danl
Thanks again for the advice and information. I have been reading as much of the posts as I can to get a concensus on several topics. The real life experiences of vendors is worth its weight in gold. I tell young people trying to get into auto mechanics, go walk a week in a technicians shoes and listen to everything, both good and bad before you go invest 25k in tools and a tool box to find out it is not for you. That is what I am going to do. I have a friend who owns a very small route. I am going to ask him to let me work it with him and I will in turn not compete for his existing business if I do enter the vending business. If I think it is for me and I can work it part time, I'm in! I need to secure a future as my own boss. The big question, what does everyone do about health insurance??

Great advice and thanks for sharing your experience. I wonder if the the big guys sometimes drop the ball with service just like big car dealers. It seems like the small shops tend to cater to their customers in a more personal way. I think the bigger companies lose sight of the service needs of their customers. I plan on being a one man band and although I want to grow my business, I do not want to get too big and start losing accounts faster than I gain accounts. In my current business it is easier and less expensive to maintain existing customers than to attract new ones. Especially because of the cost of advertising. What is your feeling about new machines vs. refurbs. I have extensive experience with auto mechanics, however my time is limited and I do not want to spend alot of time running around performing repairs. Any suggestions or recommendations on the most reliable machines on the market? Thanks again.