steaming buns

I have been going crazy trying different ways to steam buns now that the weather is colder and the rolls seem "cold" and i think i may have finally come up with something that works for me. I first took a wet towel and put it under the tray in the steam tray and then i put a waxy type coated food container (which i use to put more then 1 dawg in) and i put rolls in there. not more then about 4 at a time but it has been working out pretty good.
Here's a question for all of you that have been in biz for a while.... how little could you make at first without thinking you want to KILL yourself. (i guess i am asking how little can i make in the beginnning without thinking i am gonna be a failure?? I am getting people but i just never know if i should be going like gang busters right away or is it gradual???? HELP HELP HELP.
Anyone in the area of west pond rd. in hopelawn nj (petroleum 19 gas station) stop by and say hi. Mon-sat 11-4 weather permitting of course. Would love to meet fellow roadfooders.

quote:

Originally posted by ShellysDawgHouse

I have been going crazy trying different ways to steam buns now that the weather is colder and the rolls seem "cold" and i think i may have finally come up with something that works for me. I first took a wet towel and put it under the tray in the steam tray and then i put a waxy type coated food container (which i use to put more then 1 dawg in) and i put rolls in there. not more then about 4 at a time but it has been working out pretty good.
Here's a question for all of you that have been in biz for a while.... how little could you make at first without thinking you want to KILL yourself. (i guess i am asking how little can i make in the beginnning without thinking i am gonna be a failure?? I am getting people but i just never know if i should be going like gang busters right away or is it gradual???? HELP HELP HELP.
Anyone in the area of west pond rd. in hopelawn nj (petroleum 19 gas station) stop by and say hi. Mon-sat 11-4 weather permitting of course. Would love to meet fellow roadfooders.

http://roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=23300

Here is a link from a few weeks ago. This might help. I would do some weekend gigs and events to keep the cash flow coming in. When the permanent location starts to get more revenue you can slow down on the weekend events. I still haven't found a permanent location but I am working on it.

Please just sell me the trailer.....And I mean that in the nicest way.Its time to pull the plug...If enthusiasim got the job done,you would be writing to let us all how well its going....seems that except for when you are in the process of going to a new spot or event,never any good news.its all excitement about the future,but when the future arrives.back to the same ol "what do I do now?"no customers...but have good food ,,etc.not quitting.Maybe its time you try something that may be better suited for you..I suspect there may be some fallout from my post....so mean..so heartless....however none of the group hug...hang in there ,and keep plugging responses seem to have helped...Thought a different approach might be needed.Good luck.

Damn! I thought this would be about, well, never mind.

quote:

Originally posted by ShellysDawgHouse

I have been going crazy trying different ways to steam buns now that the weather is colder and the rolls seem "cold" and i think i may have finally come up with something that works for me. I first took a wet towel and put it under the tray in the steam tray and then i put a waxy type coated food container (which i use to put more then 1 dawg in) and i put rolls in there. not more then about 4 at a time but it has been working out pretty good.
Here's a question for all of you that have been in biz for a while.... how little could you make at first without thinking you want to KILL yourself. (i guess i am asking how little can i make in the beginnning without thinking i am gonna be a failure?? I am getting people but i just never know if i should be going like gang busters right away or is it gradual???? HELP HELP HELP.
Anyone in the area of west pond rd. in hopelawn nj (petroleum 19 gas station) stop by and say hi. Mon-sat 11-4 weather permitting of course. Would love to meet fellow roadfooders.

Shelley I think 11am is a little late to open. We open at 9am but I fire the grill up at 6:30am so when everyone is going to work they see the smoke rolling from the grill. So hopefully they decide then that is what their having for lunch

Now for you Imyurhukelbery your an ASS. She's chasing her dream and she's keeping us up to date on it and your trying to crap on it. You don't like what she has to say then DON'T READ IT.

Edited for misspelling

Business is always loaded with self doubts and even after deciding what is best you can pull your hair out second guessing your decision. Every startup is going to be full of highs and lows and you need a good shoulder at times to blow off along with mentoring. You can continue to ask on this board and look for the Small Business Admin. for help (SBA). Many local colleges have them to refer to for help the starting businesses.

