WHO DAT DOGS I guess I should start at the beginning. Good Morning, my name is Cynthia (goodness that is too formal, just call me Cindy) Murray and my husband Stephen (aka Steve) Segari. We are the proud owners of WHO DAT DOGS a really great hot dog cart “chain” (being we have more than one). It all started when Steve retired from the U.S. Navy and I moved to Clinton, TN from Norfolk, VA where Steve was on the USS Enterprise (CVN 69). I had also retired from the U. S. Navy back in 2002 and took on the role of Navy Wife following him around. Steve’s parents live in Andersonville and we had come to visit a few times and thought this would be a good place to retire. Not sure what to do for myself (Steve was working as a recruiter for Ohio Tech College) we decided to work towards opening our own dounut shop in the Oliver Springs/Oak Ridge/Clinton area. There was no such shop around and the nearest one was in Knoxville. We just wanted a simple dounut shop with maybe fried egg sandwiches, coffee and dounuts. A place where if you wanted to come in in your slippers you could, just sit and visit or read the Sunday morning paper. Well this was our dream. So I enrolled into Roane State Community College and started working on a business degree. I wanted to make sure I knew what we were doing. One of the classes I had to take was an Entrepreneurship class where we had to write a business plan. Well….while writing it Steve and I got to thinking, good lord do we really want to get up at 2 a.m. every morning, 7 days a week to start making dounuts and open our doors by at least 4 a.m.? I was almost 50 and Steve not too far behind me. NO! Was our answer to our own question? I had to finish the business plan for the course, so we quickly changed it to a hot dog cart, just to get through the course. The class ended in December and I got an A. Now here comes the good part! In April a hot dog cart sort of fell in our lap, we looked at each other and said…….Why not! So we bought it. Since it was just an idea and something to try, we fiddled with it for a year, not doing a lot. (Steve was still working full time and I was in school still full time and working full time). Now it is May-June 2012 and we get our business license and general labiality insurance AND we get a 100 on our health inspection (which we got again in 2013…yeah, good work Steve!) and we get call backs on some of the events we did the first year. We got in at Eagle Bend Manufacturing plant in September 2012 and have been going out there twice a day for their first and second shift lunch periods. Since going there our menu has expanded. We have done quite a few different things in the past year, some of the highlights: (1) Salute to Service, at Island Home Airport, put on by RAM in honor of the WWII veterans, done on the Saturday closest to D Day. (2) Grand Opening event for BenchMark Physical Therapy office in Sequoyah Hills (3) Customer Appreciation Day at H&R Block in Oak Ridge, along with donations to help Roane State students raise funds for end of year business class trip to Costa Rica. (4) Private parties; graduation and birthday. (5) Events at the David Hall Historical Cabin in Claxton, TN in October and again in May. (6) We participated in the first South Fest this year 2013. (7) We attended the Semi-Annual Bistro at Bristol Park in Oak Ridge. (8) We will be at this year’s 2013 Dragon Fest at the Cove in Concord Park. (9) We also have a contract to do the summer concerts at the Cove in Concord Park through the City of Knoxville. (10) We have also done some charity work with the different Vet offices, i.e.: Pet Responsibility Fest in Bissell Park, Oak Ridge. (11) Various flea markets and roadside spots. These are just to name a few things we have been up to in the past year. We usually hire high school students or freshman college kids interested in going into the business field. This gives them and idea on the work and the legal issues you go through to start your own business. Well this is most of our story and it does not have an end yet….we are still too young to retire and we are still having fun. Cindy and Steve
Posted on: Thu, 27 Jun 2013 15:09:31 +0000
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