How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be?

[Walley]

I'm thinking of getting a kiosk in a small mall which supplies snacks, candies and drinks. Do you think it'll be a profitable business in the mall?
I really don't know where to start for researching candy stores. I've never really seen one. Anyways the idea is to buy candy in bulk and sell it at cents and a dollar or two. No other candy or snack place exists at the mall. I guess I'll be a one person vending machine.

Any inputs will be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

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[Jorge]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

A friend of mine had 3. Maybe the business is different in my country, but overall he said that it was draining his life out and couldn't stand it anymore.While they were making a good profit, He sold the 3 of them. He tried several ways to automate the business a little but it was almost impossible (for him)

 

[6.0_bull]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

In Toronto there is a franchise that actually does that exact concept and I know the former owner who has now sold his whole franchise operation and I know some of his mall locations and in the core were doing really well.

 

[yveskleinsky]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

What is your goal with vending machines? Are you just looking to make some pocket change? If so, sure- this could be a great way to go.

What are your general financial goals and would vending machines get you there?

 

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[Walley]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

What is your goal with vending machines? Are you just looking to make some pocket change? If so, sure- this could be a great way to go.

What are your general financial goals and would vending machines get you there?

I'm not putting vending machines in the mall. I want a kiosk with candies, snacks, etc. We have two small snack bars in two different lunch rooms at my work place. I've talked to the guy who runs it and he says those two snack area generates approx. 100k a year. So I thought of running a small snack/candy shop on a kiosk in a mall that I assume have about 500-800 people go through on the weekday. I haven't looked into the kiosk pricing, but I'm assuming me making about $50 from snacks a day will be able to cover at the least..rent.

 

[yveskleinsky]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

Sorry- kiosk, not vending machines. Do some homework and figure out what it would cost to rent a kiosk and how much you would need in the way of candy and that should give you a general idea. Are you planning on being there everyday or would you have employees? ...Probably your best bet is to pick the guy's brain who made over $100k last year doing what you are wanting to do. Make a list of questions and "interview" him- see what advice he has to give.

 

[Russ H]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

Much of getting rich is how you think about making money.

This is a *perfect* example of how to change the way you look at things.

Currently, you're looking at creating a J.O.B. for yourself, or someone else. Problem is, for any kiosk or hot dog cart type operation, unless you do it yourself, you will be robbed blind by someone who works it for you (just do the math, you pay them $50 a day or so, vs $500 a day they get in CASH, with no one looking). Even most honest people would have a hard time with that.

Instead of asking "What can I do to bring me money?" and coming up with an answer (kiosk) that takes a LOT of your time, why not ask "how can I achieve the same results, with NO time (or little time) by me?

The quick (and incorrect) answer is to hire someone for peanuts, and do this at a number of malls. There are a number of kiosks that do this, but MANY have SERIOUS cash problems if only one person is working. They get robbed blind, slowly, and never even know it (they just know the business isn't making much money).

So I pose the question to you:

What is the way to do this, without investing a lot of your time-- or someone else's-- that will bring you similar results?

Once you get the answer to this (i.e, how to automate the process), you will be able to start with one location, learn and refine, and then add more and more (since the business will not rely on your labor).

THIS is fastlane thinking. How to take a concept (like a self-employed kiosk) and turn it into something that can be scaled, and repeated without requiring you to be there 24/7 (or even 4 hrs/day).

Once you have this approach, you can really start to make money.

-Russ H.

Bonus: Here's a great thread that was at richdad about something very similar: http://richdad.com/Forum/forum.aspx?g=posts&t=161244

The person who wanted to do the hot dog cart could never get his head around what I was saying. After he started his venture, and stopped posting, I sent him personal emails for a few years, asking him to please update the thread-- saying that even if he had bad experiences, that everyone could learn from them. He never responded.

