[thb_message type="info"]Bish Bash Bangers - Bringing the Berlin currywurst to the British street food market.[/thb_message]

Loving the currywurst? Mad about the Bratwurst? [thb_highlight]We are your answer![/thb_highlight]
 
At Bish Bash Bangers we bring authentic German sausages to London & surrounding areas in the UK. We are a mobile catering business and you can find us at different events throughout London/UK or you can hire us for private events. Your choice 🙂

[thb_button size="large" color="graphite" url="http://www.bishbashbangers.com/contact/" text="Call 07415 408 104 or send us a message!"]

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Our Story - Part 5

Shattered. We have been doing Devonshire Sq for the last 4 days (from epicureanevents.co.uk) and starting a new SEO project next week (itcher mag) from Monday.

I'm totally knackered.

Anyway, I continue with our story, part 5 🙂

Alan, Mark & Jacqueline (and Bob)

So, it looked like someone wanted us (as mentioned in part 4 of our story).

But we weren't done. We needed the equipment (still!!), the paperwork (still!!), and everything else we didn't know we needed.

If you read part 4 you already know that Alan, from NCASS, answered our phone call and told us "yes, you do need NCASS".

A little forwards, I thought, but for some reason I felt he was giving us the right advice.

At first I thought I would try to find myself what NCASS was offering so we wouldn't have to spend the £200 they were charging at the time of us making the phone call.

"Well, if I can get it, then it's not worth spending the money".

How wrong I was! [thb_highlight] NCASS is worth every very and last penny![/thb_highlight]

Why? It's not just the paperwork (at the end of the day, with a bit of time and willingness you probably can put it together. Maybe I should say with A LOT of time and A LOT of willingness).

It's the way they make you feel safe.

More than my own mother...

The guys at NCASS care about your safety more than my own mother would and I'm not joking here!

They... how can I put it... they are EXTREMELY upfront about what's good and what's bad for you. They'll tell you things as they are, no messing around.

They'll make you feel like that uncle who really cares about you, calling you often to make sure you're ok... and who is adamant that you do as he says... for your own safety (ok, you have to call them, but the point is clear).

It's the way they make you feel safe.

We've called NCASS sooo many times!!!!! We're not sure how to write an email to approach a market... NCASS. We're not sure what to do with the gas installation... NCASS. We want a new boiler... NCASS. We received an email that says... NCASS. We took photos and want to know if... NCASS.

Ad infinitum.

Can you see what I mean? Uncle NCASS loves us calling because it loves to give us advice! This goes well above and beyond the money we paid (basically, they're not just 'complying with the service').

These guys really, really care.

Alan, Mark and Jacqueline have made us feel at home.

Thanks guys!!

[thb_message type="notice"]You can contact NCASS on 0121 603 2524[/thb_message]

[thb_message type="info"]Bish Bash Bangers - Bringing the Berlin currywurst to the British street food market.[/thb_message]

You've been in Berlin, you've loved the currywurst. Now you want to experience the real thing again... but you're back in the UK... [thb_highlight]We are your answer![/thb_highlight]

At Bish Bash Bangers we bring the authentic German currywurst to London & surrounding areas in the UK. We are a mobile catering business and you can find us at different events throughout London/UK or you can hire us for private events. Your choice 🙂

[thb_button size="large" color="graphite" url="http://www.bishbashbangers.com/contact/" text="Call 07415 408 104 or text us!"]

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Our Story - Part 4

We were a team.

Katja and I have been born to be a team. It just works, and it works well.

We understand each other, we help each other, we challenge each other and we compliment each other.

Katja excels at exactly those things I find difficult by nature and I like to believe that the opposite also takes place.

I can say all of the above in other words: it makes me IMMENSELY happy to work with Katja.

Full stop.

A Beginning... Again

So, once we started working together we... started working together.

At first we would get together at my place and sit in front of the internet for hours. We were researching everything: from 'how to set up a street food stall' to insurance, pots and pans, checking out all the popular markets, setting up an email signature, finding out about gas (Katja had bought electric appliances as we didn't know people usually run on gas!), etc etc etc.

