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[Road]Side Business / Noob question(s)

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ghostred7

ghostred7

Smoke Blower
Original poster
May 29, 2011
131
21
Atlanta, GA
Like all "good" stories...this one starts off with ...."I was drinking over a buddy's house and we came up with an idea..."

OK....he's a Q fanatic as much, if not more, than me.  We were feelin good and decided that we wanted to start a "weekend warrior" roadside/small-catering Q stand.  For me, it's just getting some side cash for a hobby I love and would probably be doing anyway.  Hell...in fact I get a little irritated that I fire up so much lump for so little food (and almost daily).

That being said....

What advice, if any, do you have?  I want to get a reverse-flow trailer.  I've never cooked solely by "stick" or in a reverse flow...so renting one at $80/pop would probably end up costing more in the long run than purchasing one.  

I have a friend that runs a flea market/bazaar on the weekends that said we could set up on site.  We're talking one of those non-fancy, styrofoam, here's-your-meat-side-and-bread-now-go-away kind of setups.

Thoughts?

PS:  I know I'd have to go through whatever legal hooplas (health dept, catering license, etc)
 
Be sure to get an LLC . You want to be covered for Liability. Just a hint...

I would love to set up somewhere, however oihO has stupid laws and they change from County to County.
icon_evil.gif


The Smoker is another thing... get one "Bigger" than you really need , you'll thank me later:

View media item 181832
This is my Back Yard Model...

Two Chickens on Lil Girl 006.JPG

Two Chickens on Lil Girl 006.JPG


This was my previous one... couldn't do enough to "Party" in it, but a Sweet little Smoker...the old heavy New Braunsfeld.

Have fun in your Venture , and as always . . .
 
themule69 said:
As long as you know it will be a lot of work for a few years before you break even.......I'd say go for it.

Happy smoken.

David
Click to expand...
Oh ya...no doubt.  We're basically talking about a 6-butt pulled/6 whole pulled chicken (roughly) thing to start with...both are popular in the places I've visited.  I've been seeing trailer-towed smokers around the $1200-$2k mark.  One of those should suffice for a while.  I don't see myself moving into whole hog any time, if ever....although I'd love to bring some Eastern NC "pig pickin'" to mid-GA.
oldschoolbbq said:
Be sure to get an LLC . You want to be covered for Liability. Just a hint...

.....

The Smoker is another thing... get one "Bigger" than you really need , you'll thank me later:
Click to expand...
Luckily I'm friends with 3 lawyers from the band I was in that just broke up.   I'll be sure to get covered from all legal angles before I try to serve food to anyone not related/friend.

Thx for the input guys!  Much appreciated.

Side note:  part of this is because I just want a bigger smoker and the wife is actually behind the idea.  Even if I don't make profit, I have support for me to move into a bigger one 
biggrin.gif

 
 
my wife and I operate a mobile bbq business and I'll just say it up front, food costs with bbq are on the high end of the food business and when you factor in your time, your basically working for free. Anyway you need to first get with your local health department and see what they will require, sinks, water, where are you going to store and prepare meat and other supplies, the list is long. You cannot work out of your home kitchen and some areas require a commissary for a mobile unit period. Do you need a food handling course? Start with them and check with your local city and county to see what they require for licensing. I am not saying this to scare you off, I just want you to know this is not butterflies and rainbows going in.Good luck to you, hope everything works out.

Doug
 
Ironhorse07 said:
my wife and I operate a mobile bbq business and I'll just say it up front, food costs with bbq are on the high end of the food business and when you factor in your time, your basically working for free. Anyway you need to first get with your local health department and see what they will require, sinks, water, where are you going to store and prepare meat and other supplies, the list is long. You cannot work out of your home kitchen and some areas require a commissary for a mobile unit period. Do you need a food handling course? Start with them and check with your local city and county to see what they require for licensing. I am not saying this to scare you off, I just want you to know this is not butterflies and rainbows going in.Good luck to you, hope everything works out.

Doug
Click to expand...
Ha...yeah, I know it won't be butterflies & rainbows....that's no fun LOL.  I know there's a lot of red tape, etc involved...still trying to track down the pertinent info for Georgia.
Bad Santa said:
Deep pockets....Best of fortunes to you in your endevour.
Click to expand...
Thx!  Hopefully it'll be more than 1 pocket reached into for this if we go that route. 

I'll go the "Food Truck" route if I have to, but really don't want to.  The set-up and laws may not work for me and my partner, and if not, i'll get a smaller version of the pit I want and stop worrying about it.  I won't throw in the towel so easily.  It has to be black & white simply not achievable for me to stop the motivation.
 
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