What Your Customers Can Teach You

You might prefer staying in the studio rather than meeting the public. Or maybe your gig is selling online, through your website, or a third party website. You might prefer to deal with galleries, or have sales reps or a business partner who can take care of the marketing and sales for you.

Although those methods can save time, travel and money, there is much to be said for coming face-to-face with the public once in a while. Whether that means you are exhibiting at a retail art show or craft fair, doing a trunk show, or making personal appearance, your retail customers can teach you quite a few things.

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Getting Past the Gatekeepers

A Marketing Plan for Your Crafts Business
James Dillehay

Do you have a marketing plan for your craft business? I am not speaking of a business plan, which is a more formal lengthy manuscript used mostly when attempting to raise money from lenders or investors. Instead of a multi-page document, the marketing plan consists of seven sentences which guide your progress in the coming months and years. The seven sentence plan can be drafted on one or two pages.

1. What is your most desired result to be achieved from your marketing activities?

The first part of creating a marketing plan is envisioning what you want the success of your craft business to look and feel like. Start by writing down exactly what you want your craft business to accomplish and by when. If you want $5,000 in sales each month within the next six months, write that down. If you want to get 20 items listed on eBay in the next sixty days, that's a target. Go ahead and make that list right now.

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Fundraising for Events

"If you think breaking even is alright, you are doomed for failure."

The themes for events cover a wide range, but most of these special events have an underlying purpose: to make money. While this commercial aspect may bother some purists, there's no getting around the fact that events are excellent fundraisers. All kinds of good causes can be helped. In addition, some of the money generated can be set aside towards next year's event. For many groups, the question is simply: What's the best way to raise money? There is no quick answer. What might help is to look at some of the fundraising techniques used by other event promoters.

1. Selling Booth Space. This is one of the most popular (and effective) fundraising ideas, particularly with arts and crafts shows. No two groups seem to do everything the same, however. Many just sell a designated space and let the exhibitor provide everything else: display tables, backdrops, and chairs. Some groups supply these things and still others include electricity or even a tent over the booth. These different factors (along with projected attendance) influence booth fees as does the size and location of the spaces. In short, booth fees vary greatly from event to event.

   Most groups collect these fees well in advance, usually at the time an exhibitor applies for space. They've also found that a strict refund policy is a good idea. It's one way to insure that exhibitors reconsider before canceling at the last minute.

2. Percentage of Sales. Several organizations don't stop with making money from rental space; their contracts with exhibitors stipulate that a certain percentage of sales-frequently 10 to 20%-be returned to the event organization. If the "cut" is kept reasonable and crowds show up, exhibitors don't seem to mind sharing their proceeds.

   This approach is not without its problems. Bookkeeping headaches can be expected, along with occasional doubts about the accuracy of sales reports. Its success for raising money though, is beyond question.

3. In-Kind Donations. Encourage in-kind donations of materials, supplies, and services instead of money. Assess each in-kind contribution and keep a record of what the cost would have been if you had paid for it out of pocket.

1. Food and Beverage Sales. People at gatherings consume vast quantities of popcorn, hot dogs, cotton candy, and drinks. Most event organizers do not need to be reminded of this. Their job is to figure out how to make the most of this demand.

   Promoters can handle the food/beverage matter in two ways:

   • selling the refreshments themselves
   • allowing someone else to sell food and drinks on a concession basis

   Many groups lean toward the former, but unless they have the necessary equipment and a good crew of tireless volunteers, they may be better off to work with an experienced concessionaire. Organizers know the food and beverage business is closely regulated by the Dept. of Health. Selling hot dogs, for instance, involves much more than placing a hot frankfurter in a steamed bun.

   Requirements governing the floor, walls, doors, ceiling, and windows of concession stands exist and must be followed (for details, see the chapter on food and beverages).

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Make Time for Online Networking

It happened again! I talk to a group of artists about using social media like blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. I tell them that this is part of a marketing program and that, yes, it will take time. I warn them not to get sidetracked using social media and forget to go into the studio-that the studio is always the priority. Still, they grumble, whine, and make excuses. (I had spies at the lunch table after my talk!)

