Finding & Landing a Good Vending Machine Location
What is a good location? This question is relative, based on your company’s size and goals. A national vending concern considers a good account to have gross sales over $240,000 per year ($20,000 per month), whereas a small vendor working out of his garage might consider an account with sales of $6,000 per year ($500 per month) to be a good account. Start with your goals. What kind of vending machine business do you want? How much capital do you have? What are your operational plans? Is this a full time venture for you or a part time income?
For example, a vending machine account that generates $20,000 per month probably will have at least 6 vending machines (3 sets, snack/soda). These vending machines would need to be late model or new, an investment of at least $15,000 in equipment. To service an account of this nature, a vending machine operator would require:
* $2,000 in parts for immediate repair – Customers like this expect service calls to be completed within 4 hours of the initial call.
* A running daily inventory of $5,000 in vending machine product
* Service 2-3 times a day
* Fully insured – liability, workers compensation, etc.
* Paying a commission
* Driving a late model vending truck ($40,000)
* Extremely professional demeanor
* $62,000 in initial capital investment, plus ongoing expenses (telephone, office expense etc.), before the first dollar is generated
3 Types of Capital Investment for your Business – from a South African Perspective
Capital is normally required for three possible applications, namely:
1. Fixed Capital:
Fixed capital refers to your business needs to buy fixed assets. This means that you need the capital to buy things like buildings, machines, computers, vehicles and furniture. These items are normally purchased for use in the business and not for resale. The purpose is to generate sales. They do not have a resale value and can be liquidated again, but in most instances lose value over time. This is called depreciation. Depreciation is seen as an expense and is recorded in the income statement. Land is the only item that does not depreciate. Fixed assets on the other hand are recorded in the balance sheet. When planning your business you must determine how much you will need for fixed assets. This capital will then be fixed and will not be available to for something else. Note that there is generally a cost linked in obtaining such capital. This will limit the amount that you can justify. careful planning of your fixed asset requirements is therefore necessary.
2. Working Capital:
Apart from buying assets for your business, you will need cash to run your business. Capital that will work for you and generate a profit. Working capital is used to buy items like raw materials, paying wages and electricity. Since you wont have have an unlimited amount of money available and sales income is not always sufficient, planning your money supply is very important. To know how much money you are going to need and at what stages, you will have to compile a cash flow statement. Remember working capital is not profit, it is money needed to generate profit in the long term.
Enjoy Rising Fortunes in the Land of the Rising Sun
International couriers to Japan have been very busy in recent years, as the country’s economy has boomed, and businesses from other countries have attempted to access its increasingly prosperous inhabitants. The growth over the last half-century has been called an ‘economic miracle’, which has seen the country become the second largest economy in the world, behind the United States. During those years, generations enjoyed a lifetime of guaranteed employment.
Progress was slowed during the 1990s, as the state attempted to rein in the excesses of speculators, and overpriced assets were revalued. Nevertheless, as of 2009, the Japanese economy was worth approximately $5trillion (GBP3.5trillion), and the country was attracting record levels of foreign investment. Its industries are recognised as world-leading, especially in the fields of robotics, vehicles, machine tools, steel and electronic equipment.
Japan’s population is 127million, making it the world’s tenth largest country by this measure. Nearly a quarter of these people live in the Greater Tokyo area, which is the largest metropolitan area in the world. The capital’s roads are renowned for being extremely busy, but courier companies are nevertheless dedicated to getting their deliveries through, and giving their customers the excellent service which will help them make a positive impression in a country where quality service is highly regarded.
