A lot of people get into vending with dollar signs in their eyes, they think it’s as simple as buying a few machines and watching as the money rolls right in, but nothing could be further from the truth. Vending is a tough competitive business that takes a lot of work. So, in order to dispel some of the myths surrounding vending, here are some of the potential negatives about the vending business:
Locating is an ongoing process. Don’t think that once you get your route established, it’s just a matter of coasting from there on out. No such luck, you’ll constantly need to be relocating and moving machines around. Sometimes the owner no longer wants your machine in their business, the location is no longer profitable or your machine gets repeatedly broken. Expect to need to relocate about 5% of your locations each year.
Expect broken machines to be a regular part of your routine. Who knows why or how machines get broken, but it’s all part of the game, coin mechanisms are the most common break followed by cracked heads. Every broken machine costs you time and money.
Expect about 1% – 3% theft per year, this includes product theft, having your money stolen or even entire bulk machines to go missing.
There is a lot of competition in the vending business; this makes it very hard to find profitable locations.
There is a lot of product waste especially in the early stages of building up a route; this is due to a lot of unprofitable locations when just starting out.
Not everyone will be able to muscle around the machines, consider that a double headed vending machine may weigh 50 pounds. You may be putting yourself at risk of a back injury if you’re not careful.
Regularly cleaning machines is a pain, you’ll have to take them home, break them down and give them a good cleaning. Your kitchen will be filled with vending machine parts, now imagine the work involved in having to do this on 10 machines a week.. It’s not enough to just service them every 45 – 60 days, eventually they’ll need to be taken apart and hand washed or run through the dish washer.
A lot of people can’t handle being self employed; the uncertainty of it makes them uneasy.