Start Up Continues To Grow

Hello,

Its Sunday afternoon and it's time to update for those that are interested. I've been out 2 times since the last update. I started a fifth route to put more time in between deliveries. The reason for the fifth route is sales are not where I want them to be.

Still getting resistance to the $1.25 price tag but I know it is the right thing to do with the price of gas and all other expences. I'm sure with time they will stop resisting the price. Every time I have raised prices there has always been a temporary dip in sales.

I will start replacing a few accounts in a few weeks if sales don't increase but I don't want to do it to quickly.

In the last two days out on the route I picked up 28 new accounts and now have 110 total accounts. Starting the fifth route I now plan on 300 accounts for this route. Ottumwa is the location of the new route and is wide open that is a welcome thing.

My Snack Box Start Up

Things have been going as planned up to this point. Last Thursday I went out with 20 boxes run the ten accounts I had and then placed 10 new accounts. Sales on an 8 work day cycle are running a little over $13.00 per box and right at 20% shortage.

I went to Muscatine Monday with 20 boxes and run the 10 established boxes and then placed 10 new accounts. My wife had taken the day off it was her birthday and I had hoped to get back early. As you might guess it was the longest day I have had since starting the route. I got done with the route and had placed the 10 new boxes about 2:30.

One of the stops I run yesterday did a decent amount of sales but the coin box was gone. This happens in this business I relate it to a board going bad in a machine. You don't want the coin box to come up missing nor do you want to buy a new board for a vending machine.

I will begin running 20 boxes tomorrow and my plan is to place 10 new accounts making my first 30 account route. By placing 10 new accounts each day I have been able to place a 50 case order every two weeks with Vistar out of Chicago.

I think at the beginning of this start up my wife may have wondered if I still had what it takes to start a new business at my age. I hope and trust that I have convinced her I still have what it takes. I have 82 boxes placed now and the goal of 240 is getting closer.
 
As Hanable on the A Team would have said it's nice when a plan comes together.

I took off Friday with 20 boxes, 10 to service the 10 existing customers and 10 for new accounts. I had 2 new accounts early. As I was running the existing accounts one told me they had changed their mind and wanted me to take my box out. They had 2 boxes from a competitor and they only charge $1.00 per item.

Now to stay even with my goals I needed to place 11 boxes. As my day progessed I had 2 of my existing accounts that where closed. I have not counted the money yet but it looks as though 2 of the 8 boxes I brought back didn't do much. The other 6 look normal to heavy use.

I do think I'm getting some resistance to the $1.25 price but still think it will pan out to be a good move.

I placed 11 new accounts but still had 2 full boxes because of missing 2 accounts and it was about 1:30pm. I decided to use the 2 boxes and went looking for more new accounts. At about 2:30 I had picked up a couple more accounts and now I have 52 accounts on my 4 routes.

I'm having a good time walking into so many businesses. Every morning at the YMCA gym there is a gentleman that comes in shortly after my wife and I get there. Until Friday I had no idea who he was. I walked into the Sterzings Potato Chips factory office and there he was. He and a freind bought the company a couple years ago.

He come over and listened to my presentation and said no he wasn't interested. We talked for a while and I passed a message on that a piano performer in Jamaica had asked me to give a freind of his that had married into the Sterzing family over 30 years ago.

It is truly a small world with many enjoyable people in it. Every day that goes by reconfirms that leaving my former employer was the right move for me.

Hello

I started 4 routes and I placed 10 accounts on each new route. The first route was started in Burlington Iowa the 2nd Ft Madison the 3rd Keokuk and the forth in Muscatine Iowa. If you look these towns up on a map they all set on the Mississippi river. Each one of these towns I'm planning on having 1 route in them.

I section a town off and work each open business. If my plan works I will have 60 accounts in each one of these towns. If your wondering why 10 accounts on 4 different routes its because it is cheaper to build your routes evenly rather than one at a time (less boxes setting in the warehouse waiting my next trip out).

A week and a day ago I turned in my resignation as the Iowa area manager for one of the larger vending companies in America. Three years before that I sold my full line vending company to my employer. 14 years of listening to customers complain and threaten to throw me out if I didn't do what they wanted was enough.

Before going into the full line vending business I was a snack box operator for 10 years. I'm back in the snack box business and enjoying setting up new accounts. My goal at this time is to have 4 routes with 60 accounts on each route.

I will run a route one day then the next day I will count the money and fill the boxes for the next days route. This will have me coming back to each account every 8 working days which allows them to eat enough product to make it worth my while. I'm charging $1.25 per item which makes me the highest price snack box operator in Eastern Iowa.

I started two of the routes this week with 10 boxes placed on each. Next week I will start 2 more routes with 10 boxes on each route. Friday I will start bringing the first boxes back with money in them. When I hit 240 accounts in a few weeks then it will be time to decide if I want to keep growing or not.

Some people think I'm crazy leaving my job with the vending company.  I've always told my wife at my funeral I want the song played I Did It My way by Frank Sinatra.