15 replies to this topic

[spruebucket]

Hi all, I am a 46 year old male who wants to start his own vending business. But I have questions and no answers. Please help.
Where should I start?
What kind of insurance do I need to have?
Should I get new machines or used ones?
Do you pay rent or anything else for the space you use?( Electricity )
What does it cost to start a small vending business?
Has anyone ever heard of USA-Canada Vending Group Inc?
This company has advertised in my local newspaper, for $15,000 they will sell you 5 new Combo Machines (9 Snacks and 6 Drinks) and help you pick out your locations. Is this a good place to start.
I would be very grateful for any advice or helpful hints I would receive.
Thank You
Bill

[kevin]

Hi all, I am a 46 year old male who wants to start his own vending business. But I have questions and no answers. Please help.
Where should I start?
What kind of insurance do I need to have?
Should I get new machines or used ones?
Do you pay rent or anything else for the space you use?( Electricity )
What does it cost to start a small vending business?
Has anyone ever heard of USA-Canada Vending Group Inc?
This company has advertised in my local newspaper, for $15,000 they will sell you 5 new Combo Machines (9 Snacks and 6 Drinks) and help you pick out your locations. Is this a good place to start.
I would be very grateful for any advice or helpful hints I would receive.
Thank You
Bill

Combos are a bad idea. They are great for some places but they wont make you a ton of money if tahts your only option.
"rent" is called commission and is usually 5-10% but I would try to avoid it if you cant. Most places will expect it if you bring it up.
15,000 is a bit of a rip for 5 combos. My advice to anyone new is to use 3rd party and buy a few snacks to get started. If you do it right the techs will help you learn a few useful things. I would stay away from locators because I think anyone can sell to a location. I'm only 22 and I run 2 full vending routes and 1 and 1/2 coffee routes in 2 mid size cities and 4 small towns. If I can sell to 40+ individuals at my age(I do look younger too) then anyone can. The trick is to offer what most competitors cant, service. As a startup you should strive to having less then 2 hour responce time on any calls and you should spend more time at the machines cleaning them and making sure things work corectly, at least once a month. Be prepared to spend alot of money and get griped at some, but also you will find that the harder you try some people will take note. For instance I have almost 10 car lots now because I take care of all of them relaly well. The people taht run them tend to move around alot and when one taht they are out is under served, I end up getting it. Sorry I ramble sometimes.... I said I was young

[coinvestor]

Combos are a bad idea. They are great for some places but they wont make you a ton of money if tahts your only option.
"rent" is called commission and is usually 5-10% but I would try to avoid it if you cant. Most places will expect it if you bring it up.
15,000 is a bit of a rip for 5 combos. My advice to anyone new is to use 3rd party and buy a few snacks to get started. If you do it right the techs will help you learn a few useful things. I would stay away from locators because I think anyone can sell to a location. I'm only 22 and I run 2 full vending routes and 1 and 1/2 coffee routes in 2 mid size cities and 4 small towns. If I can sell to 40+ individuals at my age(I do look younger too) then anyone can. The trick is to offer what most competitors cant, service. As a startup you should strive to having less then 2 hour responce time on any calls and you should spend more time at the machines cleaning them and making sure things work corectly, at least once a month. Be prepared to spend alot of money and get griped at some, but also you will find that the harder you try some people will take note. For instance I have almost 10 car lots now because I take care of all of them relaly well. The people taht run them tend to move around alot and when one taht they are out is under served, I end up getting it. Sorry I ramble sometimes.... I said I was young

Kevin, I always wondered what is a route. I mean I have been asked how many routes I have, I always say one. How do you define a route?

Thanks

Jeremiah

[kevin]

Kevin, I always wondered what is a route. I mean I have been asked how many routes I have, I always say one. How do you define a route?

Thanks

Jeremiah

Thats a really good question. Most people define a route by what one person can do with one truck. If you need another person or 2 or 3, thats how many routes you run. Some people, Ilve only met one. Consider it by area. If that was the case then I would run about 12 routes, so I look at it as the 1st. When people ask you that respond with the number of machines you operate. Its also OK to fudge on this number when telling someone, because people can be arrogant if you are small. I run over 250 vending machines and a ton more coffee. I couldnt even begin to count all my coffee machines since I have as much as 9 in one company and a ton of small companies.

[coinvestor]

Thats a really good question. Most people define a route by what one person can do with one truck. If you need another person or 2 or 3, thats how many routes you run. Some people, Ilve only met one. Consider it by area. If that was the case then I would run about 12 routes, so I look at it as the 1st. When people ask you that respond with the number of machines you operate. Its also OK to fudge on this number when telling someone, because people can be arrogant if you are small. I run over 250 vending machines and a ton more coffee. I couldnt even begin to count all my coffee machines since I have as much as 9 in one company and a ton of small companies.

