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Snack box update


bhumphrey829

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4 hours ago, flintflash said:

Pretty impressive shortage percentage there.  Is that after the increase?

Most of the ones from this past week were already set at $1.25.  I have been placing boxes at the $1.25 price for about 6 months now.

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On ‎4‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 10:23 PM, bhumphrey829 said:

Most of the ones from this past week were already set at $1.25.  I have been placing boxes at the $1.25 price for about 6 months now.

Excellent!  I always start selling at my new price prior to taking the plunge into a price increase also.  It is a GREAT gauge to determine if the price increase is appropriate.  If you are able to continue placing new accounts at the NEW price with not much resistance, then you can be confident that the increase is fair.  If selling at the new price is much more difficult and met with strong objections, then you know that maybe you are rushing into an increase before the market is ready.  Sounds like you are RIGHT ON TRACK with this one.  We are still holding strong at $1.00 and hoping to get at least another year out of it, but are ready to go to $1.25 anytime now, since my route drivers have been prepping our customers for quite a while now about a possible price increase.  Keep up the good work.  :)

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12 hours ago, flintflash said:

Excellent!  I always start selling at my new price prior to taking the plunge into a price increase also.  It is a GREAT gauge to determine if the price increase is appropriate.  If you are able to continue placing new accounts at the NEW price with not much resistance, then you can be confident that the increase is fair.  If selling at the new price is much more difficult and met with strong objections, then you know that maybe you are rushing into an increase before the market is ready.  Sounds like you are RIGHT ON TRACK with this one.  We are still holding strong at $1.00 and hoping to get at least another year out of it, but are ready to go to $1.25 anytime now, since my route drivers have been prepping our customers for quite a while now about a possible price increase.  Keep up the good work.  :)

Thank you for the encouragement.  By they way, if you have route drivers, I'm assuming you must be a pretty big company now.  Is that all you do are the honor boxes?  If so, I would love to pick your brain sometime as I grow my business.

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20 hours ago, bhumphrey829 said:

Thank you for the encouragement.  By they way, if you have route drivers, I'm assuming you must be a pretty big company now.  Is that all you do are the honor boxes?  If so, I would love to pick your brain sometime as I grow my business.

No thanks necessary.  I enjoy spreading encouragement and support for others in our industry.  It's great for the industry as a whole and I love hearing and seeing a "revival" of the Honor Snack business.  Yes, my company is primarily honor snacks, though we do have some vending.  90% of our gross sales comes from the snack trays.  I'd be happy to help with information anytime, my friend.  I love how you've grown your business, and you're doing it at a rate that seems comfortable to you.  Honor snacks is just like any other business.  To be successful, you have to commit to it and make it a full-time gig.  I see too many folks dabble in it as a side thing, making some extra beer money for the weekend, or something like that, and they are out of business within months.  I like how you've been running things and think you are going to continue to be quite successful.  Keep On Keeping ON!  :)

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3 hours ago, treadmill said:

What happened to this weeks update?  Inquiring minds are lurking. 

I put in this week's update, not sure where it went lol.    Anyway, this week was:  230 locations.  Grossed $1,585.00 Avg;  $20.30 per box.  Theft ran 11%  Serviced 78 boxes.

 

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On 4/4/2016 at 4:39 PM, bhumphrey829 said:

 

 

 

My goal right now is 400 boxes.   The only thing that worries me about getting that many locations is running out of places to hit.  I keep hearing that won't happen, but I guess we will see.  By the  Dennis is who I was getting all of my advice from in the beginning.  He had over 1,500 locations throughout the state of Iowa.  He sold it and is now enjoying retirement. 

I just wanted to say that I was just late-night cruising the forums to learn and i stumbled upon your thread. I know well of honor boxes and have always heard they were great. I just bought some vending machines and figured I would just stick to the big stuff. After reading your thread I began to realize that I have some accounts who I would deem extremely trustworthy that requested snacks (and I just didn't think I could justify a snack machine...) I know I don;t want to mess with any of the Chinese combo machines, which would provide me an affordable option for these accounts....   

