Because the vending machine business is easy to get into, it is considered to have a low barrier to entry. What this meant in simple business terms is that anyone and their brother can start a vending machine business. It is easy to start, easy to manage, and most anyone with $100. can buy a machine and call themselves a vendor. A low barrier to entry translates, in the most general terms, to more competition and lower overall profits. This is not to say you can’t or won’t be successful in the vending machine business, but rather that you will have to work longer and smarter to overcome the competition.

One of the biggest pit falls to avoid at all costs is the vending business opportunities (biz ops) that are prevalent everywhere online. Now days, the most popular biz op is the energy vending trend, but bulk candy is still quite popular with these scams. These biz ops all sound about the same – for a fairly large sum of money $10,000 - $20,000 they will sell you a fleet of machines, help you place them, and give you start up support. Most of these biz ops make hugely unrealistic claims as to the amount of money you will make. Vending is numbers game. You need huge numbers of machines making small profits each and every month to turn a profit. A lot of people who get sucked into these biz op schemes get really disgusted with the vending machine business and give up altogether, you can see their discarded machines being sold on Craig’s List 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. The sad reality is, that more likely than not, you are still going to be out your investment. That’s why it’s important to do all your research. If the profits they are telling you seem too good to be true, then they most likely are a gross exaggeration.

You need to keep both feet on the ground before you quit your day job and pursue the vending machine business full time. I don’t mean to discourage you; I just want you to have all the facts. The average vending machine makes an average of $7.00 per head per month. This is an industry average, not a guarantee. Not everyone makes $7.00. Currently, my heads are averaging $5.00 a month and it’s taken quite a lot of work to even get them up to that. As you can see, a double head machine making $14.00 per month is going to require a lot of machines to pay your mortgage.

Problems With Locators

Another thing to avoid is problems with locators. Locators are people you can subcontract out to place your machines, some do it by phone and some do it in person. I’ve never used an in person locator but a phone locator costs about $40-$50. per double head machine. Using a locator allows you to free up your time and expand more quickly. Some give a guarantee, some don’t. Contrary to some things you may read, there are good reputable locators out there, the problem is finding one, and this is another area of the vending machine business that is rife with scams and problems. Try to find a recommended locator on a chat group or from a reputable source and then hire them in small batches to see if you’re happy with their service.

The vending machine business is not a get rich quick plan. It is a genuine business opportunity that requires hard work and perseverance. Most people that start out in vending will quit, this does not mean that it is not a viable business plan. Most people are simply not cut out for being entrepreneurial. 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. With this plan of action, you are limiting your risk and making business plans based on your own experiences not what someone else says is true or possible.

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