How to Start a Concession Stand
Opening and maintaining a concession stand can be a great way to make some quick money whether you are an 18-year-old or a 70-year-old. If you can find the right location and the right products to sell, you will be pulling in the cash in no time. Here are the steps you need to take to start a concession stand and bring in that extra money.
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Instructions
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You will have to start by making the decision as to whether you want this to become a part-time occupation, in which case you will want to purchase a real stand or a small building, or whether you just want to make a bit of money over the next few weeks, in which case a small card table could work as your stand. Gather the supplies that you will need depending on how serious you are about becoming a merchant and move on to the next step.
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The next part of this process will be to pick out a location where you want to set up your stand. The best locations will vary depending on where you live, but they often include places where there are large amounts of people and little access to drink and food. For example, the beach would be a perfect place for a concession stand with drinks rather than on a city corner. Once you pick out your location, you will need to contact the people that own the land and confirm that it is acceptable for you to open a concession stand on their property. This is an important step and if you do not call before you set up your stand, you risk being removed from the property and maybe even arrested.
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The third step is to pick out products that you will sell at your concession stand. A more basic stand often consists of packaged snacks and soft drinks while more permanent concession stands often sell sandwiches, hot dogs and a wide variety of drinks. If you want only basic products, going to your local buy-in-bulk store, such as Costco or Sam's Club, will be fine. If you want to sell sandwiches and hot dogs, you will need to buy equipment to make the products and find a distributor to buy your meats and vegetables.
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The next step is to determine your prices. Depending on where you position your stand and the amount of competition you have, you can often raise prices about 50 percent higher than what you bought them for.
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Make large signs with bright colors that explain what you are selling and for what price that will capture the attention of possible customers. This can be done with poster board and markers and is relatively easy to do
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Put your plan into action. Set up your stand with the food you purchased and start selling to customers. Make sure that you start out with plenty of change in case the first customer hands you a $20 and keep track of your earnings on a piece of paper. You get to choose the days and hours you work and will soon see the money start rolling in.
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