I Want to be a food street vendor?

   Juan Alvarez asked On Yahoo! Answers

“I want to be a food street vendor?”

 

I am a really good cook. I cook traditional Mexican dishes and Mexican street food. I also cook American food wit a Mexican twist. I know it is easy to say that I am a good cook because it is my food but I have recieved many compliments from people who try my food for the first time. I just wanted ideas and prices on start up costs, permits, and food trailers. I live in Houston, TX.

OUR ANSWER:

   First

·        If you are going to prepare food, the first thing you will need is a license from your state. In Illinois, you must attend a class taught by the state. After the 2-day class, you receive a “Food Handling and Sanitation License.” This helps with city inspectors!

• ·        In Texas, check out this website: State of Texas Food Handler License

• ·        I noticed that in Texas there appeared to be some “on-line” classes that may (or may not) be approved training companies. Learn2serve

   Secondly

·        Here are three website “articles” that may help you ask yourself some important questions BEFORE you spend a lot of money. Try to Google “How to start a street vendor business” for more.

o   Starting a street cart vendor business

o   Starting a food cart

o   Vending suggestions for push carts http://goo.gl/rfjno 

Equipment:

 o   Long list of new Vending cart manufactures http://tinyurl.com/cldk9ss

o   of course check Craigslist and Amazon for used carts

·        A business plan is a fancy way of saying

o   Who are you going to be?

o   What are you going to sell? How much and at what price you need to sell it, to make a profit?

o   Where and when are you doing business?

o   How many customers do you need per day and who will be your customers?

o   How much general liability and product liability insurance will cost? - to meet city permit regulations

o   A business plan article or try to Google “How to write a business plan”

Are you building a “Business” or a hobby? 

     A hobby is if you do it only one or two days a week. You still can write off the expenses of a “hobby” from your taxes, against any small profit you make, for a couple of years (I am not a tax man- so check your state and federal tax laws).

     We realize many “think” that they can street vend forever flying under the radar, living in an informal economy (not paying taxes). For the first year or two, that may doable. Nevertheless, we encourage you to files taxes as soon as you can, because you may soon need a loan or SBA assistance to expand or move into a brick and mortar location.

    Thirdly

When you think you have a general layout for the business, test the market!

Start LOW COST – just buy a card table, a simple propane camping stove hooked up with a Home Depot hose to a 20 pound propane tank, a couple of coolers with Dry ice or regular ice,  two or three 5-gallon water bottles, soap, rags, cooking tools, pots and pans, etc., and maybe a canopy tent. 

Just pay for a spot at a farmers market, the next “seasonal event” in your area (Craft markets, Fair, Carnival, Scare Crow Days, etc.) or talk to the local indoor vendor market and setup out in the parking lot for a fee.

    FINALLY,

IF those small events go well, and people “love” your food, then you can start thinking about

 "location, location, location." 

• Traffic flow and parking,
• Foot traffic and seating, 
• Moreover, does your product add to or subtract from the immediate social environment.

 DO NOT buy into the idea that you cannot be on the same block as another restaurant/food vendor.

 Why do car dealerships, most of the time, setup all on the same one or two blocks? Why do shopping malls have 3-5 large anchor stores all-selling the same “type” of products? Why do many restaurants open short distances from another restaurant? It is called the “ECONOMIES OF AGGLOMERATION” Fantastic big educated words, but most cities politicians ignore them, often to their own financial loss. 

See this article, about a lesson learned too late in New York City: Sold Out by Hillary Russ

 

Wish you the best success! Moreover, let us know how it goes.

Follow us on Twitter. Or Google search our blog site VendorAid (in slow development stage). We try to helping educate cities and vendors on creating jobs threw shared and well-managed resources.

@VendorAid

Chicago’s “Maxwell Street Market”

The 120-year-old street vendor haven…

     In this article, we will look at research into the effect of shutting down the original Maxwell Street market in the early 1990’s. In the future, we will get into some of the history of Maxwell Street and other stories of interest.

     Fortunately, researchers were able conduct a few studies on several aspects of the famous year-round Chicago Maxwell Street Market where hundreds of street vendors sold every Sunday for about 120 years. Sadly, most of the research was done in the last few years of the existence of Maxwell Street before it was shut down.

     In a report titled “Utilizing the informal economy: the Case of Chicago’s Maxwell Street market”, the researchers of Balkin, Morales, and Presky attempt to show not only the financial loss to Chicago, but the intrinsic educational opportunity losses to the lower income families and immigrants in the neighborhoods.

