What do you sell? Which services?

[JSVLaundry]

I am going crazy trying to figure out what to sell or what services to perform to try to increase my profits without turning my mat into a convenience store.

What do you sell and which services do you provide to your customers?

I currently sell soap & softner & bleach (vending boxes & bottled liquid), laundry bags (nylon & canvas w/ handles). I have a snack & soda vending machine & a payphone.

I currently perform wash, dry & fold and I send out dry-cleaning

I offer coffee in the AM at no charge

I am thinking about and researching installing calling card vending/selling, ATM, video games, ice cream vending machine for the summer, hanger machine, selling cakes or cookies in the AM, magazines (geared towards young misses). I am starting an extension in the rear so that I could have a separate area for service, and possible commercial accounts.

My mind is on overload. I am thinking too much about to many things. I would appreciate any pros and cons to any of these "future plans" to help me figure out where my next investment money goes.

Vinny

[mike]

It sounds to me like you have all that you need, why add to your aggravation ?

[buddy]

Really want boost your bottom line? Add a Lottery Machine including Instant Games.

[Fred50]

Buddy,

I assume that you sell lottery and instants. My concern is based upon 2 negatives that I have heard regarding lottery:

1- Your attendant(s) will be tied up with the lottery, instead of cleaning and doing other tasks when there is a big jackpot;

2- The bad guys know that there is a lot of cash in a place with the lottery machine, thereby increasing security risks.

What do you (and others) think?

Thanks!

[brucefla]

Heythere Vinny

Sounds like you are somewhat in the same boat that I am!

I'm trying to max. my revenue and keep my 8-4 attendant busy as well. Here are a couple of things that I am doing and planning on trying:

Hangers: I sell them in bundles of 10 for a buck

FOLD ONLY SERVICE: This is an experiment I am starting to advertise. As I sell Wash/Dry/Fold for .79/lb I am now offering Fold only service for .49/lb. This is mainly designed for the men,
as I always hear them complaining about how they hate folding clothes. I have offered my attendant .10/lb for any business she can hustle from them. I used to have this done for myself when I was up north.

COFFEE: I give new customers a free coffee, but usually sell a bottomless cup for a buck. Quite a few take advantage of this.

Comforters/Rug service. I get a few in, and make sure to tell my customers about this. I also drop hints to the self serve customers about how good these machines can do on throw rugs.

I sell a small assortment of snacks through a glass bakery case.
Assorted stuff I get from Sams club such as Grandmas cookies, wrapped danish, granola bars, peanut crackers etc..... I look to double my money and seek stuff without an expiry date.

I inherited a couple of candy quarter machines, unbelieveable the margin on this! 5.00 worth of bulk skittles turns into 20 bucks.

As there is a payphone outside of my place which I dont own, I'm seeking a good source of telphone cards.

I'm also seeking a decent press that doesnt take much room to offer pants pressing, such as a corby press. I think creasing pants may have soome demand......

I'm also seking a shoe repair service that may pay me a commish to accept shoes for repair.

Not sure if you have a kitchen or food license. I do and am working a cold drink menu out.... easy stuff such as milkshakes, smoothies etc..... Smoothies are big here in FL.

For frozen treats I currently just ofer freeze-pops... cost me .05 and sell for .25

The pennies add up!

Bruce

[Senior Sudsy]

I have tried a great many of the various vending ideas that don't require a lot of supervision or controls with varying degrees of success:

1) ATM Machines - Not a real big money maker, commision on approx $6k mo in withdrawls is around $110. Machine lease payment is $230/mo so until its payed off it is a loss.

2) Lottery instant ticket machines - I had these at 3 locations and in 2 years never had anyone hit a jackpot where I received any money. The measly commision payed out for each tix sold was not worth the time, hassle, or the space the machine took up. I had these removed.

3) Vid games - I operated in the inner city and don't want the problems with kids

4) Spiral gumball machines - These are big winners, cost about $500 each. A box of 850 gumballs can be bought at Sam's club for around $15, vending at 25 cents each thats a profit of $200 per box.

5) Bulk capsul machines - Another good one, don't have the breakdown handy but the profit is large

6) Sticker Machines - same as 5

7) Hanger Machines - Not alot of sales but the machines are small and very low maint so I keep them

8) Glass front snack machines - Good profit potential if you have space to store the inventory. Very important to have a wide variety, especially the large bags of chips that cost about 24 cents each and vend for 75.

9) Ice cream vendors - I have'nt tried, I don't want the mess.

These are the majority of extra items I have tried, there are a few more. If anyone want's my expierence with anything not on the list please post.

[brucefla]

I also think of potential mess when making a decision on snacks.

