from 200 000 ₽
Revenue:50 000 - 60 000 ₽ (for 1 machine)
Net profit:15 000 - 20 000 ₽ (for 1 machine)
Payback period:from 12 months
A business on vending machines is a passive income, in which you lose the cost of staff salaries and practically do not pay rent. We are figuring out how to turn a dream into reality.
Vending machine (Vending machine) - a business built on the work of vending machines, that is, stand-alone devices that are used to sell various goods. Initially, these were snacks and drinks, in the future many companies added to the list of goods sold and other goods, such as various electronic gadgets, chargers and even lottery tickets.
In general, there are a lot of types and groups of vending machines. They can be divided into two main groups: devices that trade in certain goods (from drinks and snacks to covers from cell phones and contact lenses) and devices that provide services (from paying for mobile communications to paying for parking spaces). It is almost impossible to list what trading vending machines are now selling - these are hundreds and thousands of products and services.
What are the main advantages of a vending business? First of all, the real financial advantages of the vending machine are based on the saving of conditionally fixed costs - this is mainly saving on salaries and deductions from the salaries of service personnel and savings on renting floor spaces. Secondly, you become the head of your own business and can plan your time and manage your earnings. Thirdly, you help people who can receive goods in a place where they were not there before.
So, if you have shown interest in a vending business idea, you must first understand its advantages compared to investing in another business. One of the arguments for is that in the world the volume of the vending business already exceeds $ 42 billion and its growth rate is really high.
But personal goals that you set for yourself are important, as the investment strategy that you choose will depend on them. For example, a personal goal may be to get more free time. Then your investment strategy cannot include the purchase of several dozens of vending machines, and their independent maintenance - you simply do not have enough time to maintain such a number of devices. If your goal is to ensure financial well-being and generate passive income, then you still need to include staff costs in your business model. And, of course, you need to consider the amount that you have available for investing.
Where to install vending machines
The next important point in building a vending business is the choice of location for the installation of machines. In fact, this is one of the key points of the success of the business on vending machines. Considering the location for each device, it is necessary to take into account not only cross-country ability, but also the need to obtain this service for customers in this particular place. For example, a vending machine that sells snacks, installed next to a large grocery retailer, will not be effective at all. As well as an apparatus selling, for example, coffee. Visitors move away from the cash desks with their hands full of purchases and they are physically uncomfortable approaching your device even with a cup of tea or coffee.
On the other hand, an apparatus selling healthy foods and drinks, for example, offering freshly squeezed juice, will be quite appropriate near the fitness center, especially if the fitness center does not have its own bar.
So, location, location and location again! Let's dwell on the factors that will provide you with the best profitability indicators. First, the main thing. Vending business is successful in places with good pedestrian traffic. The simplest examples are an office center, university, or school.
Suppose you have chosen the location of the machine. Now you need to establish contact with the owner of this premises or territory, and he needs to ask the right questions. Here is a sample list of what you need to ask:
What is approximately night and day traffic at this point? Pay attention to the night traffic, since it is at this time that the consumer is most difficult to receive the goods.
What will be the cost of renting a retail space and connecting to electric networks? And if you put one or three, or five machines?
How secure is this point, are there cameras and will additional security be provided?
Try to find the owners of vending companies that have already set their points in this place or the like. Of course, owners will be reluctant to make contact with a potential competitor, but if you succeed, then a positive response about this location is already a guarantee of success for your business.
What to sell in a vending machine
Next, we dwell on another important factor - the choice of products for the trading apparatus. Any location differs from others in its customer demographics, traffic patterns and unique features. And choosing the right assortment of products sold by vending machines is vital for the success of your business.
Factors to consider when forming the assortment of a vending machine:
Taste preferences. If your products do not meet the taste preferences of the average consumer of goods, then this will not be sold. Of course, you need to do a little marketing research that will help you learn more about visitors to this place.
Affordable for the price . You need to choose those products that you can sell cheaper, saving when using a vending machine, usually at the seller. But important is direct contact with the manufacturer. Choose those products that you can purchase without or with a minimum number of intermediaries.
The usefulness of the product . Yes, at the present time, when most buyers monitor their figure and health, this is very important. A healthy lifestyle is now in trend, and the buyer is more likely to buy a product that he considers healthy.
Product fame . Since the vending business does not imply the presence of a seller or consultant, then pay attention to the brands. It is very likely that the buyer will pay for the well-known product that he has ever heard of, or the usefulness of which is known.
Novelties . Sometimes the consumer wants to try something new, unusual, and you must give him such an opportunity. New items are sold cheaper than branded products, and the consumer, in order to save, can purchase them. Create competition within each device, consumers will appreciate the choice.
