‘I was worried about cost of living – until I invested in a vending machine side hustle’ | Personal Finance | Finance
A man concerned about the cost of living crisis invested in a vending machine as a side venture — and claims he has managed to boost his earnings by £43,000 a year. Shabaz Khan began exploring ways to supplement his income in 2023 after noticing the rise in everyday expenses.
The 31-year-old spent eight months researching the costs and groundwork involved in owning his own vending machine before taking the plunge. Last April, Shabaz purchased his first refurbished vending machine for £2,400, putting a further £400 towards stock to launch his own business, SnackZone Vending. Within the first month, Shabaz racked up £854 in sales and used the proceeds to acquire five additional units.
Over the course of the first year, Shabaz calculated he had generated more than £10,000 in revenue from a single machine alone — and expects to bring in approximately £43,000, yielding £20,000 in profit, across all six machines after a full year of trading.
Despite the impressive returns, Shabaz has no plans to quit his full-time role at a charity and intends to reinvest all profits back into the business.
Shabaz, who lives in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland, said: “It’s like most people nowadays – the cost of living and it’s quite hard to live off just one salary.
“The price of everything is just going up. I wanted to build something that not only would bring in an additional income but also the challenge of building something different.
“I absolutely love what I do and wanted to do something on the side, which potentially brought in a bit of additional income. I looked at what I could do that was semi-passive like laundry mats and car parks.
“I had a friend of mine that had a vending machine so asked how that all worked.”
Shabaz devoted the next eight months to researching the vending machine industry before buying his first machine and securing a placement inside a care home.
Shabaz said: “I thought this doesn’t seem like a difficult job to do. I started in April last year with one machine then within the first month, I secured a second location and that went to six locations.
“And a year on we’re looking to get another couple of locations in the next couple of months. It was a very steep learning curve, I made mistakes. Managing stock and understanding what sells best and what doesn’t.
“On average I probably spend maybe four or five hours a week on this. I fill the machines before work, during lunch and after work. Filling a vending machine takes less than 10 minutes. My full-time job is still my main focus. I love what I do.”
Having initially spent roughly £3,500 on his first machine, Shabaz claims he recouped his investment within 10 months, generating £10,152 in revenue within his first year.
Now the proud owner of six machines, Shabaz anticipates his venture will generate £43,000 in revenue within a year and approximately £20,000 in profit.
Shabaz said: “On my first machine, I managed to get my return on my investment within 10 months which for any business is brilliant. I’d expect to make about £20,000 of profit [across all the machines] but that would just be reinvested back into the business.
“I’m yet to take any money out of the business. I just want to grow it as much as I can. I’ve not necessarily got into business to make a lot of money, I’ve never been driven by money. We’ll wait and see what the future brings.”
