Did our first fair

We are new to the vending game having just started in June of this year. Yesterday we got back from doing our first county fair, an 8 day event. No matter how much planning you do ahead of time, you can't plan everything. It was a great learning experience for and we learned how to adapt to situations. For example, despite the fair opening at 11:00 Am during the weekdays doesn't mean you'll see customers before 4:00 Pm. We also learned that some vendors are "dog eat dog" and will try to sticks the screws to you. For example, in PA. there is a health and sanitation sticker that goes on the outside of your trailer as well as the certificate that goes in your trailer. One food vendor went through EVERY other vendors site looking for violations so they could call the HD. we did not have a sticker nor did we know anything about it and the HD showed up. They found out that our original inspector just forgot to put one on, they did another inspection (no infractions!), back dated a sticker and all was good. The "other" food vendor ended up coming to my trailer everyday there after ordering a pulled pork sandwich and praised out our product. The last day of the fair he ordered a brisket sandwich instead. I watched him from my window as he applied the sauce, took a bite and marched to my window. I thought, crap, here we go...I opened the window and was surprise when he said "this is great, can I have another for my wife?" It was a good feeling.

There was a lot more learned but this is pretty lengthy already so in closing I want to thank Big Chipper from this board as well as my own area for all of the guidance and advice. He also taught me the value of adjusting your menu on the fly to suit the crowd in order to turn a bad sales day into a great sales day. If Big Chipper offers you advice here on the boards then do yourself a favor and take it! Thanks Chip!