BENS SECRETS

This is where the fun begins. I am going to share with you my

secrets to making more money and ensuring your success as a
dogger

Lets discuss finding a cart. With just a little detective work you
can find a cart dirt cheap. There are those whom purchase a
cart and for one reason or another, never get up and going.
Some Ive found to be brand new, never used for pennies on the
dollar.

Post a wanted ad on www.Craigslist.org stating your need of a

cheap hot dog cart.

Search www.craigslist.org for carts in your town. Just simply

search hot dog cart.

My favorite site is www.crazedlist.org this is craigslist but

allows you to search multiple cities and states at the same time.
I have found that Firefox web browser works best for this, you
can get it free at www.mozilla.com Search crazedlist for hot
dog cart, you will quickly find many available.

Caution: Always make sure the person you are buying from has
the schematics fancy word for cart plans, drawings. This is a
must for approval by your state health department. Also, if you
can test the cart first even if its new, you will ensure you dont
buy a bad cart. I bought a new cart once, never used, and the
entire underneath of the cart was made of pressed board, kinda
like cardboard. The first trip through the rain and my propane
tank fell thru and on to the highway.

Last but not least, www.eBay.com . They usually have a few

listed.
By far, www.craigslist.org is the best. I have bought carts for as
little as $550, brand new.

However, I would only buy if I have researched who

manufactured the cart.

I prefer buying new: As you know, I manufacture carts:

www.BensCarts.com , but there are many reputable companies
available. To find some, type in www.google.com and search
Hot Dog Cart.

Build your own cart: This is a great way to guarantee that your
cart is exactly like you want it.

I would suggest www.ebay.com and search hot dog cart plans,

or if you really want the best plans on the market, and I have
seen the carts made from these plans. They are step by step and
leaving nothing to chance, including video footage of the build,
then visit, www.buildahotdogcart.com A few bucks here will
save you tons in unnecessary mistakes.

Many people try to sell the idea that the hot dog business is
easy and you can make a fortune!

Well, I am here to tell you, its not easy. Its fun, but it still
requires a lot of work. Now, the fortune part, thats true, you
can truly make a ton of money.

My wife and I work hard, middle of the night gigs and all day
events, hugely profitable, but still work.

Lets get down to business, I want to share with you some of the
fastest ways to turn a normal $300 day into $1000 or more.

Ready? Thought so..

FREE HOT DOGS (I know youve been waiting on this)

Most cities and towns have a local butcher. We have two, within
30 miles of us. Both of these meat processors sell their
products to the local grocery stores. I went to one of these
butchers and told him of my new hot dog cart and how I would
love to advertise on my cart that we only sell XXXXX hot dogs.
He was excited. He asked where we would be setting up and I
told him all over the place. He then blew my mind. He offered
not only a discount, which is what I was looking for, but he
offered me FREE hot dogs. !!! WOW! I kept my excitement
under wraps until I left, but I had just stumbled onto a way to
reduce my overhead, by at least 1/3.

Now I have a cart that says, We proudly serve XXXXXX, hot

dogs All beef XXXXX dogs.

This got me thinking. I figured if it works with dogs, what else

could I do this with.

Our Flowers Bakery Outlet gave me a huge discount, almost

free, on buns.

True story: I met a lady that gets her sodas for free, its a local
soda company in NC.

Can you imagine, 100% profit on all your drink sales!

My favorite money maker: Bottled water!

I went to the next town over and met with the salesman at the
local bottled water company, its just spring water. Well for a
small fee, instead of their water bottles having their name on the
label, I came up with an idea. the light bulb is still glowing from
this one

I went to a local furniture store and told him about my hot dog
cart, I told him how many people we serve and about all the
water we sell. I offered him exclusivity! I gave him the chance
to have his company name with a coupon on the bottled water.

He loved it! We struck a deal. (by the way, the deal covered
100% of my cost of the water plus an extra $345 a month) And I
still havent sold the first bottle. Now as you will soon see,
bottle water will sell even more than your hot dogs off your cart.
This reduced my overhead and got me in the black faster every
day.

Now, think about this:

Sell advertising space on your umbrella.

Sell ads on your printed napkins.

Just one of these ideas will set you apart and make you tons of
money.

