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How Much $$$ Do Festival Food Trucks Make?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ส.ค. 2024
- So, should I buy a food truck to sell at a local festival, or do something else? In this video I go over the situation with food trucks and selling food at local festival(s) and the profit potential they have, along with liabilities and pitfalls.
More than anything I want to talk about potential ideas with you all to see what fun and interesting concept I could come up with, because that sounds pretty cool, right?
I have laundromats down to a science. If you want to do laundromats as well click the link:
investmentjoyt...
Hey guys! Thanks for watching, two requests : tell me what you think of audio and video quality, and then what kind of business should I consider for next year's festival.
did put Health Department food permits on the cost I know her in Illinois you got have that to serve food
@@evileyemcgaming they're around $25
In my town in QLD Australia we do the goomeri pumpkin festival once a year we don't get 400K people but we do get up to 20K people as it's only a 1 day thing
[retired? Studio/recording engineer, active? musician(multi-instrumentalist)...VERY active pro songwriter, now].... Your audio was exceptionally good, clear...well narrated. Video was good/clean...not much clutter or anything unnecessary. The "storyline" was straight-forward and seemed well thought out. Overall, very good job, in my opinion. Only things missing were aerial views, a local geo map of location/surroundings, local events (other than "pumpkin fest"), that would give viewers MORE reasons to visit there, etc I'd say your vid did the job, more than adequately. Good work !!! ---Doug, Florida (a.k.a. "Crossbow", BMI), formerly ASCAP.
Don't half ass it if you do food. Lazy fair food makes me sad lol look at the insane stuff they are doing these days at state fairs like Minnesota and Texas to get inspired. You will make so much more with something interesting.
Or, it could be fun to set up a pumpkin Gallagher area. Ten bucks or something to put on goggles and a smock and smash a pumpkin with a sledgehammer. *Edit* er you know, a big wooden mallet.* Donate the guts to a food bank or something like that. Or another record breaking pie to draw more business...
Oh or a big platform staircase set up lol let people walk to the top and chuck their pumpkin onto a big bullseye haha you would get so much attention. Especially if it was all scooped up each time and sent to the giant pie project. That could be huge.
I keep thinking about this. One of those mechanical platform cherry picker things. That what you use. It's like a ride going to the top, get a good view of the fair, less liability issues with people walking up and down stairs and way easier to set up. No covid goggle smock shared mallet issues... You could do twenty bucks a pumpkin, have them put on a harness and clip them in. Send a few up at a time or two to keep Six feet distance... Could be a centerpiece to the whole fair. If it's all framed as trying to set a new world pie record too, it could be a big hit. Maybe a couple bucks a pumpkin goes to a local charity?
I know a guy back in the 80s that set up an "traveling arcade" in a semi trailer. He was a local guy that owned a brick and mortar arcade (actually 4 plus rented and serviced amusement equipment) and he absolutely cleaned up at local fairs and events...
Needs something that fills a gap and if drawing from his existing biz the trailer is excellent idea. Maybe a unit from his trailer park if economical viable transport or portable marquee? The truck trailer is also very good idea 👍
He could also fit out the arcade machines in Pumpkin theme. Pumpkin pac-man great idea if possible?
I put his kids through college myself 😂
Is that me at 9:28 👀
Me and my friends had a good time talking to you and what advice you gave us about everything.. this man is truly the best!!
your boys got that broccoli hair
@@hijinxignatius I always clown them bout it lol
An interesting one that was done at our local festival was a car smash. Buy cars that are being sold for scrap, then let people spray paint them or smash them with types of hammers and tools. People pay more depending on how long they go or what tool they use. Having them sign waivers and use safety equipment helps with some liability issues and at the end the cars still scrap for the same value of metal. They made some really good money off of this and their only net cost was the safety gear, paint, and a fence rental for around the car.
Launch pumpkins at cars? Themes it with the event
This actually seems like a really cool idea. Not even necessarily at a festival but if you had a spot that was yours in a busier area, literally draw out or make some huge signs and do the car thing out by the road let people know what's going on and I'd bet they'd stop just to beat up a car
They did this for the festival at my school back in the day. It was $3 for 2 minutes I believe.
