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Hello everyone, I just got into the bidness..


OU8SUMCANDY

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I just got into the bulk candy business by buying a route and some stored machines.  I happened upon this forum a couple months before I decided to buy, so y'all are going to laugh because all the machines I bought are U-TURN Eliminators!  After going over, repeatedly, the pros and cons of U-Turn machines in this forum, I decided to buy them anyway.  I bought a total of 96 machines, of which 52 are currently placed and the rest are in storage.  There are a few major reasons I went ahead with the purchase, despite the horror stories I read on here about these U-Turns.

1. The 52 placed machines are on a route that is close to my house, including one in the office where I work.

2. I got the owner to sell the route and machines to me on contract, so there's no way I could immediately generate this much revenue if I bought "good" machines and started out from scratch.

3. The owners (husband & wife) have been VERY helpful prior to the sale, allowing me to break down some machines to see how easy/difficult they were to service.

4. None of the locations require commissions.

5. The owners hadn't put much focus on things for awhile. They bought the machines new (and paid a locator to place them) for their teenage son to service, but he never really "took charge" and has recently left for college.  

 

Anyway, I wanted to get all this out of the way so that when I start asking questions or commenting you'll have a reference point :-)

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Congrats on taking the dive into the business!

I wish you the best of luck, as U-Turns have a pretty heinous reputation. Though they work pretty well for the most part, it's that tremendous service process and repairs that get you- though if they included a lot of parts the latter may not be a big deal for you. We'll be happy to assist you the best we can going forward. ^_^

 

I cannot fathom what they must have paid for 96 Eliminators new. U-Turn's prices are insane as it is for the classic U-Turn, the Eliminators are even zanier. Whatever you paid, I'm sure you got a deal on them versus what the original owners paid.

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I just got into the bulk candy business by buying a route and some stored machines. I happened upon this forum a couple months before I decided to buy, so y'all are going to laugh because all the machines I bought are U-TURN Eliminators! After going over, repeatedly, the pros and cons of U-Turn machines in this forum, I decided to buy them anyway. I bought a total of 96 machines, of which 52 are currently placed and the rest are in storage. There are a few major reasons I went ahead with the purchase, despite the horror stories I read on here about these U-Turns.

1. The 52 placed machines are on a route that is close to my house, including one in the office where I work.

2. I got the owner to sell the route and machines to me on contract, so there's no way I could immediately generate this much revenue if I bought "good" machines and started out from scratch.

3. The owners (husband & wife) have been VERY helpful prior to the sale, allowing me to break down some machines to see how easy/difficult they were to service.

4. None of the locations require commissions.

5. The owners hadn't put much focus on things for awhile. They bought the machines new (and paid a locator to place them) for their teenage son to service, but he never really "took charge" and has recently left for college.

Anyway, I wanted to get all this out of the way so that when I start asking questions or commenting you'll have a reference point :-)

Where are you located and how much did you purchase the route for? Whay was the revenue quoted

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I'm in Charleston, SC.  The owners originally paid about $800 per machine!  I probably overpaid, but based on all factors I was pleased with the deal I worked out.  I agreed to pay $100 per stored machine and $200 per placed machine for a total of $14,800, but I got them to finance over 24 months with a down payment of $2,000.  I looked at their books and they were grossing an average of just over $1,000 per month, and I rode with the wife to service a few of the machines and verify location revenue.  The first six machines I've serviced so far brought in $180. 

I got them to include all their parts, labels, candy, etc.  And because the machines are still under warranty to them, I got them to include handling warranty repairs or replacements for the 24 month term of the contract.  After the 24 months, they will officially transfer the warranty to me through U-Turn.  The way I structured the ownership transfer of the machines was staggered, to protect me and them.  My $2000 down payment bought me 10 of the placed machines (I let the owners choose the locations).  Each monthly payment will transfer 4 of the stored machines to me (I can also get them faster buy paying them $100 each and the $100 is deducted from the total balance), so after 11 months all stored machines will have transferred to me.  After the 12th month, another 10 placed machines transfer (again I let them choose the locations).  After 24th month (or sooner if I pay quicker) the remaining 32 placed machines transfer over.  I get ALL revenue during the 24 months.  

The existing revenue of just the 52 will cover candy cost and the monthly payment, so the way I'm looking at this is I got into the business with 96 machines for $2000 out of pocket.  Not too bad in my opinion.  Plus these folks are happy to see a family man take over the business. Like I mentioned, they bought these for their son to run but he never really did it very well. I'm 41 and have been in sales forever, and I want to build something that my kids (I have 6) can be a part of.  I just have to keep them from eating all the inventory! LOL

So far, so good.  Like I said, $180 from the first 6 stops yesterday and it took me just under 2 hours.  The locations were all within about 5 miles of each other, and the first one took me the longest and by the 6th I had a rhythm going.  

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You have a good start to your business here and after you absorb it all and get into a routine you can think about upgrading and moving into better machines as you grow. 

 

The story of the sellers and why they got into the business to begin with should be a warning to anyone who wants to do the same thing.  You will never interest another person in something you buy for them and family will never work out the way you think they will, especially children.

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You have a good start to your business here and after you absorb it all and get into a routine you can think about upgrading and moving into better machines as you grow. 

 

The story of the sellers and why they got into the business to begin with should be a warning to anyone who wants to do the same thing.  You will never interest another person in something you buy for them and family will never work out the way you think they will, especially children.

 

I built 90% of my 'original' route with machines others had originally bought to start a "get rich quick" business, or bought for "kid(s) going to college" or some variation of the two. Pennies on the dollar every time, but the gear they had was never worth what they paid for it initially. It's terrible to see it sometimes- guys who will have been duped into buying tens of thousands in machines that depreciated to next to nothing literally as soon as the checks were signed- and they don't have the skills, time, or money needed to turn it around- not that you even can turn some of those around when they're that deep in the hole. It's a lesson I hope no one has to learn the hard way- and with somewhat fewer Biz-Ops running around now, hopefully fewer people are getting duped.

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