Basically:  I have always heard that honor boxes were good, and realized after reading your thread how perfect they  could be for me. I bought 20 from Cameron like you. I realized they could be perfect for current accounts, but also perfect for low-cost growth opportunities - which i what I'm seeking. I really want to fill my whole work schedule with vending, but was struggling with figuring out how I could  do that with the money I have. Reading your thread really gaVe me a great idea, and I think it will fill in a lot of my schedule - while also providing my drink only accounts some food options!

Needless to say: 

I AM VERY HAPPY I READ YOUR THREAD. I CANNOT WAIT TO GET MY HONOR BOXES IN THE MAIL!!

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17 hours ago, bhumphrey829 said:

Are you talking about the price stickers or the charity stickers?

I guess both! 

Also, I notice that most honor box guys "swap" out the boxes at the accounts... do you simply pre-kit at home and swap the boxes at location?

If so, do you use the leftover product to kit for the following day? 

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20 hours ago, Sgolembiewski0903 said:

I guess both! 

Also, I notice that most honor box guys "swap" out the boxes at the accounts... do you simply pre-kit at home and swap the boxes at location?

If so, do you use the leftover product to kit for the following day? 

 

20 hours ago, Sgolembiewski0903 said:

I guess both! 

Also, I notice that most honor box guys "swap" out the boxes at the accounts... do you simply pre-kit at home and swap the boxes at location?

If so, do you use the leftover product to kit for the following day? 

I buy my price stickers from Dennis Slack, who used to be in this business, but has since retired but still sells boxes and stickers.  I get my pink ribbons from a breast cancer website.  The answer to your other question, yes, I make up all of my boxes in the mornings then run my route and just switch out the boxes at the locations.  Then I get back to the warehouse and put all of my product in a tub to make up more boxes in the morning.

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20 hours ago, bhumphrey829 said:

 

I buy my price stickers from Dennis Slack, who used to be in this business, but has since retired but still sells boxes and stickers.  I get my pink ribbons from a breast cancer website.  The answer to your other question, yes, I make up all of my boxes in the mornings then run my route and just switch out the boxes at the locations.  Then I get back to the warehouse and put all of my product in a tub to make up more boxes in the morning.

Rather than empty your "return" boxes in a tub, why not repack with the items that remain.  I set a menu for my boxes each month.  I try to pack them all the same.  So the "return" boxes are simply refilled by replacing those items that were purchased.  Of course, dates need to be checked and damaged items removed.  But if you pack every box with the same menu, packing your boxes for the next day's route is simple and routine. 

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I'm sure i will get too big to do like i am doing now.  But right now i keep up with what comes back from each location on the back of their locating card.  If a particular item comes back 3 services in a row i no longer put that item that box for that location.  I have a separate tub i use for products that are about to go out of date.  I put those products in my boxes that i know are going to move fast.  I agree that having a set menu for each would cut my time in half probably, but i just hate the fact that just say i put crackers in a box, and i know it comes back from a particular location every single time i put it in there, are you saying i should still keep putting it in there?

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I guess both! 

Also, I notice that most honor box guys "swap" out the boxes at the accounts... do you simply pre-kit at home and swap the boxes at location?

If so, do you use the leftover product to kit for the following day? 


I do. Unless the chips are ready to expire. Then me and my son eat them!

Sent from my Z987 using Tapatalk

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I'm sure i will get too big to do like i am doing now.  But right now i keep up with what comes back from each location on the back of their locating card.  If a particular item comes back 3 services in a row i no longer put that item that box for that location.  I have a separate tub i use for products that are about to go out of date.  I put those products in my boxes that i know are going to move fast.  I agree that having a set menu for each would cut my time in half probably, but i just hate the fact that just say i put crackers in a box, and i know it comes back from a particular location every single time i put it in there, are you saying i should still keep putting it in there?