 

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[Walley]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

I've thought about those situations. I think it's very hard to turn it into something that will not require me to be there most of the time. I have about 2 years left in my current job contract. The plan is to have my wife work at the kiosk as extra income. If the kiosk runs will the both of us can work there for a bit. My ulitmate goal is to own some single family houses and rent them out, then eventually grow from there. I know this isn't fastlane thinking and I know this is creating another "job" for me and her, but I believe it'll be better than her working for some other place getting paid less money. I don't have the money to just put down on several houses and have to build it up some how. So having a kiosk is what came into play after talking about it.

 

[yveskleinsky]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

Ok- it sounds like you have a direction that you want to head (SFH) but haven't figured out how to gain traction in that area. Perfectly normal. My two cents is that by starting a kiosk will only serve to detract you from your real goals, and frankly seems like you're taking the long route to get what you want. How about doing some reading/ research into how you can afford to get started in SFH? Tip: read Steve Allen's Nothing Down for the 2000's. That should get you started. Remember, everything is negotiable in real estate. My attitude is if I am a willing buyer and they are an eager seller- everything else (including money- or lack of it) is just details. Maybe start a post on how you can afford to get started in rentals- and let's brainstorm in that direction!

 

[Rawr]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

Mall of America rent for a small kiosk is something ridiculous during Xmas season. I think regularly its 4-6k/month for malls.

 

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[Walley]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

Ok- it sounds like you have a direction that you want to head (SFH) but haven't figured out how to gain traction in that area. Perfectly normal. My two cents is that by starting a kiosk will only serve to detract you from your real goals, and frankly seems like you're taking the long route to get what you want. How about doing some reading/ research into how you can afford to get started in SFH? Tip: read Steve Allen's Nothing Down for the 2000's. That should get you started. Remember, everything is negotiable in real estate. My attitude is if I am a willing buyer and they are an eager seller- everything else (including money- or lack of it) is just details. Maybe start a post on how you can afford to get started in rentals- and let's brainstorm in that direction!

Yeah your correct. I figure if I get more money I'll be able to get more houses...so you're saying I should just start looking into buying sfh? My leftover money after everything is paid off is about $400. Where can I start? I think a profitable candy stand will bring me more income for the time being.

 

[yveskleinsky]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

Let's start a new thread that will help you brainstorm and move in the direction that you really want to go! ...Look under the residential real estate section- start a post and we'll add to it.

Next, I would go to amazon.com and order Nothing Down in the 2000s- once you finish start a post about it and we can discuss ideas. Lots of people here have made lots of money in SFH starting with very little. It can be done, and your starting point is more often the norm than the exception.

Also, you may want to visit the goals/fastlane plan section and get feedback from people there.

 

[WheelsRCool]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

I think (though obviously more research would need to be done) that a candy store with an innovative store design would be very successful IMO.

Kiosks I don't know, they are cheaper to start I'd imagine, but remember one thing, DO NOT HAVE IT WHERE YOU HAVE TO TRUST PEOPLE WITH MONEY. If you do that, you'll get robbed blind. You have to create a system somehow that prevents people from robbing you.

Then you can automate and replicate the kiosks.

Speaking of which, how exactly do the big chain stores and franchises keep the cashiers from stealing money from them when people buy things...? Anyone know how exactly that works?

 

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[Walley]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

Let's start a new thread that will help you brainstorm and move in the direction that you really want to go! ...Look under the residential real estate section- start a post and we'll add to it.

Next, I would go to amazon.com and order Nothing Down in the 2000s- once you finish start a post about it and we can discuss ideas. Lots of people here have made lots of money in SFH starting with very little. It can be done, and your starting point is more often the norm than the exception.

Also, you may want to visit the goals/fastlane plan section and get feedback from people there.

I want to be able to get out of my current contract and still sustain my family afterwards. I think that's why I'm having a harder time going with the real estate route because I don't think it'll produce enough cashflow for me in two years. I'll only be able to go so far till I'm not able to get a loan anymore for buying more houses.

I think (though obviously more research would need to be done) that a candy store with an innovative store design would be very successful IMO.

Kiosks I don't know, they are cheaper to start I'd imagine, but remember one thing, DO NOT HAVE IT WHERE YOU HAVE TO TRUST PEOPLE WITH MONEY. If you do that, you'll get robbed blind. You have to create a system somehow that prevents people from robbing you.

