Been doing this business for a long time. I've helped hundreds to get into this business successfully. My page is full of straight to the point videos. Love what you did here. And I hope it helps many put hopes aside so logic can guide them to a profitable venture. Thank you sir for sharing.
This was very informative and gave a realistic perspective on the business given your experience. Do you think the new summit series is worth buying from Everest or are the older machines a better option? Great video!
Just watched the summit series video. Looks like they made a few tweaks to the machine design. But the bigger question is would any of those improvements help you sell more ice and water. I didn't see anything that would result in more ice sales in my opinion. So you really need to be thinking about return on investment. In which case you would be MUCH better off going with a used machine. There are tons of great deals available on the after-market. I'm even selling mine if you want to consider that as an option.
Would having the machine on an enclosed trailer be a crazy idea? Of course you’d need a tank for water and a generator but that would you could move the ice machine around easily to a new location.
I think it's an interesting idea. But would probably work best as a business that provides temporary ice and water service at events or new construction sites (which I don't know how big of a market there is for that). I don't think it would work as a location the surrounding community come to because it would be hard to gain traction with repeat customers since relying on the machines to be there in a set location would be important to give a community confidence they should plan to make the drive to the machines. Just my two cents.
This has been my exact experience, and I live in Florida where it's hot nearly every day. I wish Everest would be more honest about profits because this has put a big burden on my family and I now. I wouldn't recommend buying a new machine as it doesn't seem worth it. I wish this video was around when we bought our machine 😢
Thank you for your honesty! Could you please share in more detail the start up cost? Did you have to hire a licensed plumber? Draft some plumbing improvements to get approved by the city?
I know this isn't the answer you're looking for, but it really "depends". We found locations that didn't need a lot work. We just had an electrician get the correct power to the machine. Some other costs "everyone" will have is basic business insurance, the appropriate food/beverage license from the state (not a lot), and some marketing.
Common sense tells me that if I have to borrow $50k and make $10k = 20% ROI and $15K = 30% ROI, great ROI but not enough to repay a loan adding rent and utilities etc. Correct? However if I have $50k and ,make the same then i am ecstatic. Would this be fair to say. Any suggestions on what business I can invest $50k to get a return above the stock market? Did you ever try and wholesale the ice to gas stations and c-stores that run out seems this would be a good idea. Did you offer free ice to schools in you area for sporting events to get the community to help support you? Did you go to job sites and give free bags of ice to construction workers? I know my carpenter buddy buys ice everyday and thinks construction workers would be good customers. Just brainstorming here.
The way to think about it how long until you have an ROI on your investment. With the amount the machines our making *for me*, it will take forever to get a ROI. Others have better locations and see a faster ROI. You have some great marketing ideas and they could help you create foot traffic to your machine. If you have $50k and wanted to beat the ~7% return the stock market gets you, you have to take on more risk. Which means you may do better than the ~7% return, but you also may do worse. So it just depends. If you're willing to work to see the best return on the money, I might consider flipping a house.
Hi , I’m Marco and appreciate your feedback. I live in Ponder, TX and I would like to know if Everest financing the machines and what requirements they have, so you know about that? Thank you
Probably a mix of both. When it comes down to it, a good location is THE most important thing regardless of which machine you use. If you have a strong location you will do well and then it just comes down to which machine is more reliable and if it's easy for customers to use.
Yes we still haver ours for sell. Have gotten a lot of interest from buyers. The #1 reason I have seen people selling is because they couldn't find a location to put the machine. They ordered before securing a location.
Sorry to hear about the struggles of the business. I'm curious, how are you listing the purchase price of the machines as a year loss? Were they only financed for a year or purchased outright?
Anyone who goes into this thinking big bucks, and that you'll be the smart salesman who can sell ice to an Eskimo, you actually are the Eskimo who gave 20,000 away. Understand, everyone needs to understand that you cannot have an attitude of "passive income". Income is earned, blood sweat, tears, stress, sleep loss, exhaustion, pain, turmoil, and all the other pains that come with great success....that doesn't come from looking for an easy way out, or short cutting....you will never be as good as you want to be without crap tons of work.
@@MindBuilders Appreciate it. Have several irons in the fire, and that's part of the problem with the ice business...requires more time and attention than many are led to believe.
Thanks for sharing. My story sounds super similar to yours with delays making us miss our first season. In 2022. Last year wasn’t great but the location wasn’t great either. We just moved to a new location and hoping to see improvements. What is your strategy moving forward know what you know now?
Hope your new locaiton works out better. It really comes down to two options: risk moving to a new location (and spend what's necessary to prep the new site) and pray it goes better or sell the machines. I don't know how willing we are to gamble again on a new location.
It's likely a larger permanent brick structure would have a bigger draw, but it's a tradeoff because it would be impossible to move if you picked a poor location. And it costs more. So need to weight the pros and cons.