I always thought you had a "set" menu of products for every time. I always have crackers and peanuts coming back a lot. Also surprisingly, pastries!

Sent from my Z987 using Tapatalk

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21 minutes ago, jerrybrooksvendall said:


I always thought you had a "set" menu of products for every time. I always have crackers and peanuts coming back a lot. Also surprisingly, pastries!

Sent from my Z987 using Tapatalk
 

I have a set menu for every box I take out to begin with, but I adjust each box according to what the location is eating

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1 hour ago, flintflash said:

We have a set menu, and yes, the same items get packed in every box.  My drivers can adjust the box on location also, to accommodate favorites and requests.  They often pull out the items that typically don't sell at a location, but not at every location.  As the boxes come back to be repacked, they get sent back out to a different account the following day.  This gives that item several chances to get sold as it may go out and come back a few times.  I am SUPER choosy on the items we pack.  I really look at shelf life first, even before price.  I would rather purchase a higher cost item that will sell, than a cheap or inexpensive item that may outlive the shelf life floating around in my trays.  It can be a real fine line when looking at both as I set the menu.  I typically set a "Box Cost" (Inventory) for my entire box and adjust my items to try and stay within that Target.  You want your Box Cost to fall somewhere between 33 - 38 % of your total Retail Cost of your box.  For example:  Let's say you pack 50 Items in your snack trays.  At $1.00 an item, your Retail cost is $50.00.  So to optimize your Box cost (Inventory cost), you would want it to fall somewhere between $17.00 and $19.00.  You don't want to go much lower than that because your box will be perceived as "cheap" and much high than that, you're flirting with vulnerable profit margins that can be destroyed by your shortages.  Sorry...didn't mean to get all Long-winded and run off on a tangent.  To get back to your point Humphrey: YES, you are handling your inventory CORRECTLY!  :)  But, as you get bigger (and I know you will),  you won't be able to customize every box for every custom.  Keep On Keeping ON my friend!  I am loving your progress!  I enjoy reading your results and seeing your success!!  :) 

Do you happen to have a pic of one of your boxes made up.  I am curious as to what you put in yours that might be different than mine.

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On ‎5‎/‎4‎/‎2017 at 9:34 PM, bhumphrey829 said:

Do you happen to have a pic of one of your boxes made up.  I am curious as to what you put in yours that might be different than mine.

I'm not that computer savvy...lol.  I have a hard time send photos in a text.  LOL!   I can tell you that ALL our boxes are packed with 70 items, and probably contain many of the same items.  If I can figure out how to up load a pic, I'll send it to you in a PM. All boxes are packed with the same menu.  NOW...that doesn't necessarily mean that every box is exactly the same.  When a menu change take place, the new item only gets packed in a box only if the previous item is not there.  For example, let's say for April I ran Nestle Crunch bars and now in May I switch to Twizzlers.  The Twizzlers will get packed in the box if the Nestle Crunch are not in that "partial box" (what I call a returning snack tray from an account).  If the Nestle Crunch bars are still in that return tray, they are repacked in that tray and sent out the next day.  This makes it much easier to manage your inventory.  All items are packed in boxes in pairs.  I would never pack a box with, say, one Nestle Crunch and one Twizzler.  To me that takes away from the professional appearance of your snack tray when it looks like a mish-mosh of items with no rhyme or reason.  That's just me, and my packers will agree.  They really take pride in what the snack tray looks like and produce very uniform snack trays.  :)

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Great info.  I am still curious as to what you boxes look like lol.  I put 40 items in my boxes.  There is no way I can get 70 items in my boxes at least not the items I pack it with.  How many candy bars do you pack in yours?  I pack between 5 and 8 in mine, depending on how bad the shortage is at the particular location.  Do ou use the wood grain boxes or something bigger?  I really appreciate all of this information, it's helping out a lot.

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