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Snack box update


bhumphrey829

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8 hours ago, bhumphrey829 said:

Well, Angry, this isn't net updates, these are gross sales.  

I know they are gross.  I was referring to my profit margin based off of gross sales.  If you make anything close to what I did (% wise) in 4 days then I think you are doing stellar!!  Might not be six figures but I'm sure most people would be happy to make what I think you make.

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Read the entire thread. Thank you so much for posting. I learned a ton.. I have a few questions..

My kids (17,16) have a 501C3 pending. They put on a film festival at a real Theatre as a fundraiser to help pay for the 501C3. They were looking for other ideas to raise money for themselves and their business.  They found  Charityvending.org.  The guy has been super supportive of them and is making them one of the charities where vendors like you could give back to their charity www.fosterforfoster.com 

I've read on this site people wouldn't pay anyone and some people pay up to 40.00 for a location. So charityvending.org actually sounds like a good deal to get going. They can make their own stickers to place on the boxes.  Side note: My other son made a feature film when he was 17 and he went to Albertson and Restaurants asking for food donations to feed the crew and actors. I went with him for support but told him I wouldn't say a word-he had to do all the talking. It was the most painful experience to watch. He talked in circles but eventually got it down.  I think these two kids would even have more difficulty but if they had placements to get going it would build their confidence.  So while I know it's paying a premium for a box I'm looking at it that they are paying about 25 a box to  get it placed. 

So if they go into a flower location are you guys asking to have near the register or breakroom for the employees? What businesses go in the break room and what goes near the counter? Do you cold call with box in hand? Or do you call and make an appointment first?

How do you pay route drivers? 

Does anyone use somebody else besides  Cameron and Sheridan for boxes? 

 

Would love to hear anyone's opinion on what I wrote. 

 

Thank you so much!!

 

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17 hours ago, matty said:

Read the entire thread. Thank you so much for posting. I learned a ton.. I have a few questions..

My kids (17,16) have a 501C3 pending. They put on a film festival at a real Theatre as a fundraiser to help pay for the 501C3. They were looking for other ideas to raise money for themselves and their business.  They found  Charityvending.org.  The guy has been super supportive of them and is making them one of the charities where vendors like you could give back to their charity www.fosterforfoster.com 

I've read on this site people wouldn't pay anyone and some people pay up to 40.00 for a location. So charityvending.org actually sounds like a good deal to get going. They can make their own stickers to place on the boxes.  Side note: My other son made a feature film when he was 17 and he went to Albertson and Restaurants asking for food donations to feed the crew and actors. I went with him for support but told him I wouldn't say a word-he had to do all the talking. It was the most painful experience to watch. He talked in circles but eventually got it down.  I think these two kids would even have more difficulty but if they had placements to get going it would build their confidence.  So while I know it's paying a premium for a box I'm looking at it that they are paying about 25 a box to  get it placed. 

So if they go into a flower location are you guys asking to have near the register or breakroom for the employees? What businesses go in the break room and what goes near the counter? Do you cold call with box in hand? Or do you call and make an appointment first?

How do you pay route drivers? 

Does anyone use somebody else besides  Cameron and Sheridan for boxes? 

 

Would love to hear anyone's opinion on what I wrote. 

 

Thank you so much!!

 

Hi Matty! Welcome to the forum!  If you don't mind, I'd love to help you out.  So are your kids wanting to start up an Honor Snack tray service or Charity Box service?  Honor Snacks are the larger boxes that contain regular size candy bars, bags of chips, granola bars, etc.; basically anything you may fine in a vending machine.  Those boxes are placed at locations in their breakrooms or an office, typically OUT of public access.  Charity or Lollipop boxes are a different beast.  They are generally filled with the smaller bite-size candies or lollipops and placed at accounts on the front counter or waiting areas; they are placed IN public areas.  I am in the Honor Snack business (snack trays) so I could give you plenty of insight for starting out.  First off, I would AVOID Charity Vending for your placements.  Locators don't exactly "Place" the boxes.  They "telemarket"call accounts and then give you the "placements", which are really only LEADS.  You then, several days after they called, go to these accounts and then have to "RE-SELL" your service.  Many times, the account changes their mind, OR claim to not know anything about it.  I would suggest your kids trying to place the boxes themselves.  Have them walk in WITH a box so that they can show off their service and place immediately when they get the "Green Light".  AVOID calling to set up appointments.  Most will be a big, fat NO.

As far as boxes go, I have my own box that I use, but anyone starting out should use the Sheridan or Cameron boxes.  They are good companies to do business with and provide an inexpensive way to get started.  I would stick with one of those.

Hiring a route driver should be the FURTHEST thing from your mind at this point.  If the kids (or you) are going to run the business, they (or you) should service the snack trays.  1.  you should not even be thinking about a Route Driver until you have about 1000 snack trays.  2.  Employees open up a WHOLE NEW CAN OF WORMS for a fledgling company, and expenses that you can not afford right now.  3.  Until YOU understand how your Honor snack company is supposed to work, adding an employee is just adding another opportunity for THEFT.  