ALL worthwhile marketing takes time. You would love for me to hand you the name of an agent that will sweep you off your feet and whisk you off into the stars, wouldn't you? You'd prefer that you can just buy a bunch of ads or send out a single mailing and have all of your dreams come true. Yeah, that would be nice all right. But what planet are you living on?

This is Earth. April 2009. We're bombarded with hundreds of marketing messages each day. You have to learn to build meaningful relationships that will propel your career forward. You must keep your name in front of people you're in contact with. Networking online is one of the cheapest, easiest, and most effective ways to do that.

In order to avoid being overwhelmed by all of the social media opportunities available, you might be best served by carving out time for them. This isn't something you do in a block of time one day a week. Instead, you need to do a little bit every day. I suggest starting with 15-30 minutes a day for logging in to sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. That's enough to create and maintain a presence.

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Protect Your Food Business With Liability Insurance

• A customer slips and falls somewhere within your rented business premises and injures themselves. Liability costs include compensation for the customer's injuries.

Opening Acts... Does Playing Before a Rock Star Make You One?

It's the dream of many a musician to open up for either: their favorite band or the favorite band of their childhood. For many, the ultimate in true rock star status is to share a stage with the musicians who made you want to play music in the first place.. to see you name in lights (or printed on a flyer, as the case may be) with the guys (or gals) whose music you listen to almost as much as (if not more than) your own.

But is it really a good idea, as an unsigned artist, to open up for an act already known to the general public? Will you get anywhere near the recognition opening up for "Pearl Jam" in a large venue that you would at a local club playing with other unsigned bands? Will you fans dig your music as hard as ever or will they forget all about you in a mad frenzy to have Eddie Vedder sign their backs?

It's a double-edged sword that many artists forget to think over carefully before rushing starry-eyed into the excitement of being the opening act for: (Insert Name Of Famous Rock Star Here). In many cases, venues and promoters still expect your crowd to turn out and drink it up at shows, even though the headliner will draw a big crowd of their own. Many of these shows are an hour plus away from your local area and tickets can be upwards of $100. Is that something you can expect your friends will be up for?

And then there's the issue of press. Do you dare ask a reviewer to come out and cover your show and expect that a large portion of your article won't be about how "Pearl Jam rocks!" You score local radio play only to have the DJ announce the show and play, "Alive." Sometimes opening up for a signed act can make an unsigned artist feel even more invisible than usual.

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10 Prioritization Tips for Promoters

When in planning mode, event managers have a million and one things to worry about. Time management and prioritization are not just skills, they become a lifestyle. Even the most seasoned event planners can stand to add a few more things to their toolbox. Here are 10 prioritization tips to help you keep calm under pressure and execute on an incredible event.

1) Establish your overarching goal and vision

Before the planning even begins, clearly articulate why you're even having this event in the first place. Then set concrete goals that align with that vision. Doing so will make decisions down the road much easier because you'll be sure that they align with your overarching goal.

"It's easy to get distracted the thousands of details that come with event planning. But if you establish clear goals from the beginning, the rest of the planning becomes much easier."

-Rachel, Customer Success Manager at Bizzabo.

2) Outline the day

To keep focused on the overarching goals, it's important to make every day count. Make sure to start your day with a clear schedule of what needs get done and by what time. This daily ritual will help you stay focused on checking off the tasks that contribute to your main event goals.

3) Make deadlines, not to-do lists

The danger of to-do lists is that once the tasks start piling up, your list becomes endless and more difficult to prioritize. That's why it's essential to immediately set deadlines once tasks start coming in. Having a logical, chronological progression of objectives will help you better visualize the needs for your event.

"Everyone needs deadlines. Even beavers."
-Walt Disney

4) Know the difference between urgent vs important

It's easy for a task to feel important because of a creeping deadline, but make sure that the sense of urgency is not distorting the actual importance of the task. Certain tasks add immediate value and others just make you feel busy. The clearer the line is between urgent and important, the smoother your event planning will be.

"What is important is seldom urgent, and what is urgent is seldom important."

