I would run the grand opening a week. Have specials and even give away samples. Anything to get the people to your concession stand. You will have a lot of wasted food the first few days until you know what to expect.

In the beginning it’s all a guessing game for anyone. You want to have enough but never too little. Run out once and you will loose valuable customers. It is better to have too much than not enough. It will not take you long to be able to estimate what you will need to prepare.

Just be nice and smile and serve good food and the people will come back. Also always open when you say you will. Never be late.. people will soon start depending on you for their lunch or dinner or their morning jolt on the way to work.

Good luck in your venture and never loose hope. A good business takes time and plenty of patience. I have faith in you and I know you can do it.

Be sure to check out our other sections of this website if you interested in getting into the BBQ stand business or espresso coffee stand business. We also have section on buying used concession trailers and selling used concession trailers and building your own concession trailer. We will also be adding a section called concession recipes, which will give you useful tips, and ideas on what to sell in your concession business and what is the most profitable. Sections will be added as often as possible.

Stay in touch and visit regularly because it is you that make this site what it is. If you have an idea or tip that you would like to see me write on or posted please let me know.

Thanks and good luck!

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Now contact your health department and confirm your appointment date that you set earlier. Get the health department inspection out of the way as soon as possible.

Once this is done pull it to your location and begin set up which will consist of which direction trailer will face then get it level. Once this is done put stabilizer jacks under it in each corner to keep it from bouncing when you move around in it.

Get an electrician out to hook you up to electricity if you had a pole and meter put in, if not plug it in to your power source. Make sure everything is turned off before plugging in to power source. Then one at a time about 30 seconds apart turn on your lights, refrigerator, freezer, ovens, etc to make sure your power source can handle the load.

After all those check out check your plumbing again to make sure everything works properly and that you have no leaks. Now you can turn everything off except refrigerators and freezers. These will need to be run at least 24 hours before stocking and also to check temperature settings. (Go to Wal-mart and get a refrigerator thermometer and freezer thermometer for each one you have in your concession trailer.)

Put a thermometer in each unit and check the temperature the next day and adjust accordingly. Your booklet from health department will tell you what these temperatures should be for each unit. Once you get the temperature right you can begin to stock, but not to far ahead of opening day. I would wait till the day before.

Date each item you put in refrigeration so you can keep the old and fresh separate.

Make sure you have your advertisement banners and signs out. Have at least 2 trash containers ready to place outside by serving windows during business hours.

Now you should be ready for your grand opening and step ten…

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A lot of what you will do now is waiting and tying up loose ends getting ready for delivery of your concession trailer.

I want to also point out in this time of waiting you will be urged to call the manufacture often and keep on top of the construction process. This is fine and good just don’t overdo it. Once a week will be plenty. Write down all your questions when you think of them and ask them all at once when you on the phone so as not to have to keep calling them over and over. No one likes a pest.

More than likely the manufacturers have given you a date to expect delivery. If not, about 3 weeks in ask for one. Once you get the exact date call your health department and set an appointment to have your concession stand inspected.

In some cases they will want you to go ahead and set up on location then inspect, but most of the time they will let you pull it to their office and inspect it. Then there may be a second inspection after it is set up. Either way make an appointment for this important step.

Call the owner of the location and give them a date when you will be setting up.

Start advertising whether by paper or word of mouth. If the owner of the location doesn’t mind put up a banner advertising what you will sell and when to expect you there and the date.

Round up your suppliers if you are going to buy your goods wholesale and recheck availability and prices.

Call the city and make sure everything is on schedule if you have decided to go with them for power or water and waste services.

Now in the last few days or weeks before your grand opening it would be good to have a team meeting. Get everyone together who will be working with you and make sure they know what is going on and what is expected of them. Make sure everyone is on board with you and on the same page.

Open up a business account at a bank under your DBA or doing business as name.

Now about the only thing to do now is wait for your concession trailer to be completed. As soon as it is we will move to step nine…

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We will start with deciding where you will get all that precious, much needed electricity.

You can use a generator, which is good, if you move from spot to spot regularly. For example, if you have 3 roadside location which you set up regularly thru the week. You can run a heavy-duty extension cord and plug in somewhere, which is good if the power is readily available to run everything you have in the trailer.

You do not want to do this if all you have to plug into is a regular 20-amp outlet. You will continually be resetting breakers and having power outages which will soon become very frustrating for you.

