Vending Business- Competitive Advantage

Every business is started with a mission. As a businessman, you have to plan a lot to keep your self moving towards it. Like every business has its own elements, vending business is driven by excellent products and ease to customers. By keeping your-self updated with changing vending technology and by following up with product preferences with customers your vending mission to generate appreciable profits can be accomplished.

Most of us are aware of the fact that vending business has high returns on investment. But this is not the only thing you need to know before you take up this business. A thorough understanding of all the facts related to this business will help you in having a complete vision about the business and its complexities. If you are novice in this business then you can seek advice from Planet Antares experts. The company runs an excellent program for entrepreneurs under which they educate them about setting up business from scratch.

There are many advantages of choosing a vending machine business such as low capital or set up cost, no advertising and selling costs and most importantly no bad debts. All these factors make this a high profit and low cost business.

The kind of product chosen and the place where it is located also influence the revenue earned in a vending business. Few tips that aid in most appropriate vending machine placement are:

• Easy accessibility: The machine should be placed at location of high visibility/ accessibility.

• Busy areas: Vending machines should always be located in areas where there is heavy foot fall of target customers. Such places could be - exists in lobbies, rest rooms and malls.

• In case vending machines are used in offices, at-least one machine is to be used for every 50 employees. This would reduce interruptions and waiting time per employee.

• Choosing the right type of vending machines for your location is also very important. Based on your location, you can choose a glass front vending machine or a closed door vending machine.

Starting a vending business is very easy and making money out of it is even easier when you have a right vending partner by your side. Planet Antares vending machines are state of the art vending equipments designed for perfection. Great designs and attractive colour makes them a No 1 choice among vendors.

How To Expand An Existing Vending Route

Why should I choose vending machine business? This question can be answered by stating the benefits of vending machine business.

• This business offers extremely high profit margins.
• It is a complete cash business and does not have the risk of running into bad debts or other collection issues.
• No time limitations and you can operate round the clock. This means you can earn money 365 days.
• You can continue with your regular job while taking up vending business as a part time option.
• You do not need salesmen to sell the product. Vending machines are your man power.
• You can enjoy tax exemptions
• You need not incur additional overhead costs like advertising, stationary costs. All you have to bear is repair and maintenance cost.
• You earn immediate returns: Your income starts as soon as your machine is located.

Every business is started with the aim of expanding further. A vending machine operator comes across a situation where he needs to plan for further expansion. Few steps that can guide you in a successful vending route expansion:

• Try to add more machines. Try increasing the product variety (add similar kind of products). For instance, if you sell Coke, then add Pepsi to it.
• You can also increase the product line i.e., if you are selling soda, then add sandwiches to it.
• Identify areas that need vending services and offer to locate your machines there. You can also identify prospective locations in your existing vending route.
• If the vending route is becoming too complicated to handle, then employ a worker if required.
• Try to advertise by distributing brochures or pamphlets. These direct channels of advertising can help in market penetrating.
• Also try and utilize the indirect mode of advertising i.e., through word of mouth. Ensure that your customer is satisfied and suggests your product to ten other customers.

When ever you plan to start a vending business, or when you plan to add up more vending machines to your route, try contacting Planet Antares Inc to seek advice. They have a remarkable vending program ideally designed to suit all locations. They also provide expert advice on setting up vending business from scratch.

Vending Route Plan Critical For Business Success

After selection of product the next crucial decision is about location for setting up business. Whatever business you take up SWOT analysis is highly essential. Assessing ones own strengths, weaknesses, business opportunities and threats from existing competitors determine the success of any venture. A small market research has to be taken up by each individual before starting up his/her own business. This will help in gaining a thorough knowledge about the market, product, competitors and latest trends in customer’s tastes and preferences.

Profitable vending location is unquestionably the most important factor in giving a quick start for your business. With vending industry being a big success, more and more players are entering the market. This results in several owners placing their machines within a smaller radius. In such a situation, route plan becomes important for effectively managing your work.

Few steps have to be borne in mind while designing a route plan

• Demand for the product: If footfall is high is a particular area and you notice that your product gets sold quickly, then you need to replace it may be once or twice in a week.

• Are there any troublesome areas? If yes then maintenance to those areas should be provided only during day time.

• Companies like Planet Antares provide guidance on route planning to assist you. Self evaluation is advisable before completely relying on these route planners. Self assessment will help you understand better the foot fall in that area along with the scope of sales for your product.

• If you have hired a location, you need to pay the owner his rent. This amount has to be deducted from your total earnings.

• Vending machines should not be left long unattended. This might increase the chances for theft.

• Ensure regular replacement of old and outdated stock. This will built confidence in the minds of customers.

• Perfect condition and regular maintenance prolongs life of machine

• It is always beneficial to purchase new machines from established manufacturers like Planet Antares. This will guarantee performance and avoid unnecessary break downs.

• Develop a route schedule in such a way that you visit near by ones first and the others later. This will make sure that you do not waste time.

For effective planning of vending route, contact Planet Antares support staff, they have an amazing customer support program where they guide people on setting up vending business from scratch.

What customers want in a vending machine?

The vending business is growing at a tremendous pace and all vending operators and business owners need to understand that they have to meet the customer demands if they want to compete in this highly competitive industry. Vending business owners need to start understanding the needs of customer at different locations. For example if the vending machine is placed at school then it should vend health products, a coffee vending machine would be better suited in the teacher’s lounge and likewise for all locations.

America is getting health conscious by the day and health products are in demand. Moreover, even the government is promoting health products. Consumers like to cut down on their carbohydrate and fat intake and increase their protein intake. To make sure that you keep making money in the vending business, you will have to adapt to this change and look for stocking products like roasted peanuts, health drinks, protein bars etc.

In some locations you will see that coffee sells more than anything, you should be ready to experiment with some snacks that would go well with coffee. The tastes of customers tend to change along with weather. It is important that you remain ahead and change your products keeping in mind the weather.

Keep in mind that customer is the king and you will never go wrong. Take customer feedback, whenever you can and act on suggestions made by them to make them feel important. Like the old psychology books say that if you make someone feel important, your action will always be reciprocated and in this case it will be trough sales. Customers always like to see new things. A new and attractive looking shop in the mall will always get more visitors initially and same is the case with new and attractive looking vending machines.

Some points that customers like in a vending machine are

1. Attractive and stylish looks
2. Branded and quality products stocked inside the machine
3. Change in product line according to weather
4. Latest features
5. Ease of use

There are more points that customers look for but the above ones are without which you just cannot do.