Donkata Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 Shortage is due to: Outright theft Bad math skillz Forgetting to catch up on paying for what you took I don't know what the breakdown is among those three, but I think losing track of how much you owe the honor box is a big percentage. So - how about putting an IOU sheet next to the honor box? People could then just write down their name and what they owe each time they take something. Once a week I would make the rounds with a card reader on my phone and settle up accounts. I think people would buy more since they're not hobbled by the need to have cash, and shortages would go down. This is a special case because the honor box is in my office. I don't think it would make sense if I had them all over town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 Shortage is due to: Outright theft Bad math skillz Forgetting to catch up on paying for what you took I don't know what the breakdown is among those three, but I think losing track of how much you owe the honor box is a big percentage. So - how about putting an IOU sheet next to the honor box? People could then just write down their name and what they owe each time they take something. Once a week I would make the rounds with a card reader on my phone and settle up accounts. I think people would buy more since they're not hobbled by the need to have cash, and shortages would go down. This is a special case because the honor box is in my office. I don't think it would make sense if I had them all over town. If they don't put money in the box, what makes you think they would write their name down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donkata Posted November 11, 2015 Author Share Posted November 11, 2015 Sorry if I wasn't clear. You're right, an IOU system won't do anything to fix theft, but I'm saying shortage isn't entirely down to theft. An IOU system helps people who take a snack with the intention of paying for it tomorrow (and forgetting), and people who don't normally carry cash on them. These folks don't have a problem spending the money, it's just the cash handling that's inconvenient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 People will forget to write on the iou sheet too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donkata Posted November 13, 2015 Author Share Posted November 13, 2015 Thanks for the input guys. I guess I already made up my mind to do it and was looking for validation. We'll give this a couple weeks and see how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Thanks for the input guys. I guess I already made up my mind to do it and was looking for validation. We'll give this a couple weeks and see how it goes. It is certainly a better idea than doing nothing at all, but I have done this for long enough to know that people just don't take payment seriously. Furthermore, people act offended when you bring up the fact that you weren't paid for all that you are owed in the box. People take on the "I am offended that you would accuse me or my coworkers of stealing!" They assume that you are either lying or someone working there is dishonest. There solution is usually the same: remove the box. Sometimes, the best solution is to just deal with it and find a new location when it becomes unprofitable or just not worth your time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donkata Posted November 16, 2015 Author Share Posted November 16, 2015 I didn't mean to give the impression I'm battling a shortage problem. I'm not. For the two weeks this has been in place I've sold $135 and collected $133.50. I'm $1.50 short - not a big deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donkata Posted November 20, 2015 Author Share Posted November 20, 2015 Quick update. People have put about $20 on their tab; some as little as 50¢, others with $6. Everyone paid up today, some with cash, some swiping their card. I'm at just over $200 sales since I started this October 30th, and I'm actually not short but ahead by a dollar. So far this seems to be working, but YMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhumphrey829 Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 It's been awhile since I have been on here. I've been doing the honor snack box since June. I started with 3 boxes. I am now up to 98 accounts. My theft is about 11% overall, which isn't too bad. If you are doing this business, you just have to accept the fact that theft is part of the business. I have a few accounts that are 100% but very few. What I have learned since starting this is if they are stealing, they will usually continue to steal. Keep in mind I am talking about snack boxes, not the mint boxes. I don't know about those. The way I am doing mine is, if I can keep the theft down for each location to no more than 20% I'm okay with that. If it gets about 20% I start leaving sticky notes on the box. I start with just a note saying "the box was $6.00 short last delivery", or whatever the number is. I will do that twice. The third time I say "the box was $6.00 short last delivery. Please pay for what you take". I will do that twice. After that I say "the box was $6.00 short last delivery. Please pay for what you take or we will have to remove the box". I will do that twice. The next service that it's that short I pull the box. I don't go to anyone, I don't say anything to anyone because the first thing I tell them when i give them my "spill" is they are not responsible for theft. While this is a simple business to do, it's not easy. You have to really pay attention to your accounts, and you are constantly going to be weeding out bad accounts and adding accounts. It never stops. when I first started out I was at 33% shortage, so I have weeded out quite a few bad accounts, but for the people who think the honor box snack business doesn't work, I am telling you if you work it the right way, you can absolutely do this full time. If anyone here is interested in doing this or is doing this and has questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I have been blessed to be able to do something I love and I want to pay it forward by helping anyone that needs help. Have a blessed day, Bryan Humphrey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donkata Posted November 25, 2015 Author Share Posted November 25, 2015 Thank you for your thoughtful reply, Bryan. Adding 95 boxes in 5 months is pretty impressive! 20% shortage seems to be the number tossed around quite a bit, and I'm seeing quite a bit less than that. Over $233 sales I've collected $223, so I'm about 5% short, which is acceptable. I did notice a whopping shortage over last weekend - $28.75 in sales and $17 collected. We've got a new cleaning service at the office, so my hunch is the cleaning crew may not be as concerned with my profit margin as I am. I'll take inventory at the end of the day and see what it looks like when we come back on Monday. If it's bigtime short again, I'll remove it for the weekends. I'm curious - what boxes are you using and what do you stock them with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhumphrey829 Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 Thank you for your thoughtful reply, Bryan. Adding 95 boxes in 5 months is pretty impressive! 20% shortage seems to be the number tossed around quite a bit, and I'm seeing quite a bit less than that. Over $233 sales I've collected $223, so I'm about 5% short, which is acceptable. I did notice a whopping shortage over last weekend - $28.75 in sales and $17 collected. We've got a new cleaning service at the office, so my hunch is the cleaning crew may not be as concerned with my profit margin as I am. I'll take inventory at the end of the day and see what it looks like when we come back on Monday. If it's bigtime short again, I'll remove it for the weekends. I'm curious - what boxes are you using and what do you stock them with? I probably do mine a little different than most people that do this. I always start with a small box that I get from Cameron packaging. I put 20 items in it, such as chips (LSS bags), cookies, crackers, peanuts, candy bars and pastries. Then I upgrade them to a bigger box that I buy from Dennis Slack which I put 40 items them. I tried the mint boxes, but I just didn't have that much luck only because in my opinion (which doesn't make it right by the way), you are kind of limited to what kind of business you can put them in that they will do well, mainly restaurants. Whereas, as long as the business has door to walk through, i'm in there trying to place a box. I have them everywhere from oil change places to furniture places, to habitat for humanity places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donkata Posted December 11, 2015 Author Share Posted December 11, 2015 Quick update - the IOU system is popular. Many folks around here tell me they wouldn't buy anything if it weren't for the IOU, but sales numbers don't bear that out. Since I started it on Nov 18th I've sold $198.25 and collected $172.50 (12% short). 43% of money collected was by card. Prior to starting the IOU system the average daily collection was $8.00. Since starting the average is $7.84. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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