Fruit Guy: Let’s start the story. Can we start it at the beginning?

Michael: Yeah tell me from the very beginning how it all started.

Fruit Guy: Well you know you’ve stopped at those roadside fruit stands…

Michael: Absolutely it’s kind of like a nostalgic thing, you know, as a kid you can remember like if you go on vacations with your family and you stopped at the stand it’s always kind of exciting.

Fruit Guy: Whenever somebody walks up to the stands they’re never unhappy.

Michael: Yeah.

Fruit Guy: They only say one or two things when they come up “Are they really sweet” or “How much are your cherries?” Those are the only two things they ever say. And it’s beautiful they have a big smile on their face when they say it and I always hand them the cherry and say “The first one is always free” and they smile and we’re talking. Let’s start at the beginning so I can share with you how I’ve crafted and what I say and why I say it.

Michael: Alright let’s do it start from the beginning.

Fruit Guy: So as a kid, you know, I worked on that fruit stand on the side of the road. Great grandpa built it and it was grandpa’s…

Michael: Where were you? What state?

Fruit Guy: A small town in Central California farm town, you know, that whole Valley from Bakersfield to Sacramento is all just farms and fields, so there’s little pastures like that I know like that all over the country but there’s a lot of fruit grown in the California Valley.

Michael: Were your parent’s farmers?

Fruit Guy: Well their parents were farmers and they took over. We passed it down from grandpa and it keeps going.

Michael: So how many generations back has your family been farming?

Fruit Guy: Every picture that we have, even those old 1800 pictures they’re all black and white, but they’re all farming.

Michael: Were you all farming fruit and vegetables all kinds of stuff?

Fruit Guy: All kinds of stuff it was nuts, it was fruits, it was vegetables and that’s how it is when you’re a farmer you start with a few trees of what you want and then over the years you build and then your son takes over and he’s starts something and he likes to grow that and so that’s how it is every farm’s got a bunch of stuff…

Michael: So as a kid what do you remember about the farm?

Fruit Guy: I remember taking and knocking, that’s where you took a mallet we didn’t have fancy machinery in those days, knocking things off the tree with mallets like nuts and picking our peaches or our cherries. It was the greatest life as an eight, ten, twelve year old to get paid to go run through the fields and fill up buckets with fruit and then come back. And we didn’t get paid much but it was a great way to live your life as a kid, but I got to finally be on a stand of my own, you know, that was when it was really fun.

Michael: So the main money, like in farming for you guys or for your family, was your farming and then you’d take your bounty and you’re selling it in bulk to the packers.

Fruit Guy: To the packers or taking it and packaging it and sorting it and shipping it out to different areas. And most of the time no matter what city in America you live in you can get our fruit all you got to do is call the broker every city’s got one. If there’s a restaurant in the city there’s likely a fruit and vegetable broker look in the Yellow Pages.

Michael: That’s farm fresh stuff.

Fruit Guy: Well that stuff that’s gone to the packing house the same day it was picked and two days later it’s in that broker’s cooler. And so when you pick it up you’re not going to really know any difference then if you got off the farm that’s just the same thing you buy at Albertson’s and Safeway.

Michael: Okay evolution of the fruit stand. So there’s only so much money selling to the broker, so was the fruit stand an additional way for the farmer to make some money for himself?

Fruit Guy: Real money because he’s not now selling them for 50, 75 cents a pound, these are current numbers for his product to the packer, he’s able to now put it out there on the street and get $2 bucks for that pound of cherries instead of 70 cents.

Michael: And that means a lot.

Fruit Guy: Well it only means a $100 a day. I mean that’s all the little wooden stands on the side of the road ever bring in are $100 or if it’s right in the middle of the season you got a lot of stuff you’re maybe bringing in $200 bucks a day but all the same.

Michael: Okay. So as a kid you remember knocking the fruit down, growing up on the farm, working in the field and just living that farm life right.

Fruit Guy: Yeah that was my whole life. Well when I turned 19 grandpa threw me the keys to the truck and he said there’s a tent and cherries in the back of the truck it’s time for you to go out on your own and do it. And it was the end of the season and I didn’t do very good I only went five miles to the corner grocery store we had a little gas station there.

Michael: Did grandpa give you any training or tell you how to do it?

Fruit Guy: No. I’d been on the fruit stand there for several years…

Michael: What kind of money did gramps make on the fruit stand?

Fruit Guy: He made about $100 a day.

Michael: With selling cherries?

Fruit Guy: With everything that he had it would be cherries and peaches and tomatoes and whatever we could grab off of the farm.

Michael: Alright you’re not going to tell me how but knowing what you know now if you could go back in time knowing what you know now after all your experience could you have shown grandpa how to make more money?

Fruit Guy: I could have yes.

Michael: Now what could that have meant for him?

Fruit Guy: Maybe 200% to 300%.

Michael: Okay so tell me about that first day you went out. Tell me what equipment did you have that first day you remember I’m sure selling.

Fruit Guy: I had a piece of cardboard that I wrote cherries on for my sign. I had a 4 x 8 piece of plywood that I flipped over upside on top of the cases to make a table out of.

Michael: Okay but grandpa that’s what he used right.

Fruit Guy: No he had an actual shed that great-grandpa built on the edge of the property.

Michael: So he would go out with the truck and the produce and setup where the shed was.

Fruit Guy: He would go out, load up his truck with what wasn’t taken by the packing plant that morning, bring it over to the shed, stop at grandma, my mom, my sister, everybody would work there at the shed selling the fruit. Actually we’d spend the morning just kind of sorting it, this is bad throw it out this is good put it in.

Michael: So do you remember what you sold on that first day?

Fruit Guy: Like $60 dollars.

Michael: And so did you have to give it all to him or did you get to keep it?

Fruit Guy: No it was mine.

Michael: That was yours.

Fruit Guy: Yeah.

Michael: If you didn’t bring it out to the fruit stand what would have happened to it?

Fruit Guy: It would have probably gotten sold over the next couple of days.

Michael: Did you learn anything that first day selling fruit?

Fruit Guy: To get the hell out of town. You’re not going to make any money in this farm town every two miles there’s a stand and everybody’s selling them for the same price. If they want cherries why are they going to stop here at the gas station and get them?

Michael: So you had too much competition.

Fruit Guy: Competition so my first lesson in the big business world was find my marketplace.

Michael: So it didn’t take you long to figure out to get a new market right.

Fruit Guy: Well it took me a while, yeah, it took me a couple of years. I didn’t understand what the right marketplace was.

Michael: So what are some other frustrations over the couple of years that you experienced selling fruit from the side of the road?

Fruit Guy: Well I stayed in the Valley with my big problem. I went to Modesto and then I went over to Tracey and I went out to Stockton and I tried these cities that were too much part of the Valley. I had to figure it out that I need to get out of the valley. Find the long highway stretch where’s there’s not a store or a farm for 10 or 20 miles and people get hungry and want to stretch their legs and pull over to a fruit stand on a drive like that. I found that if I drove at 45 or 50 miles over this big barrier called the Altamont Pass and just crossed into that Bay area, even if it’s the East Bay area, I’m getting $4 dollars for my $2 dollar one pound basket of cherries.

Michael: Okay so it’s kind of like with real estate location, location, location.

Fruit Guy: I’m figuring it out as I go along, yeah its location.

Michael: So when you found the right location why were people stopping?

Fruit Guy: Many reasons. I mean some people just pulled over to say “I haven’t seen you here before. What made you decide to setup a tent here on the side of the road?” And then most people would come up and say “You know can I try one of these cherries?” And once they bit one they were mine.

Michael: I got you. Okay, let’s continue. So those first years on the farm working grandpa’s fruit stand and then you decided to get out of town and tell me when you really started making things work for yourself.

Fruit Guy: I got over into the Bay area and my volume increased. Instead of pulling over 20 and 25 people, sometimes 30 or 35 people, I was now pulling over 60 or 65 sometimes 70 people a day just because of location.

Michael: Okay so you found a couple of secret locations that were really working.

