hotdog cart/fundraiser

Hello,

I am still looking at buying a cart found lots of good info here and believe I will make the plunge BUT this is a different topic


I am in charge of a fundraiser next saturday and sunday. I am being given a hot dog cart for the weekend (I don't know the brand and model yet) and we are going in front of the walmart. This is a smaller wallmart not a supercenter.

Anyway my plan is too keep it simple dogs reg or big dogs kraut cheese and chili as options of course mustard ketsup relish and onion also.

I am sort of looking at this though as a dry run for if this business is for me.

In your opinions should I keep it simple or bring a grill up and do steamed dogs PLUS grilled sauages and different kinds of dogs?


I know the saying of Keep It Simply Stupid lol but should I test product out or what?

Just wondering your opinions


by the way. There is a hot dog fundraiser there right now and after 2.5 hours they told me they sold 200 dogs. It is for the boy scouts and all they have is a canopy tent, two tables and a regular grill. They are selling hotdogs for a dollar kraut for .50 and cans of soda for .50 that is it, plus mustard ketsup and relish of course


I am thinking I can do 500 per day, but I am really thinking about bringing a grill since the health department seems to leave the fundraisers alone. If I do the grill I am thinking steam the reg dogs, grill sausage and brat or something like that.

As for cost I will try to keep the reg dogs and bun to .50 (cost not sale price) I will check the resturante supply store to see the prices.

Also what do you think about just getting large coolers and making lemonade and selling hotdog and cup (with lid) of lemonade for $2. Add kraut or chili or cheese for .50

The lemonade will be pennies per serving so for the plain hotdog I will be making about 1.40 per dog, about 1.80 for the chili dogs

I really don't know the prices of the brat or sausage, so I don't know what I would charge for them.


yet another question should I offer chips or am I going too overboard here. And what about a snow cone? High profit but will it take away from the dog and drink sales which will be a high profit, not in % but in actual dollars.



what do you think?

I don't have an answer but could you tell me how you got to get in front of walmart?

quote:

Originally posted by Nightshift

I don't have an answer but could you tell me how you got to get in front of walmart?

If it meets their scheduling, WalMart frequently allows food vendors for 501C3 fundraisers.

yes that is exactly the answer. All we do is call and schedule an open weekend as long as you are local they will do it


but come on you have an answer all I want is opinion would you just go dog chili cheese kraut or branch off into the brat sausage and stuff

I am only talking for a fund raiser it is just an opinion question


I also stopped back there and they had closed at 6 I don't know how many they ended up selling but the woman inside said they never slowed down. I am thinking they pulled off 600-700

I have yet to open my stand and do not feel I should be giving advice. 15 days and counting until I can order. yeah

quote:

Originally posted by fgold

yes that is exactly the answer. All we do is call and schedule an open weekend as long as you are local they will do it


but come on you have an answer all I want is opinion would you just go dog chili cheese kraut or branch off into the brat sausage and stuff

I am only talking for a fund raiser it is just an opinion question


I also stopped back there and they had closed at 6 I don't know how many they ended up selling but the woman inside said they never slowed down. I am thinking they pulled off 600-700

Personally I would keep it simple but give them a choice as well.

Hotdog, Polish , hotlink

Sprite,Coke,Diet Coke, water

Do regular chips and BBQ and maybe add sour cream and onion, but don't over order. Chips are the first to expire considering they dont freeze

If they are not hot dog fans then they are bound to like a polish or a link and vice versa.

Good luck and keep us posted. Pics are the new thing on here "thanks to Arnie :) " and we all love them so try to snap a few shoots of the event.

The fundraiser is almost here. this saturday and sunday. here is what i decided so far.....

I am going basic, I will keep it simple.

regular hotdog, not all beef, and drink for $2.

For drinks, I am getting two large coolers. One will have lemonade and one will have Ice Tea

I will have 6 or 8oz cups for the drinks.

I will have chili cheese and kraut avail for .50 also.

I really thought about the chips and sausage/brat etc but decided to really keep it simple.

The reason I went with the cheaper hotdogs and drinks is cost. The object of this is to raise money, not really to build a customer base.

Although I really think I am going to make the plunge into dog land, this cart will not be named the same and I will not be parked at that spot when I open one. So I am not worried about people associating me with avg dogs, when I do open up the business.


I will try to get pictures and post them for everyone to see.

The fundraiser is almost here. this saturday and sunday. here is what i decided so far.....

I am going basic, I will keep it simple.

regular hotdog, not all beef, and drink for $2.

