Friday, December 30, 2005

Coke gets the boot

A cold Coke will be harder to find for University of Michigan students when they return to campuses in Ann Arbor, Flint and Dearborn after holiday break.
The university on Jan. 1 will suspend more than a dozen contracts worth about $1.4 million with Coca-Cola Co. in response to student complaints alleging human rights violations and hazardous environmental practices by the soft drink giant in its Colombia and India operations.
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Wednesday, December 28, 2005

The Vending business

Vending as a business: Vending machines
The vending business has been in existence for well over 150 years and is currently generating many dollars in annual sales as a industry. Much of the industry today consist of smaller, independent local operators where initiative and hard work has yielded in many cases both a comfortable income and pride of accomplishment. Compared to many businesses, vending offers a great opportunity for someone to build a family run business. Vending provides the freedom to develop a business as you learn and can evolve into a full-time successful enterprise. This is truly a business that you can shape to fit your own personal life style.Hard work a must, as with any business the fruit of your labor is developed on how hard you work the ground.
A cash only business:
The advantage of vending is that it's a cash pay as the customer receives their product style business. You collect your "cash" each time you service your accounts and deposit it in your bank. The key to the collect your cash statement is sales and if the location is not a good location then you will not simply collect your cash, instead you will simple loose your cash. Make sure you put the right machines in the right locations and make sure you don't overpay for the machines. Developing a route is something that is a must for every operator to learn. If you want to be in vending then you must want to be a business owner, if that is the case then you must know that you have to be the best one running the business. To be the best one you have to learn what to do and not do when looking for customers. Locations are your customers and you need to get out and meet them face to face. Do not be afraid to ask if a location could use your services as that is what the vending biz is all about is locations.
Low overhead expenses:
Vending offers low initial overhead expenses. For example, as an owner/operator you can eliminate outlays for storage rental and utilities by working directly out of your own home. Make sure if you don't have a storage facility to keep your machines then don't order them until you have secured a locations for them to be placed. One mistake new vendors make is buying their machines before they have locations for them. The worst thing is a new vending machine sitting in your garage not making you money.
Silent salesmen:
The vending machines, when placed on location, do all the selling of the product. The machines are "silent salesmen" that are always on the job, 365 days-a-year. They display the products to every passing person, collect cash in advance, then deliver the product on the spot. Your job is to keep your machines serviced and stocked with desired products. The key to having good sales out of a vending machine is putting in what the customer wants. One story we always get is how poor a location is and the product just does not move. I always say that maybe what you need is a new product and not a new location. Before you give up on a location make sure you have tried all you can to make the location work. I have seen locations that one operator says is the pits and another says that same location has made them good money. Ask what the location wants and work your inventory around the majority wants of all your accounts and not by what you think they like.
Vending profits on product: Vending profits can be a good as 50% gross margin or more on each item sold through your machine. Income is determined in large part by the type and number of items sold, which in turn is determined be the number of machines on location and the traffic quality of these locations. Your success is determined only be your abilities as a business owner and entrepreneur.
We wish you the best of luck and welcome you to our industry. We look forward to growing with all of our customers and making new friends along the way. The vending industry has been very good to me and my family and we look forward to putting our experience to work for you. Happy Vending
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