A bulk or full line vending business is simple to pursue and for that reason, it is said to have a low barrier to entry. Unfortunately this means that the market is crowded. Tons of people with a few spare bucks, get into vending every year. The lower the barrier to get into a field the more competition you will have to compete against. You can still make a go of it in vending, even with so many other competitors, but you’ll need to be better, faster, and more driven than the next guy.
One of the biggest pit falls to avoid at all costs is the vending business opportunities (biz ops) that are prevalent everywhere online. Energy business opportunities seem to be everywhere lately, but candy vending still has it’s own share of other scams. For a good chunk of cash, biz ops make you dreamy promises of profits. They’ll sell you the machines, get them on location and help you along the way. Of course all this is going to cost you about 10 to 20 thousand dollars. Most of these biz ops make hugely unrealistic claims as to the amount of money you will make. Vending is numbers game. With bulk machines, you need many heads in many locations all working at the small gain to make any money. Many people who get involved with biz ops get beaten down by it and leave vending entirely. They sell their vending machines online everyday.
If you have been conned into one of these plans, your choices are limited, you can complain to the Better Business Bureau, file a complaint with the Justice Department, or get a lawyer. That money will more than likely never be seen again. You want to have all the information before you make any decisions. If you’re being told about business profits that seem too high or unbelievable then trust your instincts, they are most likely false.
When starting out in bulk vending or full line vending, have a workable business plan before you quit your job. Don’t let me convince you that the vending machine business isn’t for you, but I want you to have all the relevant information needed. The average vending machine makes an average of $7. Although this is an industry standard, you may or may not make this amount. Everyone doesn’t make the seven bucks. Currently, my heads are averaging $5. Since the profits are so low, you need to have a lot of vending machines to replace your salary.
Please be alert to the possibility of locator problems. A locating service helps you by calling businesses to see if they want a vending machine on their property. This can also be done by someone in person, but phone locating is much more common unless you are doing it yourself. Machine placement services usually charge an average of $45 to get a machine on location. Unplaced machines don’t make you any money and a locator can be a good choice for fast growth. Each locator has different plans, some make income guarantees or time guarantees. Excellent locating people are difficult to obtain but if you do your research they can be found. A locator with a proven reputation is the best way to go, but even with that, I would go slow. Get them to place a couple machines and see how well they do.
The vending machine business is not a get rich quick plan. The vending business is a real business, not an unobtainable goal. But the path to success is difficult and long. A lot of folks that start vending business will fail, but this doesn’t mean vending isn’t a viable business. Too many people are really not up to the challenge of managing their own business. Unless you are independently wealth and not risk adverse I recommend buying a couple cheap vending machines, getting them placed, service them a couple months and see what you think. Vending really is something you can start very slowly and grow over the course of several years while keeping your full time job. As with all businesses, in vending it is best if you have a business plan. And if you follow my advice, this plan will be made with the expertise you have acquired by managing your own vending business.