"Bob Terwilliger" wrote:
> Sheldon wrote:
> > NYC is famous for its street venders... there's a guy near where I live
> > that runs his one man operation eatery from a trailer, he nets $200,000/yr
> > selling nothing but hotdogs, fries, and soft drinks.
>
> Okay, let's do the math:
>
> Start out with the statement that the guy nets $200,000 per year.
>
> Let's assume that taxes take away about 45% of his adjusted gross income.
> That would make his adjusted gross income somewhere around $450,000 per
> year.
>
> Let's also assume he makes a 200% profit on his raw ingredients, i.e., hot
> dogs, buns, potatoes, and so forth. That would make his actual gross income
> $1,350,000.

Your math sucks.

A 200pct mark up on his raw ingredients is a dumb assumption... he's
selling hot dogs and spuds... Last I looked he got $2 a dog, probably
more by now, that's more like 1,000pct mark up, maybe better on
spuds... and it's a cash business and there are no receipts. most of
his custermers buy more than one dog, doesn't pay to stop and wait to
be served for less. The construction and utility worker vehicals are
there constantly, everyone stops there, it's the only fast food joint
for like ten miles.

People in these kind of businesses make a lot more money than most
people think. It's hard work and long hours but can be very
rewarding. When folks say they can't find work I always say they
don't want to work. This guy owns the lot and the trailer, his
overhead is just taxes, insurance, and utilities... utilities are very
little. He doesn't even advertise, doesn't need to, it's a landmark
on a heavily traveled county road.

> So if the restaurant is open 365 days a year it takes in about $3700 per
> day.

It's not a restaurant, it's a hot dog stand. I'll bet he pulls in
more than his aunt says.

> I could believe that for SOME days, but not for EVERY day, especially in the
> backwoods part of the country where Sheldon now lives.

I know that there are a couple of rfc regulars that live close enough
to know exactly the hot dog trailer I'm speaking of, they've probably
eaten there, I'll let them tell you ... you have some weird concept
about backwoods folks... the NYS Capital district is not all as
backwoods as you think.

> I think it's most likely that no street vendor would give Sheldon the time
> of day, let alone share data about his personal income, and Sheldon just
> made the whole thing up.

I know the fellow's aunt, in fact I was on the phone with her
yesterday and we were talking about how the real estate deal fell
through... there is a defunct Mobil station adjacent to the hot dog
trailer, her nephew was attemping to buy it to expand his business but
there was an issue of who would pay to clean up the toxic
contamination (the reason the gas station was shut down). His hot dog
trailer predates the Mobil station... the station was built I think in
1993.

I don't make stuff up... here is a picture of the Mobil station (from
the RE ad), the hot dog trailer is just out of the picture to the
left, those vehicals parked there are hot dog customers. Now that the
deal fell through for spite the Mobil station people fenced off the
entire station property with stanchions and chain so the hot dog
customers have less parking, parking is a big problem as the hot dog
guy owns a very small lot... this was all discussed in the
conversation I had yesterday, it was the first I heard that her nephew
was trying to buy that station... that Mobile station has been for
sale for like three years, in fact early on when it first came on the
market I considered buying it myself... I won't tell you why because
you won't believe me, and now that this deal fell through I still may
get to buy it.

http://i44.tinypic.com/wlq8w8.jpg

Next time I pass I will snap a few pics of the hot dog trailer.