-Dwight D. Eisenhower

5) Use tools that help you focus

Good prioritization isn't only about ranking your tasks. Sometimes it comes down to good old fashioned hard work and focus. To help you focus on one task at a time, there are a number of productivity tools available. For instance, Marinara Timer helps you stay focused for 25 minutes at a time, in what is known as the pomodoro technique. The app Self-Control creates a blacklist of websites that remain locked for a set period of time. Tools like these will definitely help you stay focused on the task at hand.

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Are Food Trucks Inspected Enough?

The San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury issued a report, detailing its recommendations for food truck inspections in the County. The recommendation came after a recent study revealed a significantly sharp increase in food truck permits over the last few years. Grand jury Foreman, Bruce MacMillan told The Daily News that food trucks aren't inspected as rigorously or as frequently as brick and mortar restaurants, and their report recommends some changes.



MacMillan reassured the public that the review and report weren't the result of an increase in food poisoning incidents or inspection failures, but a proactive reaction to the increase in the food truck population on the streets in San Mateo County. "For the restaurants it's pretty rigorous, but unfortunately for the food trucks it's not as rigorous," MacMillan said. "It could be dangerous - and I emphasize could be - over the long term."

The examination and report come as no surprise, though. Earlier this year, San Diego County revamped its inspection standards for food trucks, and now requires that food trucks post inspection grades at all times.

San Francisco and Los Angeles have re-examined their health and safety inspection standards multiple times in the last two years, and news sources in Sacramento recently reported that nearly 60% of the food trucks operating in the county were cited during inspections, and that several couldn't pass repeated inspections, despite the fact that they were scheduled and announced.

At the end of 2011, there were 146 food trucks in operation in San Mateo County, a 46% increase, and nearly 3,800 restaurants, according to the report. Interestingly, the Grand Jury found that the number of food poisoning incidents between food trucks and brick and mortar restaurants is actually about the same. It's the increasing popularity of food trucks, combined with fewer and less rigorous inspections and an overall low reporting rate of food-related illnesses that concerns the Grand Jury.

A pale comparison to counties like San Diego, with 1,100 food trucks and Los Angeles County with a staggering 6,000 food trucks, MacMillan feels the time is right to examine inspection practices and standards, before the population explodes. "It's not only the number of food trucks that has increased fairly dramatically," MacMillan said, "But it's also a dramatic change in the cuisine that's been offered, so we wanted to take a look."

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Makin' it and Savin' it

10 Ways To Sell Your Festival Products Faster

1. Give people a deadline to order. This will create an urgency so they don't put off buying.

2. Offer people a money back guarantee. The longer the guarantee the more effective it will be.

3. Offer a free on-site repair service for products you sell.

4. Publish testimonials on your ad copy. They will give your business credibility and you'll gain peoples trust. It's important to include the persons full name and location with the testimonial.

5. Give people free bonuses when they order your product or service. The free bonuses could be books, jewelry, reports, newsletters, etc.

6. Allow people to make money reselling the product or service. Tell people they can join your affiliate program, if they order. You could pay them per sale, per click, per referral, etc.

7. Offer free 24 hour help with all products you sell. Allow customers to ask you questions by e-mail, by toll free phone, by free fax, etc.

8. Provide free shipping with all orders.

9. Give away a free sample of your product.

10. Offer a buy one get one free deal. People will feel they are getting more for their money and order quicker.

How to Save Money When Traveling

Expenses at craft shows can quickly reduce profits. Here are some things you can do to help cut costs.

Here's How:

1. Ask for exhibitor discounts when making lodging reservations.

2. Keep receipts for all expenses during your trip.

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Fixing Conflicts within the Band in 5 Easy Steps

No matter how famously you get along with your band mates, at one point or another you will find yourself, at the very least, disagreeing about something. This is one of the downsides of human interaction. Whether it's creative differences or something on a more personal note, resolving conflict is never easy. In most cases, though, working through your dispute is ideal for the future of your band and, ultimately, your own success.


So just how do you get to the other side of a trouble spot in your musical road? Experts agree there are a handful of steps that are relatively universal in most partnerships. Here are some helpful ways to let the healing begin.

Step 1: Identify the problem.

The reasons for conflict can range from annoying to life threatening. The key is to discern the root of the issue. Was there an incident that caused a rift or is it a philosophical approach that clashes with your own? The discussion will look different depending on your answer to the above question. How serious is the issue at hand? Will it negatively affect the band's future? Is it possible you have a part to play in the problem (i.e. something you might be doing to incite this person)?

