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Re-Thinking My Bulk Route Plan


T BIRD

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Today was very tough for me.  I placed two machines this morning but I screwed up and forgot one of the candies when I got to the second location! ( Certs )......:shock: So I had to go all the way back to storage to get it. Then.......because I live on the ocean and the south shore here is a magnet for NYC people, the traffic was murder everywhere so I could not service the 6 machines I wanted to.

Oh well.  I am gonna be very busy after 5 PM every evening next week after work.  I can see that because I am going away to a car show with my T Bird in New Hampshire from Friday to Sunday evening. Hey......life is good.  I feel blessed.

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I made some collections this week.  I am very happy with how well most locations are doing.  My average per location is up over $22.00 per right now.  I had a couple of lock issues with XYZ machines though.

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Lock problems?  For example, share with the class:).  I ordered one and would like to know what to expect.  As always thanks.

 

Coop

The top lid lock on an EasyPro yesterday.  I could not get the key out of the lock and so fiddling around with it caused the rod to come unhinged down at the bottom of the middle part of the machine. And.......an XYZ single had an issue with its lid lock also yesterday.  I had an issue with it last month trying to get the key in.  I finally did and then yesterday I found the lid just sitting there on top of the cannister with the lock there but not attached to the rod.  Someone must have turned the lid somehow and the whole thing just opened up.  That was  a bummer since these car salesmen helped themselves to gumballs. I serviced and retightened it ( again! ).  If its still a problem I will pull the machine and put in another.  I wrote Kevin and made him aware of both issies.  I am waiting for his answer.
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I just heard from Kevin.  He will help me fix both issues.  Kevin has been more than fair with me ever since I started doing business with XYZ.  I totally intend on continuing to buy EasyPros for those very busy locations from him. 

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I finally did and then yesterday I found the lid just sitting there on top of the cannister with the lock there but not attached to the rod.  Someone must have turned the lid somehow and the whole thing just opened up.  That was  a bummer since these car salesmen helped themselves to gumballs.

Expect more machine tampering in automotive locations and only put your toughest equipment in them.  I had some gumballs completely spun out at a car dealer.  Car salesmen are such low lifes - maybe they were locators in another life!

Jax

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Right, automotive places and manufacturing places as well. Once one clown hacks it he will tell everyone else how its done.

Tough equiptment in these places and if you keep lossing product you gotta walk cause it will never get better.

Jimbo

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I am gonna check on that machine at the car dealer this week sometime. 

I have taken like 4-5 days off from vending.  First time I took this much time off not doing something or the other around vending.  That all changes today though.  I have 13 collections to complete in the next few days and I have 4 machines to place within the next week.  Those 4 will bring me back up to 41.

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I am very happy with the way things are going since I started in November.  I collected abit over $300 from 13 locations the past two days.  I got kicked out of a deli along the way today.  He did me a favor.  It was not performing at all.

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why did he give you the boot??what did he say?

Because he simply said he did not want the machine there anymore.  He is a new manager of this deli.  I just wish he had called me.  It stood in a corner turned facing away from everyone for a month.  He should have called.  The other thing was I asked to speak to him yesterday when I was at the counter.  The girl who relayed the message to him said he was too busy to come out.  And then she gave me the message instead.
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I got thrown out of another location last evening.  It was a take out rib place.  The manager said he read an article about someone choking and suing the store that the machine was in.  That was enough reading for him! So I got the boot.  This one hurts cause it was averaging between $25-$30  per month.:X

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I have been seriously considering expanding T Bird Vending the next few months to have at least 150 locations by the time the fall season ends.  And if possible, 175 locations by year's end. Obviously this will take me leaving my 9-5PM job to accomplish this and to keeping expanding after that.  I am going to sleep on it over the weekend.  I am leaning towards goin' for it though. 
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Jay..........no route buying.  Its obviously very ambitious in terms of the numbers.  I would need to find and hire a locator to come in and work with me on the expansion.  And then of course MidWest would continue to do their thing for the business.

The thing for me is to find a trust worthy locator who is NOT looking to come in and quickly place 50-75 machines and jet out of town in 2 days to his/her next job.  Thats the key for me.

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T Bird,

Keep us posted on how this is going..I would be interested in this type of growth as well... As a Realtor..the market is a bit soft and the income has alway's been up and down over the last 20 plus years...

I told my wife that my goal is to get enough machines/locations that the monthly house loan and the retirement package is paid for..that is between 100 -150 machines depending on the monthly vend $$...  I am working slowly toward that but like others ..somewhat impatient...

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Hey,

Make sure before you give up that 9-5 that you can eat and sleep on 175 located machines.  Hey, Bill Gates is one of the wealthiest men and he is a college drop out.  Sometime you just have to be willing to try.  IMO, failure is not trying.

 

Coop

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  • 3 weeks later...

I gave my locator a listing for a couple of hundred business' under one roof at a mall that I have 3 locations making money right now.  Some of the stores are big retail stops.  Hopefully they can get me some break room areas.  Break rooms have done well for me since I started in this business last November.

The thing with this mall ( and any mall really ) is there are alot of young employees that work in these stores.  So obviously young employees = loves candy!...........:cool:

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I have been seriously considering expanding T Bird Vending the next few months to have at least 150 locations by the time the fall season ends.  And if possible, 175 locations by year's end. Obviously this will take me leaving my 9-5PM job to accomplish this and to keeping expanding after that.  I am going to sleep on it over the weekend.  I am leaning towards goin' for it though. 

I think it is a great thing to be able to go for it full-time. IMO you should do it, but I would first save up a couple of months of profit so that when you make the jump you can make a large vending machine purchase and give yourself a boost so you will be able to continue to grow quickly. Good luck.

Joe

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