I've seen schools do this during homecoming. Paint it in the the opposing teams colors. The school donates a dollar per swing and raises money for some event.
Big liability. He would have to remove the glass, remove the oil, gas, transmission fluid coolant etc. then make sure there aren’t sharp metal edges after the smashing..bad idea.
One of my friends used to have a food business that traveled between fairs/events in the state during the summer and fall. He had a partner and after five+ years of running it profitably he sold his share to his partner. His summary of the situation: Great business for a single owner - you could make a living off a handful of events each year if you managed it yourself, plus it gave plenty of downtime to generate income from other sources.
I’ve had a New Orleans style snowball trailer. I didn’t have to be concerned about food spoilage, no heated surfaces, etc. It was a cash printer. Ice, syrup, and cups. All that’s needed.
What could you make
@@Shadseaweed
Hundreds an hour. Biggest expense is sugar. But the best snowballs are with shaved ice, not the chipped crap. But serious money to be made.
Had? If it was a cash printer, where is it now?
@@bryanpearce4440
I’m old and have moved on. Someone bought it several years ago and is rocking it still today. I’m into other things now.
This is one festival I’ve been trying to get into as I too am ohio born and raised. I run a shaved ice trailer and we do very well during the summer and are always looking to expand so I have a lot of knowledge in this market . Since I also run a landscaping company it makes it hard to run lots of shows in the summer and it’s better if I can get into the better shows and cut out alot of the shows with little profit . Over the years I’ve become wise to which ones work and ones that don’t. Thanks so much for sharing! Love watching your content
Here in the UK my brother and I converted a small (most importantly cheap) horse trailer to sell mini doughnuts, coffee/hot chocolate and panini's. We make a killing at local events like car shows football matches and concerts. You cant go wrong with simple food, the mark up's are really high selling maybe 10p worth of ingredients for £2.50 cant be beat. Of course you do have to diversify some in the summer months when its hotter but that's what double sided signage is for just take it out the frame and flip it around then your selling lemonade and ice cream.
can u help me out plz. I’m from the uk wanting to open a food truck business too.
What are the costs and legalities with the business?
The highest markups without risk of throwing out food are lemonade, pickles, and fried dough (zeppoles/ funnel cakes). Selling meat on a slow rainy day could cost you by throwing out unsold inventory.
Yes but you don’t need to sell fried foods such as what you’re saying you are always going to have spoilage but when you look at the price per item versus price sold you’re still ahead of the game. . And if you’re lucky and you don’t get rained on one day you’re gonna make a lot of money Trust me I know how much it rainy day doesn’t bring in but it still brings in some money that still covers the Permit and coast of goods
BBQ lasts longer than 1 day.
I think it would be awesome if you developed a novelty food item to sell. I say novelty because the wackier, the more instagrammable it is. Say you develop a pumpkin sundae with wacky toppings and serve it out of small pumpkins. It’s a dessert that would get people talking and posting with a photo of it to their feeds. Any product where you can create hype and take over more of the food market because people will seek you out since they’ve seen it posted online by their friends. There are so many good vendors there so it would be really interesting to watch you develop a product that stands out and create hype around it. It would also be awesome to develop a modern, clean brand around it because people love those right now!
Examples of novelty food items would be: rainbow bagels, charcoal ice cream, bubble waffles, rolled ice cream, etc any food product that takes a wacky spin on itself to create hype and marketability around it.
First, I'd MIX the pumpkin theme with a fall/autumn theme... It's cool in Ohio, now... Lived in Illinois (26 years)... Our group boiled unhusked corn on the cob (county fall/autumn fair), peeled the shucks back and dipped in already hot melted butter, added salt if desired, and handed it to customer(s)...made a TON of $$$ ... easy work. SECOND, in Texas, we sponsored a regional live music talent contest (with a new theme every year), for musicans to perform live...no cash prizes, but trophy/ribbons and bragging rights...local paper did advertising and followed up with the event results (winners and the usual story/photos). A lot of people in various music genres (bluegrass, country, rock, blues, etc) showed up for it...we continued the tradition every year after that. (Retired, now...in Florida). Hope this helps... Happy Holidays !!!
