Getting bigger, dealing with change

[AMD Snacks]

Well i'm up to about 120ish locations, about 50 of which are toys ranging from 1" doubles to (2) 4 head gachas the rest are candy. I gotta say aside from inventory and keeping product, along with servicing, the biggest thing i'm noticing is change. Not like money, things are constantly changing. Locations come and go more, business remodel and need things changed, locations want a different set up, have to locate more, just constant adjustments. 

That being said, one thing i'm doing now which might seem backwards is, i'm actually going more often to locations. I had some locations so fine tuned I could go right when it was empty, which in some cases was 4 months. But as I've grown, I've changed it to every 2 months max. (except my far away route which is 2 hours away) The reason is because locations don't seem to care about machines. They'll close, or move, or have a jammed machine or lost a machine, and just don't care to call. Commission, charity, doesn't matter. So now I go, even if it's just to check on my stuff and say hi. 

Anywho, haven't seen a ton of posts in this section lately, not sure if this is a universal experience or just mine, but I figured maybe this may help someone who's growing to know what to expect. 

[rodney69]

Same here.  I don't service more,  but businesses have been changing more.  I've lost about 6 stands in the last year,  but it doesn't seem to matter how often i service,  so I go as long as feasible. 2 service cycles skipped and I've saved almost enough to replace them. 

[Vendin it]

I think it's a good economy that hurts us, the location's cash register is more full & our commission is less meaning to them, the smart locations keep us knowing a slower economy is likely in the future. Been thru these good economy's with the Bulk route 2-3 times & i seem to lose more locations in them. I like a slower economy when the mom & pop stores are more hungry.