Fruit Guy: And it wasn’t just that I have had literally hundreds of fruit stands in dozens of cities and I’ve worked everywhere from San Diego all the way to Seattle. I’ve worked hundreds of fruit stands and I’ve worked dozens of cities so I have a pretty good idea over time what’s going to work and what isn’t. At that time I was still experimenting I would just keep trying new things, the highway, the neighborhoods, the rich neighborhoods, the poor neighborhoods, the high traffic, the business area, right in the middle of Santa Clara. I tried everywhere. The places where you couldn’t believe someone would have the gall to just set their tent up there.

Michael: Tell me some areas that were just flat out losers. If you were going to show me how to make a couple of $100 bucks a day if I’m going to say where should I not setup?

Fruit Guy: You should not setup anywhere where there’s farms, no where around the farms, where all the farms are you need to get away from there. All those people know all those farms they’re not going to stop for you I promise. You need to get where there aren’t a bunch of cherry stands available which means into town. You need to get into the big city, if you live in the farmland you need to get into the city, if you lived in the city you’re right where you need to be.

Michael: Someone’s going to say “Well if I’m in the city why is someone going to stop at a fruit stand when they can just go into Vaughn’s or any grocery store and pickup fruit there?” What is it that gets people to stop at a roadside fruit stand that’s kind of cool? What do you think it is? Is it just that nostalgic thing or people are stopping because they know that a fruit stand is going to be a better quality fruit and it’s going to taste like its fresh picked right from the farm compared to the mushy stuff in Vaughn’s?

Fruit Guy: I’ll say 40% to your second example and 10% to your first but I hate to just tell you that this is the reason because there’s so many variances of people.

Michael: My wife brings fruit home from the store all the time and the peaches and the plums they’re just awful.

Fruit Guy: They’re junk and here’s the secret, I mean there’s all kinds of secrets, but one of my favorite secrets is to bring one thing every day one thing that I didn’t get from the broker. I don’t care if I got to my neighbors I’m going to go knock on farmers doors that look like they have fresh peaches or fresh tomatoes or fresh something. Why, I want that one sign out there, that one sign that works like gold. What is it “Picked Today” better yet “Today’s Pick”. It only has to be a 2 x 1 sign it doesn’t have to have anything else on it. You can have a sign over here that says “Sweet Cherries” and sign over here that says “Peaches” and a sign over here that says “Tomatoes or Nectarines” but that one little sign over there on the edge of your stand that says “Today’s Pick” or “Picked Today”.

Michael: Well that is it. That instantly telegraphs freshness you can see the hand picking it off the tree and putting it in the basket. It’s like you’ve picked it yourself.

Fruit Guy: It’s gold. Even if you only have one thing out of everything on your table that’s picked today they’ll remember that and even if you only did that for two weeks for the other 90 days of the season they’re going to remember that’s the fresh guy right there, that’s the guy that has the today’s pick stuff. And every time somebody comes up and it’s part of the spill the person at the stand is going to say “This is this and this is this” and it’s part of the spill.

Michael: So working on the farm and seeing all the signs in the farm did you ever see those signs…

Fruit Guy: No.

Michael: …that said – you didn’t?

Fruit Guy: No. All you ever saw and the same thing you see today drive through the farmland and all you see is “Cherries.” Drive a little while next farm “Peaches” that’s it. And I did all those signs but I learned through time signs are key. That’s the difference between pulling over 60, 70 and how I got it over 100 and in some spots pulled over a 130, 140 cars a day. For every car you pull over that’s was like my business thing. That was the first thing I worked on, Michael, I wanted to concentrate on - you know, I don’t know much about nothing but I do know that 30 to 40 stops is not going to make me any money I got to aim for a 100. And once I hit a 100 I wasn’t satisfied I said “I’m looking for more what can I do better”, so it was all about the signs. My first analogy was how am I going to get people into my business and that’s the signs.

Michael: How did you figure that out?

Fruit Guy: I stripped it down. I tried the hand job like a cardboard box cherries sign. And I did the stenciled letters…

Michael: That said what?

Fruit Guy: That said “Cherries.”

Michael: Cherries.

Fruit Guy: I realized that out of every sign I tried maybe 150 signs combinations of words, multiple fruits on the same sign, all kinds of sign combinations and the one sign that worked was “Sweet Cherries”. You’re listening to an exclusive interview found on Michael Senoff’s HardToFindSeminars.com.

Michael: Oh so “Sweet Cherries” was another sign.

Fruit Guy: That was the sign that turned it over 100, a 100 pullovers a day were no longer my goal now it was 125 a day. That -“Sweet Cherries” sign just totally exploded my business.

Michael: Was that being used in combination with “Pick Today?”

Fruit Guy: No I hadn’t figured that out yet.

Michael: So “Sweet Cherries” was first.

Fruit Guy: That was first. That’s when they would come up and that was the first thing they’d say either “How much are your cherries?” And I learned that cherries was the key I got 20 to 30 pullovers whenever I put any other wording out there.

Michael: Cherries is what pulls them over.

Fruit Guy: That was the key Michael, I could tell somebody that more than anything. If you’re going to run a fruit stand I don’t care what else you sell just make sure you sell one thing.

Michael: In your fruit stand are you only selling cherries?

Fruit Guy: No.

Michael: Okay but you’re selling the appointment. You’re selling them to pullover and stop.

Fruit Guy: Fifteen years ago I’m still trying to figure out what’s going. Fifteen years ago I figured it out, it’s cherries. Ten years ago I figured it out its sweet cherries. A couple of years later I figured out I need to increase my average sell from $7 dollars to $15 dollars. How am I going to do that and that’s by offering more inventory.

Michael: But would you always get them in with the cherries?

Fruit Guy: Always it’s golden. I mean there’s no other fruit word out there that’s going to pull them over like that one.

Michael: Sweet cherries.

Fruit Guy: And that’s the golden little add to the word cherries as I found somewhere along that little adventure growing is that word. That word on top of cherries.

Michael: So was your sign with the word side-by-side?

Fruit Guy: Simple ten inch letters.

Michael: Ten inch letters. What color?

Fruit Guy: I like the dark red just like a cherry, real, real dark on a white or kind of a yellowish white background.

Michael: Okay now tell me about “Picked Today” how did that sign come into play and how would you use it with the sweet cherries?

Fruit Guy: Well I understand that since then but back in that day I just made one little sign that said “Today’s Pick” and it was small it was only maybe 12” x 6” and I leaned it up against that 2’ x 4’ Sweet Cherries sign so they understood that the cherries are today’s pick. Oh today’s pick. And I’m telling you I might only have today’s pick for a week or two but once that sign goes down it doesn’t matter everybody remembers that cherries sign, sweet cherries is still there but the today’s pick just didn’t get put up today.

Michael: Okay so sometimes you’d your stand but it may not be today’s pick.

Fruit Guy: Of course. You’re going to the broker you’re no longer getting local fruit. See as the fruit ripens in Bakersfield in April and then in Stockton area in May and then in Sacramento area in June and then up around Redding or that area up in July or in Oregon or in Washington or in August and then Canada’s cherries come in September. The cherry is the last fruit that blossoms but it’s the first fruit that’s ready. And it works in a hemisphere rotation I mean as the summer moves the fields across the states ripen in a northern direction. I like to go right to the farmer. You can go right to the farmer I can buy my cherries for 70 cents, 65 cents a pound.

Michael: And when you go to the farmer are they already ready to put on the truck?

Fruit Guy: They are field run which means everything on the tree has been picked, and although 60% of those cherries are perfect 10% are way too pink and 5% are way too dark and the rest of them are somewhere in between. No cherry tree has every cherry perfect on it and ready to go at the same time.

Michael: So that’s going to be your job over in the fruit stand is to separate them.

Fruit Guy: It is the person who’s standing under the tent taking the cherries out of the farmer’s cases and putting them into the baskets that’s their job is to sort that basket as the tree gave it to them. In other words, you don’t give them every cherry in that basket perfect and throw away everything else. No, no, no, no, you give them 50% perfect cherries or 60% perfect cherries just like the tree gives, 10% is going to be a little too dark, 5% is going to be a little too green and the rest there’s going to be somewhere in between.

Michael: So you give it to them like the tree gives it to you.

