Vending Blog

4 Ways the Vending Industry Can Keep Up in These Technologically Advancing Times

How can the Vending Industry Keep up with Modern Health Trends?

As climate change dominates the headlines, and medical studies tell us what we should and should not eat, consumers are becoming increasingly health-conscious and environmentally aware. This is being clearly reflected in their food choices. Where once, we simply worried about fat content or calorie counting, there are now concerns about everything from sugar, salt, dairy, and gluten, to the packaging and fair-trade policies of what we eat and drink. There’s also been a notable explosion in interest in plant-based diets and sustainable living.

Vending Machine Business Insurance

Regardless of your vending machine business size, you probably have an endless to-do list every day: from purchasing stock to maintaining the machines to managing the inventory and restocking the machines. It’s a never-ending story. It’s not surprising then that many vending machine business owners rarely have the time to stop and think whether they need to insure their business and if yes, how they should go about it. That’s why we thought it might be useful to put together in a blog post a quick rundown of what types of insurance there are, how much they cost, and what should you be careful about.

Traditional or healthy: the vending machine business owners’ dilemma

Sales techniques that work in the vending machine business

Ready to start your own vending machine business? One thing you are likely already aware of is that you are to be a one-man show, at least at the beginning. Regardless of the number of machines you own, at first you’ll be managing just about anything, from selecting the type of machines you’d like to buy/lease to securing excellent locations for them to negotiating a good price from your vending stock suppliers.

The future is cashless: what’s in it for vending machine owners?

According to a recent study, every American citizen owns nearly 3 credit cards. An overall contactless card saturation ranking (which takes into account the number of debit and credit cards issued per capita, usage of cashless methods, growth of cashless payments, and the proportion of the population that is aware of what mobile payment services are available) shows that along with the US, among the top 10 cashless economies are also Canada, UK, Sweden, Australia, France, China, Germany and Japan. It seems inevitable that we are to become a cashless society and the digital money in e-wallets will soon replace physical cash.

Angry Vending reduced expired products by 50%, improved service cycles, and increased sales with VendSoft

With over 100 machines placed at 50 different locations today, Christopher Suiter started Angry Vending LLC back in 2011 by purchasing a single route from a local vendor in Dayton, Ohio. Over time, he kept adding new locations and machines by buying the bulk from existing vendors and negotiating others himself. Chris owns a large variety of soda and snacks vending machines among which different models of the popular AP, DN, Vendo, National Vending, USI, and Royal Vendors.

Top ways customer service affects your vending business’ bottom line

No one would ever argue that good customer service is not of importance. Quite the contrary – most businesses would promote their products and services as offering outstanding customer experiences. Yet not many organizations take the time to try and quantify the effect of good/poor customer service to their turnover and profits. Oftentimes, the focus on customer support is justified by a gut feeling that it’s the right thing to do rather than by hard data. The problem with such an approach is that whenever other business priorities emerge, the focus on customer support gets shelved waiting for better times to come up in the spotlight again.

Have you tried using your vending machine software as an accounting tool too?

Realistic Vending Machine Profits Explained

Rumors of part-time riches and bringing in $100+ per hour are quite popular in the vending machine business world. Owning a vending business could make you that much money with less per-day time spent, but the claim is usually more of a marketing ploy from a savvy machine sales company than a strict look at reality.

Can software make your vending machine business more successful?

So you are looking to start a vending machine business because you’d like to break free from the 9 to 5, Monday to Friday rat race, or you would want to be your own boss and answer to no one but yourself; maybe you find the growth of the vending machine industry pretty lucrative or know and can negotiate a location or two of proven performance and traffic. Whatever the reason might be, there’s a very well-trodden path that newbies in the vending machine game need to walk to successfully launch a new vending business.

Four questions you need to answer before starting your vending machine business

While the vending machine business seems to be a great fit for someone on the look for a new part-time and home-based opportunity that requires no special skills or training, at the end of the day this “passive income business”, like any other business, still requires some business fundamentals such as business intelligence, planning, operational efficiency and dedication.

Location, Customer Service, Optimization

The Holy Trinity Of The Successful Vending Machine Business

The vending machine business dates back to the third century B.C. At that time, the coin-operated holy water dispensing machine, designed by the Greek inventor Heron of Alexandria, was used in Egyptian temples to dispense water for ritual washing. Worshippers would place a coin into the machine and receive holy water to bathe themselves with before entering the temple. In the 19th century, Heron’s invention inspired a fully coin-operated restaurant, launched by the food service company Horn & Hardart in Philadelphia.

Optimizing Your Vending Network the Right Way

In order to bring you the levels of profit you want, optimize your entire vending network with a focus on both the quality of individual machines and placements and quantity. Vending is not an industry in which you can make an effort once, leave things alone, and expect continuous income. Your network requires constant labor in order to flourish… or even survive. In busy, especially urban areas, locations and the people in them may change regularly. You need to stay on top of their tastes, spending habits, as well as new potential locations and what the competitors do. Gather information, process data, and constantly tweak your business network for maximum sales potential. There are three parts to vending network optimization to continuously do for the life of your business.

5 Questions to Ask Before Buying Vending Machines

Vending Machine Business Beginnings

In the earlier days of the vending machine business spread (the 1970s – 1990s), many new owners jumped into the opportunity without extensive business planning or analysis of consumer buying trends or other factors. The income flowed easily and there was not as much competition for prime locations. These early companies reached profits relatively easily and were able to leverage that money to grow into large companies with many vending machine routes today.

