About the Kettle Korn business

So you want to sell Kettle Korn? Why? Do you want to get rich? Do you want easy money? Do you want the freedom of the open road and only working weekends? Well most of that is BS! You can make good money selling Kettle Korn, but unless you are exceptionally lucky, you will have to earn it.

Let me tell you how we got started and almost went bankrupt and why you don't have to make the same mistakes we did. It all started when my brother ran into someone doing Kettle Korn in Yuma, AZ in 1996. Randy thought it was a good way to make money but I was skeptical. I thought "Get rich selling popcorn...Rigghhhtttt!" But I was wrong. You can make good money selling popcorn... UNDER THE RIGHT CIRCUMSTANCES! Unfortunately it is much easier said than done. We bought a tent unit with a "wok" style cooker in January of 1997 for $18,000.00 completely set up. We did our first show in February and made about $800.00 profit and did not do a profitable show again until fall of 1997.

The person who sold us our unit said we could make 90% profits. Ha! The actual cost of consumables was about 20% alone, then you add the rent (entry fee 10-50%), any extra help if needed, overhead, etc. and there is no way you can get 90% profits. We were told 50 LBS of popcorn would gross $500.00. Ha! again. More like $200.00 to 230.00. We were told "Just find a good swap meet and you can make thousands of dollars per day!" Just a couple of problems: all of the big swap meets sold there own concessions and didn't want the competition or else they wanted a big (30-40%) cut. In addition, none of the health departments in our area at that time allowed tent units at swap meets. So we had an $18,000.00 investment that we couldn't use. Eventually we were able to get the health department to change the rules and found out how to sit on street corners and make a living, but it was very close.

So how do you go about doing it right? First you must analyze your circumstances:

1. How much money can you afford to lose if it doesn't work out?

2. How strong are you ? (or your kids.. he he he)

3. How much time and effort can you afford to invest?

4. Will this be for paying the bills or for extra cash?

5. What are the locations you think you can work? Will they let you? How much will it cost for them to allow you to work there? How much will you make if you work there?

6. What are the legal requirements to work at those locations?

The first thing you must do is analyze your own situation and desires for the business. Making Kettle Korn IS NOT EASY! There is a significant amount of physical effort required. Depending on the equipment and demand it can vary from a modest work out to an excruciating ordeal. The nice thing is that the pay tends to be directly related to the effort unless you have agreed to too large an entry fee or percentage. Some equipment, such as the "wok" style cooker that we bought, is extremely demanding because of the heat and the strenght required. The heat is magnified tremendously if the health code makes you operate one inside a trailer. That is why we started building our own cookers, to make it simpler and easier to cook the corn. If you are not fairly robust, be very cautious before buying a "wonder wok".

Do you just want to work a few days a week, or as much as possible? Are there other Kettle Korn vendors in your area? If you just work part time and don't plan to expand, you will sooner or later have to defend yourself against competition. If you can get into a swap meet or some other place that has a lot of consumers, pay a reasonable fee, and keep your location, it might work out well. If you are thinking of doing the craft fair/special events route you will need to be aware that most promotors just sell real estate. They do not care if you turn a profit as long as you pay your entry fee. Divide their estimated attendance figures by 2 or 3 unless thay have an actual gate count. Most good shows are already booked and the bad ones you don't want to be in. Be very selective about which shows you actually want to get into and expect to take 6-12 months to start developing enough shows to keep you halfway busy. Shows also tend to bunch up during the busy season leaving you without much income in the off season. Remember, no matter where you work, they will want at least $1,000,000.00 liability insurance.

That brings me to my favorite way of making a living- the regular locations. Here in Tucson we have one unit set up at a mall (the other three malls don't want Kettle Korn) and a number of street corners. We don't get rich on any one day but it adds up by the end of the week. For security, nothing beats a regular location. Bad weather only affects you that day, you will make it up later. A few days of rain during a big special event with a big up front buy in can kill you. Look for any place that has a lot of people in a spending mood. Large "big box" stores work well if you can get permission to operate for a reasonable fee. Malls are about the same depending on the size. A big swap meet or farmer's market has got to be one of the best locations.

Now that you have decided where you want to sell, talk to the owners and see if you can swing a deal. Can you set up near the traffic flow? One hundred feet away is not near. The difference between 50 feet and 100 feet can be as much as 50% in sales. How much rent do they want? Flat fee or percentage? The most we ever pay percentage is 40% of the gross (for a special location). Anything over 45% basically means you are working your butt off for someone else. Malls will usually charge a flat fee or 15% whichever is higher that month.

So now that you have your location, what equipment do you need? That will depend on many things but the first stop is the regulators. You will need a state business license, probably a city or county business license, some kind of health department permit, and maybe permission from planning and zoning. The business licenses are usually routine, but ask about any rules that apply to peddlers or street vendors. They deal with this all the time and can be a valuable source of information. Planning and zoning is usually a yes or no decision although it may be area dependent. And then finally comes the health department.

The health department is the agency that will generally have the most to say about exactly what you do. They will specify what equipment you can use. What materials it is made of. What enclosures (tent or trailer) are acceptable and the construction details therof. They will even specify where and how your supplies can be stored and how the equipment is cleaned. The rules for each county will be different although in one state they will tend to be somehwat similar. Get all of these rules and study them! If you break the rules you will not be making money long.

Now that you have done your homework you can decide whether you want to get into the business and what equipment you will need. If all you are doing is special events and want minimum expense, perhaps a tent unit will fit you best. If you want ease of set up and take down or weather resistance in a stationary location, a trailer is the way to go. You can buy units all ready to go or save money by buying the cooker and building the rest.

If you want a tent unit with a wok, you will need to buy the unit from someone else. Be sure everyone wears safety glasses at all times that anyone is cooking, screen three sides of the tent, and keep all customers at least 8-10 feet back from the front of the tent to prevent someone from losing an eye from the flying popcorn kernels. Also, do not touch the outside of the cooker for even the slightest moment or you will get burned like this. Expect to pay $5,000.00 to $18,000.00 for the cooker itself. You can buy just the KKC4 series cooker(click here for more detailed info) for $9,000.00 or lease it for $500.00 per month. They are fully insulated and designed to work in enclosed spaces. If we don't have any surplus units available it will be 12 months lease payment up fromt. Delivery time is generally 2-4 weeks. We will sell a tent unit that will fit into the back of a full size pickup truck for $16,000.00 or lease them for $750.00 per month. Delivery time is 2-6 weeks. We are completing the designs for a tent unit trailer and the final price for a tent unit with trailer will probably be just over $20,000.00 with a delivery time of 4-8 weeks. If you want a vending trailer with a KKC4 cooker you can either buy just the cooker and supply your own trailer or you can buy one of our quality 795 series trailers ready to go for about $40,000.00 depending on the options with a lease payment of $1500.00 per month. Delivery time would be 3-4 months. These trailers are not "slapped together" as fast as possible. They are built by us, for us and we just sell the surplus. We make them as durable, reliable, and easy to use as we can for ourselves and we wouldn't sell anything less. Sometimes we also have used equipment for sale at reduced prices so be sure to check. Well, now that you've had a quick overview of the Kettle Korn Biz, do some checking and see if it is for you. Feel free to call us or E-mail us anytime for more information or help. Good Luck and happy popping! Keith H. Bowen Marketing Manager and Chief Designer

"Wok" style cooker Cooker burn 795B Interior w/ 4B Cooker