When is it okay to say no to a new location?

[beejaykc aka Munch A Bunch]

As you know, I'm a newbie. This means being cash strapped for a few months. Got my website up, things going well at my 3 locations. Now, the phone is starting to ring.

Todays call: Direct TV technician warehouse. 90 guys start the day there, 8-10 office ladies throughout the day. But the guys are there in the AM and PM, and whenever they need to be during the day. Current vendor is running some kind of combo. Only grosses about $250 a month currently (as most combo's do). They don't like this vendor because he runs out of product and just doens't take good care of them. I'm sure it's a pain in the golpher with a small combo.

They are willing to go 0% commission with me if I can bring in a soda and snack machine with large enough capacity (I wouldn't do anything less). I'd have to go find something used locally to do this, as it's not ever going to be a stellar location in my opinion. But the 0% commission makes it a bit more attractive.

I'm leaning towards passing. Cash strapped, and it's only ever going to do a certain amount. Not much growth potential - unless it helps me get into other Direct TV warehouses around town. Not much used equipment on Craigslist right now.

Should I indeed pass? Or should I flip a coin?

[AZVendor]

^{Only you can decide if this is a good decision for you. If you are cash strapped then you should be waiting until you have available cash. Perhaps you shouldn't have a website if you can't expand at this time. All of us have at one time or another had a decent account become available and it's always a tough decision to invest in it unless you have excess machines laying around. Having to go buy equipment to run a marginal account is very dicey. It sounds like you could purchase some machines, so I don't know how cash poor you really are. I wouldn't use a credit card though, as that is a slippery slope to start down. This account does sound like a prime candidate for a National or AP combo machine, but the expense of that, if you could find one, is still probably a couple grand. I think you already know the answer to your question and you need to go with your gut instinct.}

[moondog]

As you know, I'm a newbie. This means being cash strapped for a few months. Got my website up, things going well at my 3 locations. Now, the phone is starting to ring.

Todays call: Direct TV technician warehouse. 90 guys start the day there, 8-10 office ladies throughout the day. But the guys are there in the AM and PM, and whenever they need to be during the day. Current vendor is running some kind of combo. Only grosses about $250 a month currently (as most combo's do). They don't like this vendor because he runs out of product and just doens't take good care of them. I'm sure it's a pain in the golpher with a small combo.

They are willing to go 0% commission with me if I can bring in a soda and snack machine with large enough capacity (I wouldn't do anything less). I'd have to go find something used locally to do this, as it's not ever going to be a stellar location in my opinion. But the 0% commission makes it a bit more attractive.

I'm leaning towards passing. Cash strapped, and it's only ever going to do a certain amount. Not much growth potential - unless it helps me get into other Direct TV warehouses around town. Not much used equipment on Craigslist right now.

Should I indeed pass? Or should I flip a coin?

The account's only doing $250 a month but they're constantly running out because all they have is a combo. Duh - there's no telling how good this account could be. With eighty to ninety guys in and out, it could be "killer". I'd jump on this account with a big soda and snack machine. Don't get spoiled by that water park account - you may never see another one like that. While I think you made a good call to buy new equipment there, the down side seems to be that you've financially limited your ability to expand.

Ps. Most combos won't do $250 a month

[adog]

I agree with moondog! I'd jump on it to! An extra 250 a month for your business is still a decent amount, and if they are out of product what do you expect them to do? Put a dollar in and get nothing? You'd pay off your investment in no time with a nice steady cash flow!

[treadmill]

Personally I would try to buy used equipment for this account and then I would take down your website for a while while you accumulate enough cash on hand to buy other equipment. No sense of having a website if you can't provide equipment.

[kiwi]

If I was in your situation I can see why you are considering passing on this account but before you do you should explore all possibilities that are available to you...

If I was you I would buy two used machine & place them at this account. You could then continue to run these machines yourself or sell them off as sited machines which should make you a quick profit on. You could then do the same thing again & again as you get inquiries from your website. This will allow you to keep some good accounts while not having to turn down the one's in between because of a lack of cashflow.

Do you know what type of combo is currently at this site & how often the guy is coming to restock?

I would definitely not take down your website if I was you as you may miss the chance of having a really good customer come through which you will never forgive yourself for.

I considered pulling my website down after my first son was born because I was also working night shift so my wife could stay home with with our son. If I had done this I would've missed out on the biggest customer I have now. I started with them in 2006 with only 2 machines & now as they have expanded over the years & also added other services I now have a total of 14 machine on site.

THIS WOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED IF I HAD PULLED MY WEBSITE DOWN!

[beejaykc aka Munch A Bunch]

Well, I agree with NOT taking down the website. I just need to get more creative in how I "afford" this equipment. Will keep you all posted. Thanks for your thoughts. I learned from my ATM days that having a website was good for driving a lot of small leads my way. Very seldome did I get a big lead from the website though. I did have to learn when to say no, which is where I am kind of at here. I have found though that there are a LOT of vending location opportunities out there. That's the good news, even if I do tell this opportunity no.

[kiwi]

I am glad you have the same opinion in not taking your website down. I hope I didn't come across like a GOLFER in trying to explain this to you but I just didn't want you to make the same mistake that I nearly did.

By the way.. I just checked your website out & I like the look of it! NICE WORK!!

You could also consider just selling site contracts like locators do if you are getting a lot of inquiries from your website.

[dogcow]

I have never got 1 single lead off my web site, is that normal?

[mission vending]

All good points. IMO I'd be careful about taking on debt for a location like this. That first location that you bought new equipment for was a no-brainer I would, even today, finance equipment for a location like that if I didn't have the cash.

Probably on of my biggest mistakes early on was taking on a lot of debt. Sure I grew a lot faster at the beginning but as I got maxed out the debt service really hindered my ability to grow because I couldn't afford to pay a decent wage to get good help and in the long run I probably would've have done better by growing slower.

[kiwi]

I have never got 1 single lead off my web site, is that normal?

I am NO expert when it come to web design or search engine optimization but I would think something is not right if you are not getting any leads off your website.

It's definitely not normal as far as I am concerned as we get 2-5 leads/week off ours.

But on the other hand I don't know how competitive the vending market is in your area.. have you tried doing any other advertising like Yellowpages/Adwords to push traffic towards your website.

Unless your site is well optimised you wont appear on the first page of google as a generic listing so may need to look at either improving this or paying to get you ranked higher.

If your not on the first page you wont get a call..

[mission vending]

If your not on the first page you wont get a call..

From what some computer guys tell me, if you are not listed in the top 5 on the first page you odds of getting a call are very small.

[beejaykc aka Munch A Bunch]

From what some computer guys tell me, if you are not listed in the top 5 on the first page you odds of getting a call are very small.

I got a call. Take THAT. LOL

[kiwi]

I got a call. Take THAT. LOL

Do you do any other form of paid advertising like adwords or yellowpages ect..

If you do any other forms of advertising do you also ask people when they contact you how they found your number so that you know whats working for you?

[zapjones]

There's another reason to take this account besides the profit from the location. There are lots of businesses that use sattelite tv. Hotels, restaurants, bars, hospitals, apartment complexes. Make friends with these guys and they could be a goldmine of potential leads. They could give you leads on new businesses opening up and recent changes in management at existing businesses. I would jump on this but only you know if you can afford it at this time.