Im curious, im from Colombia and I live in a town that is hot every day 365 days of the year, will be a good option to bought and Everest Ice machine ?
Possibly. You need to understand if they have options already and accessible to get ice. If there are no good options, it might work. You also need to make sure the Everest machine is able to take the local currency.
Their marketing is GREAT! The results are garbage. Yeah those profit numbers don’t account for 1. Dead compressor fans downtime 2. Coin jams 3. Other serial failures 😡😡 Everest is gonna sue you for defamation.
My thoughts would be if locations didnt produce i would either find multiple locations day 1 to easy switch to another location sell ice to gas stations because if you research they dont make much off ice plus its in 7 pound bags those are 10 pounds sorry it didnt work out
The most important thing for the success of any ice business is location. There are other pros/cons to any machine option, but it would influence the outcome less than location would.
Your machine is down the road from mine... that's epic. I was like... I know this location! My sales are GARBAGE as well! I did this to start a new lucrative business to invite extra cash flow on the side. I make about $10 a week maybe and spend $460 a month in utilities. 60k out the door 1 year in and less than 2k in sales. It's really bad to be honest!
![Businesses that Always Fail? 7 Businesses with Shockingly High Failure Rates [Backed by Data]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/WTDYuRVZDbo/mqdefault.jpg)
If you want to give this business a shot, we are looking to sell our machines. Shoot us an email at owner@freezingtexas.com if interested.
Info
Very accurate! Great video. I have one of these machines, I agree with your assessment.
Extremely accurate!
Thank you for posting the video. Was very informative and I appreciate the transparency.
Outstanding video! good accurate job IMO.
Been doing this business for a long time. I've helped hundreds to get into this business successfully. My page is full of straight to the point videos. Love what you did here. And I hope it helps many put hopes aside so logic can guide them to a profitable venture. Thank you sir for sharing.
I’m glad I found this video, that was a good idea on your part to create that poll
Thanks for that video. It was really informative.
Car washes car bad locations to put ice vending machines, Bait shops, Colleges, Marinas, outdoor concert venues are the best spots
hope this helps
This is great information. Thank you so much for sharing.
You bet, glad it's helpful.
This was very informative and gave a realistic perspective on the business given your experience. Do you think the new summit series is worth buying from Everest or are the older machines a better option? Great video!
Just watched the summit series video. Looks like they made a few tweaks to the machine design. But the bigger question is would any of those improvements help you sell more ice and water. I didn't see anything that would result in more ice sales in my opinion. So you really need to be thinking about return on investment. In which case you would be MUCH better off going with a used machine. There are tons of great deals available on the after-market. I'm even selling mine if you want to consider that as an option.
Would having the machine on an enclosed trailer be a crazy idea? Of course you’d need a tank for water and a generator but that would you could move the ice machine around easily to a new location.
I think it's an interesting idea. But would probably work best as a business that provides temporary ice and water service at events or new construction sites (which I don't know how big of a market there is for that). I don't think it would work as a location the surrounding community come to because it would be hard to gain traction with repeat customers since relying on the machines to be there in a set location would be important to give a community confidence they should plan to make the drive to the machines. Just my two cents.
Awesome review!
This has been my exact experience, and I live in Florida where it's hot nearly every day. I wish Everest would be more honest about profits because this has put a big burden on my family and I now. I wouldn't recommend buying a new machine as it doesn't seem worth it. I wish this video was around when we bought our machine 😢
Me too :)
Thank you for your honesty! Could you please share in more detail the start up cost? Did you have to hire a licensed plumber? Draft some plumbing improvements to get approved by the city?
I know this isn't the answer you're looking for, but it really "depends". We found locations that didn't need a lot work. We just had an electrician get the correct power to the machine. Some other costs "everyone" will have is basic business insurance, the appropriate food/beverage license from the state (not a lot), and some marketing.
Common sense tells me that if I have to borrow $50k and make $10k = 20% ROI and $15K = 30% ROI, great ROI but not enough to repay a loan adding rent and utilities etc. Correct? However if I have $50k and ,make the same then i am ecstatic. Would this be fair to say. Any suggestions on what business I can invest $50k to get a return above the stock market? Did you ever try and wholesale the ice to gas stations and c-stores that run out seems this would be a good idea. Did you offer free ice to schools in you area for sporting events to get the community to help support you? Did you go to job sites and give free bags of ice to construction workers? I know my carpenter buddy buys ice everyday and thinks construction workers would be good customers. Just brainstorming here.
The way to think about it how long until you have an ROI on your investment. With the amount the machines our making *for me*, it will take forever to get a ROI. Others have better locations and see a faster ROI. You have some great marketing ideas and they could help you create foot traffic to your machine.
