When do you move machines?

[abc17]

I was just wondering when you guys move your machines?  Do you move them after one bad month?  Or do you give the location a second chance?  Also, what amount is your minimum to pull from a machine before considering to move it?

Thanks.

[caserri]

Great question abc,

This answer will be different for every vendor and different for each location. There may be a discernible reason why a location may have a bad month. If you know what the reason is then it may not be advantageous to move the machine too quickly. Examples of this could range from a jammed machine to an unexpected closure of the location due to family emergency or vacation. The reason for a bad month should be understood before you decide to move.

With that said, I personally have a formula that I use as a guide to tell me when it might be a good idea to move. If a machine's monthly revenue falls to below 30% of the fleet average for 2 consecutive months I will consider a move. However, I will make sure that the drop in sales is not due to anything that I can control, like product selection.

Bottom line is you should always make every attempt to make a location work for you. We all know how difficult it is to find locations. 

Also along these same lines, Never pull a machine due to poor performance until you get a location to replace it. That would be like quitting your job before you have another one. A machine that only makes $3.00 a month is much more desirable than one that makes nothing per month!

Steve 

[tedk]

abc

I would agree with Steve on this. I think one bad month is way too soon to pull a machine. The National average is only about $7.00 a machine. In a lot of locations one or two people may account for 80% of your sales. At an average of 21 working days per month, one person buying once a day is $ 5.25. If that person is off sick, or on holidays, or it's two people buying once every other day that had overlapping holidays your sales are in the tank. This doesn't mean it will last.

If you don't have any more machines, you are out of money to get more, or have expanded as far as you intend to then pull it (if you know you have a better location waiting). If you are still trying to get machines out of storage, or are still in expansion mode, leave the machine where it is a watch to see if the sales improve. 

Ted