Then you can automate and replicate the kiosks.

Speaking of which, how exactly do the big chain stores and franchises keep the cashiers from stealing money from them when people buy things...? Anyone know how exactly that works?

From my experience they usually set up cameras that shoot directly to the registers. At the end of the day the cashier cashes out and the cash and total amount have to match.

 

[WheelsRCool]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

The cash in the register and amount recorded electronically have to match?

 

[Jorge]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

The problem for my friend was that usually cashiers bought their own stuff somewhere else (like cigars and candies) at lower prices and they sold it in the store. So stock was always ok and the cash too...

 

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[Russ H]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

Walley,

I realize that you've probably never stolen from an employer-- but you've got to learn how to think like a thief to avoid getting robbed.

Person who works at a kiosk simply has a small amount of change, away from the cash register and camera. When they get a cash sale that they have change for, they take the cash, give the person the item, and give them change. They then keep them talking, so that the person doesn't ask for a receipt.

Voila. There you have it. A great way to double your money each day by stealing your boss blind.

I guess I'll be a one person vending machine.

Any inputs will be appreciated.

The others on this thread have been kinder and gentler. So I guess I get to be the bad cop.

Being a one-person vending machine is :slow:

Deeply, disturbingly, :slow:

You can get advice on how to live your life in the slow lane from 100's of other websites.

This is the fastlane.

The whole concept of the fastlane is to STOP THINKING SLOWLANE.

Stop looking at buying yourself a J.O.B., especially when it can be automated.

Stop using phrases like "It's very hard to turn this into something that will not require me to be there most of the time."

Stop even LOOKING at things that require lots of your time in order to work.

It's only hard b/c you're looking at it from the perspective of the slowlane.

START THINKING FASTLANE.

That's why you're here, right?

So I repeat my earlier question:

How could you make a mall kiosk a non-labor intensive operation?


Begin to come up with approaches and answers to this question, and you will be starting on your journey away from J.O.B.s and into building businesses and wealth.

-Russ H.

 

[Walley]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

Walley,

I realize that you've probably never stolen from an employer-- but you've got to learn how to think like a thief to avoid getting robbed.

Person who works at a kiosk simply has a small amount of change, away from the cash register and camera. When they get a cash sale that they have change for, they take the cash, give the person the item, and give them change. They then keep them talking, so that the person doesn't ask for a receipt.

Voila. There you have it. A great way to double your money each day by stealing your boss blind.



The others on this thread have been kinder and gentler. So I guess I get to be the bad cop.

Being a one-person vending machine is :slow:

Deeply, disturbingly, :slow:

You can get advice on how to live your life in the slow lane from 100's of other websites.

This is the fastlane.

The whole concept of the fastlane is to STOP THINKING SLOWLANE.

Stop looking at buying yourself a J.O.B., especially when it can be automated.

Stop using phrases like "It's very hard to turn this into something that will not require me to be there most of the time."

Stop even LOOKING at things that require lots of your time in order to work.

It's only hard b/c you're looking at it from the perspective of the slowlane.

START THINKING FASTLANE.

That's why you're here, right?

So I repeat my earlier question:

How could you make a mall kiosk a non-labor intensive operation?


Begin to come up with approaches and answers to this question, and you will be starting on your journey away from J.O.B.s and into building businesses and wealth.

-Russ H.

Thanks I need a kick in the butt

 

[Russ H]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

Happy to provide that kick.

Still waiting for your answer!

-Russ H.

 

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[biophase]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

It would almost be better to put in a high tech candy vending machine that you can put in place of the kiosk. The mall may require you to have a person attending, but make it so that person just sits around and does nothing (maybe restock with candy)..

 

[Russ H]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

Another thought: If you have the equivalent of a vending machine, how to make it fun?

Perhaps one of those "claw" type games, but with a guaranteed payoff (at least 90% of the time?).

Or other ideas . . . perhaps a video game or some type of device that provides "eye candy" with your regular candy.