If Honor Snacks is what you are leaning toward, I would purchase maybe 25 trays to start.  Pick up your inventory from Sam's Club (be sure to keep your costs in check).  Have the kids (or yourself) go Door-to-Door in your town or city and sell the snack trays.  Develop your service schedule and fill remaining time with days of sales.  This is how you slowly build the company, AND if the kids decide they DON'T want to do this, you won't have a lot of $$$ wrapped up in the project.

Feel free to message me anytime.  I am a 25 year veteran in this industry and LOVE to see new companies thrive in this business.  When I started, the Honor Snack business was SATURATED with companies, but as time went on, many have fizzled and gone away.  The industry seems to be on a rebound, so I would LOVE to help any way I can.  WIth MORE strong companies, the industry as a whole grows stronger.  Just my 2 cents!  :)

 

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Thank you so much! I will message you. Everything you say makes perfect sense. It's there money, time, and effort.  I have ben in sales my entire life so I like to research things if they have ideas. I read SO MUCH the last 48 on this site. When I went to bed I thought maybe the mints were the best way to go as it is only one product. Then when it gets hot swap out to Honor Snacks to the same locations as it seems like an easy transition. Or mints in the front snacks in the back after building trust with the businesses.

 

Thanks again!

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8 minutes ago, matty said:

Thank you so much! I will message you. Everything you say makes perfect sense. It's there money, time, and effort.  I have ben in sales my entire life so I like to research things if they have ideas. I read SO MUCH the last 48 on this site. When I went to bed I thought maybe the mints were the best way to go as it is only one product. Then when it gets hot swap out to Honor Snacks to the same locations as it seems like an easy transition. Or mints in the front snacks in the back after building trust with the businesses.

 

Thanks again!

Anytime!  If you start out with mints, which is just fine, I would maybe switch to lollipops in the summer or a non-chocolate candy.  Switching from Mint boxes to Honor Snack boxes would really not work, since they are two different animals.  Mint boxes being geared toward front counters for your Customer's customers, while Honor Snack boxes are meant for the back rooms or break rooms for your customer's employees.  Choose ONE of these options and do it well, before adding the other.  They REALLY do operate totally different from one another.

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On 4/12/2019 at 7:32 PM, bhumphrey829 said:

Weekly update:  350 locations.  Grossed $2,345.75  Avg. $21.50 per box.  Theft ran 12%.  Serviced 109 locations (ran 4 days)

Excellent Cash Collected!!  You have some GREAT volume going on right now.  SUPER week, my friend!  :)

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1 hour ago, bhumphrey829 said:

Thanks, Tony, still plugging away lol.  How are things going with you?

Going real well.  Business seems to be humming right along.  Looking to hire a Swing Driver right now (I hate hiring....lol) and possibly another packer.  Trying to plan my menu, if the weather ever figures out what it wants to do...LOL.  It was 60 and sunny (beautiful) on Saturday and then 25 and snow, rain and crappy yesterday...LOL.  Typical Michigan weather.  We can have all 4 seasons in a matter of 24 hours.  :) 

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  • 2 weeks later...
12 hours ago, bhumphrey829 said:

Weekly update:  VACATION!  Next update will be in a couple of weeks.

Enjoy your Vacation, buddy!!  Hopefully you're going someplace warm and sunny with tiny little umbrellas on the drinks!!  :)

 

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8 hours ago, flintflash said:

Enjoy your Vacation, buddy!!  Hopefully you're going someplace warm and sunny with tiny little umbrellas on the drinks!!  :)

 

LOL, going on a cruise to Cozumel, so yeah, the warm part is definitely right!

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13 hours ago, bhumphrey829 said:

LOL, going on a cruise to Cozumel, so yeah, the warm part is definitely right!

Nothing better than reaping the fruits of your labor!  Have an AWESOME time, my friend!  You totally deserve this.  Try to forget about work, it will still be there when you return.  If you get a chance in Cozumel, DEFINITELY check out the Mayan Ruins....well worth it!!  :)

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 5/17/2019 at 6:28 PM, bhumphrey829 said:

Weekly update:  339 locations.  Grossed $2,249.00  Avg.  $22.10 per box.  theft ran 8% serviced 101 locatons, (ran 4 days)

Hey brother!  AWESOME week you had.  Welcome back!  Hope you had a GREAT vacation!  Looks like business is going strong!  You had a MONSTER box average and SUPER shortages!  ROCK ON, Buddy!  :)

 

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7 hours ago, flintflash said:

Hey brother!  AWESOME week you had.  Welcome back!  Hope you had a GREAT vacation!  Looks like business is going strong!  You had a MONSTER box average and SUPER shortages!  ROCK ON, Buddy!  :)

 

 

7 hours ago, flintflash said:

Hey brother!  AWESOME week you had.  Welcome back!  Hope you had a GREAT vacation!  Looks like business is going strong!  You had a MONSTER box average and SUPER shortages!  ROCK ON, Buddy!  :)

 

Thanks,  Tony, it was a lot  of fun, but can't say i wasn't ready to get back to it.  So much different than when i had a "real" job lol

 

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