Have you ever been in an airport or mall and purchased a cup of coffee or hot chocolate right from a machine that dispensed your beverage for you? If you answered yes, then coffee vending machines have come into your life. Now, if you are looking for a new opportunity, then it is possible that coffee vending machines should come into your life again. If you find coffee tasty (and you don't drink too much of it -- everything in moderation, right!), then all the more reason for you to get into selling coffee from a vending machine! All you need is start-up capital, a desire to work for yourself, and the ability to be your own manager, to have a fighting chance at making a living in coffee vending machines.

If you've got that, I encourage you to jump in with both feet!

There are a number of different types of coffee machines out there. Many people who read this will recall the large machines that used to exist a good three decades ago where you had a reasonable expectation your coffee cup would bounce onto its side as the machine dropped it into the serving bay, thus wasting your coffee into the machine's overflow tray -- and worse, down the front of the machine and onto the floor. Well happily, those days and almost all those machines are gone. Today's machines of a similar nature are far better designed. Spills are quite rare. Reliability has improved. Another feature of today's coffee vending is the variety in types of machines. You can get into machines that sit on a counter top -- about one-third the size of stand-alone machines. You can find machines narrower and less unwieldy than those of bygone days. Options abound.

And among your options are a wider range of flavors. Who needs regular old coffee, when you can get hazelnut? You can even vend coffee that shows you are conscious of fair trade and environmental issues. It is an industry with options, to be sure. There are also a number of coffee vending business models to consider, and if you have the money, time, and drive, you may find something that works for you.

I will identify three coffee vending machine business models. The first among them is a route of machines in public places. If you are able to invest a few thousand dollars, you can buy your own, established coffee vending route. (You can also find routes where coffee is one of multiple offerings along with soda and snacks.) This model involves simply you working your route on a schedule which keeps your machines stocked with your product. If you go with this method, be sure to ask the company offering you the route how they would rate the placement of the vending machines on the route. Not all public places are the same.

A twist on the above model is picking up a coffee service route. If you can find the right opportunity in your area, you may enjoy going from one business to the next on your route and servicing their one-cup style vending machines. These machines are typically smaller and more easily stocked than traditional coffee vends. After all, you're not actually stocking the machine, but the bins of different flavors next to the machine. This can be quick and easy!

Lastly, you can buy your own machines and start out one machine at a time. This offers a lower ceiling of potential sales of course, and these machines are not cheap.  Still, buying your own machines puts you fully in charge. If you are the type who can motivate yourself, this may be the best business model for you.

No matter the business model you choose, I hope you find coffee vending machines full of the right kind of perks.