I'v thought of microwave popcorn, ice cream bars etc.... but I'm trying to maximize my wash/dry/fold with my attendant and dont want to stres her out cleaning messes that the kids drop on the floor.

I'm watching what kind of food the customers bring in.....

I do sell bagels. I buy them at sams and keep them in the freezer. I just keep a couple unthawed so there is not much spoilage. I'm thinking of doing frozen waffles and perhaps english muffins. It's a cheap experiment.

When I bought this place it had 3 video machines and a large coin-op coke machine. The machines were heating up the cafe area so I got rid of them.

The coke machine was owned by coke, so I was limited on selection, and had to buy 5 cases a month from them at 7.00
to keep the machine, plus 5/mo maint. fee.

I found a nice glass front display for 350.00 Now I have 12 selections of soda, plus 5 1.00 drinks such as snapple. People love it, now having 5 diet sodas etc.... Uses alot less electricity.

[Ken]

Keep everthing coin op will make your life easier.
If you have classic video game in your store(MsPacman,Donkey kong,Galaga),you should not have any kids hang out in your store.They make good money and no stock item require.

[Ken]

If you have space,you can try skill crane.I had skill carne in my store before.It made good money.

[buddy]

Yes, with Lottery Machine you have larger cash flow and more traffic but isn't that the idea? To generate more traffic and take advantage of cash flow floats?. Even not so successful Lottery Vendors make $12,000 in Lottery Commission. I know few places where their Lottery Commission alone is $50k-60k per year. Now That's net net profit becuase all the expenses related to Lottery Machines are paid by the state - Ribbons, paper, repair/maintenance etc. except ofcourse for the salary of the employee.

While customers are sitting their washing their clothes, they might be tempted to play Instant Games or pick 6 lottery. Many of the Lottery Players can't resist the temptation of Lottery Machine or Instant Game starring at them whilr they are waiting for the washes to be done.

You have added benefits of increase in sale on Soda Machines, Drop Off and even Washers/Dryers Income. The more people come to your store to play Lotto, more people will notice your store and will next time come with load of Laundry.

You can even add merchandise behind the counter like Batteries, Films, Crazy Glues, Scoth Tapes etc. etc.

[JSVLaundry]

Thanks for the info people.

Now I have a few questions on the posts that you left.

1) Where is the best place to get a hanger vendor & hangers? Online or local? Which is better, bundles of 5 for $.50 or bundles of 10 for $1.00?

2) Where do I find out about the instant lottery for my store? I have seen lottery vending machines before, I don't know where though. Has anyone else seen these?

3) What is the candy life on those $.25 gumball & candy machines? Does that cany/gum spoil quicker in the summer? How do I get infor in the spiral gumball, sticker & capsel machines?

I am trying to increase my profits but I do agree that I do not want to increase my attendent's stress in the process. So I need to have as many vending machines as possible. This also helps me in the inventory tracking

Vinny

PS - Why isn't there a "cents" symbol on the keyboard?

[Senior Sudsy]

Hanger Machines and Hangers can be bought through Vend-rite manufacturing in Chicago, they bought hangermatic. I sell bundles of 5 for 50 cents.

I use the large globe gumball machines and put in 3 cases of gum every 2-3 mo. with no spoilage, just make sure the machine is not in direct sunlight.

Sams club sells the globe machines. I have found the best place to get the sticker and capsule machines as well as inventory is through A&A Global. www.aaglobalind.com

[Howard]

Had some good luck, for a while, with the sticker machines. Never had much luck with gumball or hanger machines. Not enough income for the aggravation.

You can access symbols in any font you are working with by going to the "character map". Try Programs>Accessories>system tools> character map.

There are other ways to add symbols to your text, but this is by far the easiest (and most time consuming). You can also set it permanently, as you desire.¢,¾, etc.

[Fred50]

Howard,

I have heard that a quality gumball machine pays for itself by the time it empties out of the first batch without much hassle.

Did you have a new machine?

Did you have refund/maintenance issues?

Was gum cleanup from the floor a problem?

Thanks!

[brucefla]

There are vending machines galore in ebay.com

also ashland vending is a manufacturere, seems good quality.

www.ashlandvending.com

stay away from plastic handled machines if you are unnattended.

I buy my bulk candy at sams.... they also sell machines new, not the best prices, but no shipping. best of luck

[David]

stay away from plastic handled machines if you are unnattended

Do you mean plastic cases/windows or do you mean knobs and the like?

[brucefla]

I mean the plastic handles especially.

Some little "rodents" like to stand at the candy bins and turn the handles back and forth with force, trying to get free candy.

Happens all the time here and I am attended!

Also I have heard of vending machines just being carried out from some locations, so make sure they are chained to something....

Bruce