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Art Blogging 101: Think Locally When Blogging About Art

The artists I've known over the years tend to share a desire -- they want to have a solid local or regional presence. In other words, they want to be recognized for their art within their community or surrounding community. In addition to that, they often desire to be a 'known name' within their local art community -- even if their art community is spread out between several towns/cities (which may very well be the case for an artist living in a small city or rural town). Establishing local / regional recognition can be an uphill battle no matter where you live. That said, many artists appear to forget that their art blog can help in the 'climb' -- even if it amounts to just one little step (connection) at a time.

Before I delve into this further I want to offer some clarification. This Art Blogging 101 article was written with small city / rural artists in mind -- and how they can benefit from local online searches for specific art-related venues/events in their area. Artists living in larger cities may be able to benefit from this strategy as well -- though it will be more difficult to achieve. Especially if the 'big city' in question happens to have a very active art community -- and thus a steady flow of online content about art news in general. Point blank -- the 'numbers' can work against 'big city' artists... you'll understand if you read further.

I'll make this short and bitter sweet -- many artists fail to take advantage of their art blog when seeking local / regional recognition for their art. They want to establish themselves within their local / regional community -- but fail to take advantage of one of the most powerful tools at their fingertips... that being, the power of the Internet. They fail to benefit from online searches made by local / regional art lovers. They forget that online documentation of their local / regional art experiences can be just as important -- for establishing 'real world' presence AND connections -- as receiving local press in traditional print.

I'll offer a fictional example: Jane the Artist has a steady track record of being involved in local /regional art exhibits, art fairs and other art-related events -- but if you visit Jane's art blog you will not find any blog posts about those events and experiences. Jane has failed to establish an online connection between her local / regional 'offline' art marketing efforts and those specific art venues. Thus, her artist website will likely not show up in search results when people from her surrounding community submit online searches for those specific local art galleries, art fairs and other art events.

Why does this matter? Simple. Jane could have easily taken advantage of those online searches depending on the art venue and how much coverage it has had online (again, I'm writing this with small city / rural artists in mind -- specifically those who live in areas where art coverage is minimal... which means page results for those searches are untapped, if you will). Unfortunately, Jane failed to offer art blog posts about her local / regional art involvement. If she had -- Amy the Art Collector may have 'discovered' her when searching for information about those specific local / regional venues. (Obviously the chance of Amy the Art Collector finding Jane the Artist's post about a specific local art gallery, for example, will also depend on how well Jane distributed her blog content. Hint: when you make an art blog post -- be sure to distribute a link to it via social networking or other online means. Don't wait for people to discover your art blog content -- get it 'out there').

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What Your Customers Can Teach You

You might prefer staying in the studio rather than meeting the public. Or maybe your gig is selling online, through your website, or a third party website. You might prefer to deal with galleries, or have sales reps or a business partner who can take care of the marketing and sales for you.

Although those methods can save time, travel and money, there is much to be said for coming face-to-face with the public once in a while. Whether that means you are exhibiting at a retail art show or craft fair, doing a trunk show, or making personal appearance, your retail customers can teach you quite a few things.

What they like. Getting honest feedback by putting yourself on the front lines is really valuable. Perhaps you will learn that your handmade earrings are a bit too heavy, your color scheme is off, or people don't understand how to use your products. You can get a lot of good information by observing a fresh response to your work. As difficult as it may seem, it's important to understand objections that customers have to buying from you. Then, you may be able to overcome those objections either before or during the sales process.

What's out there? Check out your competition in real time. What are they offering, and how is their booth set up? How are they displaying their work and interacting with shoppers? Do they have great presentation or packaging? Expose yourself to some retail commerce to get ideas of how to improve your own collection and presentation.

Get suggestions. Business guru Harvey Mackay says that his customers give him his best ideas, and he's got a good point. Talk to potential customers. They will tell you what they're looking for, and they just might have a brilliant idea for you. How can you solve their problem, give them options, and offer something fresh and different? Listen and learn.

