‘The Trouble with Gumballs’ shows sticky side of going into business

Reviewed by Susan K. Maciak

The Trouble with Gumballs by James Nelson is a tongue-in-cheek tale of two people struggling to start their own business. Once upon a time . . . a time when you could buy a palm full of peanuts for a penny and a cup of coffee for a dime, the native New Yorkers moved to California to escape the hustle and bustle of the city for the good life. In the quest for year-round sunshine, along with careers that required minimal work (or so they thought), Jim Nelson and his wife Mary-Armour bought a vending machine route in Sonoma County.

After investing a chunk of their savings in 100 glass globes, the pair managed gumball machines in rural establishments with storefront signs like Doodle Diner, Gobble Grocery Store and Rosie’s Restaurant. Their new venture turned out to be more challenging than profitable. For anyone who’s ever dreamed of going into business for themselves, TheTrouble with Gumballs becomes a reality check. Hardly anything transpired the way the Nelsons thought it would.

The family’s first roadblock was finding merchants willing to welcome their gum vending machines for 15 percent of each penny plugged into one. After they successfully located all their profit makers in mom-and-pop shops though, the eager entrepreneurs faced a daily diet of melting gumballs, jammed coin dispensers, and kids who figured out how to wiggle out large quantities of merchandise without putting a penny into their gumball enterprise.

Despite a series of do-it-yourself marketing efforts and seven-day-a-week work, the Nelsons noticed that their savings account depleted faster than their business grew. At the end of their wits, they decided to sell the business – for much less than they had paid for it. What they turned to next to earn a living, surprised them and will astonish readers. All in all, the story about gumballs leaves a good takeaway message and restores faith in American entrepreneurism.