TAMPA – These days, people are looking to save money — and that’s leading to new opportunities in an old-fashioned business.

From Coney Island to the streets of Chicago, and now to a sidewalk near you: Thousands of people across the country are making money selling hot dogs.

It’s a value lunch at Kurt Horlacher’s hot dog cart.

“It’s still a recession-proof business. Two dollars for a hotdog. Most people can afford,” he said.

Kurt is a former sheet metal worker. But two years ago, when the economy scuttled new construction business, the hot dog business was heating up.

“My wife and I currently have four locations,” he continued.

It’s a growth industry for the free-spirited who have a driving will for free enterprise.

“First of all, the product sells. Second, it’s personality, who’s working behind the stand,” Horlacher explained.

Cart operators say they can make $100 to $400 a day. Workers build new hot dog carts as fast as they can.

“The numbers are off the chart. People from all walks of life are getting into it. They’re supporting their families,” Horlacher said.

Joel Goetz owns Dreamaker Hot Dog Carts with eight different models, priced from $2,500 to $30,000. They’re headed for entrepreneurs all over the nation.

“They’re realizing that people can’t spend $20 or 25 for lunch anymore. Things are changing and we have to change with the times,” Goetz said.

It’s a change that’s paying the bills for Kurt, and serving up a quick, cheap lunch for his customers.

Different cities and states have different regulations, but you can bet people everywhere like hotdogs, and thousands of vendors are cashing in with hot dog carts.

original story at MyFox Tampa Bay Report

Hey,it’s Daniel Loper from Mobile, Alabama. I bought your EZ Built Hot Dog Cart plans and video package back in May.

I finally got around to building mine !! As you can see from the pictures i modified it slightly, I made a dual shelf and added a fire ext. The top lid slides out to expose the fresh water tank.

Please feel free to publish this to your website, and tell everyone I said that if they don’t have your plans,they don’t have nothing !!

Have a great day !!

Daniel Loper

Awesome job Daniel!!! It’s a thing of beauty.

Lets give Daniel some EZ Built loooove in the comments people…

-Steve

The 300th comment was made by bshaddock1, but the rule was no consecutive comments by the same person. In his shiny stainless steel dog sled crazed frenzy, bshaddock posted two in a row… oops!

Comment 301 was posted by podobadboy…

Rules are rules. Podobadboy – email me with your address. You won a sled.
steve@redarrowpublishing.com.

But then again, bshaddock put in a huge effort. Should he go home empty handed?

Hmmm. What do you think dear readers?

-Steve

******************************

Congratulations to ericgowholesale, the winner of a shiny new dogsled courtesy of HotDogProfits.com.

Eric – email me with your shipping address.  steve@redarrowpublishing.com

I thought captnightowl had it with the old “wait until everyone else is asleep strategy”, but it turns out the captain wasn’t the only nightowl. Eric was waiting in the shadows until he saw post number 249 then swooped in and snatched the prize from the claws of captnightowl (applause and crowd cheering).

It would have been exciting to watch if I hadn’t been sleeping.

But wait, there’s more…

I really appreciate the effort everyone put in, and although ericgowholesale won his sled fair and square, I want normal people who move about the planet during the day to have another chance.

Yes, I’m giving away another dog sled.

New rules:

Go back and comment on the same video, but this time you can’t comment twice in a row.

You must wait until at least two other comments appear after yours before you can comment again. This should level the playing field a bit more and allow you to have a normal life today instead of being surgically attached to your computer.

As always, be nice. I will delete any comments that aren’t in keeping with our friendly, positive, family atmosphere.

Let’s speed things up today. We are at 251 comments as I write this. Comment number 300 wins dog sled number two.

Ready, set, GO!

-Steve

UPDATE: 11 AM – You can make multiple comments in this contest. No need to stop at one!

I loves me a good contest!

Something different this time.

Here is your mission:

I want you to go to a video of mine over at YouTube, rate it, and add a comment.

You can say something nice about HotDogProfits.com if you feel so inclined , or just talk about the video. As always, keep it clean or be disqualified.

The 250th comment on YouTube (not here at HDCN) wins one brandy new dog sled, shipping included.

In order to comment you need to be a YouTube user. You can sign up here lickety-split: http://www.youtube.com/create_account

Click the link below, rate the video, and add a comment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gBuQYXMhSs

Lucky # 250 wins. Good luck!

-Steve

Hey Steve,

Just thought I would share a napkin holder that I came across at local gas station/convenience store.

It is a single use holder and has slots on the front or back where you can insert your own card stock for advertising. I found that it works extremely well.

It is made my Tork and called Xpressnap.  They come in different colors.