Simple secrets, but dont leave them out:

Have a special! If you are serious about making money

and want to earn a great reputation. Create a gimmick, a
simple idea that increases your worth. I have a buddy that
carries about 9 different mustards, thats is gimmick. And
it works. I use my secret Coke Onions, others have a
special sour kraut recipe, or a special hot dog. I know a
guy that uses Certified Black Angus dogs.
Tip jars. My cart makes about $300 a month just off a tip
jar. Not a get rich quick idea, but its 100% free money.
Put a funny sign on the side of your jar: God kills a kitten
every time you dont leave a tip or An angels wings get
clipped if you dont leave a tip or Economic Stimulus
Plan you get the point.

Funny story: Guy named Randy gets a hot dog cart after being
layed off for several months. Being from a small town, his 16
year old son, Brian, was devastated that his dad would be
selling dogs in front of the towns court house. Brian begged
his dad to choose another line of work, one that wouldnt be as
noticeable. Randy refused and instead of naming his cart one of
the millions of available puns available he chose:

Brians Dads Hot Dog Cart

I never heard how this went over with his son, but I think its
hilarious.
My secret Coke and Onion Recipe: So very simple yet it is my
gimmick, it is what they smell, its what brings em back.

I use an iron skillet, add a little vegetable oil to the bottom and
pour in the sliced onions. Not diced, just sliced. As they cook,
add Coke or Pepsi to them, this keeps them from burning but it
caramelizes the onions faster and makes for the best condiment
for a dog ever. It takes about an hour to cook them down, but
you cant mess it up. Its simple.

I offer samples of the onions for those first timers. I get em

hooked and then its all over.
I literally have customers that will drive out of their way to get a
dog with those onions. I believe you could take a dead possum
and make it taste good with those onions.

***Credit*** I must give credit of the onion idea to Biker Jim.

www.BikerJimsDogs.com This successful hot dogger in
downtown Denver, Co serves his wild game dogs, such as Elk
Dogs with this beautiful creation and even tops it with a little
sour cream squeezed out of a caulk gun. What a nice touch.

The extras do sell: If you ever drove by and saw one of my carts
you would find, nice embroidered baseball caps and sunglasses
hanging from chip clips off my umbrella. Dont laugh these little
silent salesman sell themselves and bring in about $1450 every
month in extra income. Visit www.ctswholesalesunglasses.com
and you can buy them one at a time, no minimums and they only
cost about $2.00 each. I sell from $4 to $8. Some more money.

Commissaries? Most people get discouraged when they find

out they have to have one of these. But not you. A commissary
is just a commercially licensed kitchen. Most states require hot
dog vendors to store, prep and clean from here. Its not hard to
get a commissary when you know my little tricks. First, if you
have a friend with a restaurant then you are done. They will
surely let you list them as your commissary.
I use a church, most kitchens in churches have a commercial
license. These kitchens are rarely used and I have never been
turned down by a church.

My pitch: Hello, (Pastor, Restaurant owner, VFW), my name is

Ben, my wife and I have a small hot dog cart that we use to make
our living. The state of __________, requires I have use of a
commercial kitchen to prep my food and clean my pans. Would
you allow us to list you as our commercial kitchen?

Thats it. Now some people go on to say, I probably will never

be here, as I will more than likely clean my pans at home and will
not need storage or prep areas.

Most states require you clean your dishes there, but I know only
a few that actually use their commissaries. Some states allow
you to put a 3 bay sink at your home and a separate deep
freezer.

I always approach my health dept like this:

Hi, we need to get a cart approved for selling dogs. We arent

really going to do this full time, I will buy my products the day I
go out to work and wont need any storage. I also have 4 sinks
on my cart in order to clean up.

This works sometimes, it gives the inspector the impression that

you are small time and it will make them less likely to be hard
nosed with you.

My inspector has always required a commissary, but I sold a

cart to a lady in my same state and she used the lines from
above and her inspector didnt require the commissary.

Also, VFW, Veterans of Foreign Wars, their meeting place

usually has a commercial kitchen, and Ive never gotten a no
from them either.

Now if you are going to need to store food and prep at a

commissary, then just ask. Its pretty easy.
My special chili mixture: My state doesnt allow meat in the chili,
so I must serve a vegetarian chili. I dont advertise the chili this
way, I simply have chili as an additional condiment available.

I found an awesome World Record Chili Cookoff winner chili and

because it is so expensive, I mix it with a brand called
castleburys. This reduces my cost and the chili still gets rave
reviews.

The World record chili can be found at www.chiliman.com you

can order online and ship it to your door. Look for the
vegetarian one, if your state is like mine.

Cotton Candy : You will always find some sweets on my cart. I

found a used cotton candy machine and started bagging my
own cotton candy. $1.00 a bag and its almost all profit.

