Hi from... the road

[engineer1984]

Hi,

 

I am looking to get into vending pop and snack machines.  I am a part time engineer and also working remotely.  I'm ready for a change, hence the fact that I'm already part time and working remotely.  I already tried to quit once.

 

I'm 29 and have been wanting to try my hand at entrepreneurship for a while.  Vending seems like a great possibility.

 

I'm looking for a place to live right now.  I'm focused on the mountains as I love climbing and mtn biking.  Thinking Denver right now.

 

Cheers,

 

Andy

[orsd]

Use good royal, dixie narco, vendo, ams , crane, national, and maybe Rowe or usi

Noting else, and especially not mechanical machines

[engineer1984]

I've been trolling this site for a little while and I'm having a hard time understanding some of the terminology used to describe the machines.  What is mechanical vs electrical?

 

Is this describing the button interface, the coin accept piece, etc?

 

Cheers,

[engineer1984]

I have some other questions, if anyone would be kind enough to give me some feedback or a link to it being discussed here.  Some of these things are hard to find via search, but I'll try some more.

 

Since I'm looking mainly into business parks like offices or manufacturing areas, how often do you also get the chance to provide them with a coffee machine and the service that goes along (i.e. the coffee packets, the filters, the maintenance, etc)?  Also, along the same topic, once you do get your foot in the door, has anyone provided laundry service?  Like anything from their welcome mats to their uniforms to shop rags, etc?  

 

Another question:  Has anyone used the fact that they are getting great prices on soda / snacks to sell to a local gas station for their inventory?  I've heard you can buy directly from the manufacturers if you buy in enough bulk.  So, considering owning a few machines probably wouldn't justify this, can you find other ways to sell your inventory?  In other words, part of your business might end up looking more like a distribution company?

 

I'm just thinking out loud here, feel free to knock the ideas down : )

 

I am, however, interested in taking some business from Aramark.  I work for a big company right now and if they are run at all like the one I work for then their costs are high and their customer service sucks.