Hoorah... dave and I have made a decision on what kind of buisness to open. We wanted to be together, and still have an income, and still homeschool. The answer... Food vending. We will work the busiest circuit in entertainment... Nascar and Indy car racing. We have done some preliminary fiqures, and this will be very good paying buisness... Now the question of funding. Where can we find loans for this kind of buisness? anyone know? We will need about $75k to get this up and running, and we would like to be ready for all the festivals that are upcoming in our area, ( just for practice, to see what works and what doesnt.) We will sell my famous ( thanks to countryside ) ribs. Any suggestions would be most appreciated.... ( ps. This income will allow us to get our farm in one year instead of 2. With a very handsome income to boot. ) We will only work the big cities, indianapolis, daytona, the one in michigan ect... about 5 in all per year. Thanks for your help and kindness. Kristean

-- Kristean Thompson (pigalena_babe@yahoo.com), February 23, 2002

Answers

Good luck Kristean!

-- Jo in PA (farmerjo02@yahoo.com), February 23, 2002.

My family started in the concession business in 1963 at a couple of 14 mile dirt tracks in CA. I managed them for him the last couple of years before we left the state in '95. Are you talking about having a mobile van? I'm not quite sure where you are getting a figure of $75,000 to start. Realistically I believe it can be done for a lot less if you start buying used equipment at auctions and used restaurant equipment suppliers. I can tell you now that the hardest part will be in finding reliable help! When my parents started it was housewives looking for a little spending money of their own. A couple hours on a Saturday night and they had that. Then suddenly there weren't any adults, and all we could get were teenagers. Have you ever worked a concession on a BIG show like you are planning? If you would like to contact me off line, I'd be happy to help in what I can.

-- Joyce Dingman (joycedingman@yahoo.com), February 23, 2002.

Make that 1/4 mile ;-)

-- Joyce Dingman (joycedingman@yahoo.com), February 23, 2002.

Kristean, congradulations on deciding to go into business. My wife and I made the same decision a couple of years ago and it was the wisest thing we could have done. As far as funding goes Try your commercial banks first. If they turn you down the small business administration can sometimes help. They do not make loans but can help hook you up or even guarantee a portion of the loan. A lot depends on your credit history, collatoral, and the experience you have in this business. Most places want you to have at least 2-3 profitable years under your belt before they'll even consider a loan. Don't overlook family and friends as a source of funding. Most businesses get rolling that way. If I can offer any business advice it would be to always hope for the best BUT prepare for the worst. Trust me ,it is always better to be pleasently surprized than horribly disappointed. Keep the three magic letters in your mind at all times, N-W-C. That's Nothing Wasted and Cheap. Don't even waste time with all the hype about "get free govt. money for your bussiness". It does not exist, period. We did ours with a little help from our families and everything in the world we had. Is your time line realistic? I'd be interested in how the numbers break so that you can reach your goals in only one year. We started making money from the get go and are expanding and doing better all the time but even if the good Lord smiles on us it's going to take another 5-7 years of very hard work to get things to were we want them. Then it will be another 20-30 years of hard work to keep it that way. I forgot to tell you that we do love what we do so all those years are a good time for us. I worked with a young guy a few years ago who's folks were into basically the same thing your thinking about and they did very well. The advice about labor is pretty much true. Keep in mind that you do not FIND good labor, you MAKE good labor. It's just like the marines only you can keep the gun fire to a minimum. Do not underestimate the time and expense of all the licenses, permits, insurances,certificates and record keeping. The days are long and hard and some are great and some are worse than bad but the freedom is fantastic. You may go to bed exhausted but you got that way controlling your own destiny and working for your dreams, not somebody elses. God bless, good luck and NEVER give up.

-- JJ Grandits (JJGBDF@aol.com), February 24, 2002.

Is the passion for the farm or for the new business venture?

-- Charles (Charles@kingdom.uk), February 24, 2002.

Sounds exciting, Kristean. We considered doing something like this but locally. In our area there is a need for vendors at small events such as auctions and horse shows. Smaller sales, but close to home and without a lot of the travel expenses. I agree with the poster who said to look to your family first for funding. If you have relatives who have faith in you and money stuck in the bank at 1 percent (or losing ground in the stock market), you may be able to help each other out. Good luck - let us know how you do with it.

-- Scott McAlpine in Ohio (scottmcalpine@juno.com), February 24, 2002.

Kristean, Have you inquired about getting space at these events (NASCAR, Indy)? I attend many races at Daytona each year and all the conncession stands on Speedway property (600 acres) are operated by only 1 or 2 large vendors, there is more too it then driving up and giving them a couple hundred dollars at the gate to get a spot. Their are a lot of politics involved in getting into the big events. I have a friend who sells Ice at many smaller events and does quite well. He tells me that the smaller events often don't have enough vendors to handle the crowds and are very eader to get more vendors.

-- Mark in N.C. Fla. (deadgoatman@webtv.net), February 24, 2002.

All of you have great points!!Most concesions are locked in years in advance!! As far as borowing money you must have a buisness plan!! Start up money is hard to get!! Most lenders want to see contracts and such !! Its much easyer to get privet investers but they also want a bigger piece of the pie!!Also im sure you would need health dept licences and a state buisness licene for every place!!Food is hard to do!!Ihate to dampin your plans but please check out everything in advance!!

-- Grizz in Western Maryland (southerneagle@yahoo.com), February 24, 2002.

Mark, thanks for pointing that out. I wasn't quite sure how they allocate space at the big events. I know that my dad has to come up with a bid proposal and present it to the fair board (the tracks are on state property-fairgrounds). If he wins the bid he is given a contract for x number of years. I think that his last one was for 5 years, up on 2005. You have to pay the management a percentage of profits, and rent on your space. And yes, there can be politics involved...

-- Joyce Dingman (joycedingman@yahoo.com), February 24, 2002.