Things we can all relate to

[AngryChris]

Sometimes I like to deliver a "state of the union" address regarding my business.  It's not done as to reassure anyone that I am doing alright, but it's more about sharing my experiences so that we can all share a laugh and know that we aren't alone in our endeavors to try to earn a profit.

 

In the last 6 months, I bought a used vehicle to replace my old stepvan that gave out.  I ended up having to put almost $1,600 into the truck but it should be able to last me another 70,000 miles before it may be time to retire it as well.  I think I will be doing very well by then and I can buy a much nicer truck at that time anyway.  The gas mileage averages around 10.5 MPG which is certainly not good, but I get SO much done with it in a day.  If I were to actually push myself into high gear and get out on the road by 7am and stop running my mouth at every opportunity, I would probably be able to collect $1,500 in a 12-hour day.

 

In the last 2 months, I had not one, not two, but THREE snack machines (with 2 MAKA's and 1 VFM) all went out as part of a small group of accounts that I purchased.  I was forced to bite the bullet and upgrade these machines, but the sales have gone up slightly since doing so.  I also had a MAG50B go out at a location in a single-price machine that was right next to a USI 3013 where the MAKA went out.  To make matters worse, the coin mech stopped working on the single price right after the validator stopped working.  Yippie!!  Being in quite the jam, I had to purchase 4 validators from the local company that does validator/coin-mech repair in order to fix this mess.

 

In the last month, I had a refrigeration deck go out on a USI CB-300.  If any of you have every tried to replace one of these decks, you'll feel my pain.  I swear these decks, when you measure from screw to screw, are slightly WIDER than the opening in the back of the machine, making it virtually impossible to get the cooling deck into the machine (or take one out).  After having to wait for 2 weeks to get that problem resolved (as no one has those decks lying around for an exchange), I got a call that a Royal wasn't cooling.  Fortunately, I got the Royal fixed within 24-hours of the call.  Two days later, I got a call about a machine leaking water, but that turned out to be an air leak that was easily fixed once I found "duct sealant" from Home Depot.  It only cost me $3 for the block and it will probably last me years and years.

 

In the end, I will say that I have probably spent around a total of $5,500 in "unforeseen expenses" over the past 6 months, and that has eaten into my profits considerably.  It's that old saying... "when it rains, it pours."  Sometimes I wish I was back to the days of only needing to make it to work on time, do my job, and collect my paycheck.  But I also remind myself that those were the days when I had to work at a specific pace, I could only take lunch when it was appropriate and for a set amount of time, and my voice was rarely ever heard when I would mention an idea.  Now are the days when, although stressful at times, I can take an hour-long lunch on a good day or I can start my day at any time I want and my ideas are ALWAYS heard.

When I started this business, I was paying myself an average of about $200/month.  I had a full-time job and went to school full-time on top of that.  Eventually, I started to take out loans and buy equipment on location from a fellow vendor while I simultaneously bought other equipment for accounts I got on my own.  From 2012-204, I wasn't paying myself hardly anything.  All of the profits went back into loan payments, upgrades, and repairs as I was taking good accounts with old equipment and upgrading them so that they would (in theory) make more money... and they did.  Many of these accounts increased as much as 20% when I took them over.  My loans were 24-month notes and they started falling off as fast as I could take out new ones.  Here I am today... grossing about 10x the amount of revenue that I did in 2011, and I am paying about 65% of my profits out in the form of loan payments and the other 35% to me so I can make ends meet.  In other 18 months, I will be able to afford to take a vacation, buy some cool stuff for myself, and maybe even hire a part-time driver (whom I can trust) to run a bit chunk of my route so that I can focus on the next phase of the business... which is to start going after larger accounts.  I still wish to stay in the niche of snacks and soda only.  I don't want to venture into food or coffee machines if I don't have to.  I'm sure one good account could change my mindset and I DO have the confidence now to take on much larger accounts because I know that I have the resources to do so, but I still wish to keep it simple.

