Deals on Wheels You can afford a retail business! Successful kiosk and cart entrepreneurs reveal how.

They're in malls, on street corners, at parks and outsideoffice buildings--entrepreneurs who've made their dreams ofretailing a reality by opening cart or kiosk businesses. They selleverything from hot dogs to sunglasses, from men's ties toT-shirts. And they do it with overhead costs that are far less thanthose of full-fledged stores.

For many entrepreneurs who dream of breaking into retail,opening a shop is cost-prohibitive--but a cart or kiosk is aprofitable possibility. Just ask Wally Rizza. In November 1995,Rizza, then 21, spent $25,000 to launch Shades 2000 Inc., asunglasses cart at the Irvine Spectrum Entertainment Center inIrvine, California. Within a year, he raked in $184,000 in sales.Today, Rizza has three sunglasses carts, a watch cart and a jewelrycart, and he expects to gross about $500,000 this year. "Acart business can be very profitable and is economically withinreach for many people," says Rizza, now 24.

"If you have the right product and a good location,it's not uncommon to make $2,500 to $5,000 per week [with acart]," says Bruce Stockberger, owner of Stockberger MarketingAssociates, a North Palm Beach, Florida, small-business marketingfirm specializing in cart, kiosk and Internet marketing. "Youcan buy a cart for as little as $11,000 and make $1,200 to $1,500per day." Kiosks--larger, enclosed, more permanent units inwhich the operator sits or stands--can pull in $20,000 to $60,000per week, Stockberger says.