The Passive Income Myth of the Vending Business

You don't have to look that far to find people and businesses promoting vending as the ultimate in generating passive income; however I always urge people to keep in mind that most of the people perpetuating this view of vending usually have something to gain by this skewed perspective. Don't get me wrong, vending really is a great business. It is not however as easy as they may lead you to believe. A lot of this misinformation is general marketing hype designed to sell machines or service, because obviously you can't go wrong appealing to people’s greed, it's a tried and true method of advertising and it helps sell those machines. After all, if people knew the work involved in starting and running a vending route it wouldn't be nearly as appealing. "Work hard and build up a successful business slowly over time" isn't nearly a catchy marketing slogan as "cash cow", "instant income" and "passive income".

One of the most insidious aspects of vending is the vending business opportunities or vending biz ops; these companies suck people in with the allure of easy money. They charge well above market value for their equipment and locating services, sometimes three to four times more than market value. Unfortunately, once people get sucked into these "opportunities" they have a hard time recovering. It's hard to recover when you're trying to pay off a loan with a vending route that's not making nearly as much as you anticipated or had been led to believe. A lot of people are left with such bitter feelings about vending that they give up on the industry altogether.

So, if you're looking at vending hoping that it's the easy road to riches, you're going to be sadly disappointed. However, if you steer clear of biz ops and are willing to put in the time and effort, vending can be a great way to make a living.