How to Open & Operate a Financially Successful Vending Business by Donald Rodrigue & Donna M. Murphy

Author:Donald Rodrigue & Donna M. Murphy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: vending company, business, business plan, vending route, buying products, own a business, operate a business
Publisher: Atlantic Publishing Group
Published: 2012-06-06T00:00:00+00:00

Protecting Your Products

If you are going to be a snack vendor, find ways to help your products stay fresh and protected from spoilage as long as possible. The best way to ensure this is to be cautious about buying anything on special. Anytime a distributor is offering you a truly good deal, it is for a reason. It is possible the company purchased too much of a product and is offering you the savings to help liquidate it. Then again, the product could be nearing the end of its expiration date. To find the real reason behind the special, ask the right questions. Is the product being discontinued? Is the product past its expiration date? Is there an overstock on the item? If the product is nearing its expiration date, you will have to decide if you can move it quickly enough without eating it — literally.

The last thing you want as a vendor is to develop the reputation of stocking stale or old snacks. This can cripple sales after just a few instances and can cause you to lose a good location. And do not forget the power of word-of-mouth. If you are constantly stock stale items at one location, chance are good that the word will get out to other locations where you have machines. That is the reason you must always pull snacks out of your machines before they go out of date. Pay particular attention to pastries and doughnuts, which have a much shorter shelf life than other items. If you find they are not moving quickly enough, stock fewer of them and fill the rest of the row with other snacks, or remove them altogether. You will develop better public relations by handing them out as freebies to workers than by taking a chance on somebody spending money on a stale product. In the worst-case scenario, they can be listed as waste and used as a write-off at income tax time.

One way you can help speed up the sale of products nearing their expiration dates is by the selective use of sales and promotions. For example, you can do a “Frivolous Friday” sale each week and offer one or two items for half price or less. It is important to place neatly lettered signs on your vendors that announce the sale in a big way. If you alternate the types of products, your customers might never realize why you are doing it. Once you experiment with sales and learn how to succeed with them, take advantage of those specials offered by your distributor. Just be sure you can still make a profit when taking the sale price into account.

Protect your snacks against the harmful effects of summer heat and humidity. Whether you keep your snacks and drinks in a warehouse, the garage, or a spare bedroom of your home, take steps to ensure merchandise is stored in a dry place away from direct sunlight. Take specific precautions with candies, especially the chocolates. Although cold temperatures are not so much a problem, a summer heat wave could prove devastating to your chocolate stock.

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