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I am heading to the Williston area in April. I have family in Williston and Halliday so I can go to either place, but obviously I prefer the higher population areas. Here is my question. I have $20K to start my business, and would like some input from my potential customers about what type of business you would like to see. I had it narrowed down to either a food truck or portable shower truck or trailer. However, with all the reading I have been doing on this forum, and with people insisting on driving out in the winter with no place to live, I am thinking about getting a huge refer trailer and heating it and building 30 or 40 bunks inside. So what do you guys think?
Which is a better fit for the area and the immediate needs?
If food truck, what kind of food would be ideal. I am thinking breakfast burritos in the AM, then burritos the rest of the day or burgers.
If a shower truck/trailer, how much would a fair price be to charge, what type of hours would there be a need for? I am also trying to figure out if I should have one trailer with say 6-8 showers or a couple at different locations with 2-4 showers each. I don't want to overbuild, but I also don't want to have a line that you guys would have to wait for an hour to get a 10 minute shower.
For the bunk trailer, what do you think would be a fair price to charge per night for a heated bunk?
I have my own answers to all of these questions, but of course I am optimistic and I would like a reality check.
A good coffee shack would be pretty nice. Theres some downtown Williston, but kind of out of the way for people who drive truck or work on rigs. Something kinda near the Mcdonalds area would even be nice.
You may want to consider what the permits are going to cost for all of your ideas. Permits and inspections. Permits are the tough one. The County put a stop to man camp, if you set up a trailer, are they going to consider that a man camp? Yup, think so. Where would you park it? No matter where you would park it, what are you going to do for parking for all your tenants?
That's not a lot of capital to start up a roach coach. It would come close to costing you all of that, just to stock up on food, yet alone the cost of the truck, permit fees, etc.
A roach coach does well when they can pull up to a business that has a couple hundred people working there. But the oil patch, everybody is in every which direction.
I would think that a small sandwich shop, like a mini subway that specialized in making quality sack lunches. Go in at 3am and start making sandwiches, add chips, a candy bar, some fruit, a soda, maybe some juice, a few sticks of veggies, pudding cup, etc.... Open up early so these guys can stop and grab a sack lunch from you. Nothing that has to be cooked. I've seen ti work well elsewhere. These guys eat breakfast and head for the field, or driving, or waiting at the water source, etcc.... They don't the opportunity to get a good lunch, unless they slap a sandwich together at home. Offer 3 or 4 different kinds of sandwiches for a variety. Start making sandwitches before they show up so that it's fast for them to roll through.
You may want to consider what the permits are going to cost for all of your ideas. Permits and inspections. Permits are the tough one. The County put a stop to man camp, if you set up a trailer, are they going to consider that a man camp? Yup, think so. Where would you park it? No matter where you would park it, what are you going to do for parking for all your tenants?
That's not a lot of capital to start up a roach coach. It would come close to costing you all of that, just to stock up on food, yet alone the cost of the truck, permit fees, etc.
A roach coach does well when they can pull up to a business that has a couple hundred people working there. But the oil patch, everybody is in every which direction.
I would think that a small sandwich shop, like a mini subway that specialized in making quality sack lunches. Go in at 3am and start making sandwiches, add chips, a candy bar, some fruit, a soda, maybe some juice, a few sticks of veggies, pudding cup, etc.... Open up early so these guys can stop and grab a sack lunch from you. Nothing that has to be cooked. I've seen ti work well elsewhere. These guys eat breakfast and head for the field, or driving, or waiting at the water source, etcc.... They don't the opportunity to get a good lunch, unless they slap a sandwich together at home. Offer 3 or 4 different kinds of sandwiches for a variety. Start making sandwitches before they show up so that it's fast for them to roll through.
Here's a business that did just that. They were going to do deliveries, but their physical location started getting slammed, so they had to just go with walk-in customers..
Williston Herald - Online Edition (http://www.willistonherald.com/articles/2011/11/09/news/doc4ea9990a2e0f1565207832.txt - broken link)
I also saw a video somewhere on YT I think about them.
