First off, let me wish each of you a very Merry Christmas!
Not happy holidays, but Merry Christmas!
Whether you're a lifetime vending veteran or you just bought a bunch of machines to start a vending business, there's always room to grow and improve your business. The week between Christmas and New Years can be a great time for reviewing your business achievements and goals for the past year while deciding where you want to be at the end of next year.
Make sure you are keeping good records: early in your business, you may not see the need to spend time keeping track of all the details. Hey, the bank account is what counts, right? We'll your bank account can grow much faster when you keep a pulse on your business and use the past numbers to plan for the future. A few years later, you realize why those values would be great to have.
The vending machine business is a simple one, but it is a real business! At least it should be; if you really want to make it successful, be sure to treat it that way.
Looking at your numbers from week to week may not be impressive, but when you chart them over a year period or more, it can really open your eyes to areas for improvement that you would not have seen otherwise!
A great tool to give a true picture of the growth of your vending business it to plot your sales and profits on a 12 Month Moving Average. It removes the seasonal trends so that you know if your business is really growing or not!
Make goals, track results, & give your customers more than they expect.
Well, it's time to go through a quick lesson on electrical vending machines. A previous post explained mechanicals, but if you're new to this, you'll also want to understand how electrical vending machines, mainly snack and soda machines, work.
Unlike mechanical vending machines, you've seen thousands of electrical machines and probably used hundreds of them. You just insert your money, push a button or two, and the machine does the rest, right!
Electrical machines may be intimidating to work on and service for someone that is new to this aspect, but they really aren't that difficult to understand. Without going into a vending machine repair lesson here, we'll give an overview of how the machine functions.
Basically, when you insert the money, an electrical coin acceptor or bill acceptor tells the machine brain that you have $x.xx credit. The machine waits for you to make a selection on the front of the machine. Once you make your choice, the brain decides if that selection is available and if you need any change returned. Then you'll hear some clicks as the changer inside actuates to dispense your coins. Then you'll hear the motor which the brain has told to rotate so that your snack, candy, or soda will be dispensed.
The difference from the mechanical machine described in another post is that it has an internal changer and bill acceptor; also, the turning of the selection mechanism is done through an electrical motor rather than making a motor out of you!
When I have lots of time, we'll go through this in more detail; however, keep in mind that with a nut driver, screwdriver, and voltmeter, you can solve most problems with an electrical vending machine. A couple hours of training does help
Now, these vending machines aren't just REBORN - they're better than new!
Art*o*mat is celebrating it's 10th Anniversary as it uses old retired cigarette vending machines to distribute art around the world!
With over 400 artists contributing to the project, there is quite a variety of artwork available. The goal is to make art a part of our everyday lives: what does that better today than a vending machine!
Art*o*mat takes those old pull knob vending machines that the junk yards refuse and turns them into eye-catching, functional pieces of commerce.
Each machine has a unique look and design depending on the type / theme of the hosting establishment. Then the art is wrapped in cellophane like any respectable vending product should be
Everyone is very familiar with electrical snack and soda vending machines. They are the ones that have a dollar bill acceptor built right into the front of the machine along with a keypad where you punch in the letter / number of the selection you desire. Then, an electonic motor turns to allow the product to dispense. Also, an electronic coin changer inside is dispensing any change that is due.
Mechanical snack and soda machines are usually much smaller, much lighter, less secure, less expensive, and provide lower product capacity than most electrical machines. They are made for smaller vending locations so that you can get a return on investment in a reasonable amount of time rather than investing too much in machines that are an overkill for a location.
Mechanical vendors / mini combo vending machines work similar to gumball machines. For the best explanation of this, I've created a 9 minute video that will show you:
What a mechanical vending machine looks like
How a mechanical machine is filled with product
How a customer uses a mechanical vending machine
How a dollar bill can be used with a mechanical vendor
How a mechanical vending machine differs from an electrical vending machine
You can find mechanical vending machines at www.USEDvending.com or www.4MEGA-Vending.com
Have you ever had a thief getting into your vending machines? Did you think you knew who it was, but just couldn't prove it?
Here's a new one on vending machine theft…
Bill owns a company that manufactures and installs car wash systems? Bill's company installed a car wash system in Frederick, Md
Now, understand that these are complete systems, including the money changers and money taking machines
The problem started when the new owner complained to Bill that he was losing significant amounts of money from his coin vending machines each week. He went as far as to accuse Bill's employees of having a key to the boxes and ripping him off. Bill just couldn't believe that his people would do that, so they setup a camera to catch the thief in action. Well, they did catch him on film!
That's a bird sitting on the change slot of the machine.
The bird had to go down into the machine, and back up inside to get to the money!
That's three quarters he has in his beak! Another amazing thing is that it was not just one bird — there were several working together. Once they identified the thieves, they found over $4000 in quarters on the roof of the car wash and more under a nearby tree.
And you always thought you were smarter than a bird, huh??
