Planet Antares scam alert blog on tips & advice on various vending scams for entrepreneurs and operators.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

How To Make The Most Of A Vending Locator

If you have a vending business or plan to start one, you should be aware of the importance of the right placement of your machines for maximum customer access and sales. A good location depends on your understanding of the products, customer desires and business premises owners’ requirements. Here are a few tips to find the right location for your vending machines.

Trust your instincts

If the location selected by your vending machine locator does not appeal to you for some reason, make sure that you don’t agree to it until you are satisfied with its viability to serve the customers and your own needs. Ask questions to make sure that you understand all aspects of the locator’s services and decisions.

Be alert

Don’t leave the entire location task on your vending locator. Once you have purchased a vending machine, look for new and untapped locations which could be potential profit spinners. There may be places which you did not notice before or others which can be procured with the help of your vending locator’s professional approach.

Different locations for different vending

A bulk candy vending machine or a toy vending machine needs to be placed with heavy traffic including kids and their parents. On the other hand, a snack or soda vending machine is larger in size and usually suitable for offices with more than 20 employees.

Personal attention

You must have personal contact with the vending locator assigned to you by the vending machine supplier or locating company. The locator should preferably be from your area rather than a faraway region. Also, tell him your business goals in terms of sales and profits as well as potential locations which you have observed. You must also visit various locations with him/her to learn the locating strategies.

Do it yourself

Once you’ve learnt the ropes, you can try to secure locations yourself. Its all about being creative and convincing the business owners to install your machines.

There are no foolproof methods to find lucrative locations but it is not difficult if you follow a good vending locator’s guidelines and use a few strategies to find the right locations for placing your vending machines. Planet Antares provides vending locator services to its customers for locating their vending machines in well-performing places.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Successful Vending Tips

If you are thinking of starting a vending business, you must consider various factors before taking the plunge. The most important decision is that regarding the vending machine. You must carefully analyze and compare various vending machine options before purchasing a particular one for your vending business.

Make sure that the selected machines are an asset to your business and not a liability. This means that the vending machines should contribute to the profits of the business rather than adding to the expenses. Even though there are many vending machines offered by manufacturers and distributors with attractive features and prices, you will need to do some basic research before making a decision.

Your budget also affects your choice of vending machine. Used machines are recommendable if you have a low budget but you can purchase new machines if you are ready to invest a reasonable amount of money in your vending business.

Buy vending machines which are in good condition, especially used or rented machines. Inspect the various parts of the vending machine before buying it. The coin receptacle and other parts should be in workable state.

Avoid buying a vending machine which has complicated features and is difficult to operate. Planet Antares vending machines are easy to use, especially by kids, who form a big part of the vending business clientele.

Research the kind of customers you want to target, products you want to sell and the business locations for your vending machines. Location is a critical factor for determining the success or failure of your vending business. You need to understand customer preferences, popular products and requirements of the premises owner.

Safety is another issue of concern. Make sure that there is a minimum possibility of accidents with the machine you purchase. Your customer’s safety is very important. Buy your machine from a reliable and reputed vending machine supplier.

Your work does not end after you have purchased and installed your vending machines. You must know how the machine works because you will have to refill it and even carry out repairs if the machine has minor problems. Most high quality vending machine providers like Planet Antares offer after-sale services including repair and maintenance of the vending machine.

After taking all these things into consideration, you can buy the best machine for your vending machine. The newspapers and Internet provide a vast amount of information about vending machine suppliers and the various deals available.