In the end, I may choose to either sell the business within the next 10 years or I may choose to consolidate it down to only the best accounts that I can get that only need snacks and soda.  If I go the consolidation route, you'll be able to see me driving around in something nice like a Dodge Promaster and I'll only work 3-4 days/week while easily generating enough profit to live very comfortably.  If I choose to sell out, I will look for a completely new venture.  I may decide to work on something like an MBA and try to work my way up the corporate ladder.  Who knows? I know I can do it if I have the desire, it's just currently not there.  But this is the state of the business.  Actually, it's more of the state of mind.

[rmorris1953]

Chris

You have a good head and thinking down the road is where you should be. 

 

Myself I couldn't ever work for the man again. I spent years being laughed at by co-workers who cared nothing about the company and took no effort to better themselves and only relied on there popularity to advance themselves. My problem is I like tools that make my job easier. So I have to have it all. LOL Co-workers nicknamed me RoboTech. Thought it was funny. That was ok with me because the joke was on them. I could run circles around all of them on services calls because I had the right tools. I told them that while they were trying to find the problem and fix it I was done and sitting in the restaurant. I spent years solving problems that others couldn't even begin to comprehend. My boss was standing in the hall at work one day and was laughing and told our boss that "Roger thinks he is worth $30 hr" And he says maybe but he isn't getting it here. I didn't think that was to funny since they were getting ready to downsize and I wasn't even sure I was going to have a job. 6 mo of not knowing what the future was going to bring was tuff. I spent that time weighing options and when the time came I was offered a job that set me back 20 yrs. Or take a buyout and retire at 58. Boss thought they were doing me a favor. While I looked them in the eyes and said I'm taking the buy. Their jaws hit the floor. God that felt good and at the same time I was scared as hell. Two days latter I get hired at the new casino as lead tech. But I have to stay at pepsi for another month to get buy. They tried everything to get me to quit. So for the last month they had me sweeping cobwebs off the ceiling in shop. Standing on a scissor jack with a broom and 120 degrees or more. There were other things I could have been doing. The last 2 weeks  I had started at casino moving and setting 1700 slot machines. Wasn't a fun time but man I was making the doe.  Well the casino job didn't work out. LOL way over my head and then didn't want people to fix them just turn them off/on and run to the next one. So after 6 mo I got fired for taking keys home. Alarm didn't work. Actually wasn't even installed even tho they said it was. Gaming commision fined the hell out of them and the whole place had to be rekeyed. I ended up getting unemployment for being unjustly fired. 

So now I had another situation. I could find another job or work for myself. I knew I couldn't make it just doing service calls. And I hated moving vendors. Hated it with a passion. So I weighed my options I could work for the man and hate my job or move vendors that I hated just as much. I decided to move vendors and hate it. I had a friend in Oklahoma City in vending who wanted me to come down and work 3 days a week. I parked my 5th wheel in his drive during that time and went down Monday am and came home on Wednesday pm. Did that for a little over a year. Business was picking up here so after a while cut that off. I was retired and working 7 days a week.

I took out a low interest business loan and bought the drop deck trailer because the one I had I could only fit three machines on and kept finding myself making several trips. This new one I can haul 6 600e's on and is a whole lot better with airride and electric brakes. Payments are affordable.  Lot safer. And when you are self employed you can't afford to get hurt. With a little help I can move about anything. The right dollies the right tools. At almost 62 now I need all the help I can get. My life is good right now. I am not rolling in doe but I am paying the bills. I can take off anytime I want. Take a week take a day or just take a afternoon. I feel free for once in my life. And yes I do gloat when I go to pepsi and show up with a brand new truck and all the new tools I have, LOL

 

In conclusion LOL there isn't anything better than working for yourself. It can be trying at times but damn it feels good.

 

Also this forum is the best. I have made some really good friends here. I feel very lucky to have met people that are really smarter than me. One in particular AZ. This guy is smart as a whip. Great at everything. The other one is Cajun. everyone needs to go to LA and let him be your host. Good food, Good conservation, Good fishing and a funny guy to be around.