Most vending businesses don’t fail because of bad machines or weak financing.
They fail because of bad locations.
This phase breaks down how I evaluated, qualified, and selected locations with a focus on stability, predictability, and long-term scalability. This is not hype or one-off wins. It covers the exact questions I asked before placing a machine, how I avoided high-drama locations early, and why boring, consistent placements became the foundation for rapid growth.
If you’re past the research phase and actively placing machines, this is the filter that prevents expensive mistakes.
Locations — Where the Business Is Actually Won or Lost
Machines don’t fail.
Bad locations fail.
Phase 4 is where vending stops being theoretical and becomes operational. You can have the right machines, the right financing, and the right tools, and still underperform if locations are chosen emotionally or without structure.
This phase is about one thing: placing machines where cash flow is predictable, consistent, and secure.
Everything else is noise.
How I Thought About Locations (Before Pitching Anything)
I didn’t chase “cool” locations.
I didn’t chase prestige.
I didn’t chase volume alone.
I evaluated locations based on operational capability, not potential upside.
Before ever proposing a machine, I needed to understand:
How often people are actually present
Whether the building is consistently open
Who controls approval (Google & LinkedIn are your friends here)
And whether my service solved a real problem
If those answers weren’t clear, I didn’t pitch.
My Location Evaluation Framework
Every location I pursued was evaluated using the same baseline questions.
If too many answers were weak or unknown, I passed.
1. Foot Traffic (But Not the Way People Think)
Raw headcount doesn’t matter as much as:
Frequency (daily vs occasional)
Dwell time (minutes vs hours)
Access (controlled vs public)
A smaller group that shows up every day beats a larger group that rotates weekly or monthly.
2. Days and Hours Open
This matters more than most new operators realize.
I looked at:
Days per week the location is open
Hours per day people are onsite
Whether usage is consistent or seasonal
A location open 5 days a week, 8–10 hours a day is often better than one with sporadic access.
3. Commission: Yes or No?
Commission isn’t inherently bad.
What matters is:
How much
Why
What you get in return
I didn’t automatically reject commission location, I factored them into pricing, product mix, and expectations.
A bad commission deal can quietly kill an otherwise good location. Utilizing a sliding scale and/or a minimum before commission kicks in is a smart way to protect your business
One of the most common mistakes I see is pitching the wrong person.
Before moving forward, I made sure I knew:
Who has final approval
Who manages the space day-to-day
Who will complain if something breaks
If those weren’t aligned, the location wasn’t stable long-term. Too many vocal interests can cause an issue with your location long term. Making sure you understand who requires higher priority when something happens will make sure you stand out as a service provider.
Everyone has a voice and all their complaints are valid. Prioritize effectively.
5. Interest Level
I didn’t try to convince people they needed vending.
I listened for:
Complaints about current service
Requests for better options
Frustration with reliability or pricing
Strong locations usually self-identify.
If I had to sell too hard, it wasn’t the right fit.
6. Existing Machines (And Why They Matter)
If a location already had machines, I wanted to know:
Who serviced them
Why they were underperforming
What problems the location had experienced
Underperforming machines often signal operator failure, not location failure.
Those were some of my best placements. I turned a “failing” location only doing around $200 a month to a location that does over $2500 per month by listening to the location complaints, optimizing machine inventory, adding additional machines in key areas and pricing my inventory accordingly.
Why I Prioritized Stability Over “Home Runs”
Early on, I wasn’t hunting for breakout locations.
I was building a base layer:
Consistent traffic
Predictable service schedules
Low drama
This made everything else easier:
Staffing
Inventory planning
Cash flow forecasting
Scaling on unstable locations creates chaos.
Scaling on boring locations creates momentum
The Mental Shift That Changed Everything
At this stage, I stopped thinking like a machine owner and started thinking like an operator.
That meant asking:
Can I service this efficiently?
Can this location support growth?
Does this reduce or increase complexity?
Do I need an employee?
Phase 4 isn’t about landing one great location.
It’s about building a repeatable placement standard that doesn’t break as you grow.
What Comes Next
Machines and locations set the ceiling.
Execution determines whether you ever reach it.
The next section focuses on deployment, servicing, and the systems that allowed growth without constant firefighting.
If you’ve made it this far, you’re already thinking like an operator.
I hope this was genuinely useful and continues to be as you build and scale. If there’s something you’d like to see covered, questions you want broken down, or you just want to compare notes, feel free to reach out by email or leave a comment on this post.
More to come.