Play Meter

on minimums, we put them on rentals, and we give
them two weeks to find another operator. We lose
half to three-quarters of them that way. But if we
can't make any money in them, we feel that we just
can't operate there anymore. Now, you must bear
in mind that a certain amount of patience is
required. Is there a temporary reason why the
collections are down in that particular location?
Licensing time may come. If you're not making any
money on your equipment, chances are the location
owner isn't making any money either, and he may
not renew his license. He may sell the place. And
you get a new operator in there, and collections
may go up. They are all factors which may
determine if you keep a location or not. But once we
probe all the variables, and the guy has been doing
business this way for three years, and it's just not a
profitable location for us, then we give it up. It's
difficult to do, but necessary. Now, I should point
out that it's possible for a top location not to be
making any money. It's not just the low earners.
You could have a big money producer, but for
various reasons-concessions that were made,
commissions arrangements that are unprofitable,
or demands for specific very expensive machines-
we may not be pulling enough there. You see, you
have to add all that in to determine if a location is
profitable or not.
PLAY METER: Have you been able to find ways to
cut back on your costs?
LONDON: Yes, I have. With the increase in
inflation and now with a union to contend with, I
have been forced to become as efficient as possible.
Now we're doing more work with less employees
than we did five or eight years ago. I had a real
problem in this area. But, as I said, now I have been
forced to take a very close look at overhead. I have
had to eliminate employees. I have had to put in
radio equipment to monitor all the actions of all the
employees on all the routes to make sure they are
as productive as I can get them to be. In the
operating business the employees are very much on
their own, and certain habits will build up on
certain routes which will lead guys to believe that
they don't have to work seven-and-a-half or eight
hours a day. Many think they can goof off for two or
three hours at a time. And it's very hard for a route
owner or a manager to find this out, especially if it's
been in existence for many, many years. So I've
monitored all that. I've done time studies on every
location to determine whether my routemen are
spending the full amount of time. If it takes a guy an
hour to fill a cigarette machine, for instance, I know
something is wrong. Everyone has average times
for filling, and I monitor that.
PLA Y METER: You said that your employees are
now unionized; what percentage of your gross
income now goes to wages?
LONDON: Somewhere between 25 and 30 percent.
As for raises, which I assume is your next question,
continued on page 66
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14
PLAY METER,
June, 1978