In a nutshell, great year last year, looking forward to this year!
In a nutshell, great year last year, looking forward to this year!
Wow, it’s been 6 months since I’ve posted anything here (Facebook will make you forget about your blog). I am getting the cart ready for a short season this year; at most I will work 20 days. I just about gave up on this business and I was close to taking the entire year off with the exception of the Christmas Tree Farm in November-December. The blueberry orchard that I’ve been working at for the past 3 years e-mailed me; I want to get back up there in August. In all honesty, I have like NOT working as much and I am immensely enjoying this summer. I am looking forward to my work next month and I will update when things start up.
Not much happens with the vending business in the winter, other than the outlay I have to pay out of my own pocket (right now it’s insurance and my health license).
I have given up all of my horse shows at Hollis. I am too busy between my regular job and my band; also it’s not worth it for me to work 7 hours for under $200 in sales. It’s sad for me because I really liked working for the folks out there but the numbers were so weak last year that I just can’t do it. I await the dates for my Mousam Saddle and Harness Club shows but I haven’t gotten them yet. Next month I have to go to a meeting up in Bath for the folks that put on car shows here in Maine; my plan is to work maybe 8 of them selling Philly Steak and Cheese. They are all daytime events with no breakfast. This is probably my last update until then.
No posts for a while, since Facebook, boy what a life/time waster that is! Anyway, I didn’t end up getting the vending gig for the auctions, which is ok because I couldn’t make the commitment that they needed, plus they got real food pros to do it. I had good sales at Holmes Tree Farm, I did the same sales in 5 days that it took me 8-9 days to do in years past.
I’m glad it’s over for the year. I had really horrible events earlier this year and I lost a lot of money, even with the cart being paid off now. I know that I will be doing the Mousam Shows and Holmes Tree Farm but I’m not sure about anything else at this point. The blueberry orchard ended up sucking the life out of me; it was really difficult to do all of that work, plus my regular job. I went at it 7 days a week from July to the end of September, and I didn’t make that much money for all of the bullshit it took to maintain that schedule. Basically, I am not interested in doing an event if I can’t do $400-$500 in sales, I can do other things with my life otherwise. Now that I own the cart, it’s going to take me 2-3 years at least to make up for the investment that I put into this business. I don’t know what 2011 will bring; I still have some legwork to do, but I will conclude by saying that Maine is definitely the worst place to own a business, the competition is tough, just like in the Great Depression when people were lined up and down the streets selling apples because they couldn’t find work. Now for a long winter’s nap……..
I haven’t posted recently as I have been going through some personal issues that mostly appear to be resolved other than some personal work I need to do. Business-wise, I did a Rally-X event in Lyman a couple of weeks ago and it went pretty damn good. I did $300 in sales in a little more than a half-hour. Totally worth it. I also have opportunities to work for my good old friend Joe at Maine Gold and Silver vending at their auctions. This is ongoing work; it sounds more plausible than the horse shows and it sounds like it would be work spread out throughout the year as opposed to what I’ve done now. I am glad to not be working; this summer nearly killed me. 7 days a week, no more. The cart can just sit there and rot for all I care; I need to be quiet for a while. I have given my heart and soul to this business and this year has been awful, frankly. I really lost a lot of money this year. I have the Xmas Tree Farm in a few weeks and frankly, I’m not looking forward to it but I have my commitments to honor. I was offered dates to work at Hollis and I don’t think I’m going to commit to anything right now other than Joe if I can do it. I don’t know if I will be back at the blueberry orchard either, I don’t think I ended this year on good terms with them. I know I will be doing this business next year, but the level that I will be doing it is definitely going to be LESS.
The next-to-last cart payment for the buyout came out yesterday. Unfortunately I still owe the leasing company another $150 in fees that I’m going to try to get them to waive. Probably not, but who cares right now. I have taken tomorrow off from my real job and Monday and Tuesday of next week off. I am mentally exhausted from the past 3+ years of doing this and I have taken no vacation time since I’ve d0ne this business. I am going to take vacation every chance I get from now on. Who knows, next year I could sell the cart and it would buy me an old Harley or a Victory and I could ride the bike all summer. On the other hand, I could just sell more food and buy the bike anyway!
Worked yesterday at Libby & Son’s, best sales day so far. Today I was at Hollis for SMDA of Maine, sales were pretty good there as well. Next weekend, both days at Libby & Son. Of note I met a nice lady was selling polyethlene-coated horse craps that were made to look like birds, dogs, etc. Fun stuff. Playing lots of harp with Pard up there, having a good time. Tomorrow the first of the 2 buyout payments are paid on the cart, 9/1/10 the cart will belong to me!
Not much to report from Hollis today. The show was kind of slow to start but I ended up with passable sales. Also some nice compliments today. It was however, very windy. I was using the canopy and had it staked down with some stakes that Mike Libby gave me, but the wind was so strong and the soil so sandy behind the food booth that it blew ass-over-teakettle. Luckily for everyone involved there was no horse behind me. I spent another hour with no cover and it was pretty hot. I will be back in Hollis on August 1st (my stepson will be running from the food booth while I am at Libby & Son). It’s work every day now between real job and vending until October, by which I will be ready for vacation!
Today I worked at Libby & Son’s, business was pretty slow, as it was quite warm out on the blueberry fields. Tomorrow I work at Hollis for a horse show. Today Mike Libby showed me how to find the propane leak that I’ve had since last winter. by which I was able to find the leak by running the propane and applying soapy water, whereby the leak was one of the connector pieces behind my griddle which I tightened up. Thanks Mike!
Today went pretty good. It didn’t rain until the end of the day; both the blueberry orchard and I could have done more business if it wasn’t raining everywhere else all day. I am going to be relying heavily on John to help me cover at Mousam and Hollis, as Libby & Son’s wants me there as much as possible for both food and playing harmonica with Pard. So I will double-book now; I will make an appearance at Mousam and Hollis in the morning so they know I am still running those shows, then I will run up to the blueberry orchard afterwards for the day. Looking forward to next Saturday!