Fruit Guy: Exactly but when you market it if you’re going to give somebody a handful of cherries do you want them to see the pretty side or the not so pretty side? The girl puts them in the baskets with her gloves on. I’ve still to this day never seen a fruit stand, besides one of mine, where the girls wear gloves. She reaches in she sorts that basket so it looks attractive, sets it up in a nice teepee fashion and sticks it out on the table. So let’s stop there for a second. My next lesson was packaging. I said “Well you know every farm has a damn scale and every farm wants to sell them by the pound and I don’t want to carry a scale and I sure don’t want to get stuck in a spot where people are making their own baskets and it’s a mess, you know what, I’m just going to make baskets. It’s about a pound I don’t know but depending on how much is in it those little green baskets $4 bucks, $5 bucks if you’re in the peninsula or San Francisco.

Michael: You’ll sell one of those baskets for $4 or $5 bucks.

Fruit Guy: And it’ll probably cost me 50 cents.

Michael: That’s pretty good.

Fruit Guy: I’ve just begun. So now we’re on our way. So we got ourselves 120 or 130 pullovers a day. We’re moving somewhere between 400 and 500 pounds a cherry, it’s a major profit and you’re filling in the little stuff.

Michael: Alright so hold on. Let’s say if you’ve got 100 pullovers and if you sell each one of them a basket that’s $4 bucks that you make about $3.30.

Fruit Guy: Well if it was a pound but unfortunately 30 years doing what I do and I still have never weighed about this.

Michael: I mean do you think it’s a pound.

Fruit Guy: No.

Michael: Not even quite.

Fruit Guy: I think it’s somewhere between .75 and .85.

Michael: Alright. So on a $4 dollar basket you’re going to keep around $3.50 profit.

Fruit Guy: Correct.

Michael: That’s $350 bucks. When someone pulls over and they’re buying cherries what do you see the average unit of sell about?

Fruit Guy: Well next lesson. I really needed a spill. I thought like just standing there I wasn’t getting the production.

Michael: You need to increase sells.

Fruit Guy: To increase sells. So what I did I said “Let’s put some more fruit out here. How about if I put some peaches right here and I’m only going to double my money on these peaches and I’m only going to double my money on these tomatoes and I’m only going to double my money on these other items but I’m going to fill in some of these holes and bring my average up. I don’t like the $7 dollars or $7.50 dollars average on those 100 customers. I need to bring that up to a $14 dollar or $15 dollar average on these 100 customers so I can make the money I want to make. So when they come out the first thing they do is they get a cherry. Before they have a chance to get any information about why I’m here and anything won’t even talk to you, you got to try a piece of fruit.

Michael: Alright I want to break it down. They’re driving on the side of the road. If it’s a fresh pick they’re going to see Sweet Cherries Today’s Pick. If it’s today’s pick they’re going to pull over, they’re going to get out of their car. You’re standing there working or just standing there and there’s no one there they’re walking to you, do you say anything to them or do you wait for them to approach you?

Fruit Guy: I totally ignore them because part of the program is you know the Latino guy sitting on the corner on three cases of cherries all day and only sold a half a case because he’s sitting on his cases of cherries. He’s bored and he looks bored. I’m busy and I look busy. I decorate my table a certain way. I have empty baskets on my table on purpose. I have full baskets all over the table but I got to have some empty ones because it looks like you just left and they cleared out half my table. And I’m not looking up at you because you’re going to walk up to me and the first thing you’re going to say is you don’t have a warm feeling is “How much are your cherries?” And if you do have a warm feeling you’re going to say “How sweet are they?”

Michael: You don’t have your prices displayed on the table.

Fruit Guy: Never.

Michael: Do other roadside stands put their prices there?

Fruit Guy: Sometimes.

Michael: Is it a mistake?

Fruit Guy: If you let me give you the spill. I want you to walk up to me and let me sale you.

Michael: Okay so I’m going to come up and I’m going to say “How much are they?”

Fruit Guy: Our cherries the first one’s always free and grab it from me please, take it, bite, great. And I have three sizes I have a small, medium and large. Over here the cherries are $4, $8 and $12. Here peaches are $3, $6 and $9. Here tomatoes $2, $4 and $6. And here the nuts are one, two and three. What just happened to you?

Michael: I got confused.

Fruit Guy: You’re lost. What do you care about the price? All you want is one of those. You’re going to point because I’m going to tell you. Just point to the basket you like.

Michael: You want to confuse them on purpose?

Fruit Guy: Yes.

Michael: Okay, why?

Fruit Guy: Because I don’t want them calculating. That’s $4 dollars for that little one pound basket of cherries. I could go down right now for $2.99 and get them at Albertson’s. They’re on sale usually $5.99 they’re on sale this week for $2.99 at Albertson’s.

Michael: Okay so I want you to repeat that again. So I’m going to say how much are they?

Fruit Guy: The first one’s always free try that.

Michael: Do you grab one then right there and they…

Fruit Guy: I’ve already got one between my fingers as I’m packing this basket, I’m preparing my next basket and I’ve already got a sample between my fingers or here in the corner where I know it is and I can see out of the corner of my eye, although I’m facing down towards my table. You’re walking right up towards me it’s a beautiful sunny day. You’re excited to see this fruit stand that suddenly popped up. You come up and you say “Hey, how much are your cherries?” I’m going to say “The first one is always free.” You’re going to feel warmth, you’re going to bite that and you’re going to say “This is one delicious cherry.”

Michael: What kind of gloves do you have on?

Fruit Guy: I have those food ones. What do they call them? I think they’re latex.

Michael: And so you extend your arm.

Fruit Guy: I extend the hand with the cherry in it.

Michael: Do you look them in the eye?

Fruit Guy: Rarely. I’m too busy. I’m explain this as we go along because there’s nothing funnier than having you walk up while one’s walking away with three bags two more are standing here trying to pay me on my right and one over here on the left that you’re trying to squeeze in between who’s just asked the same question and finishing off their second sample. Because while you’re biting that cherry and I’m doing “Well we have small, medium and large. The cherries are $4, $8 and $12, $3, $6 and $9 over here on the peaches, $2, $4 and $6 over here on the nectarines, $1, $2 and $3 on the tomatoes whatever it is. All I’m doing is making it so I can have them say “Well give me a small of that a medium of that and a large of that.” That’s what I want.

Michael: Yet you’ve totally confused them. There’s no way they can remember and because they don’t remember the price you got them.

Fruit Guy: All that want is a medium cherry or if they love their sample they want a larger, if they hated it they want a mall. But I’m not done before they can tell me – and they probably already told me – I’ll take a large. They’ll say “How many pounds are in that one?” “Honestly I don’t know, probably about four or twelve is about $3 dollars a pound. That’s your better deal. If you go with the medium it’s about two and a half pounds and that’s $8. So you’re paying maybe like $3.00, $3.25. And then if you want to get a small that one’s $4 dollars, those are around a pound. So while you’re deciphering that if you really wanted to know more of that rarely does it happen about 80% go right along with the program, but you’re digesting this $3, $6, $9, $2, $4, $6, $1, $2, $3, for the sale thing I threw at you I sliced you off a very thin slice of a delicious peach and I handed that to you and you’re biting into that. Before you even say okay I’m going to take one of those too I’ve already got my hand on another sample I don’t know what it is yet, again nectarine or an apricot, whatever I got my hands on that morning from the broker, whatever he had cheap that I could get that looked good and tasted good and would show good I grabbed a couple of cases of those and I got a slice of that in your hand really thin, not the big chunks. I learned a long time ago. Oh I got satisfied on that. No, no, no, nice and thin…

Michael: Tell me the lesson. How did you learn that?

Fruit Guy: Just too many sells slipping by. Wow, this is a delicious peach.

Michael: Because the other stands would cut it up. And I’ve seen it you go to the stand – you can go and have all your fruit for lunch their right.

Fruit Guy: Right.

Michael: They put it out.

Fruit Guy: Right.

Michael: And that’s a mistake.

Fruit Guy: Big mistake.

Michael: You got to control it.

