Vending machine business plan with location and per-machine profit math
A vending business lives or dies on placement: a machine in the wrong spot sells nothing, however good the snacks. This prompt has your todo.is agent find possible locations near you, compare machine options and write a plan that works out sales, commission and profit per machine, plus a restock route.
The prompt
- Write a business plan for a vending machine business called [BUSINESS NAME] in [CITY OR AREA]. I want to start with [NUMBER AND TYPE OF MACHINES]. My budget and time: [BUDGET AND HOURS PER WEEK]. Find 20 possible locations near me (offices, gyms, car dealers, laundromats, hospitals, apartment buildings) with links, and say which look best and why. Compare new vs used machines and card readers with links. Write: summary, products and pricing, location strategy, how to pitch a location owner, commission terms, restock route and schedule, suppliers (warehouse clubs, distributors), insurance and permits to check, risks, and growth plan. Build an Excel model with sales per machine per week, cost of goods, commission, card fees, fuel, profit per machine, payback months and a 2-year forecast as I add machines. Mark assumptions. Send a Word plan, the Excel model and a one-page location pitch as PDF.
What to change
- [BUSINESS NAME]: Your trading name, e.g. "SnackStop Vending".
- [CITY OR AREA]: Where you will place machines, e.g. "north Dallas suburbs". Your agent searches for locations there.
- [NUMBER AND TYPE OF MACHINES]: E.g. "3 combo snack and drink machines", "healthy vending", "coffee" or "claw machines".
- [BUDGET AND HOURS PER WEEK]: E.g. "$12,000 savings, 10 hours a week alongside my job".
Example result
- Summary
- SnackStop Vending will place 3 combo snack and drink machines in north Dallas in the first 3 months, with card readers, and grow to 12 machines by the end of year 2. The owner restocks on two evenings a week. Startup budget: $12,000.
- Location strategy
- Best spots have at least 50 people a day who stay a while and have few food options nearby.
- • Top picks: a 24-hour gym, a car dealership service waiting room, a 120-unit apartment building laundry room
- • Also good: small factories and warehouses with shift workers, auto repair shops, hotel lobbies without a shop
- • Avoid at first: places next to a convenience store, offices with free snacks
- Pitching a location owner
- • Free machine, stocked and cleaned by us, card payment, product requests welcome
- • Commission: 0% to 10% of sales depending on traffic; we offer 5% at sites with over $400 a week
- • One-page pitch with photos and a contact number (PDF included)
- Products and pricing (illustrative)
- • Chips and candy, protein bars, sparkling water, energy drinks
- • Most items priced around 2 to 2.5 times cost; we check local convenience store prices
- • Change the slowest 3 items every month based on sales data from the card reader
- Per-machine numbers (illustrative assumptions)
- • Sales: $180 a week at an average site
- • Cost of goods 45%, card fees 5%, commission 5%, fuel and time $10 a week
- • Profit: about $70 a week per machine
- • Used combo machine with card reader: about $3,000, payback in about 11 months
- Restock route
- • Tuesday and Friday evenings, 3 sites in one 25-minute loop
- • Buy stock weekly at a warehouse club; move to a distributor at 8+ machines
- Risks
- • Low sales site: 60-day trial clause, then move the machine
- • Vandalism or theft: indoor sites only, insurance quote included
- • Product expiry: first in, first out; check dates at every restock
- Check before you start
- • Business license, sales tax permit, any local vending or health permit for food, general liability insurance.
How to do it with todo.is
- Copy the prompt and fill in your area, machine type, budget and time.
- Paste it on the Today screen in todo.is or message your agent on WhatsApp or Telegram.
- Your agent searches locations and machine prices with links, then sends the plan, Excel model and a location pitch PDF.
- Ask for changes like "model 10 machines by year 1" or "rewrite the pitch for hospitals".
Tips for a better result
- Count foot traffic yourself before you sign. Spend 30 minutes at a site at lunch or shift change.
- Card readers usually pay for themselves. Many people no longer carry cash.
- Use a trial clause with every location so you can move a weak machine without a dispute.
- Set a weekly to-do: attach your card reader sales export and your agent tells you which items to swap.
vending machine business plan: FAQ
- How much does a vending machine make? It varies hugely by location. A quiet site may make a few dollars a day while a busy one makes hundreds a week. Your plan models per-machine sales from your own assumptions.
- Do I have to pay the location owner? Not always. Many small sites accept a free, well-stocked machine with no commission; busy sites often ask for a percentage of sales.
- Do I need a license for a vending machine business? Usually you need a business license and a sales tax permit, and some places need a vending or food permit. Rules vary, so check your city, county and state.
- Can the agent contact locations for me? It can write the pitch and email drafts and save them in Gmail if you connect Google. It sends nothing without your OK.
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