Other ideas . . specifically, what is already out there (vending machines) that could be combined with other things to make it interesting/more fun/more popular?

-Russ H.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

What you describe is a entrepreneurial ruse ...

1) You are buying yourself a job.
2) Fastlanes are scalable and duplicative.
3) Fastlanes do not involve the trading of your time for money. Your time should be spent on the development of the system that will free your time.

That said, your idea is slowlane, which in itself is not a bad thing as the profits generated (in exchange for your time) could lead to "faster" business ops.

To make it a fastlane idea, you have to work on two things:

1) Automation - The systematic and profitable operation of the business not requiring of your time.
2) Replication - The duplication of one profitable location, into 100's thru the use of franchising or chaining.

For me personally, I don't like wasting time or money into business that aren't fastlane - fastlane businesses allow you to swing for the fences and hit home runs.

So ask yourself this ... can you hit a home run with this business? (A home run is a business that possibly could turn into a multi-million dollar windfall).

If you are stepping up the plate, you want an opportunity to hit a home run. With this opportunity, you are limited to singles only which will limit how fast you can score runs.

Much of getting rich is how you think about making money.

This is a *perfect* example of how to change the way you look at things.

Currently, you're looking at creating a J.O.B. for yourself, or someone else. Problem is, for any kiosk or hot dog cart type operation, unless you do it yourself, you will be robbed blind by someone who works it for you (just do the math, you pay them $50 a day or so, vs $500 a day they get in CASH, with no one looking). Even most honest people would have a hard time with that.

Instead of asking "What can I do to bring me money?" and coming up with an answer (kiosk) that takes a LOT of your time, why not ask "how can I achieve the same results, with NO time (or little time) by me?

The quick (and incorrect) answer is to hire someone for peanuts, and do this at a number of malls. There are a number of kiosks that do this, but MANY have SERIOUS cash problems if only one person is working. They get robbed blind, slowly, and never even know it (they just know the business isn't making much money).

So I pose the question to you:

What is the way to do this, without investing a lot of your time-- or someone else's-- that will bring you similar results?

Once you get the answer to this (i.e, how to automate the process), you will be able to start with one location, learn and refine, and then add more and more (since the business will not rely on your labor).

THIS is fastlane thinking. How to take a concept (like a self-employed kiosk) and turn it into something that can be scaled, and repeated without requiring you to be there 24/7 (or even 4 hrs/day).

Once you have this approach, you can really start to make money.

-Russ H.

Bonus: Here's a great thread that was at richdad about something very similar: http://richdad.com/Forum/forum.aspx?g=posts&t=161244

The person who wanted to do the hot dog cart could never get his head around what I was saying. After he started his venture, and stopped posting, I sent him personal emails for a few years, asking him to please update the thread-- saying that even if he had bad experiences, that everyone could learn from them. He never responded.

Wow, first Speed++ for Russ laying down the Fastlane law here which is excellent considering I have yet to make my formal declarations of Fastlane tenets.

 

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[mtnman]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

I have a question about the responses to this thread. I hear over and over whether a

business idea is fastlane or not. It seems like the business idea itself isn't necessarily

the determining factor, but more importantly how its being addressed. Using this thread

question as an example... Had the topic been.... I have figured out a way to sell candy

in kiosks and remove human employees from the equation. Do you think this would be

profitable?



From this point one would run the numbers and account for replication and call it fast

lane. My question is this. Are many business ideas dismissed as slowlane because of

being presented improperly or analyzed with the wrong viewpoint?

 

[Russ H]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

mtnman-

That's the whole point.

It's not the business *idea* that is important here-- it's the execution of that idea.

You could have a fantastic idea for making a product, or a service.

But if you go about it the wrong way (working at that job 12 hrs/day, 7 days/wk, or having a half-baked plan about hiring flunkies for peanuts that wind up stealing from your cash business), then your "great idea" gets flushed down the tubes.

It takes more than a good idea to make something work.

And more than that, you can make a good (or even mediocre) idea work by throwing a lot of time and money at it.

