Is it better to set up a food cart at a busy intersection location, or in front of a strip mall barber shop? This is the question I received from a vendor recently. There are lots of details you need to consider before you can decide which location is best…

Intersection Location vs Barbershop

Some of the variables you need to consider when choosing a good hot dog cart location:

• How much traffic is there?
• Is there a lot of walking traffic?
• Is it easy for cars to pull over to your cart?
• Is it easy for cars to get back into traffic?
• Is there plenty of parking?
• Are your signs visible from a distance?
• Can people read the menu and prices without coming up to you?
• Does the traffic vary by day of the week/month?
• In a strip mall, what else is around?

You won't know the answers to all of these questions until you try the location out for a while. Whatever you do, keep notes so you can review your records afterwards and notice trends. If you don't write it down, you will not remember which days were best in which locations.

After a while of trying locations, you will be able to narrow down the times you set up in each place. For example, maybe you will find that the first Friday of the month is great at lunch time in a certain parking lot, because that's when people get paid, or one of the nearby shops has a special sale.

Keep track so you know where to focus your work. You will be able to go to a location on the very best days, and find other places for the off days.

If you want all of my tips for finding and evaluating locations, and how to ask permission to set up in prime spots, get this course: Vend Anywhere! Also, check out this free resource: https://learnhotdogs.com/getit