As too the last post, I would ignore. Just as there are good and bad customers, there are going to be some people that get a kick out of throwing in a nasty comment. I have seen nothing in any of your posts that shows any more than a startup business person with self doubts and questions of how to improve business. I have seen many experienced people with some excellent suggestions and I would recommend you keep writing in your questions and ignore the oddball. Unfortunately with a public board you will get all types of comments and I suggest you totally ignore them. My wife and I use manual wheel chairs and there was a time that we had to get across a rural graveled highway. My son alternated between pushing my wife and pushing me out of ruts on the side with the highway. Out of the hour and a half of struggle and I would guess 100 cars that came by we saw an interesting sick side of some people as they accelerated up to us and swerved around us, covering us with dust and pelting us with gravel from their back tires. Others came by at slow speeds leaned out their windows and yelled obscenities at us about about getting our blankty blank handicap asses off the road. At the time we were broke and struggling to get to an out of the way government agency. I relate this to not ask for any pity, but to relate some people relish in putting down another human being. (It seems the last post is relishing in your struggle and kicking a bit of dust and gravel on you). Your on a public board that has some excellent, experienced business people and any business person worth their salt knows that it is a struggle to start up a business and everyone of them at one time or another wanted to pull their hair out.

This board is an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas and question a whole group of people in a public forum. Its the business person that lets the business slide and doesn't keep striving for improvement that is setup for failure. Keep asking, Keep looking for answers and Keep thinking of ways to improve the business. Businesses take years to become successful and each one has had to develop different strategies to thrive. (When I posted I thought I would be below the flame post, the LAST post is directed at the negative post) RJF

quote:

Originally posted by Imyurhukelbery

Please just sell me the trailer.....And I mean that in the nicest way.Its time to pull the plug...If enthusiasim got the job done,you would be writing to let us all how well its going....seems that except for when you are in the process of going to a new spot or event,never any good news.its all excitement about the future,but when the future arrives.back to the same ol "what do I do now?"no customers...but have good food ,,etc.not quitting.Maybe its time you try something that may be better suited for you..I suspect there may be some fallout from my post....so mean..so heartless....however none of the group hug...hang in there ,and keep plugging responses seem to have helped...Thought a different approach might be needed.Good luck.

Thats just not right Man!!!

porkchop
I am SPEECHLESS. And you have a nice day too.

i take that back i am NOT speechless. I would rather push that cart into the middle of the highway and watch it get smashed by a semi then sell it to anyone like you. Now you have a nice day.

quote:

Originally posted by ShellysDawgHouse

i take that back i am NOT speechless. I would rather push that cart into the middle of the highway and watch it get smashed by a semi then sell it to anyone like you. Now you have a nice day.

I hope thats not directed at me, I'm not the one wanting to buy your cart.

Hey Shelly,
good on you! I have tons o respect for you and your hutzpah. That is how you are going to be successful in this business. Yeah, it's slow. You've only been there a week...and hey it's freakin freezing outside. It is totally normal to have (enjoy?) the full gammit of emotions in this gig. Especially starting out. You'll probably get all them emotions in one day too! I've been doing this for a little over 2 years now and still love it the most. But somedays are definetly easier than others. Have you ever been to a sales seminar? They are like 10% sales technique and about 90% self esteem building. Just remember you are bringing something important to the world. You and your food! The world wants your food and they want you to give it (yeah right...sell it) to them. They just don't know where you are yet. Give it time. Especially in the winter. I started out in November too, and had a hard time at first...but I do have a good work ethic, and faith, and good food, and a good location, etc... My second winter was better than my first summer. My second summer was killer. I doubt this winter will be better than that...but you never know. Just wait till you have your first $500 day. Then your first $600, and on. There can be some really good money in this for you, just keep up the good work, and don't let some numbskulls try and suck the fire out of you, even if they think that tough love is what you need right now.

Oh yeah,
as for steaming rolls. I put a clean towel in the bottom of my perforated pan. There is about 2 inches of water in the boiler underneath. Too much water and I soak the towel and the bottom of the first layer of rolls. I don't have rolls in a box or bag or anything I just stack em on the towel...about 2 dozen fit nicely. I use a Francisco gourmet seeded hot dog roll (oroweat makes em). They steam up well and taste great. Gotta check the boiler every hour and half or so...don't want that to dry out and burn the rolls.

biker
thank you. I appreciate your words. As for porky, what can i say.....
Bite me.

You need to start at the top and reread this whole thing again. If your pissed at me because I think you should open earlier then so be it

quote:

Originally posted by ShellysDawgHouse

biker
thank you. I appreciate your words. As for porky, what can i say.....
Bite me.

Whatever shelly Just reread everything

Gee Shelly Porkchopexpress posted Imurhurkelberys' post and responded against it! You need to notice that a portion of his message has a quote from another posting. NOT HIS. While I was posting porkchopexpress posted before me and I thought I would be refering to Imurhurkelberys post not his and I reposted on that. RJF

quote:

Originally posted by porkchopexpress
As for porky, what can i say.....Bite me.