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Demographic Data: Crucial To Event Success

As the festival and event industry experiences continued growth, productions are being increasingly attended by a diverse range of attendees spanning many demographic characteristics. Whether a production is ticketed or non-ticketed, collecting and understanding attendee demographic data provides significant value to organizers in many ways.

Examples of demographic information include age, traveling party size, presence of family traveling parties, ethnicity, education level, home ownership, employment status, household income, and place of residence. Data is best collected by surveying attendees to gather response information. In order to provide a non-intrusive and positive experience for attendee survey respondents, well-designed questions must be asked at appropriate opportunities either during or after the production. The proper survey research approach is critical to the collection of accurate and reliable data.

Assembled demographic data provides insight into the best approaches for event marketing efforts. By segmenting your attendees through different demographic characteristics, target audience trends can be identified. The result is the ability to make informed decisions that most effectively allocate marketing budgets to reach specific media outlets and target audience(s). Additionally, repeated research over time can offer insight into emerging audiences, helping to identify opportunities for new marketing strategies and increased exposure. It is important to note that the demographics of your community do not necessarily reflect the demographics of your production. This is especially significant for regional and national productions attracting large segments of non-resident attendees.

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Analyze Your Business

It's time to examine what is true about your business to get even better at prioritizing the areas that demand your attention. Here is a series of questions you can use as a starting point for identifying potential problem areas in your business. Please remember that this is not intended to be a full analysis, but rather a tool you can use to focus your attention. It may be helpful to print this page, and actually write down your responses. Take one question at a time and really think about your answers. This is not a test. There are no right or wrong answers. There are only responses that reflect your truthful objectivity about the state of your business.

1. What is your product or service, and what is the idea behind it? How do you make it a reality; how do you produce it? Can you draw a flow chart (a "box and arrow diagram") of the steps in your Production/Delivery process? Answering this question is good for those shows that require you to demonstrate, or for shows requiring "hand-made" only - Even better, for all those customers who ask, "how'd ya do that?"

2. Do you consistently and predictably keep your promises to your customers? Making mistakes is human and forgivable, but do you frequently make mistakes? How many customer complaints do you receive on a monthly basis? What is the average time it takes you to resolve those complaints? Do you experience a reoccurrence of the same kinds of complaints? I used to hand my business card to a potential customer and tell them to get in touch with me - then I realized that wasn't happening very often. So, now I get back in touch with them - more work? yes - but usually worth it.

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Event Pricing Strategy

Pricing your event is an important component of your event planning process. Setting the right ticket prices can actually increase ticket sales and earn you more returns. However, choosing the wrong event pricing strategy can really bring down its success. Luckily, we've compiled 5 tips that will surely help you through the stressful process of developing a successful event pricing strategy.

Event Pricing Strategy 101

1. Know Your Event

Determining event pricing must be a reflective process. In other words, you have to understand the objectives of your organization and the motivations of your potential audience in order to compose an accurate and successful event pricing strategy.

Ask yourself questions that qualify your event. Is your event brand unique and in high demand? Understanding the demand of your event can really help you price your event tickets accordingly. For example, if demand is high, you can often price your tickets similarly, and vice versa.

The price of your event has a major effect on how people will view it. Depending on the type of event, setting prices too low will prevent people from taking your event seriously, yet pricing too high will reduce the number of potential event attendees.

It's important to understand how your event is perceived by potential event attendees, and to either work to change expectations or to change the pricing of your event.

2. Create Financial Objectives

What are your revenue goals for your next event? This is a lofty question that can be overwhelming for many event planners. According to Tweetwall, here is the basic ticket pricing calculation in order to break even:

From this basic template, you can begin to find ways to maximize revenue, and you now have a better idea of whether or not you are charging too little or too much. Depending on the type of event that you plan, you can often charge more than you'd think. After all, most attendees at large corporate conferences, for example, don't pay for their tickets - their employers do.

If your event won't be covered by many large companies, keep in mind that there are other ways to attain revenue besides event ticketing, like from Sponsors and Exhibitors. So, don't put the burden entirely on the attendee when building an event pricing strategy!

