Unattendent

[theo90]

I think I read that Duane has an unattendent mat. Of course I realize this is great if the mat is your second job so to say and you cant be there always or the investment is a distance from you, but is it safe? Do you have alot of people trying to break into things.Do you go and open and close and when do you collect your coins.I want to get a feel for how i will set my mat up considering my comittments. the mat I bought and close in September had an unfortunate situation in that the second owner (the 1 I bought from) bought the mat 6 months ago then found out that she could not get residency in the states. Over the last 5 months she has not been in the store but this is not an unattendent store! She has a worker from 7-2, trusts her I think but her second I think is not so good by way of a comment she said to me when she asked the worker how much the mat is doing in WDF. The worker said 300 and the owner's answer was like OH only 300! Probably stealing right? Whats the low down? I want to get a feel for what I need to do without changing all to upset the currenet customer's.

THEO

[Duane]

Theo90,

My store is unattended and it is open 24/7 (this way I don't need to go close or open the store). I spend about 1-2 hours per morning cleaning and then stop in a few times during the day to check on things.

At this time the mat is my only real source of income. I still do some small consulting jobs on the side, but they are only a few hours here and there for some large companies that I use to consult with on a regular basis.

When building the mat I took into consideration of theft, vandalism, vagrants, etc. and came up with these requirements for a mat:

- Must be very well lighted from the inside and out
- Good visibility from the outside with large windows
- A good quality camera system with several cameras (not hidden!)
- Card system (to eliminate theft and vandalism)
- A location that I could be comfortable in doing business in

I have been open for almost two years now and have not any vandalism or theft.

You can hire someone to come in at night to clean and then close up and you can open it up again in the morning, or vice versa. Or you can use automatic door locks.

Every mat is different so you must evaluate if your mat can go unattended, or if the WDF is enough to pay the attendants.

Duane.

www.LMARIES.com (http://www.LMARIES.com)

[petefritz]

I have 3 unattended mats, and no job. Security is an issue, you haveto build a better mouse trap. Without knowing the exact location or where you are from I can speak of safety, yet I am caution when collecting.
I am not sure of your attendent question.