8
Business View Magazine
the company procures up to a dozen locations for its
new partners’ inventory. “We have about 25 ‘commu-
nity wellness advocates’ that contact decision makers
at locations across the country on behalf of our fran-
chisees and convince them to take a healthy vending
machine,” Yates explains. “Not only do we take the
risk, we also commit to locations that meet minimum
foot traffic criteria. That means that
franchisees know that they’re getting
the best chance to succeed from the
get-go. And one of the beauties of this
business is that if a machine doesn’t
perform, the franchisee has the right
to pick that machine up and move it to
another location.”
Yates says that about 85 percent of
the company’s franchisees work their
businesses, part-time. “To operate
ten or even fifteen machines - which is
about the average - usually takes any-
where between ten to twenty hours
per week. So, a lot of our franchisees
are doing this on top of the job that
they have. Or they have a home-based
business, or another company that
they run. A lot of people do this as a
way of complementing what they’re
already doing.”
How does Fresh Healthy Vending at-
tract new franchise partners? “We
have a fairly aggressive marketing
campaign,” says Yates. “We run direct response radio
advertisements, nationally; we advertise on a bunch
of different ‘business for sale’ and ‘franchise’ portals
online; and we also have a very heavy online presence
from years and years of search engine optimizations.
On top of that, we work with a PR agency to generate
real news based on the concept and our franchisees
launching in new communities. And from that we also
generate leads.”
Yates reveals that the company’s recruitment program
generates about 1,500 inquiries per month. “We have
a sales force in our office here that takes the interest
from the first call all the way through until machines
are ready to install,” he says. However only a very few
inquiries ultimately turn into new franchise owners. “A
lot of people are intrigued by the concept but not really
looking to buy a business; a lot of people of looking to
buy a business, but don’t really understand how this
works.