You name it, we were on it. I created a folder so I could bookmark all of the pages that were of interest, and there were many!

[thb_message type="notice"]One page that really helped was marketstartup.co.uk. I do recommend that you check it out if you're looking into setting up your own street food catering business.[/thb_message]

Is this Necessary?

I remember watching a video in which NCASS was mentioned. I did pay attention because it seemed like an 'important' thing.

It didn't register at first what NCASS was, only that it was a good idea to be part of it.

I researched further and finally made the phone call. Alan was the one that answered the phone.

It is important that you know that by this time we had already called a few markets (I think we started with Camden). We had more or less been refused in all of them, or they simply pointed us to what seemed to be enormous amount of paperwork (or at least tedious) for nothing... You could just tell that sending those papers/emails off was not going to get you anywhere.

Also, the people we had ben dealing with were part of departments that were part of bigger departments that were part of even bigger departments within the council. We also called private markets but same thing happened: there was no real interest from the other end.

Back to Alan. So he answers the phone (I'm here at home, in front of the computer, Katja next to me) and straight away there seems to be some sort of communication. His information goes straight to the point. I ask him what is NCASS, why would we need it... in fact, do we need it at all?

His answer is yes, we do. Because NCASS tries to do everything in a way that it will keep the market trader and everyone else safe. Everything is done legally for your safety.

We put the phone down and we hesitate. That's another £200 off Katja's pocket for no 'real' reason. It's not a pitch, it's not a pot, it's not even the insurance... It's just talk and paperwork that we might not even need!

I told Katja I would research a bit more about this.

And I did.

Steve - Wrap Shack

I live in the Paddington area and love walking my dog around the canal.

Here's my dog:

Her name is Lucky... sweet, isn't she? 🙂

So, here I am walking my dog around Merchant Square, in Paddington (W2) when I realise there's a small food market area in the middle of the square. I remember getting a little excited, as I thought: one day that will be us!

I walked around the stalls, cautious at first, all I want is to see how it 'feels' to be inside a gazebo cleaning your pans, attending your customers, living the street food life...

...all I want is to see how it 'feels' to be inside a gazebo cleaning your pans, attending your customers, living the street food life...

I repeated the same thing 3 days in a row. Walking around the stalls, looking as unsuspicious as possible, trying to get the feeling... and eventually, very shaky, talking to the people at the market. First 'hello' and finally 'who runs this "thing"'?

"Steve" someone said.

And pointed towards a beatiful 60s airstreamer... The Wrap Shack

And so there I go, walking towards my future.

"How Does this Work??"

I met Steve. Loveliest person ever.

"My friend and I are setting up a stall selling German sausages... I just wondered how this 'whole thing' works..."

I just wondered how this 'whole thing' works...

Steve was busy (it was lunchtime) but he still took the time to listen. I was nervous. This man could totally blank me out and that would be a total disaster for my first [EVER] approach in this business.

But he didn't. He spoke softly and calmly and made me feel reassured.

I can't remember the conversation that took place. All I know is that I kept coming back to see Steve another two or three times, the last one with Katja.

Steve started talking about having us for Christmas, as the festive period is such an great time of the year for the German feel. I remember when we approached he said straight away he was just talking about us and how our stall would be perfect for trading around Christmas time.

Katja and I were over the moon. Someone wanted us!

But soon it got to be much more than that. Two weeks later we were already trading in Merchant Square, Paddington...

...every Thursday 🙂

{Continues}

[thb_message type="info"]At Bish Bash Bangers you can book our services for any special event. Street food for events add a special touch making your event unique as well as fun![/thb_message]

Want something special for your private event?

[thb_button size="large" color="graphite" url="http://www.bishbashbangers.com/contact/" text="Call us: 07415 408 104 or send us a message"]

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Our Story - Part 3

Here's Part 1 of our story.
Here's Part 2 of our story.