Pay attention to the possible location features of each unit. Hospitals or schools may limit the list of products sold.
And, general advice regarding the assortment of goods. Purchase in small quantities at first, although this does not provide you with the best price. Several times, smoothly change the assortment of the trading apparatus and keep detailed records of which products are the most popular at a given point. Gradually, you will be able to determine the optimal assortment for each point from purchasing larger batches of goods, getting big discounts, but do not chase discounts from the very beginning.
Which vending machines to choose
As for the types of vending machine, there are many of them. And you need to select them, depending on the factors that we have listed above - location and product content. However, when choosing equipment for trading, pay particular attention to the number of payment methods that each particular vending machine model offers. Of course, it is optimal that the selected model of the device accepts not only cash and bank cards, but also other payment methods, for example, via a smartphone. Limiting the device only to cash, you will lose up to half of customers.
One of the methods to reduce initial investment is to purchase previously used devices. On the one hand, the devices may be in quite good condition, but even when obtaining permission from the SES (sanitary-epidemiological station), requirements for new devices may turn out to be more stringent. And maintenance of new devices, as a rule, is carried out by manufacturers according to a simpler scheme.
There are dozens of vending equipment suppliers in Russia. If necessary, you can purchase foreign-made devices directly, but it is necessary in this case to take care to carefully check the availability of all necessary certificates for equipment and the availability of operational technical support both for warranty and for the availability of spare parts.
The cost of a vending machine varies widely - from 55 thousand rubles to devices priced at more than 5 million rubles. Some manufacturers offer a loan, installment plan or rent a device with a monthly payment. Additionally, almost all manufacturers offer discounts on the purchase of several devices.
Also, speaking about the financial side of the issue, it should be noted that the profitability of a vending business begins, according to experts and business participants, as a rule, with 10 machines. This business is built on the effect of scaling, and a small number of devices due to conditionally constant costs for their maintenance will not allow to receive any significant income.
The most effective areas of the vending business are coffee machines and devices for the sale of snacks. An example of a business plan for vending coffee trade with two machines can be found here. In order for you to understand the profitability of this business and not build unnecessary illusions, we will outline an approximate calculation. To buy, download, launch and brand one good coffee machine, you need about 200-250 thousand rubles. However, according to the experience of vending operators, revenue from one device per month does not exceed 50-60 thousand rubles, and net profit can be in the region of 15-20 thousand rubles. And this is at best. So you can count on more or less serious income in this business if you have at least 10 devices. Even better - 20-25 cars.
In practice, of course, everything also depends on the choice of the type of goods for each location. In general, there are dozens of types of vending machines and each one is quite effective. There are even devices selling gold bullion. Of course, delivered in an ordinary supermarket, such a device is unlikely to give at least one sale, but in Frankfurt, Abu Dhabi, Madrid and Bergamo, such a device is probably profitable. If you are interested in unusual types of vending and looking for non-standard ideas, then we recommend that you familiarize yourself with this selection.
How to get a vending business
Next, we dwell on the legal aspects of opening a new vending business. Any business must be registered. Moreover, the vending business is a public business and trading devices are in full view. Yes, and to conclude an agreement with service providers - the Internet, security or electricity will be difficult without registration.
Moreover, there is nothing complicated in opening a company for a vending business. As a rule, these are ordinary IP or LLC. What is better to open - IP or LLC for a vending business, you decide. There are no special features here, you can be guided by the usual rules that you need to consider when choosing a legal form.
Depending on regional legislation, rules may be established in the regions that determine the receipt of special permits for trade using vending machines from the fire department and SES. However, obtaining such permits is not necessary everywhere, and it does not present problems, since vending activities are not subject to mandatory certification and licensing.
But, pay attention that the goods sold by the vending machine must have all the necessary certificates, do not forget to clarify this fact when purchasing goods. And the staff servicing each device should have medical books available.
Consider issues related to taxation of a vending business. No special regimes are provided for this type of business. You can use UTII (a single tax on imputed income is a taxation system in the form of a single tax on imputed income, which is provided for certain types of activities), patent, STS (simplified tax system, this is one of the tax regimes, which implies a special tax payment procedure and focused mainly on small businesses) 6% or 15%, the general taxation system.
The most convenient option must be calculated in each case, depending on the number of devices, turnover and the presence or number of employees. Additionally, it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of regional legislation. The best option would be to contact the tax office at the place of registration of the company and get advice on the spot. As a rule, the most commonly used option for vending is USN 6%.
For accounting services for a vending business, at the initial stage, it is advisable to attract a specialized outsourcing accounting company. The prices for such services depend on the region in which the business is conducted, the company's turnover and the number of employees. As a rule, the cost of such services is not large in the total cost of the vending business.
