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FROM THE EDITOR You w ant to see the big picture! E Va lerie Cognevich Editor PLAY METER very few years the coin-op industry is besieged by what we have come to call bluesuede shoes operators. These blue-sky salesmen entice unsuspecting entrepreneurs with promises you wouldn't believe if your husband of 20 years swore to them. But many are willing to invest their hardearned dollars in a get-rich scheme that often has the opposite result. Let me compare this with a close-tohome story: How many of you know what an ocularist is? If you don't , I'm sure you 're not alone. In fact, I only recently found out what it is and how few there are. Why? I was suddenly in dire need of one . An ocularist is someone who paints artificial eyes. My son Nick had to have one of his eyes removed after a shooting accident ; consequently we needed an artificial eye made for him. After his accident , there was a newspaper article profiling one of the mere 100 ocularists in the country. It seems like everyone I saw that week was talking about that article. They cut copies out of the paper for me , and we had long conversations about artificial eyes. (No, they are not a round hunk of glass and yes , they do move!l A month before that, I don't think I'd even said "artificial eyes ," and I'm sure the subject would not have come up with anyone I know. Although I was now acutely aware of what an ocularist did , I also found out that not all are equal. We made an appointment with one near the office and ended up walking out , vowing to fly to another state if we had to. The place was a dump, and the ocularist looked like a drunken bum. We didn 't do our research ahead of time , figuring that one would be no better than another. Now back to breaking into the coin-op business. It 's amazing how much you learn about something that was so remote before . How many people looking to the coin-op business have taken the time to research (l mean really research) the industry? Do they know what an operator is? How about a distributor? Do they think they're all alike? Do they know about loca8 tion contracts? Have they studied the various types of equipment, and where to buy it? Have they even heard of rotating games? I've seen too many people who have been victimized by fly-by-night scam artists suddenly realize they know nothing about the industry. Once they have been taken, they start researching the business. We 're usually on the list of phone calls, and these people are very frustrated. I can't help but wonder why these people can find us after they've been victimized and didn't find us before they handed their money over to a scam artist. But after reading some of the biz-op ads and seeing the promotional material, it's easier to see how these hopefuls are lulled into a false sense of not being able to lose . Here's a typical ad that appeared in our local paper just this week: "Vending-own your own business-all cash profits! $2,500 a week possible. " Recently we had a visitor who wanted our advice on a business opportunity he had seen in the paper. He sent off for the proposal and brought it in for us to see. Here's just part of the promotion package promise: "There is no selling and no overhead. You will have an all-cash business offering immediate income with a fantastic return on your initial investment." An additional enticement stated that to make about $40,000 annual gross profit, you would only have to spend about three hours per week collecting the money. And you don't even need an office! To make nearly $65,000 per year, you need only invest five hours per week! Topping off this package was the assurance that the machines you would have to purchase would last over five years! All you had to do was send a cashiers check to secure your area and hold a spot in the training program. I guess their mailboxes were loaded with checks! Now that family entertainment centers are cropping up all over, it 's probably about time for some of the biz-op salesmen to start crawling out from under their rocks . If you are one of the lucky ones reading this BEFORE you invest your money, please visit a local distributor and discuss the offer with him. He 's a professional. You don 't have to take his advice, but at least you'll be forewarned. You'll also know a whole lot more about the industry and the reality of the work it involves. A JULY 1995