Once we had all the design in place (marquee, logo and general idea about the menu) Katja tried looking for a partner that would help her set up at the different places/events as well as get everything organised (finding pitches, coordinating and organising paperwork as well as sending it to the different markets, etc etc).

This is not an easy task. People can be deceived into thinking this is a 'great idea', a 'great opportunity', 'fun' etc, but in reality it takes a lot of guts, effort, love, willingness, tolerance and learning curves.

Sometimes failure comes your way and you have to brush it off, learn and grow from it so you can face it next time stronger. This sounds like it's easy to accomplish, but I can assure you it is not!! When you get a few slaps it is not easy to stand up in your two feet again (watch people in boxing matches... the principle is the same). You really need to have a strong idea that will go above and beyond any adversity or misfortunes.

You need to believe in your idea more than anything else. You need to KNOW that you and your business will succeed NO MATTER WHAT.

This is the difficult bit, because the belief has to be real. You can fake it till you make it, but at some point, you have to know that NOTHING will beat you.

[thb_message type="notice"]Know that you will succeed.. and you're already half way through![/thb_message]

"Me!"

One day Katja I received a text through WhatsApp:

Do you know who can help me with the business?

Katja couldn't find anyone. At the time I was just doing the design work and website. But I always had a strong feeling that I should be helping her with the business in more ways. This feeling had been distant, but it was always constant, always there.

By the time I received this question, I knew what the answer was.

Me!

That's all I said.

She got back strait away. "Really...?" I felt the approval.

"Yes". I said.

And that was that.

With an overwhelming sense that I was doing the right thing, I knew we were meant to do this together.

{Continues}

[thb_message type="info"]At Bish Bash Bangers we offer you fantastic German street food hire (London & surrounding areas).
[/thb_message]
We specialise in grilling German sausages and we work from our fantastic catering stall.
We cook with love street food for events, weddings, Christmas parties, birthdays, retirement parties, office parties, etc.
We come with everything (including our gazebo!) so you only have to worry about eating our tasty sausages : )

[thb_button size="large" color="graphite" url="http://www.bishbashbangers.com/contact/" text="Call 07415 408 104 or send us a message!"]

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OUR STORY – PART 2

"Our Story - Part 1" covered the birth of the idea and also how Saucey, our lovely angry pig (icon part of the logo) was born.

Here he is again:

Here I will tell you a little about the development of the logo, which was not always looking like this:

Final version of our logo

At some point we decided to break the words "Bish Bash Bangers" into 2 lines (the stroke came much later).

Fonts

Looking for a font was easy; I was left with two options and I went for a free font called: Titan One (you can find it here and it is 100% free for commercial use).

[thb_message type="notice"]I wasn't sure which font to choose out of my two last options. I then saw on facebook that someone I know had named his dog "Titan". Then, I knew 😉 [/thb_message]

The font for the "Berlin is Sizzling" bit is called Mail Ray Stuff and you can download it for free on Dafont.

Many Versions

Our logo went through lots of changes before we had the finished version.

We had Saucey with horns, then we changed the horns for his cute little ears.

The gradient around the eye area also changed as in the end I wanted him to give out the same feeling as a character in a comic I used to read when I was a little girl back in Spain (the comic book was called "Don Miki").

The character I am referring to was called "Patomas", Donald Duck's alter ego, and I used to LOVE IT!!

You see the dark areas around the eyes? I always thought the effect was fantastic, and so I ended up applying a gradient to Saucey that would emulate the same feeling (something similar to wearing a mask). That instantly made Saucey my hero : )

If you look at Saucey you will see that the gradient is really subtle, but I was happy with the result.

Katja also liked very much a version we had with flames. We were going to keep it but a nagging voice was telling me inside that the logo had to visually go to the point without much paraphernalia. And so the lovely flames had to go...

Sometimes I think the flames would have done a fantastic job as part of the logo, but I know I made the right decision. Anyway, I always had the idea that in the future we would do even more versions of Saucey to point at different dishes (angel Saucey, rock Saucey, innocent Saucey, etc - you get the idea)...

