Vending franchises are the ultimate no-hassle business opportunity.
First of all, you don’t need to interact with the public – surely the main source of stress in many public-facing jobs!
Neither is there much pressure to source new business; the franchisor invariably does that for you. And anyway, you generally tend to existing clients, restocking vending machines or honesty boxes in offices, schools and other places of work.
Which brings us to the next advantage: repeat business. You return again and again to the same customers, who appreciate the convenience of an automated snack dispenser that involves no cost or effort on their part.
And because you generally expend little or no energy securing new clients, it frees you from the burden of marketing. Now, you may be something of a marketer and enjoy that side of business; if you don’t, however, then you’ll see that as a plus.
The perfect business opportunity for parents, part-time students and anyone else for whom flexible or short working hours are an important consideration.
Vending franchises are also the perfect business opportunity for parents, part-time students and anyone else for whom flexible or short working hours are an important consideration. An automated, self-contained shop, vending machines require no shopkeeper, they need no security guard. You simply restock them, which takes very little time at all.
No surprise then that vending franchisors invariably do not make previous industry experience a pre-requisite for aspiring franchisees. What you need instead, above all, is a commitment to working hard.
Of course, they require maintenance too – but the franchisor will generally send out their own, in-house experts to address this. This is why so many people opt for a franchise, which provides training and ongoing support as well as a trusted brand (providing you choose carefully), rather than setting up their own enterprise.
Of course, if it’s an honesty-box concept then there’s no chance of malfunctioning machinery.
The honesty box, which is generally simply a cardboard box to which people are trusted to pay for what they take, is increasingly common in offices and other workplaces.
If the assumption that people can be trusted to pay for what they take seems naïve, then consider the immense power of social embarrassment. Because they’re always stationed in offices even the unscrupulous will avoid risking their reputation among colleagues – who they see nearly every day – especially for the sake of such a small amount of cash.
And unless you have a particularly cynical view of humanity, you’ll recognise that most people are honest anyway!
Franchises based around the honesty box often contribute a portion of the revenue to charity too, further incentivising people to buy your wares. It will certainly help them feel a little less guilty for snacking between meals – although vending machines have a greater array of health snacks than years ago.
They’re also among the cheaper franchise categories. Requiring neither premises nor staff, the vending franchise won’t necessarily require you to re-mortgage your house. When it comes to the stress factor, few things ratchet up the pressure than a big financial commitment!
