How much is your time worth?

Due to lack or abundance of certain products across the country and the change in meat prices I want to know just what is your time worth? After all expenses are taken into effect just how much do you make per pound of brisket or PP.

Thanks

jbrink01 said:

My time is worth $50 an hour. My equipment is worth the operating costs plus depreciation.

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Thanks for the reply it is helpful although I am pretty sure you mean time while preparing food and pulling/cutting. Although it would be pretty sweet to get 50 an hour while meat is smoking/resting. I am more looking along the lines of monetary gains per pound of cooked meat.

Thanks.

What Bubba said.

I've got some bad news for you JBrink. You will most definitely NOT be clocking $50/hr in a restaurant.

As we like to say at the Hut: "Yeah - owning my own Q joint is great. I get to work 90 hours a week for $1.75/hr." (And we do not have any employees...)

Am I under selling my self if I price a plate at 10 bucks, a plate including slaw, mac salad, dinner roll, PP or ribs, and a drink. All Items will be home made of course.

Rather than start a new thread I decided to pose more questions of a another topic in this one.

Background: I am 26 and about to leave the Marine Corps after 9 years of service. I plan to move back to rural michigan in north kent county and go to college for a welding and fabrication degree. While going to school I toyed with the Idea of starting out small as a BBQ vendor at various fares and flea markets. Grilling has always been in our family as well as exceptional cooking abillities, My mother quit entering pies into contests because it's not fun after winning every year for 6 years. I first got a taste of what it is like when I was asked to prepare PP for 200. It was tough I was told at the last min and worked like a slave. In the end it turned out fantastic and I enjoyed it even more than I imagined I would.

Setup: I have a 5x8 trailer I plan to use as a mobile pit, I will be making a large capacity pit out of a 300 gal tank. I am a pretty skilled metal worker and plan to make it capable of smoking a couple hundred pounds at one or one whole hog.
All meat prep will be done in a large home based kitchen with all the baking taking place there and the meat smoking being started at home and finished on site. After all the smell is what brings them in.
I know that laws will vary from state to state and even county to county in some places.

The questions I have are what to expect from the HD when starting a venture like this. Is it wiser to get a temp licence or a permanent one? I understand a lot of the risks with this and know a lot about small time business but I am humble enough to know that there is a lot to learn and always room for improvement. This will be a family affair and the products will not be limited to just food, I was also thinking of using my skills to make pits to sell at the events I plan on vending at.
I have a year before I am out and I move, I would like to think I am smart by planning this out so early as there is no such thing as too much preperation. I also acknowlege that this is all about exposure and appearence to get sales, not just how good it tastes.

Thanks for the responses sorry for the long post and all the questions.

Bbq Bubba said:

Where to start?

Being from Mi. and already having done what your about to....

HD will not approve you cooking on a homemade pit.
You cannot do ANY prep or cooking at home.
You cannot get a permanent license without a mobile kitchen.

Read all the threads in the catering/vending section here for 1 year and you'll be ready to do anything! :thumb:

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Thanks this is good stuff, I have been going through these threads for quite a while whenever I get free time but it's kinda hard being in Afghanistan.
What constitutes a pit worthy of thier approval and as far as a mobile kitchen is concerned all food prep and cooking must be done in Mobile kitchen for a permenent licence? Is this to ease the inspection process for the HD? Seems to make this a bit more complicated than it first looked.