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Candy and gumball route planning is essential when it comes to the size of your route. Route sizing directly affects your cash flow and the profitability of your overall business. The further you go away from your home base, the greater your service and time costs. It can be very profitable to go far away from your home base, but you must carefully consider extending especially your candy route areas.

Candy Routes - Special Considerations

Candy routes need special considerations because the profit margins are smaller than gumball routes. Therefore, the more you drive the more you are lowering your profit margin.

Maximize your candy route by setting an average goal for each machine that will make it worth driving to the area you target.

Candy routes also have more product that goes bad compared to gumball routes. Candy routes can also be a problem if you have to spend most of the day servicing during summer when heat becomes a problem with some of your product.

Specific Things to Consider for Your Vending Route:

When enlarging route size, try to go in a direction which will add another area in your loop. For instance, you generally don't want an area 100 miles away all by itself. It would make more sense to add another county / city next to a place you already have machines.

2. Figure your fuel mileage for servicing. If it costs an extra $50 to service the area and you only have 5 low-producing machines, it does not make financial sense to keep that route.

3. Survey areas where you are interested in getting new accounts. Does the area seem like it will support more machines or is it already overloaded with competitors?

4. What are my time limitations? Do I have time to service this extra area farther away? Do I have time to adequately invest to bring the area to profitability?

5. Before extending your service area, consider pulling the lowest 10-20% of your machines and replace them in your current service area. If you are happy with your current averages, follow the above steps.

Covering large areas can be very profitable, but it can best be done by taking small jumps from town A to B to C to D, etc., until you can reasonably justify driving distances and service costs. Every area need to be evaluated from time to time in this era of rising gas prices. You might be more profitable to sell the route or accounts to a competitor or better yet trade accounts from two different areas.

Candy and gumball routes offer a real possibility to make good money. Optimize your efforts so you're not wasting your precious time. That way your candy and gumball route will bring you the greatest return for your money possible.
Mark Evants
(C) Christmark Enterprises, LLC.



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