Hello From A New Member in San Diego

[Fugaboo]

Hello All,

 

I am a new member in the greater San Diego Area that recently procured an existing route and several machines. The existing route is actually in Riverside, which I know is a drive for me, but the opportunity was great and came relatively turnkey. But as any good business guy knows, there will be pitfalls to the distance. Hence I am looking to gain some experience and quickly setup my own route in the San Diego Area.

 

None the less I thought I would introduce myself and let everyone know I will be watching the threads and trying to learn everything I can.

 

Thanks and Kind Regards,

-Sean Kennedy

[orsd]

welcome, Im just a short drive to the north, in OC

Also, look on craigslist, there's tons of good deals out there

PS: if you find a good deal, post the link in a seperate thread and one of the members here should be able to see if its a good deal or not.

PS: dump the riverside route asap

[VendingExperts]

Welcome Sean! I feel the best way to learn is to read read read and jump in and do it. Good luck!

[Fugaboo]

Well the first question I have in dumping the riverside route is how to do it? Its making a modist amount (ROI in about 10 months - not including gas), but how do I go about placing machines closer to home? locator fees I have been quoted are 100 to 500 a placement, so looking for a reputable locater to start to work with or even better, trying to place myself lol!

[orsd]

Sell the route, then get more equipement, and place it closer to home

also, is your route full line (snack/soda) or bulk (loose candy, toys, gumballs)?

[moondog]

Well the first question I have in dumping the riverside route is how to do it? Its making a modist amount (ROI in about 10 months - not including gas), but how do I go about placing machines closer to home? locator fees I have been quoted are 100 to 500 a placement, so looking for a reputable locater to start to work with or even better, trying to place myself lol!

Keep good records of your cash pull by machine - if you want to sell this route, a 10 month ROI would be attractive to most experienced vendors,  but you need the numbers to back this up.

 

You didn't say where you were in San Diego - Fallbrook would be no big deal while Mission Bay would definitely be a "no-go".  The reality is that your time is worth more than the gas.  Up here, I drive further but get to my accounts faster than had I located in some closer areas.

[Poplady1]

I know several vendors that want to expand in Riverside.  Give me a call at 909-583-9068.  Pretty sure they would pick it up with some numbers to look at and fairly good equipment.  

[Feral Vending Mechanic]

There is a lot of opportunity in San Diego right now, with Canteen having recently bought the two biggest vendors in the area. Lots of people HATE Canteen, and would be more than happy to switch to another vendor if given the opportunity.

[Fugaboo]

Well I found a locator to use (and by the way is there a place to talk about the goods and bads of local locators like the ratemyprof.com website for college professors), and he got me 2 places in SD for a reasonable fee. So I placed 2 machines the first week of July in the Normal Heights area. He is working to sell off my Riverside route, but it is ok (ethical, or otherwise) to use a second source for this? I know from a supply chain point of view a single supplier is not something I want to have. So I feel the same way about bulk candy buying and locator services. But Poplady1 I will give you a ring tomorrow to discuss, since I see by your area code your up that way.

 

I am a former corporate supply chain analist so made up some pretty kick butt spreadsheets to track analysis, consumptions rates on candies, gumballs, etc. Wife says I went overboard, but its a hella record keeping resource. but I can see how much product is moving through each head at each site and what my profit margin is not just by machine but by each head.

 

My business is all bulk candy at this point. Looking to place my first soda machine this week as well. but plan to expand into other areas as I learn and grow.

 

Thanks again for all the support out there. I think forums like Vendicuss is great, but wondering if there is an already established monthly meeting for local vending professionals or, if there is not, would there be any interest? Could start out by a meetup.com group and grow if there was a lot of local interest?

[mission vending]

Well I found a locator to use (and by the way is there a place to talk about the goods and bads of local locators like the ratemyprof.com website for college professors), and he got me 2 places in SD for a reasonable fee. So I placed 2 machines the first week of July in the Normal Heights area. He is working to sell off my Riverside route, but it is ok (ethical, or otherwise) to use a second source for this? I know from a supply chain point of view a single supplier is not something I want to have. So I feel the same way about bulk candy buying and locator services. But Poplady1 I will give you a ring tomorrow to discuss, since I see by your area code your up that way.

I am a former corporate supply chain analist so made up some pretty kick butt spreadsheets to track analysis, consumptions rates on candies, gumballs, etc. Wife says I went overboard, but its a hella record keeping resource. but I can see how much product is moving through each head at each site and what my profit margin is not just by machine but by each head.

My business is all bulk candy at this point. Looking to place my first soda machine this week as well. but plan to expand into other areas as I learn and grow.

Thanks again for all the support out there. I think forums like Vendicuss is great, but wondering if there is an already established monthly meeting for local vending professionals or, if there is not, would there be any interest? Could start out by a meetup.com group and grow if there was a lot of local interest?

There is a locator section here to talk about locatators, good and bad.

Knowing that many in this industry tend to be very secretive I doubt that you will find much imterest in some kind of group meeting. One on one or meeting at Sam's etc. is fine bit I was never successful in getting a group together for more than a couple of meetimgs.

[caserri]

I was going to suggest the locator section but Mission beat me to it.

Other than that, your spreadsheet sounds interesting. If you care to share it with the group, please upload it to our downloads section with the others. I'm sure many would appreciate and benefit from it.

Welcome to TVF!