Sounds like mendota’s sweet corn fest
In Australia I went to a festival this old guy was cleaning up on cash best idea I've seen he had a see through box with a $100 dollar note inside and it was padlocked he had a bucket with at least 200 keys in it u had to pay $5 and u get to pick out 3 keys to see if it would open the lock to win the $100 smart old guy if u did it there u would make alot like he did mate just a idea for u to think about :)
Did you get to keep the keys
You could do a photo booth with props. it pretty much meets all your criteria. you could go as low or high tech you want. you could stand there and take the photos or get a photo booth machine so its automatic.
even better, market it as a selfie studio, no cost of a photo booth, just props and backgrounds
I've done seasonal-themed mall kiosk and festivals in the past. It's a lot harder to make really good money than most people think for several reasons.
Here's a few.
Inventory. If you buy to little you leave money on the table and you can severely limit profits.
If you buy to much what do you do with any leftovers?
Competition. If you have a really good idea that you like then you can bet that literally 1,000s of other people had the same idea. If a dozen of them show up with the same idea....You get the picture.
Labor. Festivals in small towns tend to suck up all the available local Labor. Plan on bringing in ALL the labor you'll need. That can be costly and a nightmare to handle.
The list goes on and on.
My suggestions are:
1. Do something your already involved in.
ART. If you're an artist then sell artwork. I knew a lady that did wood cutout Christmas decorations. She worked all year and booked 4 festivals in the fall.
How about FACE PAINTING?
PHOTOS? If your a photographer set up a photo booth. You probably have most of the basic equipment you need. (Just be sure to get a purpose built printer.)
I know and old guy that got into bee keeping. Sells honey at one or two festivals a year. He then sells any remaining inventory wholesale to other vendors on a commission style arrangement.
2. Do something that other people can't or won't due because it's hard to set up or is seen as having a bit of risk.
Here is a few things I like.
ATMs. A couple of machines mounted on a trailer. They need to be placed in the middle of everything. No real inventory risk.
VENDOR supply. Find something you can supply for other vendors. How much profit does the guy make who wholesales ice make?
What if you partnered with a guy who had a bottled water business?
PACKAGE STORAGE. People buy things on impulse and get tired of dragging them around. How far is it to their parking space? So operate a short-term storage service.
What if a vendors sells a item too large to carry?
He needs to get it out of his booth but doesn't want to leave. He calls you and you show up with a handcart/wagon/trailer and provide transport to the customer's car. Think about it- the vendors are actually selling your service for you AND actually paying you themselves.
(Hey, I understand. You don't want to carry it all day. What if I can get a guy to come right now and take it to your car for you?)
WAGON AND STROLLER RENTAL/WHEELCHAIR RENTAL. pretty self- explanatory. But more for someone to do multiple festivals.
TRACK-LESS TRAIN- Another multi event idea that I have always loved.
Think different and off the wall.
I think a concession stand will probably be a good thing here, maybe have one "headline" bonkers pumpkin-based food, like deep-fried pumpkin bars, and then sell other, familiar, "sane" foods that still use a deep fryer, like chicken nuggets, corn dogs, fries/wedges, and whatnot.
Costco has bulk frozen chicken nuggets, wedges, fries, onion rings, mozzarella sticks and others … a mix of those and a couple of deep fry units …. Of course several cases of different sodas, bottles juices like snapple and a couple plain/flavored water options is alll you need for a relatively easy and quick food booth setup … we’ve done similar based on last minute requirements at middle school events and it’s always worked out well … the money has always been great because of the 4-600% margins on the food with Costco membership …
As for the audio/video....perfect. As a food stand owner here in PA, I can tell you that I always avoid these things with food. Not because of the work, but because (at least in this area) the event organizers ALWAYS take a percentage of sales and a food business uses debit cards which is easily reportable. Whereas a game stand (something specifically where people toss coins or place bills) is far easier to "creatively report" your income to the event organizer. It also is far less overhead and doesn't require food inspections, licenses, and SERVSAFE. That all being said, my personal thinking is the parking lot. But consider a small pop-up to sell water bottles, cheap umbrellas or ponchos, cheezy hats, and at the end of the night those glowing neon necklace things that the kids always want. If you really feel ambitious, maybe some sort of shuttle back and forth or even better, offer a valet service for an upcharge and use a golf cart to get your driver back and forth. Just some of my thoughts.