Fruit Guy: And then they’re dying for more. When I say thin, as thin as I can slice a peach I’m going to hand it to them. When it lies on their tongue and they taste that sweetness “Give me a small peach too, okay.”

Michael: Ah that’s genius.

Fruit Guy: I don’t know it’s just practice and error and I know nothing about big business but it just seems logical. So as we go along $2, $4, $6, $1, $2, $3, slice, sample, slice sample. Now the next thing that’s going to happen is you’re going to tell me what you want. You’re going to point, you’re going to point and you’re going to point, just point to what you like that’s what I like to say. Well I’ll take that one, that one and that one. The next thing I’m going to do before I give them their fruit or let them touch their fruit I want their money in the basket.

Michael: Okay in the basket.

Fruit Guy: Well I don’t take their money by hand because I’m touching food and this impressed them so much when I figured this out people just loved it. You know the baskets I’m talking about they’re cardboard, they’re three, four times the size of the little green plastic ones and they whole fruits. They’re cardboard, every fruit stands got them. They’ll hold like three pounds or four pounds and some sizes are…

Michael: Yeah I think I know what you’re talking about. They come up about four inches.

Fruit Guy: About three inches, you’re right, maybe four but that’s the basket that is the large and the medium. The small ones are the little plastic ones so I’ve got different sizes to baskets. Well those two large cardboard baskets are my bank. I put one on top of the other with a blank on top of that. In that bank there’s a few cherries just so I can recognize that little stack of three baskets right there as my bank. So I’m going to grab my bank with my right hand, lean it over to them, lift off the top three sample cherries that are in that top empty one and under there is going to be a bunch of $1s and $5s and if I lift that one up it’s going to be all $20s. So he’s going too probably or she’s going too probably, because probably 60% of the pullovers are middle-aged women, probably more women than men almost any spot I’ve ever had except maybe the big highways where the truck drivers are. So she’s going to probably pull that $20 out of her pocket and she’s going to drop it in there. She’s going to look confused look aren’t you afraid someone’s going to grab all that money? It never has happened. I’ve been working the basket bank for 15 years never had anyone try to make a move. And I’ll purposely turn my head, still watching out of the corner of my eye, but they never do; no one tries to still. So she drops her $20 and looking confused because she’s thinking she has some change coming I draw basket two on top is the bottom basket, now she sees a bunch of $1s and $5s. And I say well you got a medium peach that was $6, you got a large cherry that was $12, $6 and $12 that’s $18. Take two singles out of there. Great, drop the empty basket with the three cherries on top now they’re all one little compartment again. Set them off to my side and I’m now grabbing her bags because I don’t want her to take my cardboard baskets I want her to have a plastic food bag that I’ve gone and bought a case of before the day started or once a week. There’s a plastic bag that the cherries have been set into that’s been lining that cardboard basket. I can grab the two handles to that plastic bag, lift up and all of her cherries are ready to go.

Michael: So she thinks she’s going to get the basket?

Fruit Guy: Her first time there she might suspect but she doesn’t see the basket it’s covered up by the plastic bag.

Michael: I got you.

Fruit Guy: That’s the one thing I always have a problem whenever I’m training somebody new on the stand is to tell them, you know, nobody gets these baskets they cost $1 dollar a piece. So okay let’s continue, so she’s going to take her two singles change and I’m going to set my bank to the side. I’m now going to reach up onto the table, grab her two bags, the large cherry, and the medium peach and hand them to her. I don’t want to rush her off. It’s kind of a funny thing and I still don’t understand it after 30 years but for some reason, and it could be safety, it could be hey somebody knows there’s good fruit there but I don’t know why exactly because everybody’s a little different, but when there’s somebody pulled over at my stand I guarantee you one or two people are pulling over before they leave. It’s just funny how it works when somebody’s pulled over and another car is coming along and they see them pulled over “Hey they’re open. Hey they must be good. Hey it must be a safe place.” I don’t know but when you can slow them down a little, at least until the next car pulls up and that’s my timing, that’s all about your timing and how you can slow them down. And I like to tell a little story, a little joke, talk fruit, I don’t know explain something. And generally when you’re talking to these people they love to talk about their garden, how when they were a kid, and they went to the pick your own you pick for them. I could write a book of all the great fruit stories that people told me.

Michael: So you want to keep them there because when there’s a car there it’s going to increase your chances to get another pull over.

Fruit Guy: And, you know, the girls aren’t really good at that. Not everybody needs to do that. I just found that that makes a difference. You don’t need to do that to make $1000 a day but if you can don’t be surprised if your average goes up to $1250.

Michael: So we talk about the money and you’ve been doing this 30 years, if someone’s properly trained, if they have the right location and if they do everything you trained them to do what kind of money can they make?

Fruit Guy: One thousand dollars every day that they start with $300 dollars in the morning.

Michael: So they start with $300 in the morning and they make $1000 they’ll gross $700 a day.

Fruit Guy: No. They’ll gross $1300 and they’ll net $1000.

Michael: Oh they’ll net $1000. So the $300 in the morning is that for their fruit?

Fruit Guy: You need fruit.

Michael: And this is one stand right.

Fruit Guy: One stand.

Michael: One stand for a day. Look I’m your brother, I’ve got a three day notice on my door, I have a truck and I’m healthy and I’ve got a strong back and I need to get my rent paid by Friday. What are you going to tell me to do? I’m right here in San Diego.

Fruit Guy: If you’re my brother you’re going to be a millionaire in 100 days.

Michael: A millionaire.

Fruit Guy: You’re going to make $1 million dollars in 100 days cash.

Michael: I’m going to be a millionaire in 100 days.

Fruit Guy: Correct.

Michael: Man I like that. How are you going to get me started?

Fruit Guy: I’m going to start you on Day 1 with $200 dollars.

Michael: What time do I have to wake up in the morning?

Fruit Guy: That’s the thing if you want to be a millionaire and you’re my brother you need three things. One an entrepreneurial spirit. If you want to make a few hundred dollars a day you can get up at whatever time you want and you can have whatever kind of spirit you want, but if you want to make $1 million dollars in a 100 days you’re going to have a real entrepreneurial spirit too. Two lazy time is over. You can’t get up at 10:00 you can’t shut the stand down at 4:00. If you want to work for 100 days I’ll make you a millionaire. If you’re my brother and you’re willing to do that we’re going that route. Three the last thing, you need supplies. What are my supplies? The first thing you need $200 dollars to go to the fruit broker with you need a tent and you need a fan or a truck to transport your things.

Michael: Like a 10 x 10 tent

Fruit Guy: Exactly. Here’s my advice because you’re my brother don’t start with a $69 dollar tent that grandpa gave me. Don’t start with that thing that has four pieces for each leg and takes you a half an hour and blows over. Spend the $199 bucks get the best tent you can and make it last you five years.

Michael: Okay I need the tent and where am I going to put everything.

Fruit Guy: You’re going to slip your two tables in the side of your truck standing up sideways your tent next to them and you’re going to stack your fruit next to those. You’re going to have one 30 gallon tub with a lid that you keep all your supplies your gloves, your stakes and ropes for your tent, your bags, your baskets, your hammer, all your little supplies are going to be in that one tub. That’s all you need you’re done.

Michael: And my signs.

Fruit Guy: Oh yeah and your signs, of course.

Michael: How many signs am I going to need?

Fruit Guy: Well that’s one of the things I’ve done crazy stuff with signs Michael you’re going to love it. I’ve done 10 signs in each direction within a mile of my stand. I’ve done crazy stuff that made people sick I think because they just wouldn’t stop.

Michael: That’s cool tell me about that 10 sign one in each direction. What were they made out of?

Fruit Guy: They’re all made out of the same thing. They’re all made out of plywood that are cutup into little sections and I’ll spend the whole month of April working on signs. Even though they’re the same signs I had last year I’m not happy. When you pull up to my stand everything is clean, there’s no crap on the ground no girl’s backpack is there it’s in the tub there’s nothing laying around. I don’t do the hay bells anymore. I don’t do any weird stuff where I tried everything in the world. Two tables a little tub that’s got supplies in it and stacks of fruit.

Michael: You’re like the farmer who just came off the field and set up his little tent and here’s the fruit.