What Kind of coffee machines? Like OCS brewers or vending machines?

Jeremiah

[kevin]

What Kind of coffee machines? Like OCS brewers or vending machines?

Jeremiah

OCS silex and brewmatic. I like silex better though.

[coinvestor]

OCS silex and brewmatic. I like silex better though.

Do you provide this free to the location or do you rent the machines?

[kevin]

Do you provide this free to the location or do you rent the machines?

Machines are free but they have to support it. The minimum is 1 case of coffee a month. If they cant do that then they arnt using it anyway. Coffee business is expensive upfront but they last forever. I have some that are over 20 years old and they still work great. I give free machiens and coffee to a few accounts as well, they are set at 2 boxes a month and we do this because they are really good vending accounts and we pay them small comisions.

[coinvestor]

Machines are free but they have to support it. The minimum is 1 case of coffee a month. If they cant do that then they arnt using it anyway. Coffee business is expensive upfront but they last forever. I have some that are over 20 years old and they still work great. I give free machiens and coffee to a few accounts as well, they are set at 2 boxes a month and we do this because they are really good vending accounts and we pay them small comisions.

Why not Bunn or Newco? Do you use the plumbed models or the pour-over?

I have an account that has 200 employees. I have drink and snack machine on the top floor, but they have another vendor in the main vending area. I also provide OCS for them, but they use there own brewer that has seen better days. They are a government agency so they are having a problem getting new coffee machines in the budget. I'm working on a plan to get the other vendor out and was considering offering free coffee and a new brewer since I already know how much it would cost me.

Jeremiah

[oldcity]

Combos are a bad idea. They are great for some places but they wont make you a ton of money if tahts your only option.
"rent" is called commission and is usually 5-10% but I would try to avoid it if you cant. Most places will expect it if you bring it up.
15,000 is a bit of a rip for 5 combos. My advice to anyone new is to use 3rd party and buy a few snacks to get started. If you do it right the techs will help you learn a few useful things. I would stay away from locators because I think anyone can sell to a location. I'm only 22 and I run 2 full vending routes and 1 and 1/2 coffee routes in 2 mid size cities and 4 small towns. If I can sell to 40+ individuals at my age(I do look younger too) then anyone can. The trick is to offer what most competitors cant, service. As a startup you should strive to having less then 2 hour responce time on any calls and you should spend more time at the machines cleaning them and making sure things work corectly, at least once a month. Be prepared to spend alot of money and get griped at some, but also you will find that the harder you try some people will take note. For instance I have almost 10 car lots now because I take care of all of them relaly well. The people taht run them tend to move around alot and when one taht they are out is under served, I end up getting it. Sorry I ramble sometimes.... I said I was young

why do you think combos is a bad idea? what do you suggest to offer instead?
third party machines-how do you get these?
i'm fairly new to this business and would appreciate your comments.
thank you,jacob.

[kevin]

why do you think combos is a bad idea? what do you suggest to offer instead?
third party machines-how do you get these?
i'm fairly new to this business and would appreciate your comments.
thank you,jacob.

Check the 3rd party thread, also I believe in full size snack, if its not big enough for taht then you wont get a big enough of a return. YOu can make mony with combos but not as much since the accounts taht use them are usually small.

[BVI]

Combos are a bad idea. They are great for some places but they wont make you a ton of money if tahts your only option.

I don't necessarily agree with that. That's because it really depends on the combo. The combo I use is a Wittern machine with 27 snack slections and 6 soda selections. I have one as a back-up machine in one of my accounts that does $95 - $110 per week like clockwork. I have another one that does between $80 and $100 most of the time. So, while it is unrealistic to think they will do $200 to $300 per week, I am making decent money with them for what they are, and they are exactly the right machines to use where I have them.

That said, I have seen smaller combos that I just don't think are worth any time or effort at all. The machine needs to be capable of turning enough inventory between service calls in order to generate an amount of cash that makes it worthwhile. The real small combos just don't do that in my opinion, and the locations they are suited for would never buy much anyway.

[jblvending]

I don't necessarily agree with that. That's because it really depends on the combo. The combo I use is a Wittern machine with 27 snack slections and 6 soda selections. I have one as a back-up machine in one of my accounts that does $95 - $110 per week like clockwork. I have another one that does between $80 and $100 most of the time. So, while it is unrealistic to think they will do $200 to $300 per week, I am making decent money with them for what they are, and they are exactly the right machines to use where I have them.