Easy solution, do not accept debit/cc for anything! There’s not a state law requiring it
Locker rentals. Buy a few banks of used coin operated lockers. People can stash their carnival wins, coats, etc with virtually no labor cost other than set up and take down.
Hey second comment bc I was able to watch the video now. But one my trailer was in your video which was pretty cool just in a couple background shots but still cool to me to see that. An another thing is that depending on what you do make sure of two things first that you have a spot to put your idea bc if you don’t then you would of spent the money for no reason. An two have a good product if it’s food something people would wanna try like there obviously something pumpkin would sell pretty good but it also depends on where you are. Bc in the future I’m hoping to be able to move my trailer to a different location an then I fell confident my food would sell very well but bc of the spot I had this year it didn’t go that well for me. Just a couple thought from someone who stumbled upon your video an also had a trailer there. Hope this helps an good luck
Very nice "Insert Here" on the title card
I worked the carnival at my kids school 6 years in a row. The games every one loved were the pitching game with the stack of bottles that you knock down. The bowling ball game were you push the ball over the hump and hope it doesn't come back over. And the last one was the spin to win where you spin a large disk and try to land on a color. I've seen others at different carnivals that I liked. A pitching game like the dunk booth but instead of falling in water, you get hit in the face with a pie tin filled with whipped cream. All of these, you can make yourself and don't forget a cancelation prize for the losers, usually a tattoo, toy ring or candy.
Great video. I would love to see a simple food concession. I live in a rural area and we have a lot of festival/street fairs. All of which have food concessions.
Thanks for the vids!
I think the best advice I could offer off the top of my head is "What isn't being done by enough other people that would be profitable?"
It's already been mentioned :- Snowcone concession stand, perhaps with a coffee/hot drink combined.
Popcorn ( huge profit,from my memories running cinemas years ago).- Using multiple flavours/heritage corn types will add interest !
For oddity/novelty have a " stupid answers to any question stand" - Get colourful local characters (odd guys from outside the local store?) to answer the public's questions (charity donation for each fee?). - No real cost and will attract lots of customers to the rest of your selling points.
I actually used to work for a concessions company and was in the process of buying into a partnership with them but other ventures took me elsewhere. Food is where it is at if you don’t plan to do this full time. Trailers are fairly inexpensive and since you are fairly handy you could build your own with an enclosed trailer. We had a couple and you never would of known they were homemade because we took the time to build them right. I would love to provide any advice or tips on getting started. If you would be interested I can reach out via email and help you out. Our tour was in the Midwest so I am pretty familiar with festivals out there. Good luck!
Brandon - Here's an interesting business.
When I was in college, there was this older guy that sold bagels out the back of his van. He'd pull the van up across from the popular bars, pull out the hotdog style cart where he would kind of grill the bagels and put a ton of toppings on them. I think they were around $4 or $5. The guy would just have a good time chatting with people. There was always a line of young adults waiting. I think he just did it friday and saturday night for a few hours. He did this for 30 years iirc so it had to make some money! I don't think he got rich off it, but I think he did very well.....selling bagels out the back of an older van!
I live in southern Illinois. We had a guy who would sell bagels outside bars in Carbondale on the weekends. He would bring in business to whatever bar he decided to set up at outside. He ended up making a deal to set up with local bars on different nights to help bring in business.
There's a guy in our town centre (not sure if he's still there, though) who used to sell mini doughnuts for something like £1 for a bag of 5. He made them fresh, right in front of you. He was quite popular. There's also another guy who sells pork and stuffing rolls. He's quite popular, too.
I liked the visual quality, sound and content of the video! 👍 As for an idea I think you should do like a big pumpkin shaped coffee shop since it's a main attraction already. People love coffee and hot cocoa and pumpkin spice. Plus you could also offer other variations of pumpkin spice in almonds, seeds, & popcorn!? Haha just an idea.
Definitely a carnival game. Limited supplies needed, no food handler permits, need less employees, etc.
“He made $2,000 dollars and that was 1991. Today with inflation, that’s like 20 Grand!!!”
