Vending franchises are quite different to the other types of franchises we have on offer; they have a unique business model which provides aspiring franchisees a low stress, flexible working franchise opportunity. This may sound like the perfect opportunity but it isn’t for everybody; the ‘low stress’ aspect may not appeal to everyone, as they may thrive off busy situations and a rapid pace of working life. It is important that you understand what is involved and what isn’t - you don’t want to start a new franchise then realise you can’t be as involved as you want to be.

Low Stress Franchise Opportunity

Every job has a certain degree of stress but the levels may vary, depending on which sector you work within. For example, vending franchisees really could be considered one of the lowest in stress jobs out there, simply because of the model of the industry; the most common being, providing intermittent servicing of the machines, which often doesn’t involve much more.

Although the industry still provides a form of customer service, the face-to-face customer interaction is minimal. The franchisor will also likely be in charge of sourcing new clients for you to facilitate, meaning you don’t have to consider marketing or sales negotiations, both of which can be stressful. The main aspect which creates a low stress environment is your small amount of working hours, combined with the high flexibility. This gives the franchisee the chance to manage their working hours around their other responsibilities such as: studying, family life, other work etc.

The downside to having a machine that makes all your money is that it will inevitably break or be damage at some point. This may create some level of stress as if your machine doesn’t work then you have no way of making money, however again the franchisor can help alleviate this. This does depend on the franchise of choice but some franchisors will manage the repair and renewal of old/damaged vending machines, others may incur some costs if you can’t repair it yourself.

Low Cost & Entry Franchise Opportunity

As you will be responsible for a lot less than a normal franchise, it means that you don’t need the experience or expertise that other franchise opportunities require. This means that vending franchisors don’t have high pre-requisites and increases the chance of franchisees being successful in their application. The other reason this is considered low entry is because it doesn’t involve a lot of capital to get up a running; you don’t need other staff, which means there’s no need for an office or factory. This makes the vending franchises one of the lowest cost entries for franchise fees, which again reduces stress.

Vending Franchise Industry

Even if this franchise ticks all the boxes for you in terms of what’s involved, it still needs to be an industry that going to be around for some time and that’s going to prosper, as stress will inevitably increase if you start to struggle to sell your product. If we look at the industry over the last five years you can see a positive trend:

(according to Vendingmarketwatch.com)

• 2011 – $18.96bn
• 2012 - $19.31bn
• 2013 - $19.68bn
• 2014 - $20.17bn
• 2015 - $20.90bn

This demonstrates that the market is healthy and on the rise which presents a great opportunity for further development and increased sales. The other positive side to the market is that it is adapting to technological trends; cashless payment is being adopted at a much faster rate for every industry and this includes vending machines, which has resulted in increased sales in many locations – ease and speed of payment is now a highly considered factor when purchasing a product.

It is important to note, however, that the industry isn’t a perfect, ever-growing machine that can’t be hit be market woes; In 2007, the industry revenue was $23.21bn, which is higher than the total in 2015. This is due to the product that is being sold; confectionary and other items are most commonly bought with disposable income; when times get hard, people are more conscious with what they spend their money on and sweets would not be on the list of priorities. The drop-in value after 2007 was due to the recession which means the market is linked closely with the country’s economic performance. This may seem daunting as, if something like the recession were to hit again, you will likely see the same trend. That being said, the market has returned. It has taken a few years but the vending industry has bounced back and is prospering again, which shows, if you have lasting power and work with an expert franchise, you can have the security and growth you are seeking.

If this interests you then take a look at our Vending Franchise Opportunities