Mike- careful about cooking any food brought in by a customer (especially something wild-caught like venison). If the board of health gets wind of that (at least here in Massachusetts) you can get in real trouble. No raw meat or perishable items can be prepared in your trailer (or any commercial kitchen) unless they come from approved sources (in the case of meat, it has to have a USDA seal). My niece has type 1 diabetes. If she wants toast, she has to have a low-carb bread. Most restaurants won’t even toast two slices of bread for her if she brouht it in herself, that’s how sinificant the reulation is. We’ve had the same thing happen in New Hampshire and Vermont restaurants, too, so I don’t think the law is specific to Massachusetts.

John,
 
I have yet to sign a lease. No one has even mentioned it. I just show them my insurance and make sure I have the needed permits. Where I am now, they already know me because I have spent ten’s of thousands of dollars with them over the years with my last business. Long story, but they begged me to move into their parking lot. It works out good for both of us, their guys stay on site to eat, and being a shop there isn’t any real lunch schedule, they grab a beak when they can and come out to order.
 
One of the mechanics brought in some fresh venison today and I cooked them up some venison cheese steaks on the grill. They told me they came out fantastic, nice and tender. It is a fun spot, but man it was slow today, not worth even showing up, but it is payday for them tomorrow…. Freezing rain is in the forecast for the morning, figures.
 
Mike

You probably won’t do this but I will put it out there since perhaps it will help some one…
 
When you are contacting a company, you are “selling” your business and services (EVERYBODY sells). If you have never been in a successful selling situation then you need to learn how to sell. Any http://www.ziglar.com/_cms Zig Ziglar book will teach you how to sell. I can guarantee that you have time to read. You should be going to the bathroom at least once a day (if not… eat more fiber). Read a page while in there. Read a page just before you go to sleep at night. Read a page everyday. Invest in a yellow highlighter to highlight stuff that really strikes you. You can often find Ziglar books in thrift stores and the public library (please don’t write in the books if from the library). Check out amazon’s used book titles. These are books that you should want to own.
 
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_16?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=zig+ziglar+books&sprefix=zig+ziglar+books http://www.amazon.com/s/r…refix=zig+ziglar+books
 
Also try http://www.amazon.com/Cold-Calling-Techniques-That-Really/dp/1580628567/ref=dp_ob_title_bk http://www.amazon.com/Col…567/ref=dp_ob_title_bk (also try the used section as they can be very cheap)

If you want to be totally honest with the public and still want to support your favorite charity, I would make no mention of the charity while attempting to secure a location, and no mention of the charity on signs on your cart except a sign on your tip jar saying, “[style=”color: #ff0000;”]All tips go to the [style=”color: #000000;”]XYZ Charity[/style][/style][style=”color: #ff0000;”].  Thank you for your help.[/style]”  This way, the public has the option to support this charity, or not, as they wish. 
 
You might be surprised to find out that there are some charities (even national ones) that some people have a very negative opinion about for one reason or another, so relating your business directly with a charity like these might actually hurt your business.  For example, there has been publicity about some charities only using a tiny fraction of the donations they receive to help their advertised cause, with the majority going for administrative costs and salaries.

I think if your using the Charity to get the location, then its part of the post………..Just sayin’

I would do like Billy stated above. I have looked into teaming up with different charities and found that in the end, they wanted to run my business, to many strings. If you want to work with charities just use a tip jar and donate the money yourself.
 
Mike

Im talking to Kmart Corp as we speak,its been going on for a least 2 months,Ive gotten the ok from corp BUT waiting and waiting for a contract,the manager said corp called me puny[:D] they can call me anything but give me a contract.

The last guy we had with this idea asked if any one wanted to help build his cart. He thought what the heck he could make $10 to $15 an hour and build himself a nice part time business. I also think it could be misleading the public into thinking a large percent of the money goes to the charity. If I buy a dog from you and there is a big sign saying “proceeds go to the Homeless” I want to think that more than 10% of my money is going to the homeless. I think you need to figure out if your using the charity as a way of building your business, or your building your business to help a charity. ……………IMHO, don’t use the charity to get your location, put a tip jar out  for the charity and give the proceeds to that charity…………….Bill

Johnnie, welcome to RF!
 
What I do is to call the largest box store in a strip mall or if there are for lease signs up in vacant stores I call the leasing company as they will normally handle businesses like ours. One thing though, if you are smart, you will not have to pay any monies for rent. I approach prospective spots by stating that I can and will draw customers into their lots, which I do. Traffic counts really do matter, especially if they have vacancies.
 
I have yet to pay anyone a dime in rent. Right now I have a spot next door to my local large big box mall in a smaller strip mall and a spot right on the busiest corner of my town at a large chain type tire shoppe where I am now. One thing you need is high visibility from the road and plenty of parking spots unless you are in a high foot traffic area. Also, watch traffic flows, to much traffic can be a problem just as to little traffic can. I like a spot close to an intersection with lights and a speed limit at the most of 35mph. I found that the busier the roads the less business I actually got. One location, KMart, the speed limit was 45mph going past my spot up by the road. It was a terrible location, when all of the traffic count numbers said different.
 
Good Luck!
 
Mike
 

Still looking for the answer on “teaming with a Charity” ???????? some how we skipped right over that one……………….

Best thread I know of on this subject
 
http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/tm.aspx?m=436268&high=location http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/tm.aspx?m=436268&high=location