Kent Foster

Thanks for the tip Kent. I really like this dispenser, especially the price -  $1.70!!! Sure you have to buy the napkins that go with it, but that’s the case with most napkin dispensers. Kind of like computer printer manufacturers – they make their money selling ink.

Here is the official description (I bolded the feature I like the most)…

Increase personal hygiene and cut waste by delivering one-at-a-time dispensing, which reduces consumption. Ideal for use at individual tables in casual dining environments. Holds up to 200 napkins, nearly three times the capacity of traditional dispensers.

Unique AD-a-Glance message display panel can be used for in-store promotions, special announcements, events and also to offer advertising space to professionals to generate advertising revenue.

Color(s): Black; Width: 5.80 in; Depth: 7.80 in; Height: 6.20 in.

Reduces napkin usage by 25%.
For use with napkins SCA-DX900 (sold separately).
Weight: 2 lbs.

Click Here for a list of places to get yours.

Anybody using these? Anybody going to try it? How about an alternative product? Let us know what you think in the comments…

-Steve

Hi Steve:

///Jim Southard

Thanks for sharing this Jim!

What do you think dear readers? Do any of you already do something like this? Let’s hear you in the comments!

-Steve

Hey Steve,

Regarding Renee’s chili dilemma, have a look at the pictures attached. Though your answer, and “dogger” comments shed light, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Please feel free to share these with Renee.

Cheers,

Dave
Dave’s New England Coneys
Seattle, WA

Update 2/24  This just in from SOGS1926:

Hey Steve,  This is the setup that I use for my Chili, Red  Onions, and
Sauerkraut. It does the trick for me.

Today’s Hot Dog Cart Q and A is from Renee Crenshaw. Renee writes:

Q: Hi Steve,

I got a lot of good info out of the propane/electric thing.  I have a question that I’d like to ask also – it’s something that’s bugged me since I first got started last summer.  How does everyone keep their chili from burning in the pan?

After much trial and error, I came up with a workable solution, but I’d like to see how everyone else is doing it…..

Like I said, it took a lot of trial and error, but what I ended up with was a very rudimentary “dutch oven” type of set up.  I use a heavy glass bread loaf pan to put the chili in and set it into a 1/2 pan with some water in it.

You have to be careful not to put too much water in as it will boil over into the chili.  Watered down chili is a real turn off which happened to me a couple of times!

I’m thinking of modifying it even further by building a metal stand to put the loaf pan on for two reasons – one so I can put more water in, thereby heating the dogs and the chili at the same rate of time, (the way it is now, the chili is boiling way before the dogs are hot), also because the loaf pan sits so far down in the 1/2 pan that it’s awkward to spoon the chili out.

Hope this all makes sense.

Renee

*************************************

A:  Most hot dog carts come with three to five 1/3 size pans, or some combination thereof, usually positioned directly over the burners. This is great for rapid heating of water, but for warming chili, cheese, or sauerkraut…not so much. The direct heat is just too much and the contents of the pan quickly start to burn and stick to the bottom.

I solved that problem on the E-Z Built Hot Dog Cart by designing it with a true steam table.

Instead of pans over direct heat, the E-Z Built cart uses a six inch deep full size “spillage pan” which is  slightly larger in all dimensions than a standard full size pan. Spillage pans are designed to accept standard fractional size pans (1/3, 1/2, etc.)

Here’s how it works:

Add an inch or two of water to the 6″ deep spillage pan, then drop in any combination of 4″ deep pans that you wish. I use two 4″ deep perforated pans with hinged covers, one to steam the buns, and one to keep the dogs warm (I don’t serve chili or cheese). Since the pans are over hot water, never in direct contact with the flame, nothing burns or sticks to the bottom.

The E-Z Built also comes with a separate 1/2 size pan over direct heat for fast boiling.

You could use the spillage pan set up with two 1/3 size pans for dogs and buns, and two 1/6 size pans for chili and cheese.

What is your set up? Let us know in the comments!

-Steve

How Freakin’ Cool is This?  One Of Our Own on ABC News!

Steve,

I was on television a couple of hours ago and I put in a plug for you. I did not get to say everything that I wanted to during the interview but at least I was able to mention you.

You have really helped me out with the book and the E-Z Built Cart plans. The cart is great and I really outfitted it well.

Thanks for everything!

Mark Ohare
Owner, Mark’s Top Dog

Way to go Mark – WOW!!! You were awesome on TV. Good job.  Also, thanks for the mention, that was very nice of you.

Good luck with your  new hot dog cart business. Sell a ton!

It’s congratulations time in the comments – Let’s hear it for Mark!

-Steve