Lets go over the food costs. Now keep in mind, these are my
numbers, this is what I buy and offer on my cart, you may want
to use it all the same way, but be open minded and offer what
your area desires.

These are my real numbers. I dont know any one that would
share this information but as Ive stated before, I want you to
succeed in the biggest possible way.

This also includes where I buy my products too!

Hot dogs (all beef) Sams Club, 8 to 1s this means 8 dogs

to a pound, comes in a 10 pound box for a total of 80 dogs
for only $18.82 or .24 each
Buns (Sarah Lee) Sams Club 16 to a bag $1.77 or .11 each
Relish (Little Sister) Sams Club 1 gallon $4.46 or .3 each
serving.
Fresh Onions (50 lb bag Sweet) Sams Club $18.00 or .01
each serving.
Ketchup (Heinz) 44oz. bottle Sams Club $3.82 or .02 each
serving
 Mustard (Frenchs) Sams Club 30 oz bottle, .03 each
serving
Chips (Frito-lay Assorted) Sams Club 50 one oz bags
$11.22 or .22 each bag
Candy Bars (assorted brands) Sams Club $12.84 or .43
each
Drinks: Sams Club is my faithful source but I search the
paper for the specials at the local grocery stores.
Sometimes they run these without any limit, so I buy a lot.
Sams Club average is about .32 a can, but by buying all
over I get an average closer to .28 a can.
Napkins (Marathon) Sams Club 4500 for $18.77 thats .004
each. Less than a penny.
Foil Sheets (Bakery & Chefs) 500 for $11.02 or .02 each. I
use foil sheets as they arent as messy and look better to
me than the wax paper sheets.
I dont buy a lot of ice, the only thing I have in ice is my can
drinks. My condiments and dogs are in a cooler with
frozen jugs of water or ice paks. Zero ice cost.
Propane is a true cost, and I have averaged it out to about
.015 per serving. This may be a little high, but its a good
figure to use.

You are probably noticing that those websites that say that you
make about .90 cent out of each dollar, are being misleading. I
saw one recently give costs when tempting you to buy their hot
dog carts, it stated that the average hot dog cost .11 cent. Well I
am sure you might could find a hot dog that cheap, but no one
would want to eat it. It even stated that a meal costs the vendor
.65 cent with drink and chips. This is not true at all.

Use quality stuff, name brands. Dont skimp.

Lets look at how good the profit is, even though these are real
current costs, you can see we still make a bunch of money.

Example: A one dog meal, with chips, condiments, drink and all
your misc. items like foil sheets, ice, propane etc cost me
$1.14 I sell this for $3.75, that is $2.61 profit.
Sell just 150 meals a day, which is a really light day, and you
have made: $390 in profit for about 4 hours of work.

Dont forget, that is before you have used any of my secrets, like
the free dogs and water.

Also, I dont sell 1 dog meals, all my combos are 2 dogs, drink
and chips for $5.00

So it add about $100 more a day.

I get asked all the time: Big Dogs or Little Ones?

According to the national statistics, Americans prefer a 6 inch
dog over all other sizes. Over 80%. This doesnt mean you cant
serve a big dog, just offer both.

I know a guy that sells in front of a discount store. His dogs are
$3.00 each. They are lb. dogs and are delicious. He still
makes about $2.00 after his costs.

What brand of dog should you sell? Well if you are in Florida,
sell Sabretts, in Chicago maybe Vienna. Either way, you should
be aware if your area has a favorite dog. My area really doesnt,
so I asked the local manager at the grocery store. He said his
number one brand sold was an All Beef Dog by Nathans. I did
some research and sell the Sams Club brand on 2 carts
because it is just LIKE Nathans.

Location that pay off:

Big Lots
Auto Parts Stores
Huge landscaping centers
Tractor Supply or Co-op.
Flea Markets are huge money makers if you can get in.

How I get FREE locations:

To store manager: Hello, my name is Ben, my wife and I have a

small hot dog cart that we use to support our family. Next week
we are going to be set up at ______________ and would like to
know if next Tuesday you would like us to offer dogs to your
customers. I have never gotten a no. Remember: Dont ask
for permission, like Can we set up our hot dog cart here? I
make them feel like Im doing them a favor.

how would you like us to See the difference.

I also dont go if they want to be paid. Your cart will actually

help them. So, dont pay for a spot like that. Once you get your
foot in the door, take the employees and manager a free lunch.
Then find out what that stores busiest days are. These are my
part time locations. I only set up on the busy days.