Fruit Guy: Here it is.

Michael: Okay tell me your 10 signs your 10 ones going in each direction. Did they all say the same thing or did you change the words?

Fruit Guy: I use to change signs once a week. I spent so much time…

Michael: So you’d have to put the signs out daily right.

Fruit Guy: Daily and then take them down at the end of the day. Rarely do I have spots that I can just leave them up for the whole summer.

Michael: How do you put 10 signs? Do you have a stake on it like a real estate sign?

Fruit Guy: Well you just get a rock and you roll it over there and lean it against the tree and then you set it up at the bottom of the sign so it doesn’t fly over if the wind blows or if a car goes to close to it. And you walk another 30 feet you put another sign down and you find some way to pry it up so it stays up. If it’s a fence or the field or another tree or some rocks that are some weed some way it’s going to stand up. Walk another 30 feet this one says nectarines. Walk another 30 feet this once says tomatoes. I’ve done them all but none of them worked.

Michael: None of them worked.

Fruit Guy: None of them worked. The one that worked is cherries. The one that really worked was sweet cherries. The golden ticket “Sweet Cherries Today’s Pick.”

Michael: I’m your brother that’s what you’re going to tell me to start with.

Fruit Guy: Yes.

Michael: “Sweet Cherries Today’s Pick.”

Fruit Guy: Yes.

Michael: And how many would you say I need to start?

Fruit Guy: You need one for each direction.

Michael: How many feet from the stand.

Fruit Guy: People can see your stand, people know you’re there. You’re not giving them any information by throwing all these signs out there. These dudes have one sign a quarter mile before your stand that says “Sweet Cherries.”

Michael: And then they’re looking for them.

Fruit Guy: And then walk the other direction a quarter mile and put the other one.

Michael: So I’ve got a good tent, I’ve got all my supplies that you told me about on the list. Okay I’m in San Diego how do I find my fruit? Where should I go?

Fruit Guy: You’re going to pick up the phone book and you’re going to look under three sections. The first one is produce, second one is fruit brokers and you’re going to make phone calls. You have your phonebook there you’re going to see a whole list of them, even if you live in small town America if there’s a restaurant somebody’s bringing vegetables and fruit into town, find that company and you’re going to ask them “Hey do you have cherries. How much are they? Will you give me cherries if you don’t have them? Great can we do that on a daily basis? Great.” And then he knows he’s now making a couple of bucks, whatever I don’t know every town’s going to be different, but I don’t pay over $1 dollar a pound, I don’t care if there’s golden cherries I don’t pay over $1 dollar a pound.

Michael: Are the brokers all over the place with price?

Fruit Guy: Yeah.

Michael: Does price go up and down?

Fruit Guy: It’s pretty consistent you can’t control him it’s how much he wants to make. I can’t tell you what that broker wants to make versus this broker.

Michael: Well when I starting, like from your experience, you’ll find a couple of good relationships with some fruit brokers and you’ll stick with them.

Fruit Guy: Yes.

Michael: I’m looking for a good relationship with a fruit broker who’s got cherries under $1 a pound.

Fruit Guy: And if you have to pay $1.50 a pound and you get $4 bucks a pound is that really going to matter to you the first season?

Michael: No.

Fruit Guy: No. So if your 20 pound case of cherries, that’s what they come in generally, the guy tells you on the phone at $32 bucks are you going to hang up on him?

Michael: No.

Fruit Guy: You probably you might want to think about it, at list go sample them, but you’re going to make money. For more exclusive interviews this on business, marketing, advertising and copywriting go to Michael Senoff’s HardToFindSeminars.com.

Michael: You’re teaching me to start with cherries okay. It’s my first day I’m going to start with just cherries so I’m going to go out to the fruit broker. Do I walk in and buy them or do the brokers deliver I mean what’s the best way?

Fruit Guy: You’re going to his place where many other people are probably doing the same thing. You’re going to his place at 5:00, 6:00 in the morning. No you’re not running 10 stands. You’re going to his place at 8:00 in the morning and you’re going to be loaded and on the road at 8:20, 8:30.

Michael: They’re waiting for me.

Fruit Guy: Yeah.

Michael: And I get to go grab what I want.

Fruit Guy: You get to go in and say “Hey, what do you got in cherries?” And he’s going to say “Come on back to the back cooler.” He’s going to walk you back there or he’s going to send somebody back there with you or he’s going to just send you back there because he’s too busy. Go back there and you’re going to see stacks of cherries, hopefully he’s got more than one variety he’s got four or five types and prices so you can pop the lids on these cases and take one out and sample it go to the next stack.

Michael: So what type should I get?

Fruit Guy: The one that tastes the best. Forget about the varieties these ones come before that one it doesn’t matter you’re going to sample one of each of his cases that came from this type of a grower. And this came from this type of a packer and this came from this type of a packer and you’re going to sample each one because you could care less about anything else, but when they bite into that cherry and you’re looking at them as you’re slicing a slice of your next sample you want their eyes to light up, you want it to explode on their chin, you want their cheeks to shoot up really high and the color to come to their face and you want them to go “Wow, that’s a great cherry.” I don’t care if they’re $12 bucks a case I don’t want them if they don’t taste great.

Michael: Okay so when you’re sampling them I mean do I need to sample maybe a couple of them just to make sure?

Fruit Guy: I guess one’s enough.

Michael: So you’re good to go you trust the rest of the batches.

Fruit Guy: So one tenth it probably took me a few times. I didn’t learn that right away. You want to pop the lid on every one of those cases and make sure one of them isn’t full of mold, hasn’t been sitting somewhere for two weeks and he just flipped it into your stack. Because he doesn’t really know what’s going on he probably has somebody loading them onto a cart and bringing them out to your truck for you one of the many warehouse type of workers. Just checkout your stuff before you leave.

Michael: Do that every time.

Fruit Guy: Every time. Take every case lid off it’s going to take you 30 seconds a box. Every box is going to bring you $72 dollars that 20 pound case of cherries is going to bring you $72 dollars whether you pay $12 bucks, $15 bucks or $20 bucks it’s going to make you $72 bucks.

Michael: Now what time of the year could I expect that things have been picked up?

Fruit Guy: Well if you’re in California you’re looking to start in mid-April. If you’re in Central America you’re looking to start on the 1st of May.

Michael: This is seasonal.

Fruit Guy: Correct. I work 100 days and then I take 265 off.

Michael: Okay so you’re going to show me how in a 100 days make $1 million dollars. So this is only working 100 days out of the year.

Fruit Guy: That’s what I said.

Michael: Wow!

Fruit Guy: One hundred days $1 million dollars.

Michael: Okay so the 100 days is the season.

Fruit Guy: Correct.

Michael: Okay so about when in April were we starting?

Fruit Guy: Mid April. You can never say this is the date too many factors it’s all about the weather and the heat. You can’t say this is always the date. Never the same day year-after-year it’s always within a week or two of each other. I’ve started many of seasons on the 15th of April. I started many of seasons on the 1st of May.

Michael: But nothing’s happening in March.

Fruit Guy: Nothing’s happening except you’re running around getting permits.

Michael: How many months are they fresh picked where I can use that fresh pick sign?

Fruit Guy: You’re going to use Today’s Pick only the days that you can get anything on that table that was picked today.

Michael: Well what do you think my chances are of doing that?

Fruit Guy: Every day. Cherries are the last fruit to blossom the first fruit that’s ready. Well when they’re not ready anymore and the broker’s now bringing them in not locally from California but he’s bringing them in from Oregon because it’s July, or Washington because it’s August, that’s mean your peaches are ready in California they’re picking those today. And your nectarines were ready a week before and next week will be the tomatoes and the week after will be melons. Just try to always get something if you can that was picked today.

Michael: So I can use my today’s pick.

Fruit Guy: And it doesn’t matter where you put it I wouldn’t put it and lean it against the sign that says “Cherries” I’d lean it right against my table.

Michael: So you’ve told me how to buy my fruit from the broker but since I’m starting off easy with cherries. If I’m just doing cherries for the day how many pounds of cherries do I need do you think?

