Business Structure/ETC

[bkyleclark91]

Hello,

 

New to this forum. Vending machines have always been of particular interest to me. I had a friend in middle school whos father owned a vending machine business. Found myself a frequent buyer of vending machine products and was always intriqued by the machines as if they were calling to me. Below Id like to put down some components of my business plan (before I develop it fully) and see what the members here think!

 

A little about me: I grudgingly went the college route and got an AA, continueing to get a BA in marketing. I do real estate (appraisal and sales), which Im just starting to really get going. Im looking to soon get my foot into a side business. I am young but dont party, I enjoy browsing forums and reading. I will soon dive through 5 years worth of forum posts+. My position allows me flexibility as Im on commissions and traveling throughout my county (this could be beneficial, but theres no fixed route in my business, though maybe I could do some kind of monthly checklist system).

 

I have some business education being self studied and formerly owning a LLC that I did little with. My plan as far as business components would look something like this: Im definately looking to get good at crunching numbers and such sooner rather than later so Im not losing too much money through inexperience.

 

An option to a fast start seems to buy an entire route which occasionally come up for sale on Craigslist. They seem to do price reductions until someone makes a move. I do my research, for example theres a machine that was listed $1700 (ha) then now $1200 and soda machine plus location arent worth that since I know the area is a ghetto. Numbers count to me so before any purchase I would want to see an operating income statement or some such info instead of word of mouth.

 

Different components Im thinking will help better ensure success:

 

-LLC/DBA/Necessary permits (Sellers permit?) (Some general name for the LLC incase I wish to put another DBA under it) ($1000+ in CA!!!)

-Vending machines (with a focus on soda/snack machines) (25 workers or frequented establishments being prime) (these machines seem like less hassle and servicing than honor boxes/small niches, for example owning a bunch of triple heads seems like much more driving which is a pain even if better margins) (If Im to compare it to real estate it seems like owning single family houses VS apartments)

-On Call repair person

-Location service + $100 placement ads on Craigslist (Do not have so much time for prospecting)

-Prepaid legal (Why not, its inexpensive and I can ask many questions...)

-Insurance

-A good friendly bank to handle all the currency/Coins

-Items supplier (Sams Club/Costco a viable route?)

-Website/Phone/Business Cards (+car and other necessities)

-Myself to service machines when possible and the sales/customer service skills to keep business owners satisfied

-A process to appraise locations by traffic and type of customers (Rather go this route than trial and error, there must be a way)

 

Ill be sure to browse through the forum for any tricks of the trade. For example if there is some trick say to fix bill validators without the use of a tech and save my $%^ bucco bucks then Ill do it without outsourcing. Love this business model despite the hassles because it seems more passive than the work Im accustomed too.

 

Ideas, thoughts, etc?

 

Thank you,

Brandon Kyle Clark

Aspiring Millionaire