For drinks, I am getting two large coolers. One will have lemonade and one will have Ice Tea

I will have 6 or 8oz cups for the drinks.

I will have chili cheese and kraut avail for .50 also.

I really thought about the chips and sausage/brat etc but decided to really keep it simple.

The reason I went with the cheaper hotdogs and drinks is cost. The object of this is to raise money, not really to build a customer base.

Although I really think I am going to make the plunge into dog land, this cart will not be named the same and I will not be parked at that spot when I open one. So I am not worried about people associating me with avg dogs, when I do open up the business.


I will try to get pictures and post them for everyone to see.

This would not be normal if a monkey wrench was not thrown into the plans every now and then right?

I saw the cart finally. It was tough to arrange our different work schedules to go see it. Anyway it is a real cart but a bottom of the line cart. I asked who made it and they said they got it from some guy in reading pa who isn't even there anymore (3 years ago) not a name brand at all.

There are only 4 slots on the steam table but it is also not steam table. They don't have steamer pans they always boiled them. YUK. And they only have 2 pans for dogs to boil in. Not the big pans. Not the little ones for chili and cheese but one size up from that.

there is NO WAY I am going to keep up with demand NO WAY.

Also I went to get the trailer hitch put on the car. I didn't think that would be a problem. Yes it was. NOBODY stocks the right one. Now I have to rent a truck to move it.

So here is my plan for now. I am renting the truck and I will rent a table or two and either put a grill there to grill dogs to go along with the boiled ones. Only keep the boiled ones as back up kind of. OR go with a steamer and sterno heat to keep up with everything then.

what do you guys think? grill or steamer?

Also if I grill, Do I now go with some brat, sausage etc?

quote:

Originally posted by fgold

This would not be normal if a monkey wrench was not thrown into the plans every now and then right?

I saw the cart finally. It was tough to arrange our different work schedules to go see it. Anyway it is a real cart but a bottom of the line cart. I asked who made it and they said they got it from some guy in reading pa who isn't even there anymore (3 years ago) not a name brand at all.

There are only 4 slots on the steam table but it is also not steam table. They don't have steamer pans they always boiled them. YUK. And they only have 2 pans for dogs to boil in. Not the big pans. Not the little ones for chili and cheese but one size up from that.

there is NO WAY I am going to keep up with demand NO WAY.

Also I went to get the trailer hitch put on the car. I didn't think that would be a problem. Yes it was. NOBODY stocks the right one. Now I have to rent a truck to move it.

So here is my plan for now. I am renting the truck and I will rent a table or two and either put a grill there to grill dogs to go along with the boiled ones. Only keep the boiled ones as back up kind of. OR go with a steamer and sterno heat to keep up with everything then.

what do you guys think? grill or steamer?

Also if I grill, Do I now go with some brat, sausage etc?

Try to get a few pictures of the cart. You can purchase the deeper pans and new inserts. I am not sure if you pased on the deal or if your still thinking about it? I ran into the same hitch ball problem when I purchased my used cart off Craigslist. I just hit up the local Uhaul store and they sold the right size hitch ball. They will even hlep you change it out.

I think I didn't explain myself well enough. This cart is just being loaned to me. It is someone else's I am not going to buy new stuff for it and then give it back to them. I am 99% sure I will be taking the plunge into this as a business in the coming months but this is only a fund raiser.


As for the hitch. I called 6 different U hauls and all said they would have to order it. no problem except I needed it this weekend.

I am renting a grill that can handle up to 100 dogs on it and bought the dogs today. Except for the rolls I am just about set. Rolls I will be picking up on the morning of the sales (saturday and sunday)
When I do buy a cart. I know this is not the kind I will buy.

well day one is done and I can honestly say I am disappointed. I even waited until I had a full nights sleep (well 5 hours anyway lol) to type this to make sure of how I felt.

We sold 205 dogs, we didn't get opened until about 11:15am and closed at 6pm.

Please understand that I am disappointed not in the act of selling dogs. That part was fun but in the total sold. We were at a walmart (not a supercenter) and last week the cub scouts were there also doing the same thing. When I bought one of their dogs at 1pm they told me they had gone thru 200 dogs already since 11am. Now either they didn't tell me the truth (not on purpose but could have just made a mistake) or they crushed us in sales.

still 200 dogs is 200 dogs, we didn't do bad, we just didn't do as well as I would have liked. The numbers in my head were too big.

We have one more day here at the walmart and then next sunday at a supermarket. At our current pace, we will need 5 more days to sell enough dogs and raise enough money.

oh well maybe be get 250 today right?