit trying and discouraging when you first start out, and I'm glad to read that you're evaluating and open to adjusting your plan. Heck, the blessing of having a mobile setup is the fact that it is MOBILE. Once you spot a better situation, you can move