The biggest news this week is that I acquired another route. I purchased 1 U-Turn, 2 Single-Heads, and 8 Buzz Bite machines on location (plus 1 more U-Turn and 7 more Buzz Bites in storage) for $2,000. I payed more for this one than I wanted - but overall I think it makes a good addition to the business. I was a bit conflicted about the Buzz Bite machines but was given evidence by the former owner that at several of the locations are performing rather well with them ($50/month - though the other few locations are duds). I guess we'll see how it plays out.

On the bright side I got my first successful placement this week. On the way home from purchasing the route - with the extra machines in my van - I stopped to refill one of my mechanical snack machines at a truck stop. I figured a truck stop might be a good spot for Buzz Bites so I asked the manager on duty if I could set up a Buzz Bite machine next to my snack machine and he said yes! For a 9-coil mechanical snack machine it does rather well (lots of trucker traffic) so I'm hoping the Buzz Bites sell there as well.

I've made lots of follow ups on my sales calls - there's been many NOs, but no clear YESes yet. Several places say they want a machine but are still talking it over. I'm trying to be persistent and make sure I stop by once every few days so they don't forget about me. I've been focusing my sales efforts on full-line. I'd really love to get some soda and snack machines placed. I've hired Kickstart to locate a few Vendstars for me that have been taking up space in my office.

American Furniture Warehouse is building a new store in our town - it's by far the largest thing around (dwarfs the Wal-Mart next to it). Construction isn't complete yet but I figured the early bird gets the worm and I stopped by. Took me talking to several construction workers to get inside the building and a few more to find the regional manager for AFW who happened to be present training new employees. I was in luck and it seems he hasn't talked to any other vendors yet! He was busy but told me to e-mail him the information and he would get to it in a few weeks when the store was ready to open. I sent him the e-mail as requested and included an offer to bring in a soda/snack pair now for the construction workers and employees in training. Haven't heard back from him yet - but hoping to get my foot in the door here before the competition arrives.

Finally, I'm considering buying yet another business. A gentleman wants to sell his 150 location business for $18,000. The route is mostly honor boxes with a dozen or so snack and soda machines (including a large hotel account). The route generates $45k gross and $19k net a year (I looked at his books - meticulously kept records on many many sheets of paper - he's been running this route for 30 years). Paying less than 1 year's net seems like a good deal to me. It would consume most of what I have left of my startup capital, but on the flip side it would bring my monthly income up to the level needed to support my family which is my current goal. I plan to call him back on Monday to discuss further.