What you need to think about
Everything looks great, you are ready. See below the things to consider
Diversifying Your Business
Having vending machines is one way to diversify and it can be a significant opportunity to broaden the income stream, provide positive pr for the business and extend the reach and connectivity of the business. However it shouldn’t be taken lightly and imagining that a vending machine is a box that other people fill with money can be misleading. It requires retail skills quite different from the norm and a daily time commitment.
A great start is to evaluate your current business position.
Carry out research
Time spent researching is extremely valuable. Online searches and event show attendance can be a great way to get a feel for whether it will work in your location. Looking for positive and negative feedback and opinion will increase confidence. Use our interactive map(link) to see visit someone near you which can give you a picture of whats involved
Undertake a feasibility budget
It’s important to know there is the potential to make money from your venture. Are the upfront costs prohibitive? Are the projected profits positive? Is the profit from turnover acceptable? These are important questions to answer before investing.
Prepare a business plan
Having a plan has huge benefits at the start, recording your ideas. Helps determine goals and targets. Useful for financial support where needed. It will change and evolve as your venture grows
Tangible and Intangible commitments
Do not underestimate what is involved. Buying a milk station is both an investment of money and time. You will need to dedicate as much energy to the maintenance and upkeep of the machine itself as to all other aspects of the business, such as marketing. Social media can be a particularly powerful tool in this – even if you have never engaged in Facebook or Instagram on a personal level, it can be hugely instrumental in connecting your business to your local community.
Pre Requisites
Anyone buying a milk vending machine should consider what is required before they are able to sell milk. You should contact your local Environmental Health Officer for approval and licensing to enable you to get started.
Below highlights the the areas of importance to your EHO arming you with the knowledge in advance of that initial contact.
Raw Milk
- The herd is healthy and free of brucellosis and tuberculosis
- The farm complies with hygiene rules and has twice yearly inspections
- All appropriate Raw Milk health warnings are displayed
- Ensure food safety standards by twice yearly samples and tests
HACCP
Pasteurised milk
- Adequate light, ventilation and drainage
- Handwashing facilities and toilets including hot and cold water
- Maintained, disinfected easy clean walls, ceiling and flooring
- Openings and equipments must be in good order and easy cleanable
General food law
Location of your Milkstation
Where will it be ?
The machines benefit from being sited in well constructed shelters and your customers too will appreciate an environment that is comfortable when the weather is terrible. Consideration also needs to be given to how far the machine is from the pasteuriser and how the tanks are to be transported
Customer parking and access
Provisions are needed to make sure your customers can reach your milkstation, park safely and enjoy their purchase
What is the best surface ?
Our machines are hardy beasts but will perform best on a good solid level surface.
Our team has installed many, many milk stations in a variety of environments. This means you can take advantage of this. Milk the team of all they know
There is still more to learn ….
We have learnt a lot and our goal is to share this knowledge with you, arming you with an understanding of whats involved. We can help with so much more