Love it 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Food vending. 30+ years ago I ran a concession booth for a guy. I would regularly have $1400 or more cash a day selling cotton candy, sodas, candy apples, popcorn, etc... and that wasn't even at the county fairs. Labor skill isn't that specific for a food booth. Cleaning is the biggest thing. buy supplies/prep in the morning, sell sell sell until close, then clean, clean clean. I'm oversimplifying of course. Oh, and I'm in SW PA.
With the food truck, you'd need to sell foods that nobody else has. With a festival that big, it might be difficult. The movie 'chef' gave me the idea of hiring a few experienced chefs, to sell gourmet food at a high cost (but would be worth it for the customers hopefully).
Skill games, I probably wouldn't do. People knows that they're either rigged, or really difficult, and gets turned off by them. If you can come up with something unique and new, might be worth a go.
You could probably hire someone you trust to do the infrastructure, while you work on something else.
At the last location I lived at, we had a descent-sized festival called the apple festival. I helped the local radio station setup booths. They gave away promotional items, like pens, stickers, etc. And did contests, to win stuff like HD radios. I can see you do something like that as well. Would be a good way to promote your businesses and youtube channel.
Your love of low-labor business makes me wonder if there would be a market for Japanese style vending in the US. People always marvel at it, but I've never seen anyone actually try to do it.
Perhaps in conjunction with an unmanned fuel station, which seem to be taking off in my area.
Shave ice cart! I have a cousin that has 2-3 of them at local breweries for the summer June-mid September and he does 80-100k a cart.
Pumpkin Spike Coffee stand....1 flavour, 1 size.....cash only.....Gold Mine!
Not sure if its worth it or would sell, but Cousins lobster truck of Maine travels! Lobster rolls! Profit might be good. They maybee can even park at a car wash! The best I ever had was smoked brisket. I got a small amount for a fundraiser so i bought two. You could serve that with spaghetti squash cooked properly! :)
Hnad out coupons for the car wash, or car wash napkins!
Great job on this video Brandon! Always wondered how profitable rides were.
Sounds crazy but Yorkshire Pudding wraps with a roast dinner inside. Can be sold from a truck and goes well with a pint.
Could make decent cash with extras etc....
Most Americans don't know what Yorkshire Pudding is, let alone putting it in a wrap.
You should invest in a cotton candy machine, I’m pretty sure there might be a few people out there with one. But $2-$3 a stick, can bring in a lot of money.
not to mention the up front cost of a ride is astronomically high. thats why rides are usually provided to fairs by whats called shows. they bring the rides games and most of the food trucks
I have friends that have a food truck at fairs and carnivals in the NorthWest. It’s their main source of income. Lemonade and corndogs is the only thing they sell and it’s done very well for them.
Add some vending machines on your carpark running from generators. Setup a food tent with pre packaged food like those you would see in vending machines. Plus include pre packaged ice cream. Keep it simple and easy so you can serve customers fast and hassle free.
Audio is good. #4. Gachapon stand! Japanese-style vending machines with small, high quality toys. Low overhead, staffing costs. Could get themed gachapon-anime, animals, sports...just about anything. And you love your vending machines! If I had the money, I'd open a gachapon shop in Las Vegas. ☺ Or have a coin pusher stand with junky toys that sit on the coins-sure winner. You're welcome.
We've been talking about doing a baked potato truck and offer the standard toppings (sour cream and chives) at the lowest price, mid grade price would add a couple of cheese and bacon bits, but then also offer things like pulled pork or chili at a higher cost. We would make potatoes, chili and pulled pork ahead of time and keep in oven, Nesco or crockpots to be able to sell a lot fast, because we have been to these events and find that we often go to the truck with the shortest lines. So finding things that don't take as much labor to get people the food would be best. Also we have noted that making sure you sell bottled water or canned soda is a benefit as people are willing to pay $1 or more for something that only cost us $.25 or $.35 - and again no labor to make.
Honestly parking the cars is king no liability easy money and very low cost on labor. You could also do the food truck such as corndogs and fries and maybe funnel cakes. Obviously figuring out the supply and the numbers behind all of that is what really matters. People will come and eat thats a guarntee its just what type of food do people want. I would suggest looking into what type of food gets eaten the most at festivals all throughout the coutry and then figure out what type of food to sell. Thats just my input and I have so many more ideas and thoughts that could go into this. I have honestly thought about doing this myself but you know money is the main factor on me not being able to do it. Feel free to reach out to me if you want.