Whatever shelly Just reread everything


PC,
I just can't belive your so heartless. To beat up on poor Shelly like that shame shame.
LMAO
Jack

If i read anything wrong. I apologize. if i didn't then i again say what i said. anyway, if i offended anyone that i shouldn't have. I am sorry.

quote:

Originally posted by ShellysDawgHouse

If i read anything wrong. I apologize. if i didn't then i again say what i said. anyway, if i offended anyone that i shouldn't have. I am sorry.

Use his post (the 3rd down not porkchops) as practice for dealing with mean or rude customers. Water off a ducks feathers. At least there could be some good made out of the negative post. Poor Porkchop rushed to your defense and got an ear full for it. lol It seems your still unclear about his response so you might want to reread it again. He kind of deserves an apology but that's between you two. Goodluck

Shelly, what is your marketing plan for your new spot?

You keep on asking for advice about how to bring customers and you keep on getting told that you need to go out and sell you product. There have been a bunch of posters that have encouraged you to go out and distribute some literature and some copies of you menu.

Have you done any of that?

okay okay let me clarify something here.... I was NOT asking anyone HOW to mkt. my biz. i was merely asking maybe if anyone could give me some sort of a guide of what is normal ($$$$) for just starting. EXAMPLE- did you make under 50.00 over 50.00 well over that on your first few weeks. I just want to know if what i am doing is NORMAL. (and i know everyones answer will be different but it would give me some sort of idea. For those of you that think i was asking how to mkt my biz or anything else... I am not. I apologize if i am being a bother, annoying whatever else. I will try NOT to ask any more questions.

Have a great day.

Shelley

Asking questions are what this forum is all about :)

However asking for amounts of sales or gross is not usually posted on here. I think some will answer you by private e-mail though.

texgrill

I sent you an e-mail Shelly!

quote:

Originally posted by ShellysDawgHouse

If i read anything wrong. I apologize. if i didn't then i again say what i said. anyway, if i offended anyone that i shouldn't have. I am sorry.

You didn't offend me, I was hoping you would reread this and see that I was trying to take up for you but clearly you don't have a clue who said what so to hell with it. Good luck with your business

Porkchop
Again i am really sorry . I don't really understand those little text boxes and now i do. I hope we are all good.

I STRONGLY recommend you get yourself into SBA. You won't find 'normal' income in any form. A person in a mall could make $2000 in a day then lay out $1800 in expenses. A small town operator could pull in $500 on an empty lot an have $100 in expenses, for that day the person in a small town did better than a city mall operator. (these are just example costs). You need a mentor with a good head for the accounting part of your business. Now a days this can be a key part too staying in business. Scribbling down notes on scrap paper and running out to get this or that with out good accounting, will kick you in the end. Many people ask generally about expenses and pricing and this has to be taken into consideration to stay competitive with the food places around you. Business takes looking at what you are making and have in assets and developing a ongoing strategy of marketing, sales and CONTINUING cost analysis.

What your asking for is a personal analysis of your break even. No one on this board will ever be able to supply you with this, because your setup is individual to YOU. A hot dog will sell for different prices around the country. A person in CA maybe happy to hand out $6.00 for a dog and a person on vacation in HI maybe happy to handout $10.00 on a popular beach.

Expectations for the amount of customers coming in will very by location; ie a mall has a stream of walk through s, a cart across from businesses offices can expect office traffic and someone in a rural town may expect local traffic when they find you. Alot of this rolls into the accounting part of your business. Another aspect I will touch on is how 'legal' you are going to keep your business going. Since its a cash business, there can be alot of 'fudging' the books for some people. A long talk with a SBA mentor will iron out alot of your questions and give you alot of direction. Everyone likes to be the owner of their business, but if you don't have a through knowledge of business book keeping, I recommend you grab a financial business person fast. All that for a question of what normal is huh? RJF

We're Good, Just a small misunderstanding. Keep posting I enjoy reading.

thanks all. Oh and by the way...... I did some specials today and had my best day so far!!! (this was only my 9th day)
so i am gonna keep the special going and hopefully...... keep the money rolling.
Sorry again. and thanks to all.

It is so hard trying to find a good system to warm buns. If you have access to electricity you can get a portable steamer. If not you try other methods , but you still run the risk of a soggy bun, or a bun that is just right for a few minutes but then it turns hard as a rock. There of course are the par-baked buns that CSD uses. But they are more expensive than your standard bun. I tried a few times last year of putting the buns over top of the dogs on my grill. It works ok but it is still not the same of the nice warm soft buns that people prefer around here.