Ben Wilson - Hot Dogs Saved My Life!

Your Guide to Hot Dog Vending

By Ben Wilson

The Hot Dog Professor

Smashwords Edition Copyright 2011 BenWilson

All rights reserved. No part of this book maybe reproduced in any form, except for the inclusion of briefquotations in review, without permission in writing from theauthor/publisher.

Dedication

I wish to dedicate this book to all hot dogvendors and, even you, the potential vendor. I know the hot dogvending business can satisfy your income needs in the worst andbest of times. My goal is to provide the most comprehensiveguidance to help you get started, or to help you as you grow yourcurrent business.

I thank my wife, Sabrina, for herencouragement and support, and to Keith, who has been the bestfriend one could ask for. I thank L.A. O'Neil, who workeddiligently to edit and manage this project, which never would havebeen completed without her guidance.

The Hot Dog Professor

From Ben

A Table of Contents allows one to jump tosections they deem important, while avoiding the task of skimmingand scanning over the entire document, thus potentially missingcrucial information. Everyone wants to get to the climax of a book,and I understand. But this book is one big climax! If you areserious about learning this business and you desire successthenread the entire book. Fold pages, take notes, use sticky notes andcreate your own tabs so that you can look back for reference fromtime to time. I promise that you will gain much more than theperson who simply wants to learn only by skimming all of theinformation Im providing in this book.

You've invested your hard-earned dollars toget this information; now lets get it inside that big brain ofyours. By the way, I love that shirt! It really makes your eyespop!

I wrote this all for you, not anyone else,and I will be here to help as you get going.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

After helping thousands of people get startedin this business, hosting webinars, fighting for vendor rights,creating and publishing videos, building hot dog carts and, believeit or not, even running carts from time to time, I have decided tocreate a complete hot dog course. My goal is to give you, thehopeful vendor wannabe, all the tools, tips, tricks, warnings andadvice that I have accumulated.

Experience is the motherof invention knowledge but, with three years of vending, I thankfully admitthat not all of my knowledge is from experience. Fortunately, Ihave had the benefit of some of the most experienced hot dogvendors on the planet. Coupled with my own experience, my effortsand contact with hundreds of other vendors make the perfect recipefor success. Your success!

Yes, I want you to succeed . I want you tocall, write, email or text me with your stories and questions. Thisis why I do it, and its why Im writing to you now.

I have included everything here, so donthesitate to pull out the highlighter, maybe a pen or pencil, andtake notes or even doodle on the pages. I wont get upset. Thiscourse should be used and abused; so, learn as much as you can, andthen keep it handy as your business gets up and running.

Well, thats it, thats my fancyintroduction.

Are you ready? No really, are you ready?

OK, then! Turn the page already!

This page was not intentionally leftblank. If it is, please feel free to grab that pen and highlighteryoure supposed to have ready and give them a spin.

First: Take the pen and write: Ben is sosmart.

Second: Take the highlighter and highlight:Ben and smart.

Third: Smack your gullible selfthis pageaint blank!

Chapter22

The final chapter

Why in the world, would I put the lastchapter of this course right here at the front? Easy. The finalchapter of any book is usually the best, and I want us to start onthe right foot. So, Im putting my best footerchapterforward.

How much can I really make? Are othersreally making it big? What makes this such a great business? Can Ireally do this? Others make this sound so easy, is it? Youreprobably just real lucky and Im not.

Hold on! Wait a minute! Calm down! You haveyour pen/highlighter maybe you need a drink, too! Ill answer allof your questions, so sit back and relax. Im just gettingstarted.

By the way, instead of typing out hot dogvendor or vending all the time, I will use an acronym. A secretacronym to prevent carpal tunnel for me, and carpal eyeball foryou. The secret acronym is HDV. OK. Got it? Good.

The HDV business can be a lifesaver; it canbe what brings you from the brink of financial disaster or fromfinancial ruin to success, giving you independence and propellingyou to bigger and better things. Similar to being a food server,your income is cash. In our business not so much in tips, butdefinitely cash. Most food servers make much more than they report,and the same goes for HDVs. So, I am going to give you realnumbers. HDVs incomes are relative. Relative to where they work,how often they work and their individual skills. Because I talk tovendors daily, and because I am a vendor, I can offer you anaccurate average. Full time vendors working lunch shifts areaveraging $50,000 annually. Some are making less and some aremaking more. I know vendors making well over $100,000 a year fromone cart. But, to make this easier, you know your ability, yourdrive, and your personality. You know if you are happy with thespot making $200 a day, or if $600 is more like it, and so youcontinue looking for that perfect spot.

Later, I will break down all the costs. But,for now, I am going to use the average cost and this includes allcosts: the food, condiments, napkins, propane, ice, etc., etc.,etc.

Thirty-two percent (32%) is a good rule ofthumb. You may be higher or lower, but this will be the mostaccurate for our purposes. Lets say we offer two (2) hot dogs,chips and a soda for $5.00.

$5.00

minus $1.60

Your profit: $3.40 per meal deal.

I always try to find a place where I can doat least one hundred meals a day. This means that after all myexpenses, my net would be $340 based on 100 meals. One hundredmeals are great, but, after awhile, you may desire more. So, youfind that spot that allows you to sell 200 meals a day. $680 iseven better!

Lets see what this does for an annualincome. Now, I am not one of those pie-in-the-sky guys here to blowsmoke up your butt. You and I both know there will be days youcant work; inclement weather, a sick child, neighbors cats havingpuppies, or you have an emergency fishing trip to attend. Mynumbers will reflect an averagenot a hypothetical, superman,alternate perfect universe theory where you can work nine days aweek and your only day off is the second Tuesday of each week.

Lets use twenty days a month as our average.If you live in a cold climate like Northern Michigan or Wisconsin,your work year may require many consecutive days, and then you maytake the winter off. This would be 240 days a year at $340; heck,stop right there! To be on the conservative side, Im going to usehalf the 240 days a year, which is 120 days. If you work 120 daysat $340 a day ($3.40 profit for each meal), and you have an annualnet income of over $40,000. Not bad, huh? What if you sold to 50customers a day, for 240 days a year? Yep, same income $40,000. Iwas just making sure you hadnt fallen asleep.

Now, I can tell by the way you stare at thesebeautiful words, you are not a slackeryou are a go-getter. You arethe one who always goes the extra mile, never satisfied withmediocrity or just getting by. So lets run it up a notch.

One good location, like the location I foundthe second week I started vending (sheltered, available yearround), and although I only worked it 2 days a week, I certainlycould have worked it another day without boring the customers withmy delicious dogs. More on that later. Back to my pointone goodlocation at 220 days a year (see, I just gave you an extra 20 daysoff), with $440 daily in net sales (remember: net sales is yourtake-home profit), is over $96,000 a year.