jgoldenmba Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 I'm in 100% commission sales so reaching out to people is something I'm very comfortable with. Here's my issue: 1. I want to keep dollars tight and get the best bang for my buck on my first machines, both equipment cost and good revenue locations. 2. I want to look as professional as possible. I want business cards, which I would need to have a website on it...and perhaps a business phone number... (The costs are adding up and we haven't even talked about equipment and inventory. And transporting expenses.) 3. I want so badly to stop by a couple of, what I feel could be, great locations, but I don't want to appear as a small time start-up and burn my one and only first impression. 4. I'm very thorough. I want to take in a picture of the machines to show them an example. But I have no idea what picture to take as I want to purchase used and I would like to locate prior to purchasing so I don't have to rent a truck twice. (If there were a smiley pulling it's hair out it would be here) What did you guys do for your very first pitch? What did you bring in with you? Were you licensed? Please help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurtsman Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 You don't need a website, especially when you are starting out. There, I saved you some money. I'm sure people who do full line can assist you more with your excessive start up cost creation. By the way, you'll look awful the first few times you present. Go do it to awful places that you don't actually want as accounts. It's a great way to get it out of your system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devin1986 Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 x2 Get some cheap business cards from vista print or somewhere like that, and just try to look nice and scout out a few locations. I'd just worry about having some business cards to hand out, and looking professional. The rest can come later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgoldenmba Posted August 17, 2010 Author Share Posted August 17, 2010 Devin, Weren't you looking at a snack machine? If not, sorry, 1000 posts begin to run together after a while... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devin1986 Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 Yep, I ended up buying that snack machine and location so thats 2 under my belt now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sphincorp Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 ur not gonna nail every location that you Solicite to,, so just get a going like the topic states_______..... everything will come in time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 2. I want to look as professional as possible. I want business cards, which I would need to have a website on it...and perhaps a business phone number... (The costs are adding up and we haven't even talked about equipment and inventory. And transporting expenses.) LOL what? business cards are like 40 bucks for a few hundred from office depot, if you cant spare 40 bucks to start your new business you may want to try to borrow some money. For a website i'd recommend setting up a website with wordpress, its very simple to add pages, change content, etc.. it requires no skill in HTML or anything like that. Once you have the content and structure set up how you want it get the site design done either by a local professional designer or go on elance.com and solicit bids. a quality custom wordpress template should not cost more than a few hundred bucks. You can also get a logo and flyers done up on elance.com too. for a business phone look up "google voice", its free you get a ph#, voice mail, call forwarding and it transcribes all the voice mails and keeps everything saved on your google account so its organized for record keeping 3. I want so badly to stop by a couple of, what I feel could be, great locations, but I don't want to appear as a small time start-up and burn my one and only first impression. common sense says, get your promotional s--t together first. i got a golf shirt (polo shirT) with my company logo embroidered on it , picked up the shirt at walmart for $9 and embrodery cost about $15 a the mall. I also got a ball cap because I have a medium length haircut and that way i can keep my hair under my cap to look more clean cut/professional. 4. I'm very thorough. I want to take in a picture of the machines to show them an example. But I have no idea what picture to take as I want to purchase used and I would like to locate prior to purchasing so I don't have to rent a truck twice. (If there were a smiley pulling it's hair out it would be here) i know what you mean, this one got me too, but if you know generally what type of machine just find a nice looking stock photo and note the dimensions. i dont have much experience, this is just common sense stuff, and things i read and were told by others. Im starting out locating honor boxes around the area where my current locations are. i've had success so far builds confidence and lets me kind of practice approaching people in a sales context, which i am not fully used it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgoldenmba Posted August 17, 2010 Author Share Posted August 17, 2010 dogcow, I understand $40 isn't much. It's not the cost of the business cards... it's the lack of the proper items to get them printed. phone, website, etc. I'll check out wordpress. What is an honor box? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 yeah dont bother with business cards unless you get the other stuff set up for the website you will need a domain (.com) and hosting, you can probably find somewhere that has wordpress already set up with hosting. not sure how tech savy you are. i would not use vistaprint for cards i have heard bad things about their quality and i believe the free cards have their logo stamped on the back anyway an honor box is a box with some sort of snack and a coin slot, you are on the "honor system" to deposit the appropriate funds into the box when you take the snacks. usually you see them with bulk candy (charity boxes) or lolipops but sometimes you will see them with snacks in office break rooms here is how mine looks : i also experimented with a homemade version using a bsket i got from the dollar store which i think looked nicer, but i had to destroy the coin box to open it, so it was not as cost effective. for this reason i abandoned this idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 If I may, No dis to DogCow but I have found VistaPrint to be excellent on quality and price. I can send you one of my cards if you would like to inspect their quality before spending your money. Also, "I know a guy" here on the forum that will set you up with a great website and/or hosting with reasonable terms. His services also include regular maintenance and updates so you never have to worry about fiddling with your site. Instead you can worry about building your business. He's also been known to extend credit for members of VENDiscuss. If you ask around, someone may tell you who he is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 If I may, No dis to DogCow but I have found VistaPrint to be excellent on quality and price. dont they put their logo on the back though? i mean would you really give out cards that said "GET FREE BUSINESS CARDS AT .." that is pretty cheesy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caserri Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 dont they put their logo on the back though? i mean would you really give out cards that said "GET FREE BUSINESS CARDS AT .." that is pretty cheesy. They only put that on the free cards. You can upgrade to the premium and there will be no logo. I pay around $10 for 500 premium cards with a glossy surface. They are running a special right now for 250 premium cards for only $1.99. