"Not just the same old, same old"
If you are thinking about getting into the vending business that is great! It is a good all cash business. Be sure to read some of the other articles on this blog that discuss topics about service, set up costs and equipment.
Research and write a business plan before you spend any money.
When starting out in the vending business DO NOT assume that to place vending equipment you have to find businesses that have no vending machines. If you do, you will most likely find locations too small to be profitable. That is the reason some locations do not have any vending machines. Experienced vendors have already passed these locations by, because they know that these locations will not be profitable.
The best way to find a good location is to go to a high traffic business that already has vending machines. Then ask them if they are happy with the vending service they have now? Listen for common complaints and make sure your service can fix the problems various locations share with you. You may have to contact 20 or more businesses to find one that will let you become their new vending service. In many cases your work in contacting all those companies could be well worth the effort. Some break rooms may do 1k to 3k a week. If your costs and sell prices are right, your profit margins should be at least 35%. You can easily calculate what kind of cash your business can produce. Establish ten good locations and you could have 300k to 500k first year gross income. Can you make a lot of money in the vending business? Yes! You can.
You might ask; is it easy to find good locations? YES; if you are willing to go out and find them. You do not have to sell. It is not that you have to convince locations to switch. It is more about finding locations that are already unhappy with the vendor that is there now. Their complaints will generally be about poor service, machine problems or lack of menu choices. Your job is to not be the same, but different. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBIVlM435Zg Be remarkable, not just the same old, same old. Their complaints, the machines are old, they are always empty, the company takes weeks to return a simple phone call etc. These before mentioned problems are the ones you are going to fix and maintain a much higher level of service. If you can do this, you will be successful.
Do not be scared of big vending companies. Big vending companies are the easiest to take accounts away from. This is because they have gotten too big. Their route drivers may not care about good customer service. They may not care about the appearance of the equipment or the satisfaction level of the customers using the equipment. You must not let it become just a job. If you do you will become the target of the new guy. Keep good customer service as your goal and you will be OK.
http://www.1800vending.com/?gclid=CIej8fr7nZYCFRgqHgodkxaSIg
