Interview with Charles Hanna – president of one of the leading companies in vending industry The Hanna Group. Interview for the Russian e-vending magazine. (èíòåðâüþ íà ðóññêîì ÿçûêå ÷èòàéòå çäåñü >>> )

Charles, your vending experience is very impressive. Do you think your long lasting success is more conditioned by chance and luck (you found yourself in a certain time and in a certain place) or by laborious work, step by step? Whom did you learn from?

×àðëüç Õàííà âåíäèíã-áèçíåñìåí èç ÑØÀ I started out in vending quite by accident. I was born in Jamaica to Lebanese parents. Jamaica had experienced much political turbulence and we had decided to go to Beirut to expand our business operations just in case Jamaica became further unstable. Our family faced crisis is both Jamaica and Lebanon and eventually lost most of our assets in both places. I decided to travel to the USA to start over. I was broke and living in a small apartment when I arrived in America. Someone mentioned to me that they would love to find a vending company to place a vending machine in the apartment complex. At that very moment, I decided that I was in the vending business. I immediately explained to the manager that I was able to handle their request even though I was totally confused and frightened about the opportunity. I was desperate to make some money and I could not find anyone to hire me because I was new in the country and had no references. The manager of the apartment complex was surprised to learn that I was in the vending business but he immediately agreed to allow me to place a snack vending machine. I knew nothing about vending. I borrowed some money from some family and friends and bought a snack vending machine and placed it on the location. I stumbled with my first purchase and made many mistakes. I also over paid for the machine and was scammed many times and learned every time from the experience. However, I was determined to be successful and therefore I learned quickly and educated myself steadily. Four years later, after much hard work, dedication, self-education and long hours of work, I built a million dollar corporation.

You must have traveled a lot and visited various vending (and related) exhibitions, got acquainted with the vending peculiarities of different countries. Can you say that vending has its national face – that European vending differs from Asian, that American has nothing in common with Russian. Or, on the contrary – independently of the country and nation vending industry and business go through identical stages of development?

Âåíäèíã èíäóñòðèÿ ×àðëüç Õàííà êíèãà î âåíäèíã áèçíåñå I learned about the various opportunities in vending as the years passed. I began to meet other vending company owners and also attended some of the vending and related trade shows. I made notes and started sharing information with other small vending companies. Our organization grew into several divisions due to hundreds of requests for us to sell a wide variety of vending machines. I received hundreds of calls annually from customers and prospects regarding vending educational materials. I decided to diversify. Eventually I created a Hanna newsletter and later created a vending brochure and eventually published the World’s First Vending Machine Price Catalog. Several years ago I published the book on vending titled: THE VENDING INDUSTRY - History, Trends, Secrets, Opportunities and Scams. I realized that some countries in the East were even more advanced in vending machine varieties than the USA. Some European countries had machines but were not as attractive as the ones made in the USA. Each country offered a different appeal and they placed different emphasis on different equipment and product lines. However, they all seemed to have specific items in common. Some of those items would be the big brands of beverages like Coke and Pepsi. However, most countries had their specialty items that were popular in those specific areas. Some items vended in Chine were totally different to those vended in the USA. I also learned that there were differences even between the states within the USA!

Vending changes, and what is profitable today may be absolutely out of demand tomorrow. Can you name the most perspective tendency in American vending today?

The most stable items in vending would include beverage and snacks. Coffee is very popular and other items such as hot and cold foods, cigarette and frozen foods are the least popular. In the USA, the tendency is to offer a wider variety of beverages and snacks and we are seeing higher capacity and variety in vending machines, especially glass front vendors. New and higher cost items are being introduced with higher chunks of profits. Healthy items are becoming more visible and people are willing to pay even higher prices for such products. Office coffee vending has become more sophisticated and specialized. You can find a tremendous variety of equipment and products in this expanding category. There are many other new introductions such as dedicated soft serve ice cream vending, French fry, hot dog, pizza toy vending, game vending, kiddie rides, gambling machines and others.

As you know, vending in Russia makes its first steps. Many businessmen learn from abroad experience. What would you never advice to beginners? What mistakes would you like to guard “vending-folk” from? Your wishes to Russian operators and route drivers – may be your future partners.

I believe that the most important step that a beginner in vending should take, is to educate and enlighten them self. After speaking with thousands of individuals who wanted to start in the vending business, I found myself repeating the answers to hundreds of the most popular and important questions asked. That is why I decided to write the book. The key to being successful is to understand the pricing structure of the vending equipment, the competitive product pricing, how to negotiate commissions, how to calculate Return On Investment, scheduling, accounting of the collections, inventory control and public relations to name a few. A new vendor should never rush into a purchase. Never buy from an organization that is not experienced and capable of offering back up and support. There are many vending scams in the world. It is very important to investigate the organization you intend to deal with. An extremely low equipment price is not always an indication of the best deal. A warranty that is unreasonably long should raise suspicion. I will gladly communicate with and other similar machines being introduced. Of course, you also have a wide variety of bulk candy and Russian vending operators, entrepreneurs, route drivers and other interested persons who are investigating the vending industry.

Vending is regarded to be a family business. Does it concern your family?

Hanna has always been a family business. Most vending companies are family owned and operated. Usually it is a husband and wife or a parent and child or a brother and sister. In some cases it includes all members of the family. Since vending is a cash business you have to be able to trust everyone in the organization or have very strict inventory and cash controls in place.

Thank you, Charles, very much.

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