How to Start a Food Vendor Concession at Fairs & Festivals in Florida
Fairs, festivals and events take place year-round throughout Florida. These can provide lucrative opportunities for food and beverage vendors. For entrepreneurs with a passion for catering, event food concessions can be a great way to gain experience in the catering trade and make money to invest in growing their businesses in the future. From the monthly Friday Fest in Panama City to the annual Halloween Spooktacular in Largo, there are plenty of annual, monthly and weekly events where you can vend food.
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Things You'll Need
- Contact the Florida Department of Agriculture Food and Consumer Services Division of Food Safety to determine what is required to obtain the appropriate public food service permits. Your food preparation facilities will be inspected to ensure that they meet high standards of hygiene and safety.
Instructions
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Research how many festivals, fairs and events take place in Florida each year and how many people attend these events. Find out the costs of renting a concession at these events. Calculate how many of these events you can realistically attend and what it will cost. In addition to catering supplies and the cost of paying others to help you, factor in other costly elements, including transportation and overnight accommodations where necessary. The Florida Festival and Events Association is a great resource for finding out what events are taking place in the state. Visit some events and take a look at your competitors. Take note of what they are selling, what they are charging and how busy they are.
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Develop your business plan to determine the feasibility of your idea. Be honest. Can you expect to make a profit? If you hope to gain grants and loans to help with your concession start-up costs, a comprehensive business plan is important. Contact the Small Business Administration local offices in Jacksonville or Miami to request the help of a small business adviser, who can help you by providing free-of-charge assistance in business planning and obtaining the state and local business licenses and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax registration you will require.
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Decide precisely what you will offer at your concession. Will you prepare food ahead of time or cook to order at the event? Start with a small menu, offering simple, tasty foods that are easy for people to eat as they walk around. Will you offer evergreen favorites, such as hot dogs, or change your offerings as the seasons change? While people may want a hot soup in the winter, you won't sell much during the summer. Instead, sell gazpacho ( a cold soup) or change your menu completely. Research Florida's regions and see if there are any food favorites that are popular in particular areas that you can adapt or put a new spin on.
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Purchase the catering equipment you will need. If you are preparing food ahead of time, you will also need to find a kitchen space to use. You may be able to rent space in an existing catering establishment. A restaurant that only opens in the evenings may be happy to rent you their kitchen in the early mornings.
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Choose a small event for your first outing as a food vendor. Contact the organizers and book your concession. Your efficiency will improve with practice, but you must start small if you are to have the best chance of succeeding. Pick a one-day event where you have a good idea as to how many will attend and how much food you can expect to sell. It will be better to sell out of food than to be left with waste products you haven't sold. Be conservative with your sales expectations.
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Enlist the help of family and friends to help you at the event. Remember you will need to take rest room breaks and you will need a minimum of one other person to keep the concession running throughout the event.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Hot dogs 2 image by William Berry from Fotolia.com