Fruit Guy: Well you’re not going to step on yourself too bad so you want to start with a small amount until you found your spot and once you’ve sold out that small amount and it’s 3:00 you know the next day you’re going to put an extra two cases on. And when you sold that out and its 4:00 you’re going to keep adding on each day.

Michael: Do I know my spot before I buy my cherries?

Fruit Guy: You better.

Michael: Okay so let’s talk about this spot. I’m here in San Diego what are you going to tell me as being your brother I’m going to say where the hell am I going to sell these? Where’s the best place?

Fruit Guy: Actually this is the most important and the biggest challenge you’re going to have my brother is going to be finding your spot that’s going to make you money and not going to bring you any heat. And why do I not want heat because I rarely get permits anymore. You want to ask me why?

Michael: Why?

Fruit Guy: Let me share you a story and then maybe you’ll understand. In Northern California in the Bay area there’s a kid’s amusement park it’s in Vallejo and I had a great spot there. Every year I could close down at 5:00 because I already knew I had $1000 made and it was great, it was money, it was show up late, leave early, but I could just clobber that spot year-after-year. I could abuse that spot it didn’t matter it was awesome.

Michael: And it was right by an amusement…

Fruit Guy: Right at the exit to Marine World.

Michael: Oh Marine World like a Sea World.

Fruit Guy: Yeah.

Michael: Okay.

Fruit Guy: As they rolled out my stand was right there and I had to go and ask the guy who ran the park there and he said “No problem.” And I said “Cool” and I set it up there. And that was good I was great. They were happy, I was happy, customers were happy, it was easy. I would grease them, you know, once every couple of weeks. I would take a case in and drop them on that guy’s desk and what did that cost me $12 bucks, $14 bucks and that’s generally the best spot. So drop the spot where the guy says “Give me $100 bucks a week.” The best spots are the spots where the guys go “Yeah I don’t care go ahead just bring me some fruit once in a while.”

Michael: When you approach them what do you say “Hey can I sit my truck up…?”

Fruit Guy: Oh its appeal and it’s beautiful and there’s a technique that works like money, but let’s go there when we finish this one.

Michael: Okay.

Fruit Guy: Alright where are we?

Michael: You’re telling me the story about this spot that you had.

Fruit Guy: So I’m in Vallejo greatest spot. I just love it because it’s stress free. While I have, not my brother, but he’s like my brother and I have this friend who’s in big trouble and he needs help and so I give him a job. I know it’s a mistake but I’m going to give him a job. Man is it a mistake, don’t ever hire your friends that’s Number 2. Next he won’t sell there without a permit he doesn’t want to get in trouble with the police. And I try to explain to them I’ve done this for so many years you know that I never have ever, ever gotten one ticket. And even when the police do pull over because for some reason they’re usually there to buy cherries or I’m still going to be there two days later. So, you know, you don’t need a permit but every day I would get grieve and I told them finally “Here’s an extra $100 bucks go get your permit.” And it was either a Thursday or Friday and I had just shut that stand down that whole weekend and let him get his permit thing worked out. He had to go down to the police station the city permit was like $40 bucks and then he had to go back on Monday. He had to go get something called a Lifeline I think. To get the city permit he had to go down to the police station. Some cities have more strict standards than others. Some I’m in and out of there in 20 minutes with the permit for less than $50 bucks. Some make you run around for a month that’s why I always start early if I’m going to get any permit. So he goes in gets his Lifeline at the police station, a couple of days later he’s got his permit, and we’re good to go. Load up the truck we’re heading back to the spot in Vallejo and when we get there…

Michael: Someone’s there.

Fruit Guy: No it’s worst. The city has posted No Parking signs along the entire street that they were totally unaware of the week before I got that permit.

Michael: Wow so you think that tipped them off.

Fruit Guy: I know it did and that was it. So if I can tell you something if you have to get a permit great get it but if you don’t have to get a permit my lessons that I’ve learned I only get a permit when I have to.

Michael: And out of all the times you never had a permit.

Fruit Guy: Not one. A dozen cops pull over because I’m an idiot and I had to learn the hard way. What do you mean? Well you know the white line on the side of the road? If your tent’s at least six feet away from that that cop is going to pull over.

Michael: Okay so you need to be six feet back from the white line.

Fruit Guy: If you set your tent up on Skyline Ridge that’s way steep and there’s a big turnout but when people turnout they have slow down and they make the whole road below them slow down to a dead stop…

Michael: Yeah.

Fruit Guy: …and they have to start in first gear again do you know what happens?

Michael: Yeah it’s dangerous.

Fruit Guy: And do you know what happens? It’s so dangerous and people get so upset do you know who they call?

Michael: They call the cops.

Fruit Guy: They call 911 and tell the Highway Patrol there’s somebody out here with this tent out on the turnout stopping traffic. And when he comes he doesn’t even get out of his car he’s so angry at me he just gives me this “You’re out of here” thumb and he just drives off and spits a big dust ball at me. So what can I tell you? A) make sure your spot is safe. Make sure you’re not going to cause yourself some heat. Don’t get yourself in some spot where you’re going to cause traffic trouble because as soon as you cause traffic trouble I promise you your spot is going away.

Michael: Okay that’s some good advice. So this is hard to find a spot. What are you going to tell me, as being your brother, where should I go? Where should I start to find my spot?

Fruit Guy: Finding the spot is really not hard. I mean how many gas stations, grocery stores, supermarkets places that you regularly do business where you can walk up and say “Hey, you know, my family grows fruit and I’ve told my family that maybe I could move some of it for them this summer. Do you mind if I throw a tent out here maybe during May for a few weeks?” You’re not going to ask them for 100 day committee. You’re not going to ask them if you can take over. You know the little corner of the parking lot back over there I was just wondering can I through a tent up there and sell some cherries with my daughter next weekend? You just want to open up the door so they can see what they got.

Michael: Okay so where am I going to go like in front of a grocery store?

Fruit Guy: No, that’s the last place.

Michael: I’m looking for a good amount of traffic.

Fruit Guy: Traffic is the key. You’re looking for a spot where cars are going by, not every one minute but every 30 seconds, some place where you can get some pullovers. It’s rare that that festivals works and that concert never works and the boat show. It’s been a circle and they see you once and they’re not going to see you again you’re invisible to them.

Michael: So you don’t want to use a concert or a festival.

Fruit Guy: No forget all that you want pullovers. You want to make $1000 dollars cash in one day you’ve got to pull them over? You got to have the cars going by you. And you don’t want to set it up at the grocery store or even a mile from the grocery store. My best spots are out on those open highways, the best spots are in those really nice neighborhoods, the best spots are those gas stations where people are standing there for four to six minutes with their hand on the pump looking over their shoulder at you thinking “Hmm, they’ve got a lot of customers coming and going over there.” You’re on the corner of that parking lot they’re just going to put it on automatic and step over to get a free sample.

Michael: So that could be in a good residential area, right, in a gas station parking lot.

Fruit Guy: Those are money.

Michael: Because you got people coming in there all the time.

Fruit Guy: If you’ve got it out there towards the edge and if they’re getting gas they’re looking at you every second that they’re getting gas.

Michael: Okay give me some more tips for some spots gas stations, open roads where there’s cars going by every 30 seconds, don’t go to spots where there’s going to be one-time events where there’s concerts or tradeshows. You want the ones that are going to see you over and over again right.

Fruit Guy: I want the cars that are going by me and not the people that are walking around in a circle. I don’t want to see the same eyes twice in one day. I want them going by my tent.

Michael: When you get a spot, let’s say you’re in the corner of a gas station, but a lot of these people come get gas at the place over and over again, does it help for you to see them over and over again or when you get a spot can business be pretty good at first and then kind of slow down because of familiarity?

Fruit Guy: So one of my newer lessons might pertain to this. One of my newer lessons over the last five years has been how do I keep them coming back? The people coming by from you early in the season but later the store is so full of all those fruits and they’re already there, that’s part of their regular program. How do I take their regular program and eliminate their produce shopping and just bring it to me? So somewhere I just said to myself I’m going to try stuff, I said stuff, I said stuff, I said stuff, nothing seemed to work until I starting trying “Well can I ask you what you like? Is there anything on this table you don’t see that you would really enjoy the next time you come?” And then they say “Well, you know, I just love apricots do you have any? I will have them soon. You make sure you come back to this stand in a few days because I’m going to have you some apricots.”

