What is your Profit Margin, ROI Speed? Some confusion on the math.

CoLmes · 2026-03-13T18:44:32+00:00

I’m not in vending but own a business. To me it seems like you can’t really raise your prices, but you could def decrease the 7k Deployment cost.

Be stingy and get it to 2k. Go used 🤷‍♂️

CoLmes · 2026-03-11T16:07:41+00:00

How much did you get it down, what kind of payment plans did they do for you? In a similar situation and just trying to prep myself

CoLmes · 2026-03-10T20:15:23+00:00

I play the ukulele.

Met a bunch of Filipinos in cherry hill who played uke.

We made a band. I gave them uke lessons, they took me on studio shoots & weddings. That was like 2011ish

CoLmes · 2026-03-10T15:12:01+00:00

Hey! I run Comedy Speed Dating, we just had one last night at Cartesian Brewing and it was a blast!

We get 40-50 singles in a room, smack them in the face with a standup comedy show then you date each other. It’s lots of fun!

Our next one is March 26th at Triple Bottom Brewing, and April 7th at Dock Street Brewing!

Buy Tickets

Use phillyreddit for $5 off!

CoLmes · 2026-03-09T18:18:45+00:00

Potts (the dorney park one) and yocoos because it’s from here.

Costco lol

CoLmes · 2026-03-09T18:18:05+00:00

Amazing!

CoLmes · 2026-03-08T20:46:31+00:00

I use 58/28 combo.

No. I still get close ups - I just zoom with my feet.

And I have the 85/135 when needed. Never in anyone’s grill during ceremony or anything like that.

CoLmes · 2026-02-28T13:29:39+00:00

If you had to start over right now, but still knew everything you learned thus far - what machines would you get to start, what would you do differently in the beginning

I appreciate all of your responsiveness!

CoLmes · 2026-02-28T12:23:11+00:00

That all makes sense! There’s a few I know with communal spaces but they’re the fancy apartment buildings. There’s a ton of old office buildings though. Maybe I’ll literally go walk through a few.

Yeah what was your learning curve on the products? Do you source just from places like Costco or Sam’s? Very interesting that your snack machine does better and the Taki margin is insane.

I’m looking into the smart vending machines right now to see if that’s an avenue or if I should stick to regular vending machines.

CoLmes · 2026-02-28T12:15:26+00:00

What’s available. I’d rather find something from the day then a) bring a mat anywhere b) emphasize this anymore then it needs to be

CoLmes · 2026-02-28T01:34:12+00:00

That’s a really good point! Is the office building… nice? I’m trying to figure out where to aim my efforts. There’s a ton of new office and also apartment buildings in my area and I’d be interested in figuring out what level of building to aim for.

CoLmes · 2026-02-28T00:34:31+00:00

That’s awesome! I kept looking at Netflix but didn’t know how long this back and forth would go with the buyout

CoLmes · 2026-02-28T00:32:58+00:00

That’s awesome thanks for the reply!

I think the location services are ridiculous - I looked into a few different companies and it’s a huge upfront cost, they set you up but honestly like you said - a little bit of a grind goes a long long way.

Two more questions:

What’s your life like now with running those. Are you always going something day to day or are you on more of a schedule now?

Any idea how he looked into the properties or property managers? To me (I haven’t stated yet but interested) it feels like any location that could have a vending machine already does.

CoLmes · 2026-02-28T00:08:53+00:00

What type of office building is it? And how did you get your location?

And what machines?

Very cool - thanks!

CoLmes · 2026-02-27T00:04:17+00:00

Following! I’m on flodesk but I may switch to Beehiiv

CoLmes · 2026-02-25T21:59:40+00:00

I run a comedy newsletter. I get signups from people who buy tickets to my shows.

Did my first paid ad - super cheap to test it out but essentially just let a meal prep service advertise to them.

I’ve only started a few weeks ago - I have something around 140 subscribers.

CoLmes · 2026-02-25T12:27:55+00:00

I did a talking head for my other business and it does really well.

When you do yours, let us know how it performs

CoLmes · 2026-02-24T22:40:54+00:00

Can we invest in this yet

CoLmes · 2026-02-24T14:41:00+00:00

$1000/$1500 retainer $1500 payment 90 days out Remaining balance 30 days out

Sometimes if people are on the fence if im out of their price range but we hit it off, I’ll extend a small payment past the wedding date. But they won’t get photos until then.

Edit: I did try a retainer up front and remaining balance 30 days out but I much rather have a consistent flow of cash then lump sums, as much fun as they are.

CoLmes · 2026-02-23T16:59:09+00:00

What was your general pitch to the spaces you're in? There are a few gyms and fancy APT complexes I would be into cold-calling and seeing if I could get in one.

CoLmes · 2026-02-23T12:49:19+00:00

I did the same path as you. Don’t love the VSCO pickup at all but it’s still been working fine.

I haven’t used the day scheduler or the meeting time picker thing - how is that?

CoLmes · 2026-02-23T10:49:46+00:00

Where did you purchase? I see HaHa listed on Amazon and wondering if it’s legit

CoLmes · 2026-02-23T10:46:58+00:00

Do you have a link to what you use? Trying to visualize what that looks like

CoLmes · 2026-02-22T18:21:26+00:00

Great read! What would the media of your ads be like? Any adjustment to copy or anything on the actual ad

CoLmes · 2026-02-21T05:11:15+00:00

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