Finally we needed a name. I asked and someone said straight away: "Saucey!"

So Saucey it stayed.

{Continues}

[thb_message type="info"]Bish Bash Bangers offers you great service. We go all the way: from caterers for parties at home to selling our tasty bangers around the streets in the UK.[/thb_message]

When wanting something special remember we're [thb_highlight]the funkiest German sausages caterers[/thb_highlight] for dinner parties at home!

[thb_button size="large" color="graphite" url="http://www.bishbashbangers.com/contact/" text="Call us: 07415 408 104 or send us a message today!"]

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Our Story - PART 1

[thb_message type="notice"]**The reason I'm publishing our story on the website is because I want to re-live what's happened since the moment Katja told me about her 'baby', as I call it. Katja and I have been friends for many years.

With our ups and downs, our war stories to tell, our past present and future meeting in many similar places, it isn't a mystery we have ended up working together in what has been a dream for her.

By recording our adventures in the street food business from day one I get the pleasure to live the story again as I write... Like a film or a book you love to revisit every now and then.[/thb_message]

I met Katja many years ago when she first started her "business ventures". At the time (and still) she was passionate about salsa and her dream was to have her own salsa venue in different areas around London. For reasons I'm not going to get into here, it didn't work out; but I saw a business woman at work: passionate, determent, focused.

She had been born to succeed turning ideas into working businesses.

Looking back I can see how I was always somehow involved in her business ventures. Not the first time (the salsa venue) but that's when I met her. So, in a way, I was indirectly involved I suppose.

Many years later, our friendship had grown stronger and so did her ideas. I can't remember the first time she told me about Bish Bash Bangers (without a name at the time) but it must have been a good few years before the idea saw legs.

Time went by and she didn't mention it regularly, but I know the buzzer was in the back of her mind. One day - again, can't remember exactly when - she came to mine and said (determent, as usual): "I want you to do the website for the business".

[thb_message type="notice"]"We've got the name!" A good friend of Katja's thought of the name. "Bish Bash Bangers" was born under the idea of German fast food (sausages) sold in the UK (bangers).[/thb_message]

Katja trusted me. She knew I would do a good job - she trusted me to do the logo, website and overall design of her concept. "I want to bring a corner of Berlin to London" (or something similar) she said. Then she started talking about the currywurst and various other elements around Berlin's famous fast food - it felt as if she really loved the feeling this fast food had given her when living back home.

I was thrilled by both the idea and helping my friend. I'm no professional designer, but I can get a few things together and make it look cool. At first I thought of using Sadie (Katja's beloved dog) as part of the logo. I thought I'd like to see Sadie's face with two long drools (like shoelaces) looking at a sausage. I have no idea what that sounds like, but I really loved the concept.

You can see why.

Not conviced, I moved onto having a long logo with lots of words using the colours of the German flag. The feedback was mixed - I used the word "f*c*i*n*" as part of the logo but I was told it would be appealing to family and kids - and rightly so.

Next, I kept the idea of using the German flag colours and thought of something simple: traditional type and logo.

Bish Bash Bangers is a long-ish name and so I had to break it so it would look visually appealing (compact). I can't remember when I thought of an actual logo; but I do remember thinking that something memorable, cute, cool, etc would attract a younger audience as well as make it funky and vibrant.

I had used the word "f*c*i*n*" before because I had heard how people from Berlin can be a little 'rude' and they can also seem angry. The idea stuck to my head and I remember thinking about a Spanish logo with a bull and how the concept of an angry animal could work well.

As the sausages are made of pork, creating an angry pig made 100% sense. Who would want to be turned into sausage meat? It tied in together nicely with the concept of the attitude Berliners have. And so by bringing various elements together (it was created as cutouts from other shapes) and working the rest in photoshop and illustrator...

Saucey was born! 🙂

OUR BELOVED LOGO ICON
Name: Saucey!

{Continues}