A great thing would be to sell drinks. Soda, water things like that. Any extra you can put in the machines.
I think selling different homemade sweets would be great. I mean with pumpkins you think of Halloween, and kids love sweets as much as the adults. But I think the sweets should be comforting or unique rather crazy and over the top. Potato candies. Homemade crunch bars. Chocolate/vanilla/strawberry covered pretzels. Honey glazed walnuts. Caramel popcorn. Simple but still fun!
You can also turn some of your acreage into campsites for camping...Glamping...lol.Airbnb some nice tents , etc... you asked for some ideas in the video. I don't know how else to help.
All things Pumpkin Pie! All different kinds of pumpkin pies, slices or whole. All prepackaged could be sold frozen or warm. Take future orders sent to purchasers home.
This was a no brainer for me I absolutely love pumpkin pie! As good if not better than egg nog! My wife keeps trying to make different kinds of pumpkin pie,bars,fluff, whatever. My fav is plain ol pumpkin pie!
You can sell unique fried foods.bottled water.festival t shirts with custom designs.
Food truck can make high dollar returns...
The refrigeration could be a challenge...
Storing that amount of food prior to but having it at hand in order to sell...
You might need a portable storage needing a semi or reefer... depending on your menu
I would stay away from anything needing any preparation prior to being on site...
Consider 1 feature item...
here are several unique foods you want to be 1 of a kind selections you could make...
Jell-O shots. Can be easily prepared, cheap to make, easy to sell to every floozy in town.
In the UK Food or prize games!!! Steak Burgers and hotdogs!!! The mark up is insane 5 days you will be rolling in it !
Easy. Outrageous huge pumpkin desert with a flavored cream all over it. Cinnamon sugar will be required. Or do something traditional and easy. BBQ roasts, put them on a slicer. Sandwiches with pickled pepper rings and BBQ sauce. High quality for a lower cost. Buy big rolls! That's inside. Sell sodas, snacks, ANYTHING from a booth on your own land.
3 parking spaces for a booth will bring more value than 3 vehicles sitting there .
Also, rent a space to another vendor who couldn't get into the main event. Be careful, you get too successful, the main festival will get pissed.
The hanging game always interests me, a person pays "$10" to try and hang on a bar for set amount of time in the hopes of winning "$100"!! i see some that are rigged and have bars that rotate to make it harder. but its a simple game for people to test their strength and overall risk/reward is really good!!
They all spin. That’s what makes it difficult. There is no motor but the bar sits on bearings. Your body weight is what spins it.
I think a food truck would be best. If mobile you can take to other festivals within an hour of the area too. Also just spit balling on an idea suited for you would be to buy a few ATMs you could setup in the area. Very low employee costs and you get paid for providing money. Also could then turn around and setup in your businesses throughout the year.
One thing I have done for a food booths is I did a snack truck so in my state if you don't make food you don't make food Handel's license and stock cost is low with high return and with this the younger generation are great employees expressly the one need summer jobs
Since it is a pumpkin festival you got a link to it . Like a Starbucks styled drink with an upside option. Second would be a food, like a old style pumpkin pie. With options for toppings.
I went to that festival a couple of weeks ago. I just moved up here to Ohio. I'll look for you next year 😂
might sounds kinda dumb but pumpkin smash or toss charge 20 per pumpkin mayne offer different ways like bat hammer just need to hire 1 employee and buy pumpkins at wholesale maybe offer it in combination of selling pumkins to a catapult would be nuts
I would imagine having 10-20 beverage tents equally dispersed with water bottles and/or 3-10 varieties of pop/seltzer products in tubs of ice serviced by a couple of carts from a truck refrigeration unit would make you a bunch of dough...with next to no prep/clean up/ingredients/other machines involved....
Sell ice cream treats like ice cream
Sandwiches etc.
