alice123 Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Hello I am starting Alice's Vending in about 2 weeks. I will focus on Energy Shots and Energy Chews Any Advice? thanks Seleta Walker walkerseleta@yahoo.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kai1836 Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Hi and welcome to Vendiscuss! It sounds like you have some direction in mind for your business.....take some time and look around here there is a wealth of information that I'm sure you will find interesting. How many machines are you starting with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-man422 Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Alice, welcome to the forum! If you have not purchased the machines yet I urge you to read the info about Buzz Bites. The energy craze is going full force right now which leads to many Biz-Ops. Just be careful. Also, what machines/product are you planning on going with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer980 Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Welcome to the family. If you can fill out your profile city so we can better help you. The only advice I can give on the energy chews is to read, read, read and read all you can find on the board. Some do ok some do not. I think it is a niche market item so the success may vary from location to location. We are here to help so go ahead and ask in the Bulk Area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bravo Duck Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Seleta, the other guys are too polite to say it directly, but I'm not. DO NOT BUY EQUIPMENT FROM ANY ENERGY PRODUCT DISTRIBUTOR ! If you have already done so cancel the charges on your credit card and return to sender send the stuff when it arrives. If you want to be in the Energy business we will show you a much better way than buying their overpriced junk equipment. I hope I didn't offend you by being blunt, that was not my intent, but a lot of people I've talked to have lost many thousands of dollars trying Energy vending. I don't want that to happen to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sterling Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Find out what kind of product a location would what and fill the need. Ask before you put a machine on it. Here is an example I have a taco shop that had 3 triples on it. It was only doing $18/month. The shop owner kept telling me bring in Homies. Well I did. That location did $80 last month! Don't limit your market and find out what people want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ladygendre Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Hi All: Ladygendre here. New to the forum and new to vending as well. My husband and I are looking to get started in about a month. We want to purchase about 10 machines to start. Would like to know the best machines to purchase. Is it recommended that a new vendor use a location service when you first begin? Also, where is the best place to locate used machines to begin? thanks Ladygendre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reel Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Im not based in the US, however, here in Aust i find 10 machines is simply insufficient in terms of return on investment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer980 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Welcome to the information station. Some never use a locatore some always use one. It is always encouraged to try it yourself first and we can help you there. If you decide that you don't like to locate then they run $50-$60 a machine. We have a machine review section that has most of the machines you will see. Everyone has their favorite machine so it is a loaded question. There are some that are real work horses and some for the middle area and some budget ones. A good place to start for you is Craigslist near you like Upper Marlboro or Laurel. If you are closer to DC or Alexandria then try that Craigslist. You should definately get some good results from there. Don't be afraid to ask us about any deal you might consider in the Bulk Area of the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alice123 Posted April 8, 2009 Author Share Posted April 8, 2009 hi i am interested in atms or combo snack soda vending machines . i have to be able to lease the machines. i am getting all the up front cost paid for and a few months on the lease then i have to take over. I need to have enough machines out there to make enough money to pay for th lease and to also lease more machines . i appreciate you suggestions thanks Alice's Vending Co Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alice123 Posted April 8, 2009 Author Share Posted April 8, 2009 hi Gabe i am not inteested in the enery buzz bites or energy shots anymore i am interested in a combo snack and soda machnes or atms if i deceide on the combo snack and soda machines i will probably sell a energy drink shot. or buzz bites your feed back is important tanks Alice's Vending Co Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bravo Duck Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Seleta, If you want to vend soda/snacks then combo machines are not the way to go because most combo machines don't hold enough product to keep you from constantly servicing them in good locations and don't make enough in poor locations to make it worthwhile. Used full size soda machines are cheap in the major metropolitan areas ($500-$700) and good snack machines are a little more but they hold enough product to be useful and are much more reliable. I know nothing about ATMs so I can't comment there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alice123 Posted April 9, 2009 Author Share Posted April 9, 2009 thanks tom for your advice. i realy did not want to soda machines because of the heavy lifting. also most locations have soda machines so i thought i vend something different like vitiamn water or gatorade etc. somtimes vending gets so confusing. i have a company tat will pay all start up cost if i lease they will also pay the frst 3 montrhs of the lease, do you know any companies ot there that will work wih me thanks seleta walker alice's vening co Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bravo Duck Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Seleta, It sounds like you're under-capitalized and the main reason you're looking at this particular opportunity is because they will front you the money. That is a very bad reason for making a business decision. I understand that you're excited and want to jump in with both feet. I also understand that you feel that by simply signing your name you will instantly become self employed- that is not realistic. Unless you have a lot of capital it will take years to build a vending business from scratch that will bring in a liveable income. Everybody who starts a business wants to make money, yet I read a statistic somewhere that like 80% of small businesses fail within 2 years. From my observations it looks more like 90-95% bulk vendors fail. Before you sink your first penny into a business, evaluate it thoroughly to make sure you can accomplish the goals necessary to make the business work. A successful vending business requires 3 main things. 1. Capital- vending needs lots of it. Equipment and product are the biggies, but there are a million little expenses also. With bulk vending you can start small and see if its for you but once you're committed to replacing your income it takes significant amounts of capital. 2. Time- building a business takes time, it will not happen over night, (although biz-ops will tell you what you want to hear to get your money). The more capital you start with the less time it takes and vise-versa. 3. Knowledge base- you need to know how to efficiently and PROFITABLY run the business you're trying to grow. You wont start out knowing everything, but you should go in knowledgable enough to not make a decision bad enough to sink the business. If you have no money to start a business, don't go out and borrow a bunch, its a sure-fire recipe for disaster. Sell some things, get a second job, get some money together and try it on a small scale, if that works for you then you can scale it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nam Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 Seleta, Welcome to the forum. I see you already have some ideas on what you think you might like to do. My first suggestion to you would be to do nothing for a couple three weeks. Spend all your time reading and searching the fourm threads on what you think you want to do. It's very possible you may change your mind after doing a little more research here and learning from people that have already been there done that if you know what I mean. Leasing in generally not a good idea. Usually everything comes at a price and that price of leasing is overpaying for equipment - big time!!! Not being able to get out of the contract for several years no matter how poorly the machines are doing. The company selling you the machines will usually sell the lease to another company (the leasing company) that is a glorified loan shark that will eat you for lunch. The ATM business is extremely competitive and not something to jump into without alot of research. Many of the companies are business opps that will take advantage of you and the locations you sign up. The contracts are horribly slanted in favor of the ATM company and the company doing the leasing of the ATM. Do check out our "shop and swap" section here in the forum. We have an area for craigslist and also ebay ads and many are listed by the area of the machines for sale. This is a great place to learn what machines should sell for and maybe find some great deals yourself which might let you start your business without signing any lease agreements. Never buy a used ATM until you know alot about the business!!! Many will cost more to meet to standards called triple DES encryption than the machine is worth. Never believe what they tell you it will cost to update. Well, too long of a welcome but as usual if you ready my post I'm a bit long winded at times. lol nam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alice123 Posted April 13, 2009 Author Share Posted April 13, 2009 Thank you I really appreciated the advice. I have been looking into the vending business since dec 2008 I really want to get started. If voc rehab will help me get started i think i need to get started. at first i wanted candy then energy shots or energy chews, I did alot of research and now i want either atms or combo snack or soda or a soda water machines or snack machines. I know leasing is probably not the way to go but if it helps me get started i need to get going, and the way things are looking it might be the only way to get started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Coast Vend LLC Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 Welcome to VENDiscuss.com Seleta. It looks like you are already underway with the members. I hope this helps you make better discussion for your new business. We love helping out so just ask away... Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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