     Financially, they first analyze the street vendor participation based on the markets capacity during the four seasons of operations. For example, they take into account that market is smaller during the cold Chicago windy winter months (40% capacity during January and February.) Secondly, they divide the vendors into four types to help calculate the street vendors’ weekly average sales. Marginal goods (20% earning $75 average). Specialty goods (40% with a$175 average sales). Low-margin new goods (30% averaging $350 a week). Lastly, high-margin new goods (10% of all vendors earning an average $800).

     The direct financial loss of closing Maxwell Street was anticipated to be minimally about $10 million (in 1994 dollars).

      They were able to demonstrate that shoppers consisted of both international tourists and interstate customers. They pointed out the “diverse cultural cooperation” of the multiethnic market population on a weekly bases was an immeasurable addition to the Chicago community.

      They were unable to calculate the financial loss to micro-entrepreneurs, wholesalers, and incubator businesses, the vendor’s personal investments in their own neighborhoods, and the cost of private school for the children. They were also unable to quantify the loss of education in money and lifelong business skills the next generation, e.g. bargaining skills, language translating, responsibility, and good work habits.

Reference

Balkin, S., Morales, A., Persky, J. (1994). Utilizing the informal economy: the case of Chicago's Maxwell Street market, (Working paper number 23). Tucson, Az., Mexican American studies and Research Center.

Street vendors and neighborhood

 businesses are

“Sold Out” 

http://www.citylimits.org/news/articles/2805/sold-out

In her article "Sold Out," Hilary Russ interviews store owners 16 months after the city of New York kicks out the street vendors in the Fulton Street neighborhood the year earlier. The city used helicopters, mounted police, and a special police task force in a one-day “raid” to remove the undesirable legally licensed and unlicensed vendors in the spring of 2001.

The police were acting on complaints by a real estate group and supposedly unidentified businesses. This is typical of many communities where the brick and mortar establishments often times do not “take to kindly” to the “good old fashion American free market” and lower priced competition. Some vendors do make bad impressions on the neighborhood, not demonstrating respect for their business or the neighborhood. Nevertheless, poor treatment of customers, leaving trash around, and dishonesty is found in even brick and mortar establishments or neighborhoods.

Sadly, most of the storeowners imply their incomes fell 20% after the vendor evictions. Often most cities do not fully understand the economies of agglomeration, despite the practice in every shopping mall in their own back yards.

Importantly, council member Alan Gerson makes three great suggestions on managing proper balance for street vendors. 1.“Identify the appropriate time, place and density for sidewalk vending; 2. work with vendors on-site to address sanitation or noise complaints; and 3. develop something he calls a "vendor benevolent society.” If that fails, consider putting them in a marketplace.”

A very well written article, which also quotes Professor Steve Balkin based on his in-depth studies in the original Chicago Maxwell Street Market on the many aspects of street vending. (We will review many of his papers as time allows.)

Reference

City Limits Magazine, September/October 2002, Sold Out by Hilary Russ.

http://www.citylimits.org/news/articles/2805/sold-out

“Street vendor” roots in early American history

(Partial book review):

Hawkers and Walkers in Early America, Richardson Wright.

Geography played an important part in peddling because of the mountain ranges in the Northern states forcing people to form small settlements/communities for survival. In the Southern states, people spread out onto large plantations. Therefore, the North did more manufacturing whereas, the South was the agricultural breadbasket for many decades. The majority of exchanging goods was done by the traveling peddlers/vendors/salesmen.

            Usually Specializing Vendors traveled local, or far and wide. By 1830, the peddler's were using wagons with multiple products, not just a packhorse or a trunk full of small-specialized goods. Good peddlers would often arrange to participate in the spring or fall country fairs. In May and November farmers brought livestock, others brought household goods made at home to sell and barter. Entertainment at the fairs usually was sporting events and even music.

 Peddlers started out young and resourceful just to survive the journey from one small-town to the next. Often they had to feed themselves, sleep in the open air (homeless?), and avoid Indians and wild beasts. It was common knowledge that some peddlers were scoundrels but most were hard working and the better ones, after traveling the country for a few years, made small fortunes. They were also often the Main Source of distant News between different areas of the country. 

After a few years of traveling, many of the more successful and entrepreneurial peddlers would select the best thriving community to settle in. Finding a wife from the local population, they would then start a general store thereby securing his families now respectable place within the Merchant Class of society leaving behind the reputation of swindler, scoundrel, or con-man that only a few were truly a part of.

This was an excellent book for a broad spectrum understanding of the benefits peddlers brought to the growth and building of our country in its early history.

 Reference

 Hawkers and Walkers in Early America, this book was written by Richardson Wright and re-published by Ungar Publishing in New York in 1985 but was originally copyrighted in 1927 by J.B. Lippincott Co. 

Tags – street vendors, peddlers, review, entrepreneur, homeless, news, informal, formal, merchant class