Employees

Your employee at your food cart business, be it on your own or another person’s, is the representative of your business and your company. How the food handler works at the hotdog cart would be a great factor in keeping customers returning to your concession stand. Here are some recommendations that would surely score positive points with clients when you operate your hotdog cart business.

Overall Look. Having your employees wearing spiffy uniforms would be a great attraction for your clientele. Well-kept and clean uniforms are sure-fire signs of reassuring your customers that your business is professional as well as compliant with health regulations. How your employees groom themselves is also one aspect of the food concession business that would ensure clients returning to purchase your hotdogs. Clean fingernails, hair in a hair net, clean look are but some of the simple ways that your representatives say we are healthy without saying a word.

Respectful Tone. Dealing with customers needs to be consistent, cordial and respectful. After all diners are expecting full on service so having your employees being attentive and courteous to your clientele would surely help in the dining enjoyment. Even if at times that there are irate customers, your employees need to keep their cool and respond to the complaints. This can be done by properly training and guiding your personnel on how to handle customers while on the job.

Cleanliness is Key. Since the hotdog concession cart is located outdoors, you need to keep your food preparation area clean. Always keep the water in the boilers at the right temperature, making sure that the surfaces are clean and free of food particles can ensure the prevention of the proliferation of germs and bacteria. This not only prevents your clients from getting sick, you would remain compliant with health safety regulations in your area.

As you can see, these are but simple steps that would surely reap dividends for your food concession business. In keeping a clean overall look for your employees, you can impart to your clients the comfort that you are preparing safe and clean food. In having training on customer handling, the clients would be courteously served by your employees. Finally, maintaining high standards of cleanliness would also help in keeping your clients safe and healthy with the food you serve. All these would only help your business become better and in the long run, earn profits for you.

Many management gurus would say that the biggest and most important resource of any organization is their human resources. After the initial thrill of being employed, many individuals employed exhibit a drop in their productivity either because they feel that they are underappreciated or unmotivated. To keep your hot dog business in tiptop shape, here are some tips on how to motivate your employees to help your business remain at its full capacity.

Productivity Bonuses. This may make some employers grumble, as this requires some capital outlay on the part of the owner. Do remember that this system only becomes effective when an individual employee exhibits above average performance. The system may include points for attendance, customer feedback, skills testing and overall performance reviews by peers. Once the employee meets the effective criteria, then a small raise would definitely provide incentive for not only the benefiting employee but also other members of your staff to do better on the job.

Career Path Management. It may seem laughable to many that having a career plan for hot dog concession employees in your business. This is a good incentive for individuals as this provides hope to employees in improving not only their skill set but also their overall welfare. This can be done by determining which aspect of your business requires improving skills, such as dishwashing and trash management, food preparation and then counter supervision. Having these three areas for career pathing would be a great incentive for performance improvement for employees.

Manager of the Day. Having employees perform managerial duties at certain times of the business cycle can provide an insight as to the managerial acumen of employees. You can also observe how the individual employee can perform in the high stress job of managing a going concern. Giving them a taste of how it is at the top would whet their appetite on improving their performance to eventually head their own food concession store.

These may seem to be up in the air concepts for such a small enterprise. But look at the bigger picture as these techniques would certainly help motivate your employees. Productivity bonuses would provide immediate gratification for good work. Having a career path plan also would provide employees the gusto to do better in their job to be promoted. You also can give them a taste of the reins of the managerial duties and determine if they have both the skills and abilities for it. These would certainly be good and effective ways of motivating your employees in your business and give them tools to improve themselves in the long run.

Operating a food cart business presents a whole new set of processes. Unlike a normal restaurant business, the food cart business is what is now termed as fast food to go. In order to operate this kind of business, it takes a special kind of person to be on top of things during the course of the day. Here are the qualities that a food cart employee should have when at the cart serving customers.

Can think on their feet. Since the business day operates with the employee on their feet, they must be able to get the orders, prepare the food, observe the portions, keep clean and serve the order properly consistently while on their feet. If they tire easily standing up for most of the day, then their performance would dip and this can hurt your bottom line.

Must be good with numbers. Getting the orders right is only half the fun when your employee is on the job. The food cart employee should also be able to calculate the cost of the order and give the exact change easily. Though a calculator can be used, handling equipment will only increase the waiting time of the customer, as one needs to take off gloves and then wear it again. So being able to calculate costs in their head and give the exact change quickly and accurately is one of the musts for a good food cart employee.

Great public relations. Being familiar with client’s regular orders and their names are but some of the skills needed to be a good public relations person. With good public relations with the customers and with great service will surely make them come back for more.

Must be clean and smart looking. Being clean with the food is imperative to be allowed to operate the food cart. The hygiene of the food handler also comes to fore as they may be carriers of bacteria and other germs. If the food cart employee is sick or has poor hygiene, they are certain to spoil the food as well as the appetite of the clients.

As you can see, the food cart employee needs to don many hats while operating your business. They need to think fast on their feet so that they can handle the food preparation process as well as serve the food to your waiting clientele. They also need to be good with numbers so they can compute the bill for the orders. The food cart employee also needs to be part salesman and part public relations officer, as they need to cozy up to clients to retain them as loyal customers. Finally, they need to look smart and observe impeccable hygiene to show the professionalism as well as the quality of food being served.