BERESTH: Yes. I think what bears here is t hat
when anybody looks to buy a route, .he never really
looks at what exists. You always feel that there's
potential growth when you buy. You'll change a
piece, you'll move a piece, you'll add a piece.
And this in itself just goes to prove, I think, that
there's plenty of work to do within your own route,
plenty of improvement to be made--to hell with the
new locations. I'm not saying, "Don't go get new
locations,' but don't overlook your present ones .
And this seems to be the sort of thing I'm seeing in
this business: everybody's dashing out, worrying
about the other guy's getting a new location. Sure
we want our share of route stops but we must be
very conscious of our existing business.
It's amazing when I go out--maybe a collector is
sick or I'll just walk around the route on a particular
day, not so much because I can't send anybody else
but because I think it's healthy for me to get out
once in a while . It's amazing the information I come
back with. I see a dirty piece on location or I'll see a
pool table that should have been re-covered or one
where the rails may be split or worn, and my
collector just neglected to tell me. This disturbs me.
But there isn't an operator in the country who, if he
didn't go out of his shop for a day or two days to
visit everyone of his locations, wouldn't get sick to
his stomach with some of the things he would see,
right on his own route. But nobody talks about it.
The large operator just doesn't get out in the field
enough. We draw beautiful pictures, and we like to
sit here thinking, 'I'm the greatest operator in the
world.' And it's just baloney. We all have our dirty
laundry.
.
PLA Y METER: What are some of the biggest or
the most irritating problems?
BERESTH: I hear a lot of operators complain about
loans; I hear about problems with repairs. I think
it's a combination of a lot of things. In this business,
it seems to me, the big problems are few and far
between. It's just that it's such a detailed business;
there are a million details. You've . got ten men,
you've got ten problems, and then ten more--they
multiply. You've got twenty men, the multiples
change. It's like pushing a balloon down in the
water, it just pops up some place else.
PLA Y METER: But you can at least identify some
of the problems, and that's half the solution.
BERESTH: Now, we don't have problems from a
profitability standpoint, so I can't complain about
that. Sure I can complain about equipment giving
me problems from time to time, but that's
equipment. Who am I kidding to say we're not
going to have problems? I'd be a fool to sit here and
say, "Sir, your machines are going to work 100 per
cent of the time." It just isn't going to happen. I
don't care if you buy a new car or a new piece of
equipment, no matter who the manufacturer is.
there are going to be problems. So again, major
problems we don't have.
We do have problems;for example, our mechanics
111:; in many cases have repair difficulties. Unfortunate-
ly the industry had a very. very low wage scale. We
don 't have the ability to pay for top -level
_ mechanics, and I don't know what the answer is in
~ this area. I talk to people from all over the country
58
and sometimes I think my wage scale is relatively
low con idering the experience it takes, t he number
of years before you have a really well-qualified
mechanic. And I wish there was something I could
do because I would like to see my men enjoy a good
standa rd of living. But then I look at my
investment, I look at my ret urn. I still have to come
out with a reasonable profit. It's hard for the
mechanics to produce for the company in terms of
revenue; they can't do anything to induce sales.
Sure your mechanics can help you keep your
equipment working, but that can't stimulate
additional revenue. I try, but it's hard for us as
operators to really reward our good personnel.
PLAY METER: Certainly by 'protecting revenue, '
t he mechanic performs an important function. How
do you justify paying your mechanics less than you
feel they deserve?
BERESTH: A smaller one or two man operation has
the ability to pay a mechanic more actually t han a
larger operation because t he larger operator really
can't compensate his men on an individual level.
Even a large operation is small in terms of
employees. In a small company, it's very difficult to
pay t he men on different levels, and this is the prob-
lem. You increase one man's salary and you have
to increase everyone's across the board. Some of
them you're undercompensating, and some of them
you're overcompensating. It becomes very, very
difficult.
I ran into a problem also when we bought route; in
orne ca es the pay scale of the new men was
higher, and some cases it was lower. You'd be
surprised at the friction that causes. How do you
explain to your existing men, when you take over a
company that the new man's scale is higher . It's
pretty hard to do. The value of a good man to a
mall operator is immense--without his key men he
couldn't exi t o-whereas a larg-e operator has no man
he can't get by without. Nobody is that important.
This is what'-s difficult: you'll find that the small
operators will usually pay more for their key men .
PLAY METER: More positively now: are there any
particular accomplishments in your business that
you're especially proud of?
BERESTH: That's a very difficult question to
an wer; it really is. I think in most cases, when a
son goes into the bu iness, the majority of t he
work, t he hard work has been done by the father.
In my father's case we're talking about forty -five
years of experience. But I was at least able to
maintain the business he had built and in addition
we built our own music and games business. I think
this is the greatest accomplishment--I'm not just
Ed Beresth's son, but I'm Neil Beresth. In many
father - on relation hips there is that conflict of
'could I have done it on my own'? So knowing the
music and games could exist without the cigarette
business gives me a great feeling of accomplish -
ment. Now, even t hough I have a fairly substantial
cigarette route, my own personal emphasis is more
on t he music and games business; I feel it's more a
part of me than what was handed down to me. In
some cases, I may even neglect my cigarette
business because I'm more interested in music and
games .