Any advice for Noob?

[Ade]

if hurleys went bust i would self pack everything or go and get a 9-5 before i done business with tubz vending lol, i have no respect for them whatsoever

[Briand26]

Thanks for the replies fellas; much appreciated.

I am based in Glasgow and will remain working in my full time job.

If I reach net profit of 30K I would go part time and enjoy a better work/life balance.

I think starting off with 10 towers is the best way forward so I can get a feel for the Industry and also start looking for sites in my locality.

With 300 towers as the goal for 30K net profit I have a long road ahead but I welcome the challenge.

thanks again for your advice.

B

[Tufty]

Hi Brian,

Good luck with it all,what’s your next step? Are you going to independent of franchise route?

Whatever you choose Barbara will be very useful in helping you get started. I think the site finding in and around Glasgow might be your biggest challenge but I’m sure there will still be opportunities especially if you are willing to travel a little. Sites come up for sale regularly too so that can be a good way of expanding. Hope you hang around on the forum and keep us up to date with your progress :)

[Briand26]

Will make a decision in the next few days with a view to be putting towers out to sites first weekend of Feb....Will post updates with many more questions no doubt!

[PabloV8Haggis]

So did you take the plunge Brian?

[Goldflake]

Hi

I bought a 25 machine package from Hurleys about two months ago and so far all is going well and I am really enjoying it . I went with Hurleys mainly because the deal I got with them was cheaper plus they said I would not be tied down to any contract and I could buy products from anyone . tubz vending were suggesting I would be tied into buying from them , From what I have read on here other people don’t seem to have this problem but it is definitely what tubz vending told me when I asked the direct question. I had several long conversations with tubz vending and felt that there was an element of the hard sell about them but that’s just my personal experience.

25 machines feels like a good place to start ,I wanted to go for 50 but my wife wanted me to start with 10 so we agreed 25 as a compromise and I am so glad we have . Hurleys (Barbara does the site finding for them I believe) found 25 sites and all machines were sited within a couple of weeks and that was a lot for me to keep up with as when sites are new they sell a lot of sweets as they are a novelty and it has taken me a long time to settle into a site visit routine and to be honest I am still visiting some sites too often. So takes a bit of tweaking and planning.

I have now 2 sites where the owner wanted them removed and a further3 or 4 that I want to move on as they are not doing any Buisness so will probably be asking Barbara to help me find some new sites.

The other thing that takes some learning and will hopefully come to me with experience is stock control and what products sell where. I initially let Hurleys choose my original stock but have been trying out different products and am still nowhere near working out a good formula as to what sells where . An example is I have two pubs virtually opposite each other in the same high street in a small town one sells out of fizzy melon slices every week the other pub sells none. I assumed that similar clientele use both pubs but either this is not the case or one regular or staff member can’t get enough fizzy melon slices and either never visits the other pub or is barred, I have another site that one week did 35 pots and the next week 3 so keeping up with 25 sites as a newbie is quite a lot to cope with .

My plan is once I get my 25 towers settled In reasonable sites I will start buying second hand machines and adding them gradually until I get to where I want to be . I think this is a sensible approach to grow your buisness slowly .

So to summurise I am happy with my package from Hurleys , everything turned up without a hitch , all machines were sited quickly and stock arrives on a next day basis so you can’t argue with that for service . Paul is always happy to answer my questions and has helped me resolve a number of teething issues . I would say 25 is the maximum I would recommend to start with from my own experience . But all in all I am enjoying staring out and can’t wait to get enough machines so that I can give up my job and do it full time .

Good luck with whichever way you go .

Roy

[Coin Operated Group]

i am voicing my opinion from my experience which is exactly what the forum is about, anyone can make there own opinion were all adults lol.
no love lost with me and tubz vending vending so i dont need to hide behind a pm. i had liability insurance at time as i have now, i am also passed by local council to self pack, tubz vending vending just threw their rattle out because i didnt want to buy off them, as you said you have spent 100k so your really not going to experience this with them, which really backs up what i said originally lol.

Yep, that's why forum was started many years ago because of the shocking behaviour of tubs. When someone had a problem ie pot jams or machine breakdowns or sites refused on arrival or low sales theyvare told it was an isolated incident nobody else was suffering same problem. Hence the forum came about for operators to share experiences good and bad

[Ade]

and long may it live matt, glad you were around to create it

[JimBoB1975]

I don't post very often but read a lot of the forum, it is very helpful and resourceful

Thanks

James

[candymanessex]

Hi Brian,

I started back in November last year, with a x60 bundle, from tubz vending. My initial business plan is to earn £5 net profit per week (per site, including multi sites i.e pringles and sweets). I'm in the process of siting my final two machines this week.

As a summary of my experiences so far I would let you know;-

- Expect about 5 - 10 rejections, where they change their mind on delivery and you don't deliver the machine.
- This could be because they didn't want to say no to the person on the phone
- They already had a machine
- They simply changed their mind when it arrived and they saw it

- Expect a few sites to not perform and don't hang about when it comes to removing and finding a new site.
- I like to give it two months to really know if it's going to work
- I expect the guys and girls here have their own formula for dealing with poor performers

- Be realistic about what you are going to get back in profit and stick to your own rules i.e. don't increase your investment in more machines until the ones you have are hitting your business plan target.

- Be open minded about each site. I have a few tiny little pubs that do £10 per week net profit and a couple of Homebase garden centres underperforming.

- Try to come up with a fuel/time efficient delivery round as soon as possible. This isn't easy, as some machines run out faster than others.

Right now I am on track with my business plan and about to expand by an additional 30 machines, to get to 90.

I'll let you know how it goes at the end of Feb.

cheers and good luck!