Vendfun Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Congrats on your purchase, you have been working on it for some time. Here's to your success Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indiana Posted February 15, 2013 Author Share Posted February 15, 2013 Congrats on your purchase, you have been working on it for some time.Here's to your success Thank you so much! Very excited to start working this route and making some money! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golfdogs Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Congratulations! I hope your purchase goes as smoothly as mine went. What inventory/cash controls have you put in place for your route driver? I do my own route, with the hopes of hiring for an expanded route in the near future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indiana Posted February 15, 2013 Author Share Posted February 15, 2013 Congratulations! I hope your purchase goes as smoothly as mine went. What inventory/cash controls have you put in place for your route driver? I do my own route, with the hopes of hiring for an expanded route in the near future. The only cash controls I have in place is historical financial information over the last two years of what each machine and each location should be producing. If there is a discrepancy, I will notice it. But there is no way at the present time for me to know if money is stolen or not. I have run the route without the driver, and plan to put some additional controls in place soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruff84 Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Is there a reason you are not just running the route yourself. Instead of paying a driver? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indiana Posted February 15, 2013 Author Share Posted February 15, 2013 Is there a reason you are not just running the route yourself. Instead of paying a driver? I work a full-time job, several of the locations can seldom be serviced on the weekend. He is available and has been servicing this route during the week for the last 2+ years. The driver (and van) certainly present additional costs, but also the flexibility of not having to service the route myself every week. I plan on visiting the locations every week-- either after work or on weekends as well. Today is the first day. I am planning on letting the business operate as usual for the time being, and making changes later on as I see necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruff84 Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Sounds like a good plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Congrats on taking the plunge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indiana Posted February 15, 2013 Author Share Posted February 15, 2013 Congrats on taking the plunge. Thank you! It's quite a plunge...I'll do my best to make it successful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treadmill Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 Thank you! It's quite a plunge...I'll do my best to make it successful. Looking forward to your monthly reports in the reports section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 I could do nearly $100,000/year out of my car (hatchback) if I had NO other obligations (other than vending). However, it would be quite a nightmare on my car. I use an old step-van with a regular van chassis and I am sure I could do $150,000/year out of this thing by only running a route 3 days a week and it would not be that difficult. My point? For $28,000/year, you could do this out of a mini van EASILY! The only difficult part is that you have to pre-pack your stuff. I mean, for that route, you could buy 10 variety packs of chips,10 variety packs of candy, several boxes of other snack products, and maybe 4-6 cases of the big sellers of soda and a few other things (you would get used to knowing what you need) and you would have plenty of room to get it done. I have generated $500 in revenue out of my car before in ONE DAY! The car was LOADED though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 the numbers are good, the price is good, the killer is that route driver...ouch , that is gonna be a major drain with all the taxes and so on you need to pay,workers comp and all that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golfdogs Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 Where are you in Indiana? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indiana Posted February 17, 2013 Author Share Posted February 17, 2013 the numbers are good, the price is good, the killer is that route driver...ouch , that is gonna be a major drain with all the taxes and so on you need to pay,workers comp and all that I agree--the driver is definitely a significant expense, but I'm going to give it 6 months or so, trying not to make many changes to the current route, and reevaluate. Maybe there's a better way to do it--if I find something to change I'll probably try it. Where are you in Indiana? I'm currently headquartered in Merrillville, and have locations throughout northwest Indiana--Hammond, Hobart, Gary, Dyer, Schererville and Valporaiso. I've got a map on my website, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 I agree--the driver is definitely a significant expense, but I'm going to give it 6 months or so, trying not to make many changes to the current route, and reevaluate. Maybe there's a better way to do it--if I find something to change I'll probably try it. Yes its expensive but keeping the route guy around, for a while at least is a good way to transfer some of the goodwill he has with the customers. Just be sure to visit, call and e-mail on a regular basis so they get to know you as well. About the only way keeping the driver around long term is going to work out is to grow the business enough that his cost is not as significant as it is now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indiana Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 Yes its expensive but keeping the route guy around, for a while at least is a good way to transfer some of the goodwill he has with the customers. Just be sure to visit, call and e-mail on a regular basis so they get to know you as well. About the only way keeping the driver around long term is going to work out is to grow the business enough that his cost is not as significant as it is now. This is great advice! Thanks--I will absolutely do this, I'm planning on visiting (and vending) the route whenever I can. And while I'd love to reduce costs wherever possible, I'd also love to grow the business where I can, and the driver would let me take on more than I could do myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indiana Posted March 6, 2013 Author Share Posted March 6, 2013 Did money look right? That's not a bad deal at all. I would replace the coke machines with your own. I've found good machines from $200-$500....I'd definately change those. That's good that it can be more efficient. I think once a week is perfect for high locations. Just make sure you accommodate your vends. Like the best place I have I was going once a week coke was always gone. Thenbi did 2 rows gone again. Now 3 and now its good To clarify, you can beat Pepsi's per unit price (around $.84/bottle) shopping somewhere else? The only benefit I see in getting rid of my leased machines is not being required to purchase soda directly from Pepsi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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