But that is neither profitable, or scalable.

Ideas are cheap. People have millions of them.

Successful business are harder, and require much more work.

And automated, scalable businesses-- those, those are FASTLANE. Because once you have a successful automated, scalable idea, you can just wash, rinse, and repeat-- growing the business exponentially.

You'll notice that we're not saying WALLEY has a bad idea.

Quite the contrary.

We're asking him to figure out if it can be automated, and scalable (repeatable).

-Russ H.

 

[Walley]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

The mall already has small 50 cent or so candy machines and soft drinks. I think I'm going to lay this idea to rest.

 

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[Russ H]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

That's a cop out, Walley.

You're quitting before you've even tried the exercise.

Why? What are you afraid of?

Or is it just that you don't want to do the work of thinking about this?

Why not learn how to stretch your mind?

We're not talking about vending machines here, in the traditional sense.

Too many "entrepeneurs" have great ideas but fail to PLAN, and figure out how to do something from the start that can be both automated and scalable.

Look at it this way: Do the work. The worst that can happen is you think about this in a new way, investigate the possibilities, and decide that it's not financially feasible. You will have learned much in the process, that you can apply to other ideas/ventures.

I gotta tell ya, from what you've demonstrated so far, you're flunking Entrepeneur 101.

DO SOME WORK. Stretch your mind! :icon_super:

-Russ H.

 

[mtnman]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

:iagree: You should do it! You could always break it down into steps. Then post about it on one of the "current projects" threads, so then if you get stuck, the community will help you along. It will also help with your accountability as well.

 

[Walley]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

Alright. My wife will be running the kiosk she does not have a job at the moment. This will not be a career job. I need a step towards my other goals which is owning real estate rentals and I don't see an extra $400 a month I have left over speeding up my process. This will be a temporary thing till I can start making some passive income from real estate. I understand it's not fastlane thinking, but I believe it's a step.

 

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[Russ H]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

Alright. My wife will be running the kiosk she does not have a job at the moment. This will not be a career job. I need a step towards my other goals which is owning real estate rentals and I don't see an extra $400 a month I have left over speeding up my process.

This will be a temporary thing till I can start making some passive income from real estate.

I understand it's not fastlane thinking, but I believe it's a step.

A step where? Down the slooooow road to retiring when you're, oh, 70?

Running a kiosk in a mall?

To give you what? Do you really think this "business" will generate enough capital for downpayments on rental RE?

I'm just sitting here, wondering why you are posing these questions on the fastlane forums, and refusing to consider any of the input given?

We're trying to talk you out of committing suicide by lifestyle here.

Yet all you do is plod forward, blinders on, digging deeper into the rut of safe, secure, mediocre middle-class thinking.

We are asking you to expand your horizons-- to see things with different eyes.

Not with the eyes of a middle-class member of the rat race-- but from a rich person's perspective. To ask the big questions, first.

Like: "How can I make money on this?"

And, "What's the best way to automate this so I don't have to waste my precious hours (or someone else's) making this business work?"

There is so much more to running a business than renting a space and getting a cart. You need a PLAN.

-What do you intend to do?
-Why?
-What/who is your market?
-What will they pay?
-Will they be repeat customers, or one time buyers?
-When is your best traffic?
-What will your profit margins be?
-What will your sales be?
-What will you do with inventory that does not sell?
-How will you replenish stock?
-How will you know which items are the most popular, BEFORE you order anything?
-Will your profit from sales cover your costs?
-WHAT IS YOUR EXIT STRATEGY?
-HOW CAN YOU AUTOMATE THIS BUSINESS?
-HOW CAN YOU REPEAT (GROW) THIS BUSINESS?

Can't you see the serious problem here? Of not thinking all of these things through?

What is your PLAN?

-Russ H.

 

[Walley]

Re: How profitable do you think a candy kiosk in the mall will be

Okay. I don't see a way to automate this since there are already machines out in the mall that offer little pieces of candy for a few cents. I'll just forget this plan and move on to something else.