Today we’d like to introduce you to Keith Williamson.
Keith, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
We started in April of 2017. Grew up in Oklahoma City, where my family owned a fast-food burger joint. It was called Elmers Burger Barn. We served burgers, fries and chili dogs.
I was 15 at the time and fell in love with the business. Kept that dream for 30 years. While working at Mercedes Benz of Greenway, food trucks started coming to set up for afternoon lunches. I was intrigued and befriended one of the owners of the Waffle Chicken food truck Danny Nguyen. He was very helpful and informative on the business.
So, after about a year of research checking out the business, I decided to walk away from a six-figure income and I took a leap of faith to start Doggie Style Hot Dogs.
I have to say it has been harder than I ever imagined but we’re still here. Customers absolutely love the product in all three markets. Houston, Dallas and Oklahoma City.
Constantly learning and doing my best to grow the business with the help of my partner Tony Faine. With his contacts and marketing experience, we’re looking forward to the potential growth.
All of the dogs are gourmet dogs with the Creole Dog being my number one seller. It is too late to quit or turn back. With avenues like this and continuous word of mouth, I see Doggie Style Hot Dogs being around for a long time.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Honestly, the only hurdle has been capital. So, because of that issue, no, it has not been a smooth road.
Also, just trying to find a spot with great foot traffic has been an issue as well. Of course, never expected it to be easy but those are two of the most difficult struggles to overcome. Going on two years so even with those two main struggles, I still feel it’s just a matter of time before we explode.
Please tell us about Doggie Style Hot Dogs.
Business is very simple. We specialize in Gourmet Dogs, Sausages, Brats and an All-Beef Tamale drinks and Chips.
That’s what we specialized in and we’re known for the Creole Dog which is the most popular of all the dogs. It is an Andouille spicy sausage with sauteed cabbage blackened shrimp and topped with a rumalaud sauce green onions and cajun sprinkle!! On a very tasty split top warm bun, it’s very good.
Most proud of is that people genuinely like the food. Have so many stories and videos of people expressing their love for the dogs.
Sets us apart? Definitely, the food and the truck which is not your traditional food truck but a customized Sprinter Van. That was by design because we wanted to make sure we could go and also fit into spaces the big bulky food truck couldn’t fit.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I wish I had married my fiancee. We didn’t get married, we broke up because of the business.
Contact Info:
- Website: doggiestylehotdog.com
- Phone: 2148451897
- Email: Keith@doggiestylehotdog.com
- Instagram: KEITH@DOGGIESTYLE
- Facebook: facebook@DoggiestylHD
- Twitter: Twitter@DoggieStyleHD
- Other: Doggie Style Hot Dogs
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