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Mobile concession lets you go to the customer!
What do you get when you take the “Steak of Hot Dogs” and combine it with a mobile concession and fabulous franchisor support? According to John Lewis, sales coordinator of national accounts at Woody’s Chicago Style, you get a winning franchise opportunity you have to see to believe.
Build it and they will come.
As any restaurateur knows, getting the customer to come to you is one of the biggest obstacles. When you own a Woody’s, you go to the customer. Your cart, modeled after the old-fashioned hot dog cart, can be located at any of a variety of locations, such as outside of retail outlets, tourist attractions, car washes, special events or college campuses. Most of the current franchisees are located outside of Lowes Home Improvement Centers, with whom Woody’s has an agreement
The benefit of the mobile cart is that you can take it to your location and then pack it up at night. Woody’s carts are fitted with custom trailers that make transporting the carts easy for anyone. This allows you to take the entire cart back to your commissary to sanitize and refill the items before the next day of selling.
When you are located where people are, you have half the battle won because you are convenient. The other half is taste. “Our hot dogs have no fillers,” says Lewis. “They are made by Vienna Beef and they truly are the best tasting hot dog out there; I call it the ‘steak of hot dogs.’ Our buns are specially made to be steamed without getting soggy. True to our name, we have all the traditional trimmings and condiments you’d find at a hot dog cart on the streets of Chicago.”
As famous chefs always say, we eat first with our eyes and noses before we eat with our mouths. The Woody’s carts are built with a clean, high tech design and the operator wears a uniform, giving the customer a sense of the excellence of the product. Then there is the heavenly smell of the steaming hot dog – who can resist?
A business custom built for you.
But having a clever niche market is not the only advantage of being a Woody’s Chicago Style franchisee. They also offer one of the least expensive entrances into the quick service restaurant market. A standard Woody’s cart franchise starts at as little as $40,000. This cart can run off of propane, meaning no electrical hook-up is necessary, and the trailer is included.
If your aspirations run a bit higher, Woody’s can also help you there. In addition to mobile carts, a franchisee can develop an inline store location or kiosk in a mall, or even a stand alone store. Other food options are available besides the standard hot dog, soda and chips. Franchisees with larger locations can sell sandwiches, espresso, pretzels and ice cream. “We are going to test out a new breakfast concept at a company store in Denver,” says Lewis. This location will have a more extensive menu and if successful, will be available to franchisees.
“We offer a great concept for a family business,” says Lewis. “We have husband and wife teams as franchisees and others have bought the business for their teens or college-age children to run. For someone who has been laid off work or who is just tired of working for ‘the man’ and the politics of corporate America, this is a wonderful opportunity. For very little money you can own your own business. I don’t think we could have made it any easier,” adds Lewis. “When you compare the volume of business with the square feet of the cart, you see the potential is enormous!”
What skills do you need to be a Woody’s franchisee?
“It really is a business that can be run by almost anyone,” claims Lewis. “We provide all the training a franchisee needs and the units can easily be run by the owner and maybe a part-time employee or two. This is a business that can offer a lot of flexibility as well. We have franchisees who only work events, maybe 2-3 days a week. Others, such as those who work in the Lowes locations, are open 7 days a week, from 10-6.”
Current franchisees of this Morrison, Colorado franchisor number about 87 with about 100 locations. Most are located in the western U.S., in California, Colorado and Washington. The company actually began in Hawaii in 1987 and moved to Colorado several years ago and has been franchising since 1993. The Woody’s name is growing in recognition and has become associated with a quality, traditional hot dog product.
You’ll find little competition.
Woody’s Chicago Style is one of only a few hot dog franchisors. The January 2005 Entrepreneur magazine named Woody’s Chicago Style as the second fastest growing hot dog franchise in America. But Lewis is not content to be number two.
“Where else can you find a business with very low investment and a very high return? We will train the franchisee for a week at their own location and we help with marketing, employees and set up. This business comes with a cash management system, online marketing materials and even coupons. You will also find that, unlike most food businesses, there is almost no waste with our system,” says Lewis.
“We are on track to become a national hot dog chain and my goal is to make Woody’s Chicago Style the Starbucks of hot dogs,” he adds.
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