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vending Gold LLC Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 Here are my options to you (which is what I did BTW) 1. You can get 500 business cards off of vista print for under $10 with shipping 2. You can easily create a website off of wordpress (be sure to search for free templates). 3. You can buy a website name for cheap from godaddy.com or cheapnames.com ( which would look like www.yourcompanyname.com) 4. You can get website hosting for $1.99/month to setup your website. When you get a host you will have an option to create email addresses which would be setup as (name@yourcompanyname.com) 5. Sign up for voice.google.com (google voice) and choose a phone number for free from there. Use this number as your business line and link it up with your current cell phone. This is a completely free service and all incoming and outgoing calls through it are included. You may need to create a gmail account first before you can create a google voice account or you can skip steps 2-4 and create a website through this company for free but it won't have a nice custom web address without spending a bunch of money for the premium services.. You don't have to be tech savvy at all to use the free sites. Everything is pretty much just drag and drop. http://www.webs.com/ You can look at my site and business card for ideas if you want. Good luck and I hope my post was able to help you out a little bit. www.vendinggold.com (created through wordpress) www.vendinggold.com/images/bizcard.jpg (Front of my business cards) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alboy88 Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 jgoldmemba just walk in tell them your a commission vendor ( if you are) show them some pictures of what you want to put in there just remember don't take it personal if they say no. if you don't offer commission , ask them if you can put your machine in there . all they can say is yes or no maybe right down a pitch and memorize it alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 All good advice. As for getting locations hone your skills by shooting targets first, then rabbits, the deer, then elephants. In other words start small and work your way up. If you want to show pics get some stock photos and tell them this is the type of equipment you use and what you will set up will be similar to what they are looking at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinnJinn Posted November 18, 2010 Share Posted November 18, 2010 I do NOT advise doing what I did on my first location attempt.... "Hi, I'm Mike with NinnJinn Vending, I noticed you don't have any vending machines, How much would you charge me to place one here." LOL You live and learn.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alboy88 Posted November 18, 2010 Share Posted November 18, 2010 mike you didnt? tell me you didnt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinnJinn Posted November 18, 2010 Share Posted November 18, 2010 mike you didnt? tell me you didnt? lets just say, that is why I stick to Flea Markets and am Saving up to buy a few machines and hire a locator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alboy88 Posted November 18, 2010 Share Posted November 18, 2010 you cant make money if you are being charged to install machines you should be charging them a fee to install Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinnJinn Posted November 18, 2010 Share Posted November 18, 2010 Guess I should reword how I say it. Basically what I mean is, Do you want commission or a flat monthly fee. So far the flea markets are just interested in making a flat fee each month. Which at one location If I was paying 10% commission, I would have to pay them almost 2x what I am paying now! On the other hand, the other flea market that is a flat fee, the first month there, I was in the hole by $8 after "rent" and cost of goods sold. They seem to think that 1 single soda machine is going to raise their electric bill by $30/month, plus the $20/month location rent. I am actively searching for a different location in that area that I can move the machine to. Since I have placed the machine there, the sales keeps going up and up each week. So I want to keep it in the general area, but find a lower rent spot for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antoniocinisi Posted November 19, 2010 Share Posted November 19, 2010 On the other hand, the other flea market that is a flat fee, the first month there, I was in the hole by $8 after "rent" and cost of goods sold. They seem to think that 1 single soda machine is going to raise their electric bill by $30/month, plus the $20/month location rent. I am actively searching for a different location in that area that I can move the machine to. Since I have placed the machine there, the sales keeps going up and up each week. So I want to keep it in the general area, but find a lower rent spot for it. maybe in july if it isnt covered it might be 50 bucks if its a bigger machine.remind them of the convinience of having the machine close.dont you think sales may climb enough that you wont have to move the machine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurtsman Posted November 19, 2010 Share Posted November 19, 2010 It seems like it may be worthwhile to figure out exactly how much power your machine takes, and translate that into a monthly cost you can prove. It shows you are professional, and lets you knowledgeably argue against absurd claims. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinnJinn Posted November 19, 2010 Share Posted November 19, 2010 maybe in july if it isnt covered it might be 50 bucks if its a bigger machine.remind them of the convinience of having the machine close.dont you think sales may climb enough that you wont have to move the machine? That is what I am hoping. October was the first month I had the machine on location. And I have already made up my mind, that I am going to leave the machine there until at least midsummer. When July/August rolls around if I have not seen an increase in sales, Say Double of what I am doing now, then I will pull it. So far in November I have seen an increase in weekly sales. At this location for October I had 69vends for the month.. Oct. 31st @7am I reset the stats and as of Nov. 14th I had 45vends. So if the average continues, I could very well see 90vends by the end of the month! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antoniocinisi Posted November 19, 2010 Share Posted November 19, 2010 It seems like it may be worthwhile to figure out exactly how much power your machine takes, and translate that into a monthly cost you can prove. It shows you are professional, and lets you knowledgeably argue against absurd claims. I did some research and not much came up.ninnjinn might have better luck.I can tell you the electric bill at the building where I have my "island" came to $130 this month.I dont have heat on,there is a 5 gallon water heater,I wash my hands there maybe once a week and use the florescent lighting for 10 hours a month.the rest is the machines.the candy bar and ice cream machine are easy on energy consumption but the soda machines are energy suckers.he may be right at 50 bucks in the hottest 2-3 months come to think of it if its a full size machine.the higher the amps the more energy consumption.you can see what they use on the machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinnJinn Posted November 19, 2010 Share Posted November 19, 2010 I have always been curious about the consumption, And am really tempted to buy a "kill o watt" Its a device that you plug into your outlet and then plug whatever you want to measure into the device. But yet I am kinda hesitant, lol If I find that the machines uses say $10/month in electricity, then I will be down right ticked off!!! But yet on the other hand, if it is close or over what I pay, then I would be Satisfied to ecstatic! I know the winter months are going to be very little energy, and summer will be much higher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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