I think you're on the right path with a "portable" business. What about something along the lines of a niche business catering to oilfield workers (rather than tools) why not heavy duty clothing? Maybe boots, coveralls, hats, gloves, socks? Downside: you would have to be price competitive with online retailers and this seems like a 1-time purchase.
Portable Massage - like chair massages might be good.
Personally, I think the roach truck selling burritos is the best idea. When I worked in a boat factory in Indiana, there was this guy who was a janitor and he sold a cooler full of breakfast burritos every morning (roughly 100 burritos) for $2-3/each. This particular type of food is good because it's warm, it's portable, and cheap.
Put yourself right out by the road of a high traffic area under a pop-up tent (like on the corner of a gas station/convenience store parking lot) and tell the station manager you'll give them a cut of the profits. Now they make money from you and will probably get additional revenues from those customers as well.
Of course, you'll need the proper permits and probably a commissary kitchen to prepare the goods, but I bet you would make a killing!
Thanks so far guys, I appreciate the firsthand feedback. I have been in business for myself since I got out of the Air Force in '97, so I am prepared for all of the processes with licensing and all. I have also thought about a trailer full of cold weather gear. Maybe I could do both--the burrito/coffee truck pulling a trailer full of gear!!
What about the shower trailer? Is there a need. I like the idea, but have concerns about the functionality because of the need to be self contained. A lot of down time dumping the waste water and refilling tanks. It could be justified if there was a great enough need.
Thanks so far guys, I appreciate the firsthand feedback. I have been in business for myself since I got out of the Air Force in '97, so I am prepared for all of the processes with licensing and all. I have also thought about a trailer full of cold weather gear. Maybe I could do both--the burrito/coffee truck pulling a trailer full of gear!!
What about the shower trailer? Is there a need. I like the idea, but have concerns about the functionality because of the need to be self contained. A lot of down time dumping the waste water and refilling tanks. It could be justified if there was a great enough need.
I think the shower business wont be profitable. IMHO. Because if it was me, Ill just go to the civic center in williston and pay 3 dollars to shower. That if I dont have housing. How much would you charge?
There's already a burrito trailer in Williston, I've never been but the guys I work with have and say it's really good. He usually parks out by the trailer park near the campgrounds (at least that's what I last heard).
I've also seen a couple of BBQ places pop up.
Why not try a place with variety? Maybe do some burritos, but also have some fish fry, burgers, grilled chicken sandwiches, etc?
For the shower truck, I was thinking $5/shower. I realize that people use the gym or community center, but I could be open prob 6AM-Midnight.
I don't mind competition for whatever business I start. I want to stay away from offering too many products if I do the food truck due to the need for efficiency. I like the breakfast burritos too. I am not married to Williston either, I just like the population size.
For the shower truck, I was thinking $5/shower. I realize that people use the gym or community center, but I could be open prob 6AM-Midnight.
I don't mind competition for whatever business I start. I want to stay away from offering too many products if I do the food truck due to the need for efficiency. I like the breakfast burritos too. I am not married to Williston either, I just like the population size.
Shower trailer (IMHO) is not a good idea. Where will you dispose of the water? The city already has articles in the paper saying they are denying any more water hookup to the north and west of Williston. City wastewater plant is maxed out. It will be expanded but some are having to deliver their waste water to Minot since Williston won't take it. The other problem with shower houses is that the city has facilities for showers. Gyms and gas stations seem to keep most happy. Why pay $5 for a shower each time when you can get a gym membership for $40 and hang around there and sit in the hot tub. I've heard a lot of forest service guys have that same idea but the difference here is that this isn't the forest. We have options for showers.
More people need to be fed than showered in this town. Food wagons really die off in the winter months. I can only imagine this spring that we will have dozen of them around Williston. Watford City has "boomed" as well. I'm not aware of any cook wagons in that area but I'd imagine there are some. There is still a bbq place north of Williston that was serving the other day. A cold spell is coming so we'll see if they keep it going or not. There was a few ladies than ran a roach coach around williston and out to the rigs close to Williston. They made a killing but shut it down for winter. They would park at Halliburton in the morning and they couldn't keep up with orders. I'm sure they made enough money to go somewhere warm for winter. Hopefully they are back in a few months.
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