so how does one run an espresso cart?

**xbleedblackx89** · 10-07-2007 06:40 PM

live in southern california and read some posts on here about espresso carts and saw on entrepreneur.com that they make 50-60 cents profit per cup and winter is coming soon. so how much would you need to run one? can i just put it anywhere like in parking lot or something? also, i don't know anything about coffee and frankly hate it so would i just hire someone to run it and how do i know their not keeping some cash on the side or giving away free drinks
thanks.

or any other low cost ideas. maybe home based like an ebay store or something.

**radreality** · 10-07-2007 06:52 PM

if you "hate" a particular product, how do you expect to sell it effectively?

I've known a few people with expresso carts, they have all run into the same problem. After you pay an employee, there isn't much money left over. So you either need an extremely good location and product, so you are constantly busy, so be able to drive enough revenue; or run it yourself.

As far as knowing if an employee is keeping cash or giving away free stuff......you have a lot to learn about business. Thats one of those things that every business worries about, and there are numerous things a business can do to help minimize it, but you can never eliminate it. Most of it has to do with the type of people you hire.

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**Online Super Sale** · 10-07-2007 06:56 PM

I have no experience with this, but il give it a try.

About the cart, you could probably get a nice one for under $3,000.

check out http://www.willydogs.com/
they have all kinds of carts,

You might need a certain permit depending on what state you live in i guess. You should contact a local directory.

I guess that the part about hiring someone would be based on trust, cause with selling cups of coffee on the street, there isn't an official way of recording an order or a transaction with which you could compare your cash and the numbers.

-best bet is for you to learn about coffee and go on your own at first.

anyways, hope my two cents worth helped, later