10 mistakes of a novice vending machine operator

When you first begin a new company, the last thing you want to do is make mistakes that could affect your future success. It is better to learn from others who tried and failed before you. Keep an eye on the coffee vending machine industry worldwide and study their data to determine how to conduct business successfully. The following 10 mistakes made by startup vending companies should be avoided. They may not represent all the pitfalls and problems that may arise with this type of business, but we hope they help you on your way to a profitable future.

MDB Protocol for Simplifying Your Vending Business

Within the last 20 years, computer and mobile technology have exploded in ways that have made personal computing much more accessible to everyone. One of the best advances that is frequently ignored is the growing popularity of the USB port. This unique connector lets you quickly plug-in a mouse, keyboard, phone charger or any other external device and use it immediately. Similar advancements are being made in the vending machine industry, but instead of USB, they use the MDB protocol.

Reduce the Chance of Vending Machine Repair Needs

How to Minimize Vending Machine Repairs for Increased Profits

Vending machine repairs can cost quite a bit of money. The best way to reduce this cost is to stop your machines from breaking down. After initially launching your vending machine business with fully functional, high-quality machines, you need to ensure maximum uptime to maintain profits. Every minute one of your machines has an “Out of Order” sign hung on it, could translate into multiple lost sales. If you want to keep your business running, you need to keep your vending machines running.

Buying Supplies for your Vending Machine Business

How can you save more on cost so you can realize a bigger profit? After you find a location with an owner eager to have you place your vending machine, what do you do next? If you want your vending machine business to succeed, there is one other important thing to accomplish. You need to find great products that people want at the lowest cost possible.

Use DEX Technology to Transform Your Vending Machine Business

DEX technology was used to manage inventory and organize delivery routes for major bottling companies in the 1980s. It has now been adopted by the vending business industry and is in use in nearly half of all vending machines. DEX inclusion has resulted in more efficient route management, better inventory control and higher profits overall.

Choose the Best Vending Machine Locations

The vending machine business, like any other, is meant to make a profit. Before you even think about mapping out routes or choosing which products to sell, however, you need to find the best locations for your vending machines. The location is the most important aspect of ensuring your business is sustainable and profitable. Even with the right research, any place will not guarantee a good profit, but you can definitely stack the odds in your favor by following the important guidelines listed below:

Quick Ways to Boost Profits With Your Vending Machines

Want a way to increase vending machine profits without adding more locations to your route? Follow these ideas to maximize the amount you earn from each machine.

The vending industry involves a lot of competition and you need to stay out in front of other company owners if you want to make money. This involves not only hard work but also fast thinking. Sometimes, it is the little things that make the biggest difference on your road to a successful company and higher profits.

Reduce Vending Machine Vandalism and Theft

At some point every owner of a vending machine business finds that one or more of his machines have been vandalized or broken into. Inventory is either missing or destroyed and you may need to spend quite a bit of money to repair or replace the damaged property.There are steps to take to reduce the possibility of vending machine vandalism and theft.

Vending Machine Inventory Management for Increased Profits

Managing your vending machine inventory effectively can certainly boost your profits. If you are new to this business you will need to work out how much and what kind of vendible product you should buy. There is no fixed answer to this because it depends on several factors, for example:

• What kind of vending machines you own
• What kind of products you want to sell
• How many vending machines you have
• How much product the machines sell between service intervals

Maximizing Vending Route Efficiency

Maximizing vending route efficiency is key to a successful vending machine business. Consider these quotes:

• “Efficiency is intelligent laziness.”
• “Work smarter, not harder.”

Vending Machine Business Finance Options

Multiple business funding methods are available for both new and established vending companies to get the capital necessary to launch or grow. The following information will help you determine how much money you need and how to get it in order to succeed.

Vending Machine Business Structures Explained

Protect Personal and Professional Profits and Assets with Proper Legal Structure

Before you ever place in order for 10 cases of candy bars, write up a contract with a new location owner or install a shiny new machine in a company break room, you need to tackle all the basic administrative tasks necessary to not only run a vending machine business legally but also potentially save you from losing a lot of money and time. These jobs may not be interesting or fun, but they are important for the continuing health of the company.

Guide to the Successful Purchase of an Existing Vending Machine Business

Although it is possible to start a vending machine business from scratch, many entrepreneurs look for existing routes or businesses for sale. The option to take over an established company is much simpler than doing everything yourself. Also, a geographic area may already be well-stocked with vending machines and service companies, so there is really no room left for another one. Competition is sometimes fierce when it comes to getting the best locations in the vending industry, but challenges such as this can be handled.

What Type of Vending Machine Business is Right for You?

The Vending Machine Business and You

It is true that vending machine businesses have a higher success rate than many other types of business. Their success rates are typically above 80% while other businesses have a high risk of failure instead. Are you a good candidate to be a vending machine operator? Do you have the time and interest to get involved in this type of business and is it right for you? There are choices to make about what type of business you want to have. For example, you can purchase electronic machines, mechanical ones, or bulk vending machines which dispense handfuls of products. The bulk machines are cheaper but they don’t yield as much profits per unit.

Can you find financial freedom in a vending machine?

Lots of people want to run their own business, and you are probably one of them. Have you ever thought about how you could start your own profitable side business that you can easily operate while you still have your regular 9 to 5 job?

6 Good Reasons Why You Should Consider Web-Based Software Over Traditional Software

Web-based software - chances are you’ve used them without even realizing it. After all, if you ever used or are using web-based email programs such as Yahoo Mail, Gmail, etc. or do online banking, then you’ve used web-based software.

Basic Elements of Vending Software