thevendingmentors.com | Barry and Lory Strickland

[jdebord11]

Does anyone have an opinion on  Barry and Lorry Strickland's thevendingmentors.com vending university program?

Just starting out and in need of helping hand with locating, putting site proposal/marketing material together, etc. and this appears to hit the mark.

At  $297, keen to hear if anyone else has gotten value from? (or has alternative program recommendations).

Much appreciated!

[orsd]

He is a vending machine dealer in SoCal. I had him move machines for me a few times before I got my own moving setup. Didn’t know that he was doing this now, haven’t talked to him in a while.

In any case, I personally learned the ropes from this forum. Read back posts and archives, you will learn a lot.

Reading thru his site 500k between 250 machines isn’t really all that impressive. It averages out to 166/machine/mo which are solidly mediocre locations.

In any case 300 isn’t the most expensive thing in the world, but you could probably find everything they teach you on this forum. I wouldn’t get the 97/mo mentor ship plan however. 

Or there was a guy by the handle RJT on this forum. He also does consulting, but more importantly has a book with some of the info you want. I’ve never bought it so I don’t know how good it is but it is cheap and he does know his stuff. Probably worth a shot. http://www.provendingconsultants.com/PurchaseBook.html

Or if you have questions post them up and we could probably help you.

[bullyfrog]

I wouldn't waste my money on any of these programs. There are no hidden secrets to vending machines that you need to pay anyone to tell you about. Spend some time reading through this forum, youtube and FB. If you still have questions after doing all of that then ask away and get them answered in real time for free. 

[AngryChris]

I have only heard good things about the couple you are asking about, and I have heard good feedback about RJT's book as well.  Personally, I don't care for his attitude and I disagree with him on some things but I don't doubt that his book has useful information.  He just rubs me the wrong way.  I haven't ever used any books.  I was trained as an employee to do the most fundamental part of vending (stocking and collecting) so I really just had to learn the technical side such as repairs and operations.  You can learn a lot of it here on this forum.

The hardest thing for rookies to grasp, in my opinion, is that this is a simple business of stocking what sells and making money by volume sales.  Too many worry about getting creative.  You don't need to though.  Just do what everyone else is doing but do it better.  The most successful vendors aren't winning due to innovation.  They are winning by keeping up with what people want.  It's that simple.  And also, don't get hung up on buying combo machines or brand new machines.  You can get quality refurbished American equipment (assuming you are American or Canadian) and you can get a solid first few locations without breaking the bank.  Or, you can still settle for cheaper machines if you have the means to move equipment and you find good deals.

The most crucial part of this business, other than stocking machines and keeping them working, is getting AND keeping good locations.  If you can secure and retain good locations for a long time, you can do very well in vending.  Perhaps I'm just slow to grow, or perhaps banks aren't friendly since the last big recession, but it took me 9 years to get to the point where I'm at but my problems are good problems now.  I have money and I can do things that smaller companies can't because lack of money and big companies can't because lack of workforce.