If you have $50k and wanted to beat the ~7% return the stock market gets you, you have to take on more risk. Which means you may do better than the ~7% return, but you also may do worse. So it just depends. If you're willing to work to see the best return on the money, I might consider flipping a house.
Hi , I’m Marco and appreciate your feedback. I live in Ponder, TX and I would like to know if Everest financing the machines and what requirements they have, so you know about that?
Thank you
They work with a financing company they refer you to. You pay the financing company directly. The financing company requires a personal guarantee.
Thank you for sharing your experience.
Interesting take. Thanks for the honesty. Now are the problems you mentioned Everest related or ice vending industry problems?
Probably a mix of both. When it comes down to it, a good location is THE most important thing regardless of which machine you use. If you have a strong location you will do well and then it just comes down to which machine is more reliable and if it's easy for customers to use.
What are the reasons there are so many units used for sell on the Everest some are even 2023 units are they crap do you still have yours for sell
Yes we still haver ours for sell. Have gotten a lot of interest from buyers. The #1 reason I have seen people selling is because they couldn't find a location to put the machine. They ordered before securing a location.
Sorry to hear about the struggles of the business. I'm curious, how are you listing the purchase price of the machines as a year loss? Were they only financed for a year or purchased outright?
I think we only put about $2k down on them and financed the rest so the monthly loan payment was included in the calculations in the video.
Anyone who goes into this thinking big bucks, and that you'll be the smart salesman who can sell ice to an Eskimo, you actually are the Eskimo who gave 20,000 away. Understand, everyone needs to understand that you cannot have an attitude of "passive income". Income is earned, blood sweat, tears, stress, sleep loss, exhaustion, pain, turmoil, and all the other pains that come with great success....that doesn't come from looking for an easy way out, or short cutting....you will never be as good as you want to be without crap tons of work.
You're absolutely right.
Have you looked into any other machines and how well they work in the winters like the bigger units?
I haven't looked into bigger units
You rock for doing this research and summarizing the information.
Seems like you have the chops for hustle---what other ventures are you working on?
@@MindBuilders Appreciate it. Have several irons in the fire, and that's part of the problem with the ice business...requires more time and attention than many are led to believe.
Im studying how to make my own ice machine ❤
Progress?
Thanks for sharing. My story sounds super similar to yours with delays making us miss our first season. In 2022. Last year wasn’t great but the location wasn’t great either. We just moved to a new location and hoping to see improvements. What is your strategy moving forward know what you know now?
Hope your new locaiton works out better. It really comes down to two options: risk moving to a new location (and spend what's necessary to prep the new site) and pray it goes better or sell the machines. I don't know how willing we are to gamble again on a new location.
I'm wondering if a brick morter water and ice is better? The one by my house is constantly busy.
It's likely a larger permanent brick structure would have a bigger draw, but it's a tradeoff because it would be impossible to move if you picked a poor location. And it costs more. So need to weight the pros and cons.
Great video thank you so much
Are the machines still available?
Yes. Email me at owner@freezingtexas.com if you're interested.
Im curious, im from Colombia and I live in a town that is hot every day 365 days of the year, will be a good option to bought and Everest Ice machine ?
Possibly. You need to understand if they have options already and accessible to get ice. If there are no good options, it might work. You also need to make sure the Everest machine is able to take the local currency.
Thank you so much!
Very good info, thank you. Now I can stop watching all of their TH-cam promo videos.
Their marketing is GREAT! The results are garbage. Yeah those profit numbers don’t account for 1. Dead compressor fans downtime 2. Coin jams 3. Other serial failures 😡😡 Everest is gonna sue you for defamation.
I forgot, the half bag vends during low sales, the poor construction, control boards failing (x3), broken ice chutes…
My thoughts would be if locations didnt produce i would either find multiple locations day 1 to easy switch to another location sell ice to gas stations because if you research they dont make much off ice plus its in 7 pound bags those are 10 pounds sorry it didnt work out
@@djwashx that’s not a bad idea to have different locations as a back up.
Thanks for your candid feedback!
Do you think this is just Everest or all ice machines?
The most important thing for the success of any ice business is location. There are other pros/cons to any machine option, but it would influence the outcome less than location would.
thank you my guy.
Do you know where people are selling their everest machine online?
Search for everest owner FB groups. They are posted there a bunch. And usedvending.com. Or email me, ours are for sale owner@freezingtexas.com
What general part of Texas?
Dallas-Forth Worth
How much the machine cost
Too much :)
You can find used machines in the $28k-$35k range.
Your machine is down the road from mine... that's epic. I was like... I know this location! My sales are GARBAGE as well! I did this to start a new lucrative business to invite extra cash flow on the side. I make about $10 a week maybe and spend $460 a month in utilities. 60k out the door 1 year in and less than 2k in sales. It's really bad to be honest!
Whoa! I'm sorry to hear that. Is your machine near our Keller or Grandview location?
Everest may be in for a class action lawsuit!