My cart and I are somewhere else on their slow days.

Lowes and Home Depot: I personally dont set my cart up at

these spots. Both companies have a 3rd party that manages the
vendors. This company has a ton or hoops for you to jump
through and then get some of your money in way of rent.

I know many doggers that are set up at these places and love it.
So if you have lots of patience, then take it on. Its almost as
good a spot as you can find.

My back up plan: You may have already heard this story from
me, but when I got my first cart, I was up the creek or so I
thought. I set up in town and quickly found out that our town
does not allow street vendors of any type period! Not even on
private property.

This got my brain a clicking. The Solution: Went and talked to

the Human Resources lady at a local factory. She informed me
that her 3rd shift employees must bring their lunch or they have
to buy from the snack machines, because the cafeteria is not
open. She was excited to have us come. She announced it and
we were there: from 11PM to 1:AM we served hot dogs, and my
gosh what a response, after only 2 days we made nearly $1000.
Actually it was $945.
So we set up to come every Tuesday and Thursday. Could have
done it 7 days a week, but I cant handle the hours.

I have tried other factories, they all do great. Even if they have a
working cafeteria, the employees love a change, so if you find a
factory, consider doing it a couple times a week.

Did you know some states like Florida, dont allow food to be
served if smoking is allowed in the bar.? Did you know that in
one night at a bar with your hot dog cart you can make over
$1,000?
Well its true. I know several people that only run their carts at
night at bars. The bar owners love it, because when their
customers get hungry, instead of leaving, they just walk outside
and get a hot dog. Most doggers only work ladies night, Friday
and Saturday. 3 Days a week from 10:PM to 2:AM and make
over $100,000 a year.

Private School becomes a cash cow. A teacher on her way back

to school stopped at my cart one day and got lunch. We got to
talking and she explained that the school doesnt have a
cafeteria and that the kids have to bring lunch or they have one
place they order food from and go pick it up. She asked if Id be
willing to bag up some meals if they ordered from me once a
week. I said yes.

About 2 weeks later, we were serving over 100 meals to this

school once a week. They would send someone to us and pick
up the lunches.

Want some more money?

As you increase your cash flow, you will be able to get

additional carts up and running. Once you get one set up and
making money at a location, advertise the cart for lease or for
sale. You can sell a cart that is set up and running and licensed
and making money to someone for about $10,000. No joke, see
there are those people out their that would rather buy a
McDonalds franchise for 1 million than to risk starting their own
restaurant, and I understand this.
You will have created an income producing business that
someone will want to purchase without having to do all you did
to get it up and running.

Leasing is the best money ever. Get a cart up and running and
advertise it. All they have to do is get bonded and they can
lease your cart that is already making money daily. I charge
anywhere between, $100 and $125 a day. There is a guy in
Tampa Florida that leases his for $150 daily and he has over 10
carts going out daily. Do that math! Leasing a cart is easy also,
there are many people out their that are struggling and need to
make a good living. You can find the right one, be patient,
screen each one of them.

Bottom line, find a lucrative location and rent it out.

If you decide to lease out a cart, I would have an attorney draw

up a contract for you and your lessee.

Make sure it has a non-compete agreement in the contract.

Make sure it requires they carry their own insurance and/or are
bonded.
Give them a list of rules that you require. Cleanliness,
appearance etc

The commissary business:

I have never included this with my Secret Report, it has always
extra money. In a minute you will see why this simple system
can make you a bunch of money.

There are many people out there that want into the hot dog
business but are worried about finding a commissary. Well what
if you provide this necessary requirement for a small fee.
Already, there are commissaries being advertised on craigslist
for hot dog cart owners to use and enjoy. With about $3000 to
$5000 you could turn an existing room into one of these:
This one has 3 bay sinks not pictured, food prep and wash
areas, a stove for cooking, deep freezers, and a few other
features. You can even have room for them to store their cart
when not in use.

Some are charging $100 a month for a commissary, others $300.

If someone stores their cart there also, $500 to $700 a month
could be easily obtained. I wouldnt get greedy. 50 doggers
paying you $100 a month is $5,000 a month or $60,000 a year.

I heard one guy offers to clean your pans and get your cart
ready for the next time you need it. Smart!

That is my least favorite part of the business. Cleaning up.

Well now you can see how easy it is to make awesome money
from a hot dog cart. I wish you the best of luck and if I can help
you along the way, please feel free to email or call me.

Ben
865.446.0660
[email protected]