Michael: Did you ever ask and get their names or emails?

Fruit Guy: Never and you’re going to have such control and such connection with these people that not only could you get their name and number but you can sell them your water system. All the guys that come up to me all the times and want to leave their brochures and do I want to be involved with whatever they’re selling as some kind of a manager or whatever, you know, no, no, no, no, no, get that stuff off my table.

Michael: So you would recommend that if I can capture their name, number, email address, if possible.

Fruit Guy: Never done it. I have no idea how that would help me as just a Portuguese that sells fruit on the side of the road. You’re probably better with knowing how that would help than I would.

Michael: Okay so I’ve got a location, I’ve got my supplies, I’ve got my broker, what time should I be setup?

Fruit Guy: I’m saying at 9:00. Why because your traffic is going to startup at 10:00. But even when I get to a spot there’ll be people waiting. I’ve had sometimes four or five people waiting when I get to a spot at 9:00 and I tell them “I’m sorry folks I cannot help you until I get everything up and it’s going to take my 20 minutes.” Well I thought you opened at 9:00? No I really open at 9:20. Whatever time I get there if its 9:15 and they’re waiting and I know it’s going to take me 20 minutes I open at 9:40 today. It’s my job, my boss, that’s the greatest feeling in the world.

Michael: You just make them wait.

Fruit Guy: And here’s the thing, why do I have to do that? When a person buys that bag of fruit and they’re handing over their money it’s not more often than not but it’s so often 30% of the people say “Why don’t you give us one of those small cherries too? Or, you know, we’re going to go see our grandparents this afternoon why don’t you give us another one of those larges? So why do I tell the people it’s so important to keep your table full of fruit. You’re going to have three larges of everything. You’re going to have three mediums of everything before you say go in the morning. Why, because you don’t want that guy come up buy his medium cherry and leave. You want him to buy a medium cherry, you want to hit him with some samples and maybe he’ll pick up one or two more items, and you want that opportunity for him to say “Well these are sure good you’re going to have to give me another one for later” or “You know, my neighbor just love cherries I’m going to take her a bag.” You have to have your table full. That’s a big, big, mistake to bridge down and go and have one little basket out at a time.

Michael: So I’ve got cherries on my first day, I’ve got my location, the gas station sounds good, I’m starting in the middle of April, so I’ve got my sweet cherries and I’ve got my sign “Today’s Pick” we’re rocking and rolling. I’m selling, I’ve got your pricing pitch down memorized, I’ve got the wood crates where I have my change in there, I’ve got my gloves on? So if I’m starting with just cherries and then let’s say I’m getting more comfortable I’ve got some confidence in my own stand, now how are you going to take me to $1 million dollars in 100 days?

Fruit Guy: Alright so you’ve done Day 1 and you’re going to start Day 2. On Day 2 you’re going to call home and have your girlfriend put an ad on Craigslist “Work on fruit stand get paid $10 cash per hour” you’re going to get about 500 phone calls before you close your stand up that day. During one of those phone calls you’re going to hear somebody that sounds like it’s the right person and you’re going to tell them where your stand is and that you’d like to meet them right now. Tomorrow morning when you open you’re already going to have this person trained and you’re going to be out looking for another spot and you’re going to be bringing in twice as much fruit with your profits that you made from that day and you’re going to have two tents going. Here’s my goal at the end of the first week I want four stands, you don’t have to do it on your second day.

Michael: End of the first week four stands.

Fruit Guy: Correct.

Michael: Now realistically you got some guy some from Craigslist, the training, can that be frustrating or can you get them trained pretty easily?

Fruit Guy: It’s pretty easy because all they’re going to do for the first half of day is stand behind you and you put cherries in baskets. And you’re just going to constantly being telling them more or less, cleaner or less clean. I don’t want to send any junk in my basket. You’re going to constantly be critiquing them until they know how to make a perfect basket. The whole three, six, ten hours that he’s standing there with you he’s hearing you say the same thing 100 times. The next day he’s good.

Michael: He is.

Fruit Guy: Yes.

Michael: Do you worry about them stealing form you?

Fruit Guy: Yes. That’s the greatest thing that I’ve ever come up with having those baskets and the salesperson never touch the cash. I can park three blocks away and watch my binoculars for four hours. They never steal. If they never touch the money, never touch it with their own fingers, never touch it with their own fingers and you can keep an eye on it you’re good.

Michael: So you show him how to do that. I show him that’s the program. Why because almost every customer the first time they come to the stand that is so great that you don’t touch the money. They love that because you’re touching their food. And you know what’s the funniest thing is when you’ve got this person walking up to your stand while you’re just finishing up with these two people as they’re leaving they’re just finishing talking to you because they’re telling their story. And on your left you had two people coming up behind the person coming up “Hey how much are your cherries” the person coming up says. You hand them a cherry you say “The first one’s always free.” And let me tell you I’ve got some other fruit here and you’re slicing a slice for them while these other two customers come up they’re already programmed, that point, they don’t ever talk to you they just point, they point to that basket. They point to that basket and you’re pulling up their bags for them, you’re opening up your change jar. Meanwhile you’re still saying goodbye to these people explaining this guy was going on with the samples you’re hitting them with the two, four, six, eight, ten blah, blah, blah, blah, and he’s just engulfed. I can’t explain the feeling that I’m gaining. It is really exciting.

Michael: So you get the ad on Craigslist, you get them to meet you, and it’s going to be my first day. And I’ve used Craigslist and I’m sure I can get that phone ringing. When you put that ad on Craigslist is your girlfriend handling that or do you have the calls come into you on the cell phone or what?

Fruit Guy: I have them come to me. I make every person who works the stand shut off their phones.

Michael: So if I’m calling you about the job and you got a good feeling about me what are the expectations? I mean what do you say to them to do your best to keep them honest and service the stand properly?

Fruit Guy: Here’s the first thing you say is “Are you prepared to make $100 cash a day everyday for the rest of the summer and not take the 4th of July off, Labor Day off, any day off?” That’s the thing about the commitment about not being lazy, entrepreneurial spirit, what it takes. There are no days off. If you want to make it happen you have to give all 100 days from the minute you get up until it gets dark.

Michael: Okay because I know I’ve run a lot of Craigslist ads and there’s a lot of lazy ass people there.

Fruit Guy: So they call us and I tell them, you know, this is the deal I’m looking for somebody to commit 100 days and I will give them $100 dollars cash everyday that they work for me but it has to be every day until the end of the summer. And they go “Oh but I want to take off and go to the – I have plans.” Sorry this is probably not for you thanks for calling though. And I’ll go through 100 calls and I’ll have five to eight people standing there by the end of the day and I’ll look them over. What am I looking for? I’m looking for someone who’s not going to scare grandma when she sees the fruit stand. More important than anything I want honesty. The second most important thing I need someone to pull people over and not scare them off. And they don’t have to be a hot little 20-year-old in shorts, middle-aged woman is great.

Michael: Do you like women better than men?

Fruit Guy: Much better. The pullover percentage is probably 20%, 25% better. People feel safer, I don’t understand it, but for some reason they pullover more.

Michael: What are concerns from some of your workers?

Fruit Guy: I’ll give you an example. Last year I had a new person, and actually it was a guy, I don’t hire as many guys as I do girls, but I had a guy and he came down and interviewed watched the fruit stand for half a day, he was just all over and he loved it but he said he wouldn’t do it without a permit. And I said “Hey that’s up to you, if you want to get a permit some people feel like that the first year they work for me and they go and get a permit, that’s up to you. And I’ll pay you for it I’ll give you every dime that you pay for that permit back in your pocket. But I’ll tell you something else a lot of times the permit’s just a big runaround and you don’t ever get anywhere and some cities charges a mess and I just don’t even get permits most of the time anymore unless I’m forced to.” Two days later he was back and ready to work. I said “Well you sure look pumped up. You got your permit?” And he said “No, I just talked to some cops.” And I said “What?” And he said “I just talked to cops. I’ve been talking to cops since I saw you and it seems like they don’t want to mess with us, they want to touch the fruit stand, they don’t even want to look at you. You’re not breaking any laws, you’re not selling crack you’re not doing anything bad. Unless you cause yourself some trouble, sell some crap, don’t put your tent in a safe spot and cause a traffic jam.”

