looks like a good business for kids to run

[April98]

I'm new here and researching honor vending boxes as a possible part-time business for my kids, ages 10 & 12. Have any of you had to deal with honor box competitors or are you finding that you have a corner on the market?

In our area there are other honor box businesses. Right now I'm trying to find out how saturated the market is already. I would prefer not to "steal" the competitor's business, but I do know that he doesn't live in our town. I own a business myself and have quite a few friends who are local business owners. A few have said they would be open to considering switching to my kids' boxes once they go forth with their business (still in the planning stage right now). The advantages with going with my kids: inventory is replenished every 2 weeks rather than the current monthly schedule of the competitor; the money they make is spent in THIS community; buying from them is encouraging young entrepreneurship; they are going to donate 10% of their profits to the local animal shelter and as far as I know the other guy doesn't claim to donate anything here (or at all). They do not have "get rich quick" ideas in their heads. They would like to be able to afford cell phones (I'm certainly not going to foot the bill for kids' phones), my daughter wants a horse and my son wants a computer with high graphic abilities for his video game designing hobby. If they can save up enough to buy their own cars when they turn 16, that would be great too.

Anyway, I'm very encouraged by what I've read thus far on this forum and at other places and from the emails/facebook messages I've sent to biz owners around town. We have "ins" at a few beauty salons, banks and an environmental laboratory, for starters. We're also checking with friends that work in the courthouse about seeing if it is okay for them to have boxes in their various offices (assessor, clerk, attorney, clerk of court) and the chamber of commerce director is checking with her board of directors to see if they can have a box on the counter in the chamber. If they can start with 5 good locations and try to add 2 more per month, I think that would be a good rate of growth that they could manage and keep up with. I'm a bit of a marketing genius and think I can most likely get them a lot of free press over their business venture. We're all very excited about the possibilities with this business for them. They're homeschooled so I'm considering everything about this business, from the planning, to the sales, marketing, inventory, checkbook, etc, to be part of their schooling.

[PerformaVending]

I don't know if there are any regulatory things to look into first, but you should investigate that. The going rate for bulk vendors is $2 million general aggregate in case of "catastrophe" but I'm uncertain of how tightly boxes are regulated.

It sounds like you have a good plan, but I would make sure your kids are really into this business before you make any go of it, or you will be stuck running a box route yourself. A lot of adults will start up vending businesses only to realize it isn't what they thought it would be, or find some facet of the business that turns them off to it. I think that factor would be much more powerful in kids, who are typically pretty difficult to motivate.

That aside, I think you have the basis for a small operation that will work out just fine. Just keep your service top-notch and professional, or those other vendors will find that weakness and exploit it to replace you, or at least try. I know it sounds bad taking spots from kids, and though I wouldn't do it, there are some guys out there who would without a second thought. Good luck!

[April98]

Thanks for the info. I will look into getting liability insurance from our insurance company. I know it's pretty cheap. They'll also need a resale license from the state. Since they're only dealing in prepackaged food, they will not need a food handler's license and our state allows for businesses to operate from home as long as the food is prepackaged.

As for being professional, I think we'll have it covered. Once they nail down a biz name and create a logo, they'll get shirts embroidered and I'll get them business cards made through vista print pretty cheap to practically free. I already considered the possibility of them getting board with the business and dumping it, however, I don't plan to fund their business for them. If they do this, they're funding it together with the money in their own savings accounts. They've done well with saving birthday/holiday money sent to them by family over the years and between the 2 of them I think they can handle the start up costs. I may pay for their resale license for them and their shirts, but I don't expect to pay for much more than that. They are always looking for ways to make money so I think that once they see that they can earn spending money on a continuous basis by running this business, they'll both be eager to grow it and maintain it. There aren't many other ways for a 12 yr. old boy to make money other than lawn mowing and that's seasonal and hard labor. There's next to no way for a 10 yr old girl to make money.

I may also pay for their membership to the chamber of commerce. It's relatively inexpensive for this little town and I think it would be good press for them to be the youngest members of the chamber. And the attendance of the young chamber members at business after hours events to socialize with the other business owners in town, would be quite a novelty. Many of the biz owners are parents of my kids' friends. Plus, membership at our chamber gets them unlimited colored copies using the colored copy machine. They can get their flyers printed there and they can get the word out about their business, through the chamber.

I started my business on just a $200 investment - money I made through a daily vending machine paper route that I had to get out of bed for every day at 2am. My kids road in the car with me - my daughter was only 6 weeks old when I started the route and we did it for 3 months. Within 3 years I had one of my creations featured on the NBC Today Show.

[PerformaVending]

It sounds like you have thought of everything! My hat off to you- it sounds like you have a good plan and are off to a great start. Keep us posted on how it goes- I love a good success story!

Again, good luck on your new vending endeavor!

[April98]

There doesn't appear to be any way to edit a post. I used "board" instead of "bored." Oh well! I don't expect them to hit themselves with planks.

Oh, I see, the ability to edit is only for a short time and disappears.

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm looking forward to them getting started with this.

[rdendy]

Competition and using your connections are both part of doing business. I wouldnt worry about "poaching" another vendors spot, it's all part of the business and if were being honest most people wouldnt change if they are happy with their current situation. So youre doing yourself and them a favor if you can provide a better service and experience. Get out there and get those locations imo. One disclaimer I personally wouldnt try to kick out another vendor if i knew them and had a good relationship with them. An example are several of the guys on here who I consider semi-mentors, collegues and friends. They give me insight and advice worth way more than a few dollars more a month is worth. Everyone else is fair game, just as I expect to be fair game for others.