16. Candy Machines
You can get and fill up a candy machine with candy for a couple of hundred dollars. We mean those candy machines that take quarters and dispense candy with a crank of that metal turn-style. You see them everywhere, in grocery stores, in restaurants, in hotels, in movie theaters. Go around to places like that or anywhere that people, especially people with kids, gather and ask management if you can place a candy machine there and split the quarters with the store. You’ll have more luck with locally owned, one horse stores than chains, because they have a big corporate process that gums everything up. Get one store and put it in a machine.
Then get a motel, then a restaurant, and finally, a church, keep moving, keep pushing. Let the snowball roll downhill and grow until soon you’re quitting your day job to knock on more doors asking to install candy machines and driving around town refilling candy and bringing home all those quarters. Just remember, as soon as you can, make the leap into vending machines. There are some places where they will demand a fee for space when you put the machine. Consider incorporating it into the costs of your start-up budget and the transportation cost. This is an easier job and only involves your time and energy. You will need to buy the candy to restock and time to transport your products. The energy levels spent are a little. To get maximum returns on your business, you can buy several candy machines and put them in different places where they are mostly frequented by children. Then you will just have to check after a few days if they need restocking.