Why did I start soda vending?

I have had several people ask me why I started my soda vending business. Most people think that I am a little crazy making more work for myself when I already have three children under 5 to take care of. Sometimes I wonder why I always want to do more. I am not satisfied with the status quo. I wanted something more for my children to do besides watch PBS all day. I was raised on a farm. I remember helping my father and grandparents with the farm work at a very early age. I learned so many valuable lessons working on our farm. I enjoyed spending time with my father while he worked. It made me feel grown up if I was able to help out a little bit. I was given a lot of responsibility at a young age.

Since we live in the middle of Dallas, I will not be able to teach my children how to farm, milk cows, feed chickens, hogs, cows, goats, etc. My husband and I want to teach our children the value of hard work. I wanted to spend time doing something with the children that they could participate in and learn from. That started my quest for a job that I could do with them. I will tell you more about my journey in another entry.

After a lot of soul-searching and research, my husband and I agreed to try soda vending. It has been a wonderful experience. My kids know that we go on our route on Monday and Friday every week. If it is hot or cold, we still go. If we are not feeling all that well, we still go. (I do find someone to take care of the kids if one of them is too sick to go with me, but thankfully, the children are very healthy.) The only time that we might not go to all of the machines is if it is raining hard. Electrical systems and water do not mix very well. We have two machines that are outside. These two machines we try not to open when it is raining. We still run the rest of the route in the rain because the other three machines are inside. The children do not even ask what we are doing any more. They just get in the car/van and we go. They are already learning several valuable lessons.

Packing the New Van for the Soda Route

Today was the first time we used the new van for the soda route. We bought a 2008 Chrysler Town and Country LX with 49000 miles on it. It drives very nicely. We loaded it up this morning for our route. It held the soda that we needed. We did really well at the first machine. The soda did not shift too much. By the time we went to Sam's Club and then to the second location, we had some problems. The sodas shifted during the drive so when we opened the tail gate, several cases fell forward. We busted 5 sodas open. At the third location we had a similar problem, but we were smart enough to check before we opened the tailgate. I was able to hold the shifted soda while someone else opened the gate. So we didn't loose anything else.

Sam's club is having a sale on their Coca Cola products. At least the one that I go to has dropped the price by a $1.40 a case. We went back this evening and bought 18 cases of Coca Cola products and some other soda that we will need for our route on Monday. This time, we were smarter and used bungee cords to keep the soda from shifting.

Children Helping with Soda Vending

Here are the promised pictures. These are my little helpers doing various tasks. Trevor is my ever eager child waiting for me to open the machine so he can see what can be done. He is full of energy and very helpful. Although he is only 3, he likes to show off his muscles and do what he can.

Evan, Trevor, and Breanna all got involved picking up coins after I cleared a coin jam from the machine. The kids are really good at picking up the coins that fall on the floor. They are learning the difference between quarters, nickles, and dimes. Working a vending route with children can lead to some teachable moments. Sometimes they have to have a little fun before they get any work done. This particular day, they decided that all of the coins in the coin collection box had to be thrown all over the floor before they could start picking any up. At least they got all of the coins collected eventually.

Breanna likes to help keep track of the locks for the soda machine. She is always finding little ways to help. I am amazed at the things she realizes that she can do to help. Breanna likes to stay close to the soda machine and picks up all the little things that we drop. She helps me gather all of the plastic rings from the sodas and collapse the empty boxes. She also likes helping collect the change when I am testing the machine. Breanna is not quite 2 yet, put she does a lot to try to help.

Trevor is very good at carrying out the trash. He has been helping with that job for the last year. The trick to letting the kids help remove the trash is to make sure the boxes are stacked neatly and do not slide apart. Evan usually helps also, but I wasn't able to get any pictures of him this day.

I never leave trash at the machine locations. Even though there is usually a trash can readily available, I do not want to create extra work for the location. If I threw all of my boxes in their trash cans, the cans would get full and someone would have to empty them out. For that reason, I always take my boxes and everything home with me.

Upgrading Vehicle for Vending Route

With a new baby on the way, we need a larger vehicle. I have been running my soda route with my three kids, all in car seats, in my 2005 Chevy Malibu. That car has amazing trunk capacity. I can get at least 23 cases of soda in it. Now that we have a fourth child on the way, we need something that can handle four car seats and 20-plus cases of soda. We have decided on a minivan, but most of the minivans do not have much storage capacity. The best American minivans that we have found are the Chrysler Town and Country LX or higher with fold-away third row seats and Ford. The Chrysler has to have the fold-away seats to allow more storage. When the seats are up, which they will have to be for the four kids, there is a well that will hold about 8 extra cases of soda compared to the Town and Country without fold-away seating. We have located a used 2008 minivan. Now onto the joys of buying a used car.



I am so glad that is it hot and dry. That is really great for soda sales. I have several machines at apartment complexes. They are located close to the pools. They do really great during the summer. Although, my best machine was a little down this weekend because the apartment pool was closed. It is interesting to learn what factors contribute to sales. I will show you some sales graph in the future. My next project is to see if I can get some pictures of some of my machines and the children up on this blog.

My Current Vending Business

Currently, I have five soda machines on location making enough money to meet my goal of paying for my children's education in our church school. I have three machines placed at apartment complexes and two machines at businesses. I have also helped a friend of mine start her own vending business. She has two machines on location and an additional two machines ready to place. She has been able to start her business for about half of what it cost me to start because I was able to steer her away from many of the little mistakes that I made. Don't get me wrong, it did not take extraordinary start up funds to start my vending business, but there were some things that I could have done differently. Keep reading my postings to learn where I could have saved money at start up and what other things I have learned in this process.

How can a busy mom of 3 make extra money?

About two years ago, I started searching for ways to make extra money for my family. I am a mother of now 4, 3, and almost 2 year old children. I have another baby due in October. I quit my job as a research associate in a molecular biology lab after my first son was born. I knew that I wanted to stay home with my children, but I also wanted to earn some extra money for our growing family. I wanted something that I could do with my young children. A small business seemed to be the best option. After doing a little research I decided that soda vending would be the best for me.

Join me as I tell you about my journey to find the best business for my kids and I, how I got started, what I have learned along the way. Find out what "treasures" my kids have found and how they are involved in the business. Learn what I have learned on this exciting journey into small business ownership.

It is hot in Texas and business is great. Luckily, we have nice, long, HOT summers here. Drink lots of soda.