Automatic Age

T he A
u t o m a t ic
A
ge
15
f a il u r e s r e s u l t o f
POOR BUSINESS METHODS
By the Editor
We are constantly hearing of
failures in the vending machine
business brought about by pro­
motion schemes. It seems that
every amateur who starts in
this business gets the idea he
knows it all. Most times these
promotion schemes are down­
right unscrupulous and should
be exposed because promotion
schemes in the vending machine
business have injured the in­
dustry just as stock juggling
has hurt the oil industry. The
business lends itself easily to
figures, and gullible folks who
want to get rich quick can eas­
ily grasp the possibility of a
certain number of plays each
day, a certain amount of profit
and the quick
turnover of
money. It is so easy for some
shark to convince the prospec­
tive investors that all this is
easily within the range of possi­
bility.
Some promoters have really
been in earnest and put their
machines out and try to make
good, but they always fail be­
cause of lack of experience.
They use the wrong methods. In
fact, there has been no success­
ful method used in the vending
machine business except the
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outright sale, or a lease which
controls the purchase of sup­
plies but practically amounts to
a sale.
When
companies
organize
and try to operate their own
machines all over the country
they have overlooked the ele­
ment of human short-comings.
They find to their grief and loss
that nobody will properly ser­
vice a machine but the man who
owns it. It will be neglected,
and even if the problem of
proper service can be overcome,
the matter of collecting the
money is still another problem
that will never be surmounted.
People soon learn in the vend­
ing machine business that nine
folks out of ten are dishonest.
This is quite a broad statement,
but regardless, we know it is
true. Collectors will simply not
turn in the money and it is al­
most impossible to keep an ac­
curate check on the machines.
Some operators say that they
can keep check on them and
know just how many sand­
wiches are in them, or how
many pieces of gum ; but within
forty-eight hours the average
collector will be stocked with a
pocket full of slugs and when
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