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Dear Marva Coursey,

Enclosed please find photos of our business. Jim and Phyllis Dulude (his mom) are beside the delivery van in one photo, and Jim is at one of the very good locations with two machines, both of which have to be filled once a week.

Phyllis (my wife) is the money counter, banker, bookkeeper and buyer. Jim is the technician, installer, warehouse man, delivery man, and customer relations person. He sees that the customers are happy and satisfied. He will make many changes to accomplish this.

I am Bob Dulude, Jim's dad and I work on finding new locations and financing. We started the business in 1998 with 11 complete machines. Today we have 17 complete machines and (1) snack machine . . . (all Antares).

Our goal is to increase the number of machines so that the business will be a full-time job for Jim, with the independence of being "his own boss".

We certainly were very proud and excited to receive the new equipment. Jim, being very technically orientated found no problem setting the first machine up. The equipment is so foolproof it is a pleasure to work with.

We are particularly happy with (3) three locations that have (2) two machines each. There, the people have a choice of 14 drinks and 18 kinds of snacks. It sure is nice to take the money to the bank for those locations! We have purchased a great coin-counting machine from Italy that is a great time saver.

The business is becoming easier as we become more familiar with every location, our suppliers, and the machines. Although it is not an easy job physically, I highly recommend it to keep in shape! Phyllis and I take over for Jim occasionally and we both will be 78 in a few months.

Jim feels the job challenging from a logistical point of view - he works as a machinist, which he finds a little boring. He also enjoys getting out and meeting new people.

The company has supplied excellent support to get started. We did find our own New Hampshire Economic Development Department also very helpful in providing some specialized lists of 25-50 employees and also for 50-100 employee places.

Another thing that has saved time and improved the looks of our machines is that we have developed a way to make our own flavor cards. We purchased a Hewlett Packard Color Copier 190 and using photo paper with wrappers, cut cards, etc. make great looking flavor cards. The truck is always loaded with a file of all our products.

We are now all located in southern New Hampshire, where Jim lives, and which is a very fast growing area.

Thanks,

Phyllis Dulude
Bob Dulude
Jim Dulude

NEW HAMPSHIRE

P.S. Thanks for the flyers!