All you need is a large freezer and some one
To run the booth. Pre packaged is the way to go
Pumpkin ice cream stand that looks like a big candy corn
Or line up some larger pumpkins like bowling pins. Charge to have people fling a hula hoop and ring a pumpkin. Hoop must land flat. It's all in the positioning of the pumpkins😉
One thing to keep in mind when it comes to festivals, are fees. There are some organizations that require you to pay daily dues or a percentage of sales, on top of any permit costs. Things you have to worry about with food, inventory. You don't want to buy tons of stock if this is a one off deal, have a slow weekend, and be left with 200 lbs of product because the weekend is shitty. You're also going to have to worry about some sort of uniforms, food safety, training, and shrinkage. You're also going to have to compete with what is already out there, so you really can't double up on a French Fry booth. Popcorn is a HUGE money maker, and relatively easy to do, but almost every festival has at least one popcorn/kettlecorn trailer. Off the top ideas, sell just bottled beverages and undercut prices. If places are selling a bottle of water for $2, sell it for $1.75 (you have the spare quarters), bottled soda $3.50? Sell for $3.25! Excess inventory can then go back into your vending machines. Another idea, since it's getting colder out at night, how about a coffee and hot cocoa trailer? Moms like their pumpkin spice lattes, kids like their hot cooca!
Quality of your videos is always great, Let's Go Brandon!
Great audio and video
Gosh it may be TOO SIMPLE, but a food/drink VENDING MACHINE. just an extension cord, some space and keep refilling that puppy. To NOT wait in a long line, be able to open/close your drink. Couldn't you transport out one of your good machines for a long weekend, especially if a business it is at is closed or slow? :) love the channel man! My son is HOOKED!
Candy or ice cream are really great margin items. Also custom drinks, coffee etc
Our annual fair has a bingo tent and it’s always packed.
There's a lot more to it than that Brandon. The risk is huge to food vendors. $400-$600 may be for each 10'x10' space. Don't forget lodging for trained staff, and they gotta eat. How much of a percentage does the event get of my sales? One rain storm can ruin your whole week. And so much more.
0, everyone is local, as I said in the video, I and my staff lives here
Good point - I didn't think about bad weather. Or if your town cancels events due to this like Covid.
Hi Brandon, at our fair we have a two stand. One that does $1 bottle water, $1 snow cones & $1 cotton candy. The second is a popcorn stand $3 small, & $5 large. They both make a killing. I wouldn't do the snow cones because of your weather this time of year. But Bottle Water, Cotton Candy & Popcorn should do good at any event like yours. All your products would be cheap and you could hire just about anyone to run it because it's so simple.
You could do mini donuts. They are really popular down here in South Carolina. They sell a dozen for $4-$5 and have different topping to choose from. The machines that make them cost around
$800 and all you gotta do is drop in the batter and the machine does the rest.
At an event that big i would run 2 or more lines with a donut making machine at each one
I'm from Marietta, and if things go right I really want to do the stern-wheel festival but it's $1,100 just to get in.. but I'm sure that's just a drop in the bucket to what can be made that weekend
I live close enough to the Franklin County Fair Grounds to know during a normal year they host atleast two events per week. They used to have different events during different hours daily. That was frustrating because you could smell the food trucks but maybe not access them.
The Franklin County Fair Grounds are in Hilliard. Nearby them is a place that host conferences and special events. Main Street for Hilliard is located between the two. Hilliard has Food Truck days weekly in the Spring and Summer. During these days Main Street is filled with food trucks.
Hilliard host events that are not on the Franklin County Fairgrounds a few times a year. They are held in parks, on Main Street, in Church parking lots, and a few more locations. They all have food trucks. Farms also host events and some times are open to food trucks and rides. Probably the only time of year a food truck can't find an event is Jan and Feb. There are events from March through December.
Unrelated to that. The laundry mat off of Main Street has been flooded every time I tried to visit. Not with people. Water pouring out the front door. I haven't been there in a couple years but some people without transportation were giving up and going to the Cleaners a couple blocks away. I always wonder about that laundry mat when I see your videos.
Homemade apple cider would be cool. A booth that sold donuts and apple cider. That's a really popular fall treat. I mean u dont have to make it homemade. U could partner with a local cider mill. But u would make more money by making it homemade. But that's my idea
Foot long corn dogs dipped in home made batter and strawberry lemonade or regular lemonade
Have you heard of Corn Dogs on a stick - well now you heard of Pumpkin Dogs !!!!!!