Do not forget that on each device must be indicated the name of the company-owner and contact information for communication with him. Until 2017, there were no special OKVED codes (all-Russian classifier of types of economic activity) for a vending business. However, from 2017 it is necessary to use OKVED on 08/18/2019 (activities for the implementation of trade through automatic machines). In principle, for your company you can choose several OKVED codes, depending on the types of activities that the company carries out. But the main should be only one.
Service and advertising of vending machines
So, we decided on the location, selected the product and the type of necessary equipment, registered the company and received all the necessary permissions. But that's not all. Now you need to think in advance how to provide customers with the best service, eliminating breakage or non-delivery of goods. First of all, take care of the timely maintenance of the devices. You can conclude a service contract with a vendor of a vending machine, hire a specialist yourself, or do everything yourself. In any case, immediately reserve this part of the costs. Get training from the device manufacturer to help you maintain the device properly.
For a day, one person can serve from five to ten machines (depending on their location) and manage a common park of 30-50 machines. An additional investment is the purchase and maintenance of a car. In large cities at rush hour and in bad weather, it is unlikely that you can reach your destination on foot or by public transport (especially with large amounts of money).
Of course, you need to use simple and effective marketing campaigns to attract attention to your devices. We give examples of some of them.
In order for potential buyers to familiarize themselves with the assortment of your device, offer a small amount of free samples for testing, which you can distribute directly near the device. Naturally, to offer samples, choose the target audience that your device is designed for.
Use bright stickers and banners to help visitors see that an interesting new product has arrived or the price of part of the assortment has been reduced. Or try such a simple method of attracting attention. Attach to one of the goods at the back, 100 or 500 rubles. Post the appropriate announcement and let it be a kind of lottery, which is sure to attract the attention of the gambling part of consumers.
Another important way to show your attention to customers, which they really value, is to provide easy feedback. Place the QR code (QR - Quick Response - Quick Response is a two-dimensional barcode (bar code) that provides information for quick recognition using the camera on your mobile phone) on your device, and thankful users will definitely tell you what they would like to see in the range of vending machines and how to improve your business. A satisfied customer is your direct profit. Take care of the customer.
Risks of a vending business
Consider some of the risks that arise when starting a vending business.
Damage to machines . The most common risk is the probability of intentional damage to the device by the buyer. Vending machines, as a rule, are quite well protected from accidental damage, but damage caused by the actions of an angry customer can be very unpleasant. In part, this risk can be minimized by creating effective feedback forms that will help quickly help the customer without forcing him to damage the device. The second point of minimizing this type of risk is the location of the device in a protected area and obtaining guarantees from the owner of the premises or territory for the safety of the device.
Causing harm to the customer . Another risk is the inadvertent harm to the buyer, for example, poisoning the buyer with products from the vending machine. In this case, the system of monitoring the expiration dates of the goods and the availability of a full package of all certificates from the supplier of the goods is very important. In this case, even if such problems occur, you can always ask the supplier for compensation for the damage incurred.
Unclaimed assortment. Well, finally, one of the biggest risks in this business is the wrong choice of the assortment of goods for this location, on which the vending machine is located. This risk is minimized by your operational control over the profitability and turnover of each point.
What are the options for starting a business on a vending
Now that we already understand exactly how the vending business is structured, we must choose a specific strategy for starting a business. Three main ones can be attributed to them:
You start a business on your own, go through all the stages of equipment, product, location and registration that we indicated.
You buy an existing vending business.
You are buying a franchise to create a vending business.
Each of the options has its own advantages and disadvantages. The easiest option is to buy an existing vending business. Pay attention to two main points if you use this option. The first point is the safety and warranty on the equipment. The second point is the presence of confirmed cash flows from an existing business. If the first moment is easy to verify by inviting a technical specialist, then the presence of a confirmed cash flow is more difficult to verify. This is due to the fact that the previous owner, as a rule, will overstate the cash flow, arguing that part of the flow could go “black” to reduce the tax burden. However, you should be very skeptical of such statements, and if the confirmed cash flow does not satisfy your needs, it is better to consider another option for starting a business. And, of course, do not forget to check the availability and legality of each of the agreements, especially for the placement of devices, since for a vending machine a new location, this is, in fact, a new business.
The payback period of a vending business begins, as a rule, from two years. Do not particularly trust the ready-made business plans of the vending business, especially from suppliers of this equipment. As a rule, they exaggerate the financial results of the project.
To summarize all of the above, we can draw the main conclusion. Vending machines are not golden mountains, this is a business that requires significant investments and a well-considered attitude to it, only in this case it becomes cost-effective and efficient.
Anton Vodolazov, business consultant, candidate of economic sciencesContact the author:
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