Honor Snack Box Business Supplier

You will need to find an honor snack box manufacturer that has been in the snack box business and knows what you need from a snack box. The box should be attractive and appealing to your customers.

It needs to be durable and should be a color that is not going to show every little smudge or fingerprint that comes along. It needs to have a coin box that fits on the inside of the snack box with a slot for your customers to deposit money into.

The snack box should have dividers that will keep products sorted by size and shape. You should be able to buy a box that will slide over the top of the snack box making it easy to stack them in your vehicle. Another option for transporting your boxes is to build a rack to hold them.

Honor Snack Box Business Shortage Control Cards

Shortage control card will be needed for those accounts that need to be reminded to pay from time to time. There are two kinds of cards one is like a Post It card.

The Post It style will usually have print on it saying something to the effect-We love to serve you but you were short ______ on your last delivery.

The card type will normally stand 10 to 12 inches tall and is about 3 inches wide. It is made of heavy cardboard and will have a reminder printed on the top of the card. The reminder will let the customer know there has been some shortage and that you appreciate their business

Snack Food Supplier

When you are just starting out in the snack box business you will have two options when it comes to a snack food supplier.

If you are like I was when I started out I walked into a convenience store and asked them who supplied their candy bars, chips and pastries. The store manager I asked was more than happy to share that information with me. Keep in mind people like to show how much knowledge they have, you simply ask the question then let them do the talking.

Get A Sales Tax Permit

Go to your local county court house; that is always the best place to start this type of a search. Another way is to just google it and the keywords I would use are (apply sales tax permit Iowa) of course substitute your home state for Iowa.

Only use those sites that end in .gov for more information. A sales tax permit in Iowa should not cost you anything but the time it takes to fill out the application.

There could be a small fee in your state, but remember you are filing an application to pay them money. Like I stated earlier the best place to start this type of a search is your local county court house.

Small Warehouse For Your Snack Box Business

If you are starting on a small budget you will not need a large warehouse. I started my snack box business in an apartment bedroom closet.

My business started by placing two boxes, waiting a week, exchanging the first two boxes and placing two more and so on and so on.

A warehouse that is 24’x24’ will be ample space for a snack box business operator that has up to 500 customers.

Shelving For Product

I bought my first shelving at the local lumberyard. I later heard of a store that was closing and selling the final items from their store in an auction. I attended the auction and bought my first heavy-duty shelves.

There are businesses in every state I’m sure that have stores that buy and sell used shelving. These types of stores will have representatives at auctions trying to buy the same shelving that they will turn around and sell to you later.

If you decide to buy new shelving the last I heard it was selling for $400.00 per 4’ section with four shelves. The auction is your best bet; you will pay ten to twenty cents on the dollar of new.

3X5 Cards For New Accounts

The 3X5 card should be filled out with all the pertinent information when you pick up a new account. The most important information on the card will be the business address. You may want to include the name of your contact at each location.

Numbering the cards in the order that your accounts will be run is very beneficial. I would always leave in the morning with my cards in the order each account was to be run.

3X5 cards are used to slide into the box that you are picking up at each location. When you get the boxes back to the warehouse you will know which box came from which account with the card that is inside the box.

6 Column Accounting Note Pads

The 6 column sheets are used back at the warehouse when it is time to count the money in each box. Each box has a set number of items in it. I always carried 77 items per box.

You count how many items are left in the returned box, subtract it from the number of items the box went out with, then take that number times the price per item. This tells you how much money should be in the coin box.

The amount of money that should be in the coin box goes in the first column on your accounting sheet.

Now count the money and enter that amount in the second column. Subtract column two from column one to find out how much long or short you are at this particular account and enter that amount in the third column.

Divide column one into column three and that will give you the long or short percentage. Enter that figure into the final column. When you are done counting your money you will be able to go back and see if any of your accounts will need a friendly reminder to pay on your next trip. For a more in depth page on record keeping.

Table For Refilling Boxes

Set up a table that is large enough to fill boxes that are being prepared to go back out to the next account. It needs to be large enough to hold a small rack for chocolate items, the box and maybe some items like crackers.

Put some shelving next to the table to hold things like chips and bagged items. You will want to keep the product as close to you as possible saving yourself time as you refill the boxes.

You may want to set up an assembly line for filling the boxes when your size dictates it.

Vehicle For Transporting The Boxes

A Ford Econoline E-150 normal length or equivalent is the size of vehicle I always used in my snack box business. It will handle the load you place in it and give a comfortable ride.

You can purchase tray shippers making it possible to stack your snack boxes in shipment. Or build a rack for your boxes to sit on during shipping.

Once you have the items listed above you are well under way. Some of the items I have described can be done without if you are starting on a shoestring as I did.

By www.vending-business-information.com