Why do operators decide to finish vending?

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valiant016
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Why do operators decide to finish vending?

Post by valiant016 »

I have noticed a steady stream of new vendors joining the forum.
Some are established businesses that have just heard of the forum and others are new to the industry.
Some will be running only a few machines on a part time business and others will operate hundreds of units.
It's good to see that this business is attracting new people.
It shows that there is still good customers out there and a decent living to be made.

Now, some of these newcomers will be starting afresh and others will have bought out other operators.

So......the key question, why do some people pack in vending?

Okay, ill health aside is there a common cause, or, are there many varied reasons.
Maybe if we discuss this then some of us may possibly avoid these causes in the future.

Personally, I suspect the majority of closures are down simply to profit.
Either the smaller vendors decide that the profits are not big enough to build a bigger business or the bigger vendors decide that they could get a better return elsewhere.

Let me know what you think.

Valiant
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Re: Why do operators decide to finish vending?

Post by Rossi fan »

I think it is a number of things.

Companies selling tower packages, make all sorts of claims about sales that dont add up. When the operator realises that its not as easy, they sort of give up.

There is always an air of instability about tower and toy vending- possibly to do with the fixed vend price, but due to recent competition, fears should be less at the moment.

Some people take this on and think it will bring them a better living and therefore give their job up.

Holidays/ impact on what is their normal life- e.g family can cause additional preassure, not thought of before starting in vending. If you are used to going away with your familly in summer, if you are a sole trader with 100+ machines, unless you have a trusted family member to top them up, you cant really go.

Tower vending is pushed as an easy living by some companies, ( Laying on a deckchair and waiting for the cash to roll in) but unless you are in a great area, have enough funds to buy 150 mcs or more- get them sited quickly and have a back up for illness/holidays etc, it can be quite difficult.



Paul
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choice vending
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Re: Why do operators decide to finish vending?

Post by choice vending »

I dont beleve you can run a vending business part time. Full time with all your enegy going into different vending projects is the way to go for me. Also the hardest obstical to overcome is cashflow. You need loads of stock sitting in machines ready to be sold. That stock say brought in janaury sitting on top of say 8 more tubs sometimes wont be sold for 5 months or so. Still you have to pay for in in january
Caserri

Re: Why do operators decide to finish vending?

Post by Caserri »

Here in the States, the biggest reason why vendors pack up is due to the lack of knowledge about what it takes to be a success in this industry. There are many, many bizops operating here that promise new vendors "quick and easy" money and sell them overpriced and inferior equipmemt and business plans. Once the new operator spends a ton of money getting started, they quickly realize that vending is hard work. It is nothing like what they were promised and the money jusy isnt coming in as fast as they thought. Eventually, they sell out, or worse, they abandon their equipment on site. The later makes it extremely difficult for established vendors to obtain new locations. Store owners usually do not want to trust another vendor once someone abandons equipment in their store.

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FlintVending
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Re: Why do operators decide to finish vending?

Post by FlintVending »

choice vending wrote:I dont beleve you can run a vending business part time. Full time with all your enegy going into different vending projects is the way to go for me. Also the hardest obstical to overcome is cashflow. You need loads of stock sitting in machines ready to be sold. That stock say brought in janaury sitting on top of say 8 more tubs sometimes wont be sold for 5 months or so. Still you have to pay for in in january
To right Brian :thumbup:
If you are going to get lots of machines in this business (100+), you cant do it on a shoe string!
It is essential to be propley capitalized
Its no good buying your stock in drips and drabs, it wastes money on carriage and you are forever sitting at home waiting for deliveries when you could be out filling machines.
You can hammer down suppliers on price if you are prepared to buy stock by the pallet
One other BIG reason for failure is suppliers encourage you to get too big too quickly thereby lining ther own pockets as quickly as possible!
My old business partner is in his 70s now but he had great Wisdom and always used the saying "slowly catchy monkey" which is very relevent too the vending business.
Dont be in too much of a rush to expand as bargains will always come along which are normally machines bought by individuals that have not thought things through thoroughly!

Nigel
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Re: Why do operators decide to finish vending?

Post by Venderbase »

Caserri wrote:There are many, many bizops operating here that promise new vendors "quick and easy" money and sell them overpriced and inferior equipmemt and business plans.
We have them here too. Using contracts to tie people into certain brands of product that only they sell at higher prices.
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