The Hotdog business
Wed, 11/2/05 6:57 AM
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After reading recent forum subjects on the Hotdog Business, thought I'd share my experience (for what its worth). I have a lot of respect for anyone who goes into the Wild and Wacky World of becoming "The Hotdog Man"
I'm known as the "hotdog man" in the United Kingdom. You become the hotdog man cause nobody knows your name but you know them and they love our dogs. So be it.
Getting started: 1st year. Well, the trick to staying in business is figuring out how to stay in business. This means loads of sacrifice until you know your market, know your product, remain flexible and adjust to necessity. Give time - time. I didn't make much money the first year (about £5000 or $7000 gross). Makes it tough to enjoy but I learned a lot. The best thing is networking in that 12 month period. I met lots of folks who knew lots of folks who wanted to know if we did birthdays, parties, special events. Perhaps I was lucky that in the UK, there are no "Real American Hot Dogs" (or much of anything else for that matter that resembles really good food spots in the US).
We were fortunate that we met ex-pat Americans who mentioned that they'd come across us (with phone calls from me to Americans I knew in the British Baseball/Softball Association). This led to doing small softball tournaments (I play on a team). This kept us alive with a bit of promise that it couldn't get worse and could only get better.
Year 2 We became a part of the softball circuit. We were invited to participate in all major softball tournaments which meant that from May to September we'd have 15 tournaments to participate. This sounds great but came with new conditions: percentage back to the organizers, add on items due to niche market i.e. coffee, tea, sweets, muffins. But, we stayed with hotdogs as the main event. This led to Major League Baseball International functions which weren't many but well attended (loads of kid's at the UK Little League World Series). Be aware! In certain situations, if you do well someone else will say "hey, I can do that" mentality. We started the ball rolling and next thing, we started getting competition from interested parties. What makes this interesting is this; anyone can make a hotdog. Ok, what I know is this; not a lot of people know how to make 100 hotdogs in 20 minutes (game times dictated how large the queue is). The know how to meet demand is essential. Making pizzas or hamburgers takes much more time and if folks don't have the time they don't get the sale. ChicagoStyleDog (great admiration for) says to leave the condiments out for the customer to serve himself. I agree if the situation requires but we make a show of doing our dogs with squirty bottles of ketchup, mustard, mayo and dress each dog individually. (Add homemade chili, diced onions, grated cheddar cheese). Turnover for Year 2 was approximately £12,000 or $15,000 gross). But remember, this is for about 25 days over 5 months.
Year 3 We now added an Aussie Pub Chain to our venue. Late Licensing laws in the UK require bars/pubs to offer food. Food doesn't sell in pubs/bars late night. Thus the success of kebab shops close to pubs which are open till 5am. We put a hotdog stand inside of the Aussie Pub which had a capacity of 1000 persons. At the end of the night everyone in the pub passed by the hotdog stand situated at the entrance of the pub. Great site and a big break. Be aware; if you do well you run the risk of losing the site. Again, anyone can make a hotdog......looks much easier than it looks if you're doing it in a professional manner. Still had the softball/baseball venues plus this pub chain. Turnover for Year 3 £25,000 or $35,000 gross)
Year 4 We now know all of the American niche market activities and the phone rings our way. We have lost some of the softball/baseball venues as "you're making too much money off of us". Still, the beat goes on. If the market was larger, we'd be a serious factor in the "Quality Fast Food/Fast Casual Market". We even did a Dutch Wedding at a very famous restaurant in London. Lots of grief from the maitre d' as hotdogs are not seen as Haute Cuisine. Still, the Dutch know dogs and serving them to wedding guests is fun and profitable. I hope to do in excess of £40,000 this year. The sad thing is I can't see it growing due to the fact that you can't put hotdog stands on the streets of London and if you have late night venues 11pm till 5am, you're competing with "tradition" down at the kebab shop mentality. Hotdogs come in cans here (generally). Scary really.
So, what have I learned; You gotta have realistic expectations for the first year to learn what you're all about. You have to look the part: We wear baseball caps (turned right side) with polo shirts with our company name "The Real American Hot Dog Co." Great Dogs, Great Service and Change! clean jeans, black apron (hides any mess you might desire to decorate yourself with. Service: "Hi, what can I do you for? Onions, Mustard, Ketchup? Got it. Thanks now. Or, I hear and I obey......something that breaks down that "glazed, huh, yeah" approach.
A little flair goes a long way. Squirty bottles gives you a bit of the "show". We put mustard in a line on the dog top it with whatever other conditments and finish off with zig zag lines of ketchup (popular here) on the dogs (wrapped in a napkin). We take the money and you gotta have change with no delay. Next please.
Add on's work. Cold drinks sell to people who have no idea what you do. It brings them closer. Its also a sale. Beer at the tournaments was a must (btw).
Some venues/sites work some don't. Festivals work here but they cost. Having said that; once you're on the festival circuit you get calls. I don't like English festivals because they are hard work in having to explain what we do. We did the London Marathon and that was a £700 days for 4 hours. But, I spent a lot of time describing what American Hot Dogs are. Had it not been so well attended I don't think we'd have made much money on the day. I would have had a lot of time explaining American Hot Dog History.
We also have done events for a 4 week period whereby we wore tuxcedo's. We called them "Tuxcedo Friday's" This worked well cause you don't see the "Hot Dog Man" dressed to the 9's all that often. We've worked outdoor Opera's as well as outdoor Jazz festivals. Good times but we really need North Americans creating the queue.
All in all, you can make money (my experience) in the hotdog business but you gotta become the "hotdog man". You have to serve a great product at the right cost. You have to look the part. You have to give yourself time to understand what works best for you. You have to control your stock (a steamer is essential to our operations as part of the cart). We started using Polish Kielbasa in one of the bain maries with a cast iron hotplate in the bottom. You can cook a Polish with lid on (makes a lot of smoke but outdoors this is an advertisement in itself). This works really well. We also offer 8 different kinds of relish.....onion relish, pickle relish, corn relish, tomato relish, horseradish sauerkraut, jalapeno onion relish...We also make our own chili.
We order and store enough bread in a small freezer unit. Our hotdogs are kept in a fridge. All condiments, drinks, napkins are stored in a lock up garage outside my home. We have been inspected by the local council. We have taken certificates in health & hygiene at a local college with diploma (looks great on my mantle). Hotdogs are considered a low risk item here and rightly so.
I failed to mention that we are a company of three people. Only two of us are full time. I won't say it is stress free. No sales creates stress. Equipment failure causes stress. Event management can cause stress. But, it only takes one person to say; "hey, great dog man" and my day's made. Everybody loves the hotdog man (if he looks the part, has a bit of personality, knows where the toilets are, knows where such and such building is, knows who's in charge of the event and where to find, is the lost and found department, makes great dogs, interacts a bit without being the life and soul of the party, cleans up his mess, keeps his unit clean, adds a bit of flexibility to his business.....then I think you have every chance of success.
Reading this, I think I could go on chapter and verse. What I'm hoping is to maybe shed a little light on how I got into this business and why I'm hoping on returning to the US sometime in the near future and duplicate (and expand) what I've been doing these past 4 years. Long hours, sometimes, pain in the ass people, sometimes, rowdy people, sometimes, idiots, sometimes, great folks, more times than not (drunks excluded-generally). Have fun and make money? Yep, if you're willing to learn from your efforts and go forward. If you read my drivel, thanks for your patience.
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