First of all, there are different levels of snack & soda machines such as electrical machines vs. mechanical machines. There are pros & cons between these two groups; but for now, we'll just cover snack & soda vending in general compared to bulk candy machines.
Pros: - Higher income per location ($200 to $500 per stop feels much nicer than $30 per stop)
- Takes only a few good locations to create a nice income
- are usually long term if you provide reliable service & fresh quality products
- You can develop a great relationship with the location & it's employees (they look forward to seeing you)
- They Do not spill candy on the floor like bulk candy machines
- You will receive customer referrals to acquire more accounts (you have a service they NEED)
- The addition of just 1 snack and soda location can substantially increase your income
Cons: - Higher machine cost (overall the investment vs. Return on Investment should surpass that of with bulk candy tremendously, but the cost to add 1 location is much more)
- Requires a dolly & trailer to move machines (or a moving service)
- Need to have a vehicle capable of handling larger product capacity (may need a dolly for servicing accounts)
- Full line vending machines can be very reliable, but they will need more repairs than bulk candy (phone tech support can help a new vendor through this)
- Snack & soda machines make more money, but they require servicing between 1 and 3 times per week (poor accounts are sometimes serviced every 2 weeks)
We have customers that are full time, professional vending operators in snack & soda vending as well as others in bulk candy vending. Some do both!
Choosing either type can result in a successful vending business, but it seems that a greater percentage of those who choose snack and soda are able to create a full time income from it. Perhaps this is just because they realize up front that it will require more dedication and therefore think through it more thoroughly before beginning and treat it like a real business from the start.
To start, today we'll look at the bulk vending business. This term also includes gumball vending machines, capsule & toy vending machines, superball machines, & sticker / tattoo vending machines. If you're going to start a business, you'll want to know all about it - the good and the bad. Some begin in one area of vending only to later learn that another area was better for them, be it their personality, schedule, investment level, etc… So, here are the pros & cons of the bulk vending business.
Pros: - Inexpensive per unit (can start small & can grow easily as needed)
- Easy to handle / move / transport
- Product is easy to handle
- Easy to work on / maintain
- Flexible service intervals (usually once every 4 to 6 weeks - so it is easier to work around an existing job or travel farther)
- Easy to find locations (partly because most locations qualify as prospects)
Cons: - Lower income per location
- Takes many locations to create same income (depending on accounts, 7 to 10 times as many accounts as snack & soda machines)
- This spreads the size of your service area to a larger geographic area (more driving, but this can be a pro since more locations are within reach)
- More turnover in locations due to low income / lost accounts (must relocate machines more than snack & soda accounts)
- Accounts are not as loyal (they are doing you a favor vs. snack & soda where you provide a needed service)
Every job & every business has pros & cons; knowing them up front helps you to plan your business and future accordingly.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but these are some of the main points to consider.
When you talk to a vending machine salesperson, most will make you believe that their machine is "The Best" and the aspect of the industry that their machine serves (bulk or snack & soda) is "The Best", but don't believe it. For some people bulk candy is the best; for others, it is snack & soda. It depends on you, too.
If you're just now looking at starting a vending machine business / vending route, I hope that you can take this advice seriously.
I don't believe in playing games with other people's money by talking you into something that I know you can not do.
Is vending for you? Can you do it? Can you quit your job doing it?
That's really up to you regardless of what ANYONE else has done. Many have succeeded in vending….
Many have failed.
Eventhough the vending business in general is about as simple as any business on the planet, I have learned that it is not for everyone.
Some "try" & "try" with no results. By "try", I mean… They think about it, ALOT! And, you know, that's all they ever do. Others may do well in the business, but they may not like running from location to location, talking to people, or whatever. It just isn't their "cup of tea."
Everyone is different with different skills, different hopes, different levels of ambition; but most of us have one thing that draws ALL of us to vending…
THE MONEY.
Work Less, Make More, right?
Well, in some aspects this idea applies to vending, but like everything else, it's not as easy as it sounds. If you think you can GET RICH QUICK in vending, go put all your money into a 5% CD for 18 months so that you won't touch it. Hurry, go now! SAVE YOURSELF!!!
But, if you come into this with a level head & work hard, vending can do very well for you. Depending on your inner drive, you can probably achieve many / most of your goals with vending.
Don't believe the blue sky business opportunities,
decide if you're willing to do what it takes,
decide if you can handle being told "no" by prospective locations,
set short & long term goals,
& get the support of your spouse (don't skip this - you know what hell that can cause!).
And, NO, I didn't do the last item either; but I made sure to succeed for fear of hearing about it for THE REST OF MY LIFE! She kinda freaked when I quit my engineering job at Lockheed Martin a week before our first child was born in order to do vending full time! I guess I couldn't blame her… Sorry, Honey!
Anyway, vending works. The question is, DO YOU?
If you can't treat it like a real business, don't waste your time & money.
