One of the hardest parts of the vending machine business is that it’s hard to find and keep profitable locations. Vending is very competitive and a lot of markets are already saturated by other venders. Sometimes you may get a profitable location only to have another vender suddenly appear on the scene and try to cut you out, it’s just the nature of the business. To stay ahead of the competition you will simply need to work harder.
One thing you can do that can make locating easier is to affiliate with a non-profit or charity. The charity allows the vender to use their name and gives the vender a sticker to place on their machines which shows their affiliation. In exchange, the vender donates about $1 a month per vending machine to the charity. This is a low cost way for non-profits to raise money with very little effort; vending affiliations make millions of dollars each and every year for non-profits.
But it’s not just a good deal for non-profits, it benefits the vender too. Business owners and managers are much more receptive to the idea of vending machines in their business if the machines help out a non-profit, so this makes locating easier. I’m not sure if it helps with sales, but customers may be more willing to part with a quarter if it helps a non-profit. Plus, as a vending route owner myself, I like the idea that my business is helping a non-profit in some small way.
When you work with a professional locating company, they will usually recommend that you affiliate because it’s a fact that it does make the process easier. Some people offer business owners a commission in order to place their machines, but honestly for the small profits that the average vending machine brings in, I’m not sure how well this would work. In locations that perform above average this may work, but I can’t see that offering someone $1 a month would make them more receptive to placing your machine.