Sunday, January 29, 2012

Vending Truck For Smaller Operators


I’m going to cover the way many smaller vending companies set their truck up. We will talk about the rack you put in the van, keeping it warm in the winter months and cool in the summer months. Let’s get started.

Smaller Account Truck


When starting out in the business as a sole proprietor we will normally be looking at accounts in the 75 to 250-employee range. You can set your truck up to be your warehouse on wheels.

Most venders in this category will use a system were they will go into the account and write an order then come back to their truck to pull the order.

By using this system when you are done you will have empty totes going back to your truck.

Safe Keeping Of Your Money


It is a wise idea to either buy a safe that can be bolted to the floor or making one. The nicest safe is a roll top truck safe you drop your money in and roll the top, your money drops into a locked compartment and the top rolls back for the next deposit.

Coolers For Chocolate And Cold Food

Transporting cold food can be accomplished by investing in a cooler that is built specifically for vendors. The Omni coolers pictured below are set up to carry all the refrigerated items you will need to become a full service vendor.

The unit is plugged in over night and it cools a large freezer plate on the inside of the unit that will keep your cold food cold the entire next day.

You can also buy chocolate coolers that have removable freezer plates. You remove the plates each night and drop them in a freezer to freeze them down then put them back in the cooler before leaving in the morning.

Building A Rack

If you are handy with wood it is not a difficult task building a rack to carry your dry goods. I always used ¼” plywood and 2 x 2’s for the frame.

By making the bottom shelves tall enough to carry a 20 oz case of pop you are able to keep the weight down low in your vehicle. The top shelf should have enough room that you can put cases of chips on it.

Pop will take up a good portion of the rack, as it is one of the most popular items you sell.

Keeping The Van Cool


I bought an AC/DC exhaust fan from an RV store and installed it on top of my van. I wired it with a toggle switch-one way it was wired into my battery on the van. Toggle it the other way and it could be plugged in at night to 110 volt with a converter that changed the 110-volt to 12 volt.

This helped with excess heat as my truck set out overnight and on the weekends.

Keeping The Van Warm In The Winter


If you live in a cold climate and the truck will be left outside you can run an electric heater to keep soda from freezing. It will keep the vans box warm over night.

If you are driving a Ford E350 van with a door going between the cab and the box you can keep the box warm enough to be comfortable while pulling an order.

Summary


The van I have just described to you is set up for the vender who goes in the account writes an order and comes back to the van to pull the order.

This system will require a two-wheeler and two or three plastic tubs to carry your product in.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Starting A Snack Box Business


Timing is everything, so they say. When it comes to starting a snack box business there is really no bad time. Snacks are an impulse item and when the boxes are placed the impulse makes your sales for you.

The winter months are a time that chocolate won’t melt. People seem to snack heavier in the winter months.  These two things make the winter months slightly better for starting a snack box business.

The slowest time of the year in the snack box business is all but over. The second week of December through the third week of January is the slowest time of the year in the snack box business.

Our mothers and wives start their baking about the second week of December and then comes the New Years resolutions. The New Years resolutions are coming to an end the third week of January.

In summary, the Christmas candy is gone the New Years diet has ended so it is the perfect time to start a snack box business.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Stale Products

Stale Product


Most all food items have an expiration date posted on the labels. Sometimes it is a julian date and sometimes it is a regular date.

There are many products that have such a long life on them that a vendor can be lulled into just assuming they are still in code. Keeping an eye on stales is a must, as most people can get rather upset over buying an item that is out of date.

It just may cost you an account if the wrong person buys or hears of the problem.

Shortest Coded Items


Cold food machines are the machines that have the shortest coded items in them. Sandwiches, salads, burritos, and meal entrees need to be checked every time you open the door.

The next shortest coded item is pastries. You will get about 10 days to 6 weeks to sell them. Pies are the shortest coded pasties I can think of at this moment.

Then come chips, crackers and cookies most of these products will have 6 to 12 weeks of life on them.

How To Dispose Of Stales


I know of no special way you are to dispose of stale product. Putting them in a dumpster is the common way. There are some companies that will take your food stales for a price and add them to a compost pile enabling you to say that you have gone green.

How To Keep Stales Under Control


If you are checking for stales every time you open the door of your machines or each time a snack box is refilled you will rarely have this problem.

If you have employees it is something you will want to train them to do or you could have a huge headache. Remember the date is the manufacturers suggested date but to your customer it may be a rigid line in the sand they refuse to cross over. When you are checking dates remember to factor in the next time you will be servicing this account.

Handling A Customer That Bought A Stale Item

In my opinion there is only one way to handle a customer that has purchased an out of date or stale item. That is to give them their money back, apologize, and let them know you are going to be taking corrective action to see that it does not happen again.

What Is An Acceptable Stale Percentage


Most vending companies think that stales should not run over 2% of the gross sales of product. If you are a snack box operator that % will run a little higher.

Summary


I don’t believe it is ever worth it to leave a stale in any machine or snack box. You must factor in the next time you will service the account and remove product that will become stale before you return.

I would like you to think of stales like this. They are a part of our business, they need to be controlled and you will never eliminate all of them. Is it worth losing an account that is putting $20,000.00 per year into your yearly income?

That could be the consequence for leaving a stale item in one more day.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Card Readers And Institutions.

Recently the credit card companies raised the price to vendor's with card readers. Can someone help me with which side of the business got hit? Was it the debit card or the credit card transactions?

Today I would like to talk a bit about closed loop card readers. Some colleges, prisons and other locations have set up, what I call, closed loop card readers (we will use prisons going forward in this article).

The way it works is a machine is set up that sells a card to a new customer and at the same time puts some credit on the card for the purchaser. The machine is close to the same size as a bill changer and works in a similar manner. A new customer puts in a $20.00 bill into a bill acceptor and normally $18.00 credit is put on the card. The other two dollars is a one time fee charged for the card.

When the card gets low on credit, the customer returns to the same machine. They put their card into the card slot and deposit a $20.00 bill, and the card is credited with $20.00.

The card machines money is collected daily by the prison and deposited into the prisons account. The machines in a prison are set up with only card readers so that cash does not work in them.

As a customer spends money in the machine it keeps track of how much money has been spent. Usually once per week the vendor will use a handheld device to download the sales information. It is then processed back at the office and a statement is sent to the prison for payment.

These readers keep track of a lot of information. Lets say that one of the inmates claims a machine took advantage of them. You, the vendor, can go back and check to see if that inmate even made a transaction at the time they are claiming the machine took advantage of them. Many machines will give them the credit back if they do not receive their product and you the vendor can check your records to see if it did.

Can you see where a card reader could help you gain business? 

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