But if there is plenty of power (I recommend at least 50 amps) go for it and I would also suggest offering to pay a monthly fee for this power if it is available to you.

Your final choice is calling your power company and having them set a power pole and meter at your location. Now this only works out to your advantage if you stay in the same spot continually. Every city differs on the price they charge for doing this service. Anywhere from $85 to $1000. In the long run you will appreciate the convenience no matter what the cost is. You will get the bill sent to you like you do at home and you can keep up with how much you are spending on electricity as well.

Deciding whether to haul your fresh water or hook straight up to the city is your next decision.

There are pros and cons to both. My thoughts have always been that you don’t use that much water anyway so why pay a huge amount to hook up to the city when you are already paying to get this service at home and it is hardly any trouble at all hauling the water from home and filling your tanks. Most concession business owners take there dirty dishes home to wash every evening anyway so the only water you are actually using is to wash your hands with.

Even if you did clean your dirty dishes on site you probably would not use over 10 gallons a day. To me it’s just not worth it but it’s your decision so you can decide.

Wastewater disposal is the same way. It is a lot easier to dispose of it yourself than to pay to hook up to the city. All It is, is dirty dishwater anyway and no big deal to drain the tank into a container and empty it at home in the sink. You could also get a service to come by once a day or 3 times a week to empty your tank for a very reasonable fee. Just keep in mind whatever you do make it as convenient at possible.

You want to keep your business fun and not turn it into a job.

Keep in mind that the more you are hooked up to like city water and waste the more codes you will have to follow and more hassles. To some these hassles might be worth it. You just have to decide for yourself. Ok moving right along to step eight…

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If you are thinking about building it yourself then just click on the link “Building your concession trailer” (coming soon!) and it will explain step by step how to do so. If you are wanting to start out in this business by purchasing a used concession stand, please click on the link “purchasing used concession trailer” (coming soon!) and I will get into that in detail.

If you are wanting to have someone else build it for you just keep reading.

There are very few companies out there that actually build concession trailers complete. A lot of them say they build or sell concession trailers but all they sell or offer is a box trailer with a couple awning windows installed. This is not what I mean when I say concession trailer manufacturer.

You are needing a manufacturer who will build you a complete trailer with all equipment installed ready to go. I will have a links page on this site listing the top manufacturers in my opinion.

You can call and or email each one and get a price quote and feel for each manufacturer and make your choice from that. Depending on your budget the price range will vary greatly.

You can expect $9000.00 or so for a bare trailer with only electrical, plumbing, cabinets, windows and lights to over $35000.00 with everything you may need.

Get your list I had you make in step 3 and start calling manufacturers. Tell them what you need and request a price estimate.

Sometimes you may run into a salesman that has a car salesman attitude. You know the ones that try to tell you what you want without really knowing you or your needs.. steer away from these people. They don’t care about you or your business. They are just out for your money.

Look for a manufacturer that wants to meet your needs and build the trailer how you like it. Now keep in mind that even the nicest salesman will need to make a few changes and make a couple of suggestions. This is because not everything you want in this trailer will either fit or be logical but you can tell the nice ones who are basically working with you the best they can from the ones who just want to pump out trailers whether it meets your needs or not.

Once you decide on a floor plan and equipment you will need to pay a deposit so they will know you are serious about the purchase. The deposit is non- refundable in most cases so do your research and shopping before you decide on any one manufacturer. The deposit in most cases will be ten percent. One or two out there might ask for twenty percent but I would not pay any more than that up front, its just not good judgment on your part to do so.

Before you commit with your deposit find out about shipping and delivery. Most of the time the manufacturer is not in your hometown and it has to be delivered to you somehow. Maybe you want to pick it up yourself when it is completed so find out if they allow this.

You should also find out how much they charge to deliver and how they deliver it to you. If it would be more feasible to have it delivered to you rather than pick it up yourself and don’t mind spending the extra money then that is the way to go. The average cost for delivery is between $1.50 and $2.50 per mile. Don’t forget to ask how long the wait time is on the completion of your trailer from the time you send your deposit. It will usually range from 4 to 12 weeks depending on what time of the year you order.

