The Art And Science In Figuring Out Your Income.

[ThankYouComeAgain]

Hi, I've bought an account with 12 machines (snack, food, and drinks), and this account has about three break rooms.  Overall, I've gotten under 900 bucks profit a month on this account, and I still have room to raise prices in the future.  Before I raise prices, I'm curious, exactly how much do you look to make on an account that is like this?  How do you figure out how much money you're going to make on a new account if an opportunity presented itself?  I'm interested in the factors that you figure up that tell you about how much money you are going to make, even if it is in a given range of income and can not be exact. 

Here are the details concerning my one account, which I think you may call a large account, in case someone wants to know.

Break Room 1, Main breakroom, mostly blue collar types are the customers, and has;

1. 20oz machine that vends Gatorade and Arizona drinks at $1.00

2. Two 12oz. vending machines that sell various colas at .50 cents

3. One Food machine (Shoppertron 430D) that sells various food, OJ, Apple Juice, Cereal etc. but doesn't have the shockingly low prices like the 12oz. cola machines do.  The food prices were raised from $1.00 to $1.25 and $1.50 but don't sell like hot cakes.

4. One coin changer machine.

5. One snack machine in which the prices aren't shockingly low and neither are they too high.  I raised the prices from the shockingly low prices to just under what the competitors charge.

Break Room 2, Secondary break room, mostly white collar types are the customers, and has;

1. One 12oz. vending machine that sells various colas at .50 cents each

2. One food machine that sells juices and various foods as well as some Gatorade's.  Prices are the same as mentioned in break room one.

3. One snack machine in which the prices aren't shockingly low and neither are they too high.  I raised the prices from the shockingly low prices to just under what the competitors charge.                                         

Break Room 3, named "back break room", solidly blue collar types are the customers, and has;

1. One 12oz. vending machine that sells various colas at .50 cents each

2. One food machine that sells juices and various foods as well as some Gatorade's.  Prices are the same as mentioned in break room one.

3. One snack machine in which the prices aren't shockingly low and neither are they too high.  I raised the prices from the shockingly low prices to just under what the competitors charge.

[mission vending]

At those prices you must be doing at least 2200+ a month gross sales to make 900 profit, that's assuming you mean that you clear 900 after expenses.  You also have room to raise some prices, especially the 12 oz cans.

I guess let me turn the question around on you a little, how much do you want to make in there? The reason I ask the questions is that these type of accounts are highly coveted and I'm sure are solicited on a pretty regular basis by your competitors. How strong is your relationship with the decision makers? How good is your service level? How modern is the equipment? How much competition in your area?

All these questions play a role in what you decide to do. If your prices remain below market rates and you provide great service you are in a pretty strong position, even if the equipment is a little long in tooth. If you raise prices to market rates and a competitor offers new(er) with debit/CC acceptance with the same prices what do you think will happen?

So with that in mind, if you are happy with what you are making then maybe only a small increase just to get you COGS more in line with industry averages but also start thinking about setting aside some cash to upgrade equipment if it becomes necessary to meet a competitors offer with the extra $$.

Just remember the higher the volume the more desirable the location and the more you need to be aware of what other vending companies are offering their customers.

my .02

[NinnJinn]

Based on threads and posts through out the forum here, I am concidered the

"el cheapo under priced vendor here."

Even though I always have prices less than my competitors, on those 20oz drinks,  I would sell them NO LESS than $1.25!

So for starters I would raise the 20oz drinks up by 25cents.  you would be amazed at how much more money you would bring in.

As for profit, In general, I like to make a 50% profit/ double my money.  But on some things since I am still small and can't order thousands of dollars of product each month, I simply cannot do it, unless I want to charge $2 for a 20oz Coke product.

[ThankYouComeAgain]

I wanted to thank you for your responses.  I feel like in both cases the responses apply directly to me an my exact account.