Knowing your financial objectives goes hand in hand with knowing your audience (and your competitors)! Keep an eye out for other events in your industry, and mark how much they are charging for their tickets. Your potential attendees are probably comparing your event to other events in the industry as well!

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Must-Do Ideas for Your Food Business

To gain a competitive edge and a customer's attention, food truck owners must find new ways to be clever, creative or original. I'm often smiling at a newly discovered food truck's ingenuity, which is why I've decided to recognize these bits of business-savvy whimsy. Here we go..

1. Pick a memorable food truck name or theme.

Double entendres, homonyms and other types of wordplay are food truck tricks worth repeating. Think clean, plus funny and/or pun-ny, and you've got the idea. Yes, I said clean, because you want families to stop by for dinner.

Awards in the homonym category go to Arizona's Pizza Daux, Colorado's Basic Kneads Pizza and Utah's TheCurryer.

My latest "fun with words" discovery is Ba-NOM-a-NOM, a vegan frozen treat truck in Fort Collins, Colorado. Just saying the name makes me laugh. I picture a little kid chowing down on yummy food ("nom nom nom") while singing along to Muppet Tonight (Ep. 107, the "Mahna Mahna" skit) with Sandra Bullock.

No clue? Say the name out loud. You'll get it on the way home, and you won't forget the name of the truck, either.

2. Invite orders by text message.

People want everything faster these days. Still, you're a food truck and most customers don't have to wait in long lines, unless you're working a busy metro street corner or slinging hash en masse at a huge gathering. You say that's the norm? Okay, then. But even if your customers casually stroll up to your window to place an order, check out this next trick.

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Make the Right Connections in the Music Industry

You know that making the right music industry contacts is a key factor in developing a successful music career. The problem is, most musicians really don't know 'who' the most valuable music industry contacts are, where to find them, how to actually transform a 'first contact' into a meaningful relationship, what it really means to have the 'right music industry connections', etc.

If I gave you my complete list of music industry contacts (key industry people I have established important relationships with), do you think it would help you build a successful music career? .. NO! Why? Because a mere 'contact' is not worth anything. Music industry contacts need to become meaningful music industry connections. Meaningful connections are developed by building good relationships.. More on this later..

However, even if you have good relationships with the right people, this won't help you until and unless you work on having the right things in place which enables your industry contacts to feel confident enough to work with you.

So, who are the music industry people you should be contacting? .. And when you get through to someone, what do you say to him/her? How can you make these important people pay attention to you if you don't yet have a 'name' in the music business?

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Starting a Mobile Food Stand as a Solution to Unemployment

As retirement looms many aging baby boomers worry about their future. Inadequate retirement savings, inadequate health insurance, and an active lifestyle are the most common reasons more than 49% of retirement age people either want, or need to keep working. At the same time many older workers are now being forced into early retirement when they are unable to replace their job lost to downsizing, out-sourcing, or the current recession. Unfortunately, as we age, remaining employed can become more difficult. Many employers believe older employees are less valuable due to age bias, higher medical costs, and an inability to stay current with rapidly evolving trends and technologies.

Luckily, many older workers and retirees have found a solution. They've joined the growing number of "nouveau-entrepreneurs" who are becoming professional food concessionaires-selling food from food stands or food booths at fairs, festivals, and special events.

The recent gain in popularity of the mobile food service business amongst frustrated job seekers has occurred for good reason. With the national average unemployment rate stalled at over nine percent many people are abandoning their job search and turning instead to self-employment. Now, energetic and imaginative entrepreneurs who are weary of prolonged joblessness are opening food stands, trucks, and concessions in record numbers- many with great success. Due, in part, to wide-spread media coverage and cable TV shows, such as "Food Truck Nation" the food concession business has gained status with entrepreneurs and their customers, and is no longer considered the misfit of small businesses as it once was.

Though a bona fide business, the food concession business is unlike most other forms of self-employment. Concessionaires work part time, travel, work in a fun and relaxed atmosphere, and most importantly, can customize their business to the level of earnings and involvement they desire. The unique possibility of making a relatively large amount of money in a short period of time, a moderate investment of time and capital, and the ambiguity of a cash business with minimal licensing requirements, are some of the unique benefits that make the concession business accessible and attractive to people who otherwise would not consider self employment.

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