That said, I have seen smaller combos that I just don't think are worth any time or effort at all. The machine needs to be capable of turning enough inventory between service calls in order to generate an amount of cash that makes it worthwhile. The real small combos just don't do that in my opinion, and the locations they are suited for would never buy much anyway.

Combo's are perfect for that account that has multi-locations within a location, for example,you may have a 200 people account, and it's on 2 floors, let's say they have 150 on one floor, and 50 on another, a combo is a perfect fit.Also you may run across a chemical plant that has a main lunch room and a personal office, and of course the office workers don't want to walk any distance to the main lunch room, but there are only 25 people, what do you do? Combo time,a GF12 with a 6CD satellite unit will do the job for that location.Combo's have there place.

[BVI]

Combo's are perfect for that account that has multi-locations within a location, for example,you may have a 200 people account, and it's on 2 floors, let's say they have 150 on one floor, and 50 on another, a combo is a perfect fit.Also you may run across a chemical plant that has a main lunch room and a personal office, and of course the office workers don't want to walk any distance to the main lunch room, but there are only 25 people, what do you do? Combo time,a GF12 with a 6CD satellite unit will do the job for that location.Combo's have there place.

That is exactly how I use them. There really is no other way to do it that makes sense to me.

[coinvestor]

I agree that electronic combos have there place. The first machine I bought was a seaga mechanical. I put it into an account with 90+ employees, but only 5-6 in the office the rest were on the road most of the day. I pulled about $28 out every two weeks. So at this rate it would take about 5 years to get back my original investment (ouch). This is when I realized I didn't want anymore mechanical combos. Let me tell you why:

1. You have to bring change to fill the changer.
2. Takes more time to stock. I can fill a 24-32 selection snack and a full size drink faster than a mechanical combo
3. Prices are hard to change, and cost money in parts to change the mech. This often results in selling stuff too cheap to avoid the labor and additional cost.
4. You practically have to lay on the floor to stock the drink selections.
5. If you want to change out items you have to empty the entire column. Since the combo vends from the back you can't have half a coil of one thing then fill the other half with something different because people are looking at the last item in the coil and that what they expect to drop.
6. You have to fill each snack selection completly even if you can't sell them all. Once someone buys the first of each item you have to look way back into the machine to make a selection since the remaining product moves back as it vends.
7. A location worth having will not tollerate them.

After watching the patterns in their business I realized that people wanted to buy, but didn't want to walk up near the bosses office to buy a snack. I intalled a temp controlled National 5 wide snack machine and a Dixie Narco drink that I bought from a refurbishing company into the shop where the guys hang out. The mechanical went into a construction trailer that they have down the street. I still only get about $28 every two weeks out of the mechanical, but I get about $120 a week from the other machines.

My best location (I don't have any killer muti-thousand a month locations like others) has a MAC-22 and a MAC-32 combo. I pull about $200 a week out of this location. The problem is I have to go 2-3 times a week. In this case the combos made sense and were really my only options. They wanted vending for the patients and the staff, but the patients had dietary restrictions and they had limited space in both areas. I am working with them to find bigger machines to go in the waiting room. I will get the biggest machines that I can fit in the floor space that they are willing to spare. This way I can cut back on the servicing.

I also have a MAC22 combo that I use as a test machine. If a location doesn't seem large enough or is border line I will put the machine in and try things out. If it starts selling out before one week is up, its a keeper and I order a mmachine accordingly. If it dosen't sell out I can keep it there or pull it out try somewhere else.

Jeremiah

Disclaimer: There are people that make good money with mechanicals. They are just not for me for the reasons stated above.

[destneware]

Hi all, I am a 46 year old male who wants to start his own vending business. But I have questions and no answers. Please help.
Where should I start?
What kind of insurance do I need to have?
Should I get new machines or used ones?
Do you pay rent or anything else for the space you use?( Electricity )
What does it cost to start a small vending business?
Has anyone ever heard of USA-Canada Vending Group Inc?
This company has advertised in my local newspaper, for $15,000 they will sell you 5 new Combo Machines (9 Snacks and 6 Drinks) and help you pick out your locations. Is this a good place to start.
I would be very grateful for any advice or helpful hints I would receive.
Thank You
Bill

Hi the equipment that you want to operate depends on the size of the account you have and the wanted needs of that account i come to you as a locator and a operator i have been able to help many people in starting a vending business over the past 15 years if you would like to dicusss the true way to start in the vending business beware of marketing companies they put together expensive packages and the time it takes to recoup your money back is years verses months im sincere in helping you as you maybe able to help me if you would like to talk further please contact me at 650-669-5075