The concession season in most cases is from March until October. Most everyone who is thinking about getting a new concession trailer does so and orders in the months of December thru March so the manufacturers are very bogged down during this period of the year. The best time in my opinion is to place your order from August to November. You should have the least amount of wait time during these months.

Ok now while we are waiting for your concession trailer to be built we can move to step seven..

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Go through these forms and booklet and see what pertains to you directly and what pertains to the manufacturer of your concession stand. Everything that does not pertain to you directly put to the side for the person who will build your trailer.

Now make a list of everything you need to do yourself as stated by the health department.

Should not be that much.

Most will pertain to the manufacturer until you actually open for business then a lot will pertain to you after that.

Now after you have made the list follow it to the letter. I cannot get into anything specific here because every city, county, and state will be different.  Now lets take a break….go raid the fridge or visit the bathroom but come right back because we are ready for step six.

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As I am sure you know, you can’t just set your concession trailer anywhere. You need permission from the owner of the location. You could luck up and the first spot you choose might work out but that is very uncommon. Cross your fingers you never know.

Some location favorites of mine and some you might want to consider are Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes, and grocery chains such as Food Lion, Albertson’s, Reasors. Large shopping malls are good as well.

What makes these locations so good is the fact that lots of people are already there to do their shopping so you do not need a lot of extra advertising to get the people to your concession stand.

Figure on paying a monthly rent of $200 to $600 for these spots. This might sound like an enormous amount to some but it’s worth it.

Lets say you have chosen a Super Wal-Mart as a good location to set up your concession stand. The first thing you should do before ever talking to the manager is to sit down and write out a plan to present to the store manager or property owner. Include in this plan the name of your business, your name, address, and phone and fax numbers, a couple pictures of your concession trailer or stand inside and out, a list of menu items and prices, hours of business, the number of persons working in the business and their names and phone numbers.

Then in paragraph form explain why you chose this particular location and why you want to be considered. In the next paragraph explain how you plan to keep your location clean and presentable. Explain that you have a cleaning schedule set up where your employees and yourself included walk the property around your stand and pick up any trash that might be lying around and state that you have several trash containers set by your stand where your customers can dispose of trash and that these are emptied regularly.

In the next paragraph tell them that you plan to purchase any supplies that you may need from them and state what supplies these will be such as ice, plates, cups, etc. in the final paragraph tell them how your stand will be doing their customers a service by offering them good food and good customer service which will make their shopping experience an enjoyable one. Then at the end of this statement thank them for their time and consideration.

Type this up in resume form and print out a couple copies. Make it as presentable as possible. Think of it as a resume for that job of a lifetime. Now make an appointment to speak with the day manager of the store. You can call to find out when the best time is or just stop by the store. Do not expect to show up on a busy shopping day and expect much so think it through first.

The manager’s hours are usually between 7 and 4 during the day so go in the morning during the week. The manager may sit down with you and ask you a hundred questions then again he may just take your form and say he will call you in a few days. Either way give him or her a few days to think it over then if you have not heard from him give him a call.

Be courteous don’t act impatient or impolite. Just explain that you are calling to check the status of your consideration. It may take a couple weeks to make a decision. If you are granted permission…. great! Celebration time. If not don’t get discouraged there are many of other places just as good and profitable.

Ok lets say that you don’t care about setting up in a parking lot of some shopping center but you want to set up beside a busy road or in an abandoned parking lot. All of these are good choices as well, just a little more work and patience.

First you need to evaluate traffic. If only 20 cars an hour pass then you will know its not any good for you. You need to also take into account accessibility. Check to see how easy it is to get into the lot or pull off to get to you and also how hard it is to get back out into traffic. Lets say that you are specializing in breakfast foods and hope to cater to all those people going to work in the morning between 5 and 9 am. If it is difficult to pull off or takes a lot of time getting back out people will not stop because chances are they are late getting to work anyway.

Another obstacle to check.. is there a median? Will people only going one way be able to pull in and if someone on the other side of the median wants to get to you will they have to make a U-Turn. Most of the time the driver will not go to this extra trouble.

Ok once you have found the roadside spot you want or parking lot you will need to find out who owns the property and give them a call to make an appointment.

Have your form or business plan with you that I had you write above and present it to the owner. This process may take a couple weeks as well.

You may have to go through a half dozen locations before you find one that the owner will let you set up but it is all worth it in the end.

Ok let’s move to step 5 ….

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