Talk to your cpa before starting any business. You are going to have a lot of different taxes you will need to keep up with and file monthly, mostly sales tax. Try to find an existing business to buy. Let the other guy develop the market for you and see if he was making enough money to make it worthwhile. Most good routes are probably already taken. Are you mechanically inclined so you can fix your machines? Have you been to a trade show and seen how much good vending machines cost? They start at about $10 grand each and go up from there. Where are you going to store your inventory? If food items, how will you keep them temperature controlled and vermin free? Do you have time to run your route and keep the machines full and working?
I had soda machines in my business and had Pepsi and coke products. I dropped coke because I had to carry stock in about 10 different products for each and the space requirements for all the inventory was ridiculous due to the minimum order requirements. I also had food and amusement vending owned by others in the stores and I split the take 50/50 with the owners. I gave them electricity and space and they gave me 50% of the gross. And you will be forever removing pennies, toothpicks, gum, straws, gummy bears, and anything else a kid or adult can put in the coin slot. If you take credit cards, be prepared to give the card merchant 8% of your gross. Like I said, see you can find an existing business to buy. Then you will know what the biz is making, you'll get equipment at a discount, and you will already have a route/territory developed for you. Good luck!
