seefoosam Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 I enjoyed reading this. I am fairly new but have 260 machines in 101 locations. Thank You for sharing your experiences Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParadiseVending Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Really enjoyed reading this. Seems you have done pretty well for yourself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spdydre Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 Well unfortunately I didnt hear back from either account so Im working on brushing up on my sales skills a bit and getting help from all the sources I can. It was a slow month for locating. I had alot of prospect accounts but they fell through. A few people here were also selling accounts but they were just way overpriced so I passed on those as well. I did pick up one new spot at the airport for a can soda machine which I will be delivering next week. It looks like a good spot with alot of employees using the area. So in all I only landed one location in 30 days which was far below what I was shooting which was 4 good accounts but its a start. October is here so time to regroup and start again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKK Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 what are your pulls now? do u offer a commission for electricity? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spdydre Posted November 7, 2011 Author Share Posted November 7, 2011 right now I am not paying anyone commission. Pulls are around $500-$600 a week now. I got the single can machine set up at the airport and they are wanting a snack machine but I am waiting to watch the sales to see if it warrants a snack machine in there. Right now I am working on a large warehouse location looking for a single can machine it seems like a good location and another location on the aiport which will be a can machine as well. Next to me doing some locating when I can on the weekends I now have two in person locators helping me out now. I am aiming at getting at least 4 accounts set up per month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbishop Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 right now I am not paying anyone commission.... I got the single can machine set up at the airport.... You have an airport with no commission? How small is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spdydre Posted November 8, 2011 Author Share Posted November 8, 2011 You have an airport with no commission? How small is it? Its very large but the companies and airlines I deal with on the airport do not want commission. One area they just asked that I place a water cooler in the breakroom and that would cover commission. I havent seen another independent vendor out there and because they cracked down on giving alot of vendors access to the airport since 9/11 many of the vending machines have been taken over by employees so alot of these companies/areas just want good service because most of the employees dont have a clue what they are doing. I am thinking of buying out some of the employee run areas to expand but alot want to much for bad equipment that has not been maintained and they have no sales records. They have some of the bigger corporations like dr. pepper etc doing alot of areas but they charge too much and the employees want cheaper prices and dont use those machines. Mostly passengers going through the airport are using those machines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spdydre Posted November 8, 2011 Author Share Posted November 8, 2011 Decided to take a picture. Here is one of my newer breakrooms. Third party Coke bottle machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spdydre Posted November 8, 2011 Author Share Posted November 8, 2011 plane landing on the runway just a pic for fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christirose Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 This is a great post. I'm working on breaking into the vending business and I love reading about your experience. Very helpful, thank you for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spdydre Posted November 23, 2011 Author Share Posted November 23, 2011 Well the unexpected came yesterday I received a call back from the school I previously proposed a deal to many weeks ago! I am going to meet with them again hopefully something will pan out. There is a total of 18 of their schools they are looking to get vending into so once again time to roll the dice and see what happens! My locators found a couple warehouse locations but I passed so they are still looking for other accounts. Will update in a few weeks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spdydre Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 Well today is judgement day I will be meeting with the director of operations for the school to look at two of the campuses one high school and one middle school. They are wanting to start vending in 5 of the 18 schools to see how it goes then go from there. After I look at all five campuses they would like for me to propose a deal which would have to include a fundraiser for the students. I am a excited and hope everything goes as planned. I did ask how they had originally found me and they said from one of my craigslist ads. So far craigslist got me the airport account and this one hopefully. Pretty crazy because its usually hit or miss and alot of patience with craigslist. Well wish me luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spdydre Posted December 4, 2011 Author Share Posted December 4, 2011 Well to update from yesterday I met with the director of operations from the school along with a few other directors. The meeting was pretty much them interviewing me and asking me a bunch of questions about my business. I took my book I had made with the laminated pictures of my machines and also my selections so they liked that because they could see what machines I would be placing and the dimensions and so forth. Some of the questions caught me off guard but I did my best to answer them. Just for a heads up these are some of the questions they asked me below... Are you part of the BBB? How many snacks can each snack machine hold? You are a one man operation what makes you better than a larger company? Why should we trust you? What fundraisers do you have in place for our students? What percentage do you give back to the school? We like responsive answers within 12 to 24 hours and you contacted us the day after we called why the delay? Do you have equipment ready to place now? These were just a few, afterwards they showed me each potential spot at the high school we met at and told me to get in contact with the rest of the schools and visit them then let them know once Im done, then they will make a decision at the beginning of next year most likely. Whew! Glad to get that over with hopefully I made a good impression what an experience that was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 What were your responses to the questions and now that you have had the time to think what would you change about your answers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillisNYC Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Well to update from yesterday I met with the director of operations from the school along with a few other directors. The meeting was pretty much them interviewing me and asking me a bunch of questions about my business. I took my book I had made with the laminated pictures of my machines and also my selections so they liked that because they could see what machines I would be placing and the dimensions and so forth. Some of the questions caught me off guard but I did my best to answer them. Just for a heads up these are some of the questions they asked me below... Are you part of the BBB? How many snacks can each snack machine hold? You are a one man operation what makes you better than a larger company? Why should we trust you? What fundraisers do you have in place for our students? What percentage do you give back to the school? We like responsive answers within 12 to 24 hours and you contacted us the day after we called why the delay? Do you have equipment ready to place now? These were just a few, afterwards they showed me each potential spot at the high school we met at and told me to get in contact with the rest of the schools and visit them then let them know once Im done, then they will make a decision at the beginning of next year most likely. Whew! Glad to get that over with hopefully I made a good impression what an experience that was. Getting the experience will only serve you better in the future, keep it up and you will make it yet! I am anxiously awaiting your next post to see how it all shakes out but it sounds like you are 'in the door'! