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More questions for going full time


AMD Snacks

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Been doing a lot of research on going full time. So far, I know it: 1. takes time 2. takes hard work 3. is a numbers game.

 

I'm trying to figure out more about diveristy. I only do bulk toys and candy, racks and doubles/triples. I'm wondering if anyone doing this full time has cranes, soda and snack too? The main thing I like about bulk is the fact that you can still take a vacation for two weeks and be fine. I don't want to venture into something that needs to be serviced weekly, but I DO want to make more money with fewer locations. Any suggestions?

 

By the way, my current plan, keep my job, build my route until it's big enough to where me and my wife can't handle anymore locations, and if the money at that point looks good, take the leap.

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A full Tyumen business owns you, you don't own it.

Sorry: full time

So are you saying you regret it?

Either way I'm slaving for someone though, I'd rather that than making some dude money whether I bust my butt or not...

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So are you saying you regret it?

Either way I'm slaving for someone though, I'd rather that than making some dude money whether I bust my butt or not...

I think what Musser is saying is that if you own your own business nothing gets done unless YOU do it. Owning you own business sounds great but trust me, you will work harder than anywhere else you have worked if you are successful at it. I have been full time for two years now. I work every day including the weekends. I have taken one week off in those two years and that was recent. I do not make the money I was making working for "the man".

Now after saying all that, I will say that I love it. The sacrifices I have made to be self employed were worth it. I wish I would have done it earlier in my life. I am on the right track and it gets better all the time. Because of the hard work i am doing.

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My goal is to make this my full-time gig. I've even changed careers to help facilitate that. Currently sitting at 35 Bulk and 10 full line locations, with about 30 more bulk to be placed in the next month. There are times I've questioned whether I should have gotten into full-line, but a bad day vending still beats an ok day working for someone else, at least for me it does. Plus it is nice to pull all that cash on collection day lol.

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I think what Musser is saying is that if you own your own business nothing gets done unless YOU do it. 

 

I've figured it wont be easy at all, and hopefully my question of regret didn't come out wrong, but that would be my biggest worry about going full time. The fact that 15 years from now I might long for the steady paycheck I used to get. And it's a little off subject, but honestly my job is not bad at all yet these days I grow tired of not steering the ship lol.

 

Hillbilly, do you only do bulk toys and candy full time?

 

Quikvend, why full line and bulk, VS, like bulk and amusement? Do you have to do your 10 full line accounts weekly? I'm not opposed to having some full line, I'm just wondering if you can service them every 3 weeks if you only have a small amount of accounts. 

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AMD, keep your real job and do this as a hobby. Reading your post, you need the security of a steady paycheck, without it you will probably live in constant fear.

 

After a few years if you see you can make the living that you want, then go full time.

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Like others said, owning your own business doesn't mean you'll work any less, if anything, more. But it can be much more rewarding and like you said, you're working for yourself, not "the man."

I don't know if I plan to take this full time or not, but my full time job is being self-employed as an auto detailer and I can honestly say that in the 8 years since going full time there I have absolutely loved it and not sure if I'll ever get a paycheck from someone again - and I've got a lot of years of work left.

If you can make the money work, the flexibility of being self-employed can be very rewarding, just don't think that it means you won't have to work hard. If you want it, you can do it!

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Quikvend, why full line and bulk, VS, like bulk and amusement? Do you have to do your 10 full line accounts weekly? I'm not opposed to having some full line, I'm just wondering if you can service them every 3 weeks if you only have a small amount of accounts.

I chose full-line because it was something I felt was easier to jump into. There was a guy selling a few locations so I bought a few to try out. The accounts I have now aren't so big that I need to go every week. Most are bi-weekly, 3 are monthly and one I have set-up for every 10 days. I could stretch the 10 day one to 2 weeks if I took away a few selections of soda, but I'm ok with how is working out so far. It's really the amount of sales that really determine the frequency. If you're looking to get into full-line bit don't necessarily want a weekly commitment, just put a few can only machines out there and collect once a month. Snacks are a PITA, especially with just a few machines.

I am looking forward to the flexibility and freedom of working for myself, I already know I'll be working a ton, which I do now anyway. At least going this route, I'm free to make all the decisions and my schedule.

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AMD, keep your real job and do this as a hobby. Reading your post, you need the security of a steady paycheck, without it you will probably live in constant fear.

 

After a few years if you see you can make the living that you want, then go full time.

lol once I registered with the feds and had to pay taxes, this was no longer a hobby for me. But I get where you're coming from. It's not the fear, I'm good as long as I have a good plan. My main reason for this post was to figure out if diversity is the way to go, or at least get some feedback from the full timers. I'd rather make the same money with fewer stops, than have a million double and triples if I can help it. Maybe that's not practical, maybe that's asking too much, not sure I'm not that big yet....

 

@Quikvend, sounds like that's probably something I could do. A couple of slow soda accounts. I  haven't been a real vacation for maybe 5 years, so it's not like my main thing in life. But still, I'd like the option. I have some friends who work for themselves and can really never take time off without fear of losing customers. I don't want to be locked into that.

 

I like vending, my time working at vending flies by. I like my day job, it just drags a lot. Not sure I want to spend the rest of my life feeling like my days are too long and nights and weekends too short.

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Once you get into full-line though, you will need more space for inventory. I've turned my home into a warehouse lol. I'm enjoying it so far, but if I decidee to stay with one or the other, I figure I'll just sell the other side of the business and invest the money into growing the side I decide to go with. Another benefit of working for myself.

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Btw, I have been in bulk for 31 years and don't regret a minute of it. I have worked hard, had some long hours, worries etc, but it has been very good to me. Here's a hint for you, organize your routes around a 12 month year. In other words consider every month as having four weeks. Why? Because a " quarter" has 13 weeks and if you schedule " monthly, bi monthly etc" you will have a week of no routes four times a year to catch up, clean up, or recharge. September isa "five week month" for me so I will have everyone catching up replacing not so nice equipment with refurbished, shop work, locating, and changing cranes to Halloween plush.

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