Projected # of customers

my rule of thumb is to always be prepared for as much business as you want to handle, yet deviate you recipies so that your foods will taste just as good after a thaw, if required. no waste, is number one!

I agree with coffeebluff 100%, Waste is a killer. I think that the gate or customer counts will help you to expect 10,000 or a 100. Best thing I think is to decide what kind of money you need to generate to break even and also to make a profit that is worthy of your time. Prepare for the break even and then back-up for the anticipated profit. Don't overprepare. Lost sales don't actually cost you anything. Waste does. That way you make at least enough food to break even but not so much that you will lose any profit to waste. If you don't sell enough food to break even, you probably should look at whether the event should be on your calendar for the next year.

2 other thoughts. It seems that when I am at large events the vendors that appear to be doing the best business are usually the people that are out "hustling" the competition. I mean that in two senses. The first is that they realize that the faster they turn customers, the more customers they have an opportunity to take care of. The second is that when they are not busy, they are actively trying to attract the few potential customers that are available with flyers, discounts, samples, etc. I believe that having a firm idea of where your sales break even point is for each event will help you to know how hard you will need to market to get the sales you need.

Second, I don't remember from your trailer pics as to whether you have a microwave. If you don't, I would recommend it highly. It helps because you don't have to decide whether to defrost more food as early.

One of my old bosses used to tell me that it's still waste until you use it.

Obviously just my $.02. Good luck!!!
Mark

coffee and mark,
thanks for replying. i have been working strange hours so i haven't really gotten a chance to talk to peggy about this (but we are doing a full runup this weekend to finalize recipes and times for the 2005 contest season this weekend so i will talk then lol).
to give you background on what prompted her question is in st augustine every year there is a "contest" called rythymn and ribs. think it is put on by the rotary club.the man who did our graphics is a member and said it sure would be nice to have a local team so peggy is trying to get that done.
now here is where it gets tricky (and since i'm tired i will break it down in steps so i can understand)
1- the teams are supposed to be amateur. these guys show up with flat bed semis with 3 to 4 of the biggest holstiens and southern prides you have ever seen. they even have their own reefer trucks!!! to give you an idea of past teams they have had camp 31, billy bones and 5 others whose names escape me. they even have their own bottled sauces and rubs for sale so i just aint buying the amatuer thing.
2- the competition is unsanctioned and is only a peoples choice awards.
3- most of the "teams have between 10-12 people. full tentage ect.
4- from what billy bones told us 2 years ago the entry fee is around 750 which makes it sound like the miami ribberfest.

i agree with you guys that setting a breakeven is job one and i think coming from you two it will validate what i was going to say.

my thinking was also along the frozen line. do a lot of ribs the week before and then use the sm for reheat. fec would be doing the shoulders for pork to have smoke smell going but the pulled pork would be froze ahead and reheated in the sm. i knew one day those 3 well steam holders would be smart.

i have the logistics in my head and am glad peg and me will be doing a run up at the trailer cause we always write everything down and it seems that the best ideas come at the 1 am last temp check for the nite and last beer time.

i hope all of this made sense.

and again thanks both of you for giving peggy straight up info
jack

Thanks, coffee, mark, and jack. Lately, Jack and I have been doing most of our conversations over the net it seems. It'll feel like a date this weekend!
Peggy

Good Luck with everything. I am kind of living vicariously through your experiences. The thought of running a two-person show sounds pretty good right about now. Let me know when you're sick of it and you want to own a restaurant in the Midwest instead and we'll trade. OR we can just trade for 1/2 the year. I'll take Nov. thru April. LOL

Mark

mark,
if it still snows up north i will take my chances with hurricanes.
also look at the post directly above yours.
a date?? heck i aint had a date in 33 years.
so what is your advice oh wise one???
do i buy her flowers?:??
but i really do want to thank you and coffee and everyone one else on this site. you guys have helped us so much you will never know
jack
ps will have the queen size air mattress in the rig for our comp runup this weekend lol. mine leaks air pmsl

just my way of repaying what this forum has done for me. 2 yrs ago, i had never smoked anything.......well, meats that is.....
turned to the forum, and learned a ton! now, we look back and say: " you remember when we used to do it 'this way'... or 'that way'". point being, that you guys will look back some day and say the same thing. trial and error will be your best teachers, and time will perfect your methods. i dont know how many times i thought i had something down pat, just to change it down the line into something better. thats the beauty of mom and pop. its always a work in progress.
just have fun and hold on for the ride...

Dates? I didn't know you could use those to smoke with. I just thought you ate them for regularity. LOL.

My suggestion is that you put a big red bow around your rig and tell her that you really only did this for her and to make her happy. (Oh, I forget. Were you trying to get an invitation into the cabin or an excuse to sleep on the cold hard ground.) Needless to say you really don't want any romance lessons from me.

As Coffeebluff said remember it is supposed to be fun.

Mark

Oh my goodness, what a sweet husband I have!
I had flowers, good conversation, romancing, great food. It wasn't a teenage date, but a bbq learning experience type date!
It is still fun, but we're just trying to get off the ground and still live a fairly normal life.
Thank you for all the encouragement!
Peggy

Yep, I precook meats including ribs, thaw and reheat as needed. It has worked well for me 'cause I never do know how much I am going to sell at some events.

Other events you can usually get last year's numbers from the promoter or organizer, and use that as a basis for a wild-@$$ guess, like I do.