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spdydre Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 On the BBB question I told them I was not a member currently but am in the process so my current and customers have somewhere to leave feedback and gain more trust in my services. I tried to stress the fact that dealing with a one man operation would benefit them because there is not alot of red tape to go through and I offer alot of flexibility and good service. Also there is no waiting for service calls because they can contact me directly on my personal cell phone for any issues anytime of the day or night seven days a week. So far I am still in the process of visiting the other schools but the ones I have gone to so far said they would like to have my machines and will recommend me to the business office. It has been time consuming to get appointments set because many of the people in control of operations for each school are swamped and do not have time to meet. This should be a busy month I had a three story apartment complex contact me that needs three soda and one snack machine and also I am in talks of taking over thirteen locations from another vendor who can no longer service his route. Hopefully everything comes together and these accounts get set up in the next month or so it has been awhile since my last account setup and I need to keep the ball rolling. If I had to change anything about the presentation I think it would be having a few more printouts and booklets of my services/machines to hand out because I only had one copy to give out. Also I need to be more prepared about the questions I am asked because I tended to hesitate on some of them and that might make prospect accounts think I am unsure or do not know what I am talking about. I will keep you guys updated in the next few weeks hopefully with some new accounts! Getting the experience will only serve you better in the future, keep it up and you will make it yet! I am anxiously awaiting your next post to see how it all shakes out but it sounds like you are 'in the door'! thanks Willis! Hopefully I am if not I did learn alot from it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spdydre Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 Woohoo! After months of waiting I finally got the ok on the schools last week!! Wow it took months but it was worth it! They liked that I offered coconut water and no one else offered it which was the deal breaker lol. Today I am setting up the first school I will try and take some pics once im done! I also landed three other accounts at the same time through referral and craigslist this past month. I have been so busy so I have not had time to update but I will keep you guys posted once I set up all the accounts! This has been a fun journey and pretty crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rnl828 Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Woohoo! After months of waiting I finally got the ok on the schools last week!! Wow it took months but it was worth it! They liked that I offered coconut water and no one else offered it which was the deal breaker lol. Today I am setting up the first school I will try and take some pics once im done! I also landed three other accounts at the same time through referral and craigslist this past month. I have been so busy so I have not had time to update but I will keep you guys posted once I set up all the accounts! This has been a fun journey and pretty crazy Congrats!!!! That is cool man. Are the soda machines all third party coke machines or did you get other types of machines to place in the school? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Woohoo! After months of waiting I finally got the ok on the schools last week!! Wow it took months but it was worth it! They liked that I offered coconut water and no one else offered it which was the deal breaker lol. Today I am setting up the first school I will try and take some pics once im done! I also landed three other accounts at the same time through referral and craigslist this past month. I have been so busy so I have not had time to update but I will keep you guys posted once I set up all the accounts! This has been a fun journey and pretty crazy That is totally fan dam tastic!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spdydre Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 Congrats!!!! That is cool man. Are the soda machines all third party coke machines or did you get other types of machines to place in the school? Thanks! I am using all third party for now and have been until I get enough cash flow to actually be able to support buying alot of used equipment for new accounts as they come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Policano Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Awesome story to read! I am new to the buisness and watching you grow and learn has helped me a lot! Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prainier Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 I've really enjoyed reading your posts. They're informative and educational. Thanks a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aus Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Just read through the thread. Congrats on the schools! I have no doubt the deal will be a winner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spdydre Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 Well to update you guys I have set up a few schools and they are doing great. I also picked up a few additional accounts downtown. Now on to the bad news! Just got the call today that I will have to remove my machines on the airport due to my sponsor filing for bankruptcy they are closing operations. The only other way I can stay on the airport is if one of the other airlines/companies I service decides to sponsor me but they do not like doing that due to legal matters if I hit a plane while servicing the machines they do not want to be at fault. So I am kind of bummed out but I am going to try and hit the areas/cargo docks outside of the airport to see if maybe I can move my machines into any spots around there. I have a few accounts needing snack machines so most likely I will transfer some snack machines of the airport to those accounts. Either way its part of the business just have to pick up and move on. Link is posted below and I will keep you guys updated. http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2012/05/14/colgan-air-to-close-iah-location.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted May 17, 2012 Share Posted May 17, 2012 Well to update you guys I have set up a few schools and they are doing great. I also picked up a few additional accounts downtown. Now on to the bad news! Just got the call today that I will have to remove my machines on the airport due to my sponsor filing for bankruptcy they are closing operations. The only other way I can stay on the airport is if one of the other airlines/companies I service decides to sponsor me but they do not like doing that due to legal matters if I hit a plane while servicing the machines they do not want to be at fault. So I am kind of bummed out but I am going to try and hit the areas/cargo docks outside of the airport to see if maybe I can move my machines into any spots around there. I have a few accounts needing snack machines so most likely I will transfer some snack machines of the airport to those accounts. Either way its part of the business just have to pick up and move on. Link is posted below and I will keep you guys updated. http://www.bizjourna...h-location.html That's no fun, don't let it get you down. Like you said pick up and move on to better things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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