Slow Smoker BBQ business

Hello all!

I am new to this forums and I would like to thank you in advance for taking the time to read this topic.

I am pit master down in Texas. I have been planning out my entry in the retail foods world selling my BBQ as well as selling my BBQ services for catering. Now I am not trying to sell anything here nor promote, I am just looking for some honest opinions from strangers.

Seeing as I would be new to the scene and currently only my friends and family know the taste of my cooking. I have been toying with the idea of a 6 month program promotion. Something along the lines of $50-$75 dollars flat fee. What that does would cover you for 6 months worth of BBQ based on preferences. Those preferences would be types of BBQ wanted. The BBQ would be shipped 2 day to your door twice a month for the 6 month period. The meat packages would be 1-2 lbs up to 6 lbs depending prefence selection. Now obviously during this 6 month promotional period I would look to get some feedback via the website or return mailer in the packaging. Depending on the turn out and feedback from the 6 months period then I would start main stream and for all those that signed up for the promotional would get some sort of a reward. Maybe a free shipment of food or special coupons only for those folks.

My question to y'all is would this be a promotional program that would interest you? or am I way off the deep end with the idea. Also if you think it is a good ideal but want to add your thoughts please do so.

Thank you again for taking the time to read this topic,
Scott MacFarland

Personally, committing 50 or more dollars for 6 months of BBQ I've never tried is a little like buying a pig in a poke. My recommendation for the catering side would be to hit all of the "taste of..." benefits and festivals you can and let people get hooked starting with a low commitment on their part. If your BBQ is good, word of mouth will spread and then you can start doing mail-order based on that reputation. If you want to get into mail-order right away you might want to hit the "food shows" to see how other people are doing it and possibly sell directly to retailers.

EliseT-

Good ideas, thank you for your suggestion. I am planning on getting out to many of the festivals and cook-offs around texas the remainder of this year.