Michael: What the hell are they going to bother with you for?

Fruit Guy: You’re out selling fruit, man. You’re like any person they’ve seen on this street that isn’t trying to screw somebody you’re out there trying to make a living doing something honest. What can be better than selling fruit Michael?

Michael: I know. It’s so wholesome and natural and innocent. That’s why this topic is just so cool.

Fruit Guy: It’s the greatest life. It’s kind of hard to believe but I would do it for free.

Michael: It just sounds like you have the confidence that you’ve done it so much it’s just like as long as you’re physically able and mentally able you’ll always be able to make a wonderful living in doing something you love anywhere as long as there’s a fruit broker right.

Fruit Guy: Correct.

Michael: How old are you now?

Fruit Guy: Forty-five.

Michael: You’re 45. So how long have you been doing this?

Fruit Guy: Since I was eight. But how long have I been out on my own where grandpa said “Get your stand out there?”

Michael: Yeah since you were 19.

Fruit Guy: Thirty years.

Michael: Tell me what the lifestyle is for you.

Fruit Guy: When you run one fruit stand you wake up at 8:00 you’re at the broker at 8:15, 8:30, you’re loaded up and you’re on your way. You setup your stand and you want to be going by 10:00 and want to close it at 6:00. The best program is 9:00 am to 7:00 pm you just need that extra hour in the morning to set your table up so you can get the production you want. And although you’ll only pick up $50 bucks between 9:00 and 10:00 it’s going to be the difference of whether you net $1000 or not. And the other thing is you’re going to get a lot of traffic between 5:00 and 7:00 and you’re going to think man. So you want to be 9:00 to 7:00 is how long you’re going to want to work your stand. But I got to go extra early because I got more than one thing going you know.

Michael: Okay so, yeah, I don’t want to get too far off track. Okay I asked you how I’m going to make $1 million in 100 days. So the Craigslist I’m going to get my employees, I’ve qualified them, I’ve trained them because they’ve watched me for four hours. I mean they’re going to make a couple of mistakes at first right.

Fruit Guy: Sure and it’s not going to hurt anything. They’re going to overdue their baskets and your average is going to decrease but every day at the end of the day when they unload their cash in your living room and you do your sorting with them with the money thing and you calculate, you know, what their average and everything is before they leave it only takes a few minutes.

Michael: Well let me ask you this? If you want four stands you’ve got one truck how are you handling the move?

Fruit Guy: You need to have a trailer if you’re going to make $1 million dollars.

Michael: So you’re the guy handling all the table signage and everything or what’s their responsibility after when 7:00 rolls along, your employees handling your stands?

Fruit Guy: It’s different with different employees. Some where the girls I have to almost, every single one of them set them up and tear them down. While I’ll always have at least one or two guys that I can use in several different ways, not just to run a stand but sometimes I’ll need somebody to do my job for me. I’ll need somebody to run cash pickups, I’ll need somebody to bring lunches out to the girls, you know, I’ll need to do some managerial things where I’m not able to because I’m breaking in two new spots today. I want to train these two new people but I need somebody to give Spot 7 and Spot 3 a half an hour pee break.

Michael: So you’re running a crew.

Fruit Guy: That’s my idea.

Michael: Can I ask you like what’s the most stands you’ve run somewhat comfortably at one time where you’re just not totally freaking out?

Fruit Guy: Freaking out is when I get past 15 you’re freaking out but what you want to do is you want to keep yourself in the seven to ten range and that’s comfortable.

Michael: Can I do $1 million in 100 days with seven to ten?

Fruit Guy: I have one spot that brings in over $2000 grand cash a day net. I have another spot that’s right there and many spots that are in the $1500. I have a few in the $800, $900 range but when I say you’re going to make $1000 cash in your pocket every day I’m not exaggerating.

Michael: And that’s after you’ve paid your employee?

Fruit Guy: Right.

Michael: That’s sweet. That’s sweet cherries right there.

Fruit Guy: Everyday has a dozen stories when you’re at the fruit stand. They’re interesting stories, they’re fun stories, they’re stories you can’t wait to go home and tell your girlfriend about.

Michael: Tell me some you just remember over the years something that sticks out over your mind.

Fruit Guy: Alright. This is one of my favorites, not because it’s all that interesting or funny, but this one touches me. I give away fruit for about a week a year where the ocean meets San Francisco there’s a beach there called the Ocean Beach with several large parking lots. The first parking lot is clear up by the sea cliff and that’s where all the surfers park and that’s kind of like where we like to hangout just because we’re not there to make money during that week, although we saw a lot of cherries, but if you bring me a bag off of the beach full of garbage you can come up here and trade it for any one of my baskets of fruits. And that’s how we get the beach clean we spend about a week a year giving away fruit at a beach because up here in San Francisco there’s no big raking crews and machinery and all that there’s garbage on the beach and it gets really bad in the summertime. So every year we setup a tent there and people come up and buy cherries. But a lot of our cool like hipsters, surfer dudes and stuff they’ll just come out and grab a plastic bag from me, take it out on the beach, fill it up with garbage, come back and take a bag of fruit. And it’s great for me, it’s great for them. It doesn’t cost me much I know it’s a couple of $100 bucks a day or whatever, but I’m making 10 times that already out there and I’m just going to run my little fun program. This Cleanup Beach Week is always about for me and I’m making money I got stands going but I got people handling that because I’m only right here for that week. I just love that week. Anyway let’s talk about the story. Up pulled these two big yellow buses and outpour like 70 something kids like with their red camp shirts on and they’re all like waist high little kids. And I see the big burley manager guy of them all and I wave them over and we start talking and he brings them up. It’s just so cool to see a line of 70 kids up to your tent and they all take a plastic bag and they all go onto the beach and they all come back. It’s really great because Chandra’s got a clean bag for them while she takes their dirty garbage bags ties it and tosses it and misses the trash, the bag of garbage was higher than the truck. And she gives them an empty bag and they take a couple of steps forward. I reach into the case with my glove on pull out about a pound and drop it in their bag. I say “Thank you very much for helping us clean the beach. We really appreciate it. If you want to if you can save that bag and bring it back with more garbage and I’ll give you some more.” So the 70 kids clean the beach. It was so beautiful they made like a line it’s a real wide, wide beach and they just swooped it and filled up all their bags and came up. It was great. Well guess what happened about an hour later? About half of those kids came back with another bag of garbage.

Michael: You were out of fruit.

Fruit Guy: No, no, I got lots of fruit. I’m making money at the same time we’re giving it away. I’m not losing money I shouldn’t say that I’m actually ever going to lose money.

Michael: Yeah you’re selling too.

Fruit Guy: I’m selling too. And even if give away twice as much as I sell, guess what, I’ve made money. So the kids come back on a second round about half of them and come back on a second round of garbage drop and I tell them, you know, “I’m sorry I cannot give you anymore cherries.” Oh no. No I would love to give everybody more cherries but you don’t understand you’re little kids two pounds of cherries equals big tummy aches past that point, I can’t give you any more cherries, but next time you guys come here and you see us here I will be happy to do it again and thank you so much. This is so cool, you know, it’s all so neat to have all these little kids passing underneath you’re getting their input. Anyway I don’t know maybe an hour and a half, two hours later I forgot all about the kids I don’t know about a dozen of them come up with bags of garbage and they set them next to the truck and I said “Guys I don’t want to give you – no, no, no, we don’t want any more cherries.” And I just felt like the kids saw something from that and I always take that with me.

Michael: But they wanted to just clean the beach.

Fruit Guy: Because they saw the value of their environment. It’s something I carry with me every year. Its little things like that you wanted a story…

Michael: That’s a great story.

Fruit Guy: It just touches me when I think of them.