About the Book
Book & CD-ROM. Do you want to own a business that does not confine you to a desk, where you are able to make your own hours and as much money as you want to work? According to the U.S. Department of Labor's most recent statistical data, the median annual income of someone in the vending industry is $29,000 and, as a business owner, you could make even more. If this sounds like something you would enjoy, and you are thinking about opening a vending business, then we have a book that will answer all of your questions. From start-up costs to vending machine best-sellers, this book will be your comprehensive guide on how to make the most money in a short amount of time. Whether you will be operating out of your home or you are looking to buy or rent office space, this book can help you with a wealth of start-up information, from how to form and name your business to deciding if this will be a joint venture or if you would rather work solo. Valuable information on forming a Partnership, LLC, Corporation, or becoming a Sole Proprietor, the four types of business formation, is included, as well as the legal implications of each.
This comprehensive book will provide a checklist of everything that you need to get started, including start-up equipment that you should purchase immediately and how much product to buy. Budgeting sheets will help you estimate start-up costs and profit and loss statements will help you gauge your earnings. You will learn about potential risks that you take in opening a vending business and how you can minimise your losses. This complete guide will take you step-by-step through the process of buying new or used vending machines, acquiring a previous route from another business or finding new clients of your own, and how to efficiently service your machines in order to make the most money. Additional information is included on buying products for your machines, including how to get the most for your money and how warehouse retail stores can save you hundreds of dollars. This complete manual will arm you with everything you need, including sample business forms; contracts; worksheets and check-lists for planning, opening, and running day-to-day operations; lists; plans and layouts; and dozens of other valuable, time-saving tools of the trade that no business owner should be without.
A special section on what items typically have the highest sales in vending machines is included, as well as sections on storage ideas for keeping your product fresh, when to reorder product, and how much back-stock to keep depending on the number of clients you have. While providing detailed instruction and examples, the author leads you through every detail that will bring success. You will learn how to draw up a winning business plan (the companion CD-ROM has the actual business plan you can use in Microsoft Word) and about basic cost control systems, copyright and trademark issues, branding, management, legal concerns, sales and marketing techniques, and pricing formulas. In case you decide to open a full-service business, you will learn how to set up computer systems to save time and money, how to hire and keep a qualified professional staff, how to meet IRS requirements, how to manage and train employees, how to generate high profile public relations and publicity, and how to implement low cost internal marketing ideas.
You will learn how to build your business by using low and no cost ways to satisfy customers, as well as ways to increase sales, have customers refer others to you, and thousands of great tips and useful guidelines.
About the Author :
Donald Rodrigue is a seasoned reporter, writer, and editor who has worked in every aspect of journalism, from beat reporting to news and travel writing to corporate communications. After earning a degree in journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1993, he began his career in the mid- 1990s as a reporter for a small daily newspaper in Picayune, Mississippi, just north of New Orleans. From August 1996 to December 1997, he lived in Costa Rica, where he picked up the Spanish language and honed his travel writing skills. Upon his return to the United States, he eventually ended up in Miami. There, for almost nine years, he worked as an associate editor for HCP/ Aboard, a custom-publishing division of the Miami Herald and the McClatchy Co. During that time, he perfected his skills as a travel writer, traveling up and down the Western Hemisphere from San Francisco to Peru documenting his experiences. One of the last travel pieces he wrote for the company on Western culture and the rodeo in Houston earned him a prestigious Magnum Opus Award in 2008. Since leaving the company to relocate to Port St. Lucie, Florida, Rodrigue has been covering community news on the Treasure Coast and freelance writing for a variety of publica- Author Biographies 284 How to Open & Operate a Financially Successful Vending Business tions. He also drew on his own business experience for his latest endeavor in authoring How to Open & Operate a Financially Successful Vending Business. From 1988 to 1995, he worked as the sole proprietor of his own business, Rodrigue's Wholesale Company, buying and selling merchandise and running more than a dozen sales routes through Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
