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The best means
of establishing a vending business is to acquire an existing
route. Many people have built vending businesses and because
of illness, lack of time, or other unforeseen setbacks have
unfortunately caused these vendors to sell the business.
The main
advantage of buying an existing route is that the business
is usually established. The 1st thing to consider when buying
an existing route is the equipment. Consider the age of
the vending machines and if it will be functional in another
five years.
Dollar-bill
validators are today's industry standard and with all the
new bills you need to make sure that the machines are ready
to take them. Also something to keep in mind is that the new
dollar coin is here so make sure the equipment is up to
standards. To update an entire route with validators and
coin acceptors could be costly. Make sure the equipment has
been maintained properly and that each location is pleased
with the current equipment that is there.
Also, verify
if there are an prior equipment commitments made to any
of the locations by the owner/seller that would need to
honor. These are additional expenses that you will need
to anticipate once you gain ownership yourself. Next you
need to research the sales and expense history of the route.
This information should be provided by the owner/seller.
We advise
the assistance of an outside accounting firm to conduct
and extensive audit on the projective revenue figures. The
accounting firm will verify each location's potential sales,
calculate the depreciation value of the equipment and suggest
a fair purchasing offer. In most cases, the owner/seller
will provide training on a contingency basis for a period
of 2-3 weeks, during which you will need to learn all aspects
of the business and be introduced to your clients at each
location. It is important that you have the owner/seller
sign a non-competition agreement to protect the security
of your locations.
You can expect
to pay a premium for the convenience of buying existing
route. An acquisition of this type will require a large
amount of capital up-front that could easily exceed $100,000.
in some cases. Make sure you have a lawyer look everything
over before closing the deal.
Looking
at buying an existing route?
Check out Great Western Business Services
Tell Them Vendweb.Com Sent You.
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