'Dawgs' to dentistry: Hot dog cart helps Bartlesville student raise college cash

At Bartlesville High, he's Ryan Fouts. But come the weekend, he's Ryan's Dawgs.

For the past two years, the full-fledged food cart entrepreneur has taken part-time job matters into his own hands by owning his own business. Dentistry school won't be cheap and he knew he wouldn't have an opportunity to make much money working for someone else.

"I didn't want to have a boss," he said. "I applied to two different businesses in town and both said no because they didn't have openings or I wasn't old enough."

When a business owner he knew suggested he open a hot dog stand, it was mostly a joke at first until he did some research and decided it was a pretty good idea. He didn't even have a driver's license when he bought his hot dog cart after finding a good buy online. By the time he was 16, he formed his own LLC, Ryan's Dawgs, with his parents co-signing. 

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He sold 300 hots dogs at his first big event which was at Woolaroc. It was a good indication that things were going to work. Plus, he had plenty of support from family and friends. Often people don't realize he is as young as he is (he just turned 18) or they do and ask who his boss is. 

Now he's an expert at preparing 100% all-beef hot dogs, authentic brats from Ziggy's, and his hot links using a recipe he says he has now perfected. He's learned a lot along the way from other food vendors who have been generous with good advice. His "Shortie" dog is a nod to Shorties Grille for that very reason. 

Wherever people are congregated, you're likely to run across Ryan's Dawgs. The E-E caught up with him at the Scissortail Brewing Company in Dewey recently. Saturdays you'll often find him in front of Cooper and Mill Brew Co. He recently hit Unity Square for the Pride 2021 event and just last week he worked the Back the Blue event. 

What he's learning he probably can't get in business school, such as how to handle rude customers and how to work efficiently when the lines get long. He also has a few rules. He doesn't like to raises prices at special events, and he keeps his drink prices cheap compared to most vendors.

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"Why would I want to sit around and let life pass me by," Fouts said. "There's no point in stopping and waiting for life to just keep going cause you're young you can do whatever you want. Why would I wait until my youth years are gone, instead of starting a business and understanding it much better."

Fouts is well-versed in licensing, cost of product and profit margins. He pays for state licensing, city permitting and inspections. Some days he makes less than minimum wages, other times he'll have a banner day at a big event. Always, he's learning a lot and getting a lot of experience.

He has learned what works and doesn't. He cut chili, but would never dream of not having sauerkraut. He tried that once and said that people were really upset.

Like his hot dog business, Fouts has thought things out and he always has a plan. Four years at OSU. Four years at OU. Dentistry school in Colorado. He knows his business experience will be valuable in the future. When he becomes a pediatric dentist, the plan is to have his own clinic where he will also need to understand all the aspects of owning a business.

"If you understand business from such a young age, more than some in college do taking a course, it's really good because you understand what you're going to go into and how to run a business as a whole," he said. "People should really start a business at a younger age because you gain a lot more experience about the real world than you do a minimum wage job. Plus, you work with people with the same drive." 

Through it all, Fouts is having fun and he likes talking to all the people he meets. 

 "Whenever you start a business if you have a passion for it, you really really enjoy it," he said.