Buy yourself a popcorn cannon or two. The sound is a big draw and you can do puffed rice and wheat and a few other grains. Add some shakers with flavored toppings and bingo!
Thank you for sharing
I make and sell handmade jewelry at festivals, we do well with it but make each piece on the spot as we sell them
Could do a ping pong ball toss game. $10 for 50 ping pong balls and $25 for a dozen plastic ivy bowls, set them up on a table and charge people for a set amount of throws. If they make it in 1 then give them some kind of prize
You could do something like inflatable baseball bats as a prize. They're $15 for 12 and once someone wins 1 they stand out in a crowd so other kids who see it will want to try to win one too.
Quality for both were good and number 2 option for me but u could also do like a kids thing such as face painting or something else like where people could make their own mini pie and pick it up later
pumpkin fritters Turkey legs and sweet potato fries Anything to do with fall but the easiest thing to do Make sure It's fried.
Audio and Video quality was great, I'd suggest that a food truck is your best opportunity if you can find competent cooks since cooking is not apparently one of your strengths. Find a talented cook and provide them with the equipment for them to show case their culinary skills!
Stay away from food. Way to much hassle.
Drop some soda/water machines in the area. Charge accordingly for the festival.
I can tell you that selling food at a festival. Is where it’s at . Are used to sell food in New York City at a festival at the time and it’s not that hard all you need is a propane tanks A generator ice coolers or a Pepsi or coke plug-in cooler your set . But if you want maximum your money you have your kids or nieces and nephews their with you you make good money
A van that sells drinks e.g. Tap beer and post-mix soda/pop, the mark up on that stuff is nuts normally
At a place near me they do a pumpkin drop. They rent some boom lifts and spray paint targets on the ground. Boom lifts are kind of sketchy for the general public as they do require harnesses. Personally I would look at using scissor lifts. They are going to be safer and harnesses aren’t required.
lol you be doing some of everything. Keep hustling!
Some sort pumpkin flavour quick eat in hand snack,like pumpkin fritters and just do quick easy food like chilli cheese fries and jot dogs nothing special but something everyone loves
Mmmm punkin.... love it... i need to come down and see these punkins
Portable arcade so like a trailer with coin pusher and some grabbers maybe even park it up at your cash wash and have bill boards on top
I think games and food would make a lot.
By the way, video and audio are great, really like the title wipes.
Food trucks can do extremely well but it takes a ton of time to really market it well plus the costs of the truck, refrigerators, fryers, generators etc that you need plus food costs. Big festivals are where you have the best chance to make good money but also there’s a chance of having food go bad that you can’t resell later. Labor and materials will be your highest cost and also how quickly you are able to serve customers. The faster you can move the line the more people you can serve. Best advice if you go that route keep the menu simple (only 3-4 items max). And have something unique that can be your calling card. After 4 years of doing it all the biggest food trucks around town are typically bbq or fried chicken etc that can be easily made in bulk with minimal work to get plated. We typically try to offer lower prices than other trucks to get more customers that are on a budget but in return that forces us to have to do more volume in customers to make up for it
Hot tub station adults only lol nice relaxing time after the fair
We have a pumpkin festival where I am at and a stand sells bbq every year because they can keep it in crackpots to keep it warm so that would be a great thing fir you to do especially since you could just use your friends or family to run it
Face painting booth is one a friend of mine did. Had 4 artists, just 2 there at a time. Not sure of the profit margins he made as he did it as something to do rather than with the mindset to make that large of a gain, but I remember hearing it did way better than he expected
You should do a Pumpkin pancake 3d printer booth. Let people pick what shape they want and get a pancake 3d printer
Lemon shakeups or shaved ice are both high margin with relatively low startup costs.
the food makes the most money i worked for a carney years ago but keep it cheap like pop corn sno cones
Buy the fireball ride and you can charge more cause of what happened. I think it was actually in Ohio. This was before the rides were actually inspected and the inspectors just literally look at it and that was it.
Some festivals have a no compete clause in the contract so that if you are selling popcorn, you might be able to get the organizer to agree that you will be the ONLY one selling popcorn, or that you will have one area and another popcorn guy will be in another are and thats it. I would approach the festival organizer now and find out. Better yet, get on the board of directors and get the inside details way in advance. (sell booze if you can get a license)