Happy New Year, I hope 2023 is a great year for you and your family.
For this week’s update, we’ve found two articles we think are worth highlighting.
How this 31-year-old turned his side hustle into a $300,000 vending machine business: ‘I only work 4 hours a week’
CNBC features Marcus Gram, a vending machine business owner who claims he makes $300,000 a year working a handful of hours per week. Previously Gram was earning $17 an hour and living with his mom.
He started his business with 2 vending machines in Philadelphia and now has 21 machines in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Washington, D.C. He anticipates his final total revenue for 2022 to be $500,000 with $300,000 profits.
Key points:
Gram says you need savings of $4,500 / $5,000 to get started and while new machines are around $10,000, refurbished ones cost upwards of $1,000.
He said that when getting started you shouldn’t forget to budget for delivery of the machine which can be $200 – $500 each. He added that credit card readers on the machine can see a boost in sales.
Reliable machine manufacturers include Crane, AMS, Dixie Narco and Automatic Products. Gram advised looking for vending machine warehouses in your city, using Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace or eBay.
Do some research on the machines available since there are many types. A refurbished Vendo 511 Drink Machine (commonly recognized as a classic Pepsi machine), can go for $1,500.
Location is key for the machine and don’t invest in a machine until you have a place to put it.
The key consideration is the amount of foot traffic you might see, good examples are student accomodation and warehouses with lots of employees.
Gram says that site owners don’t usually charge for the use of the lcoation, and only one location takes a revenue split for the machine.
Take time to understand what your customers want. This might mean a period of trial and error so test what customers buy and don’t buy. He says he’s started an online course teaching others how to replicate his success.
How Anil Agarwal turned his side hustle into a $13K per month blog
In this article on the Niche Pursuit website, blogger called Anil Agarwal is interviewed.
Agarwal’s background is in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) working for online publications in India. SEO is the process of ensuring that website content is visible to Google’s algorithms and therefore given greater prominence to website traffic – this applies not only to the content on a website eg blog posts but also the authority of the website itself.
In 2010, Agarwal launched his website BloggersPassion and for many years got average results. However, in 2016 he pivoted to producing content aimed at helping fellow bloggers make money from their sites.
The pivot was intrumental to him being able to quit his 9-5 in 2018. He says that in 2021, he earned $13,000 a month (close to $160,000 a year). He produces revenue through selling courses, ebooks and affiliate sales.
The interview includes screenshots of revenue and traffic so there’s a sense of trust and authority that comes through. He provides some of the tools that he uses which are well recognized brands within the blogging industry.
His strategy is simple. Define your audience, know what they want and create bespoke content for them. An ongoing challenge is to get traffic – the visitors to his website.
He concludes with some key advice and that’s to treat your blog as a business which means investing money and time on the website, content, SEO and more. He says that it takes time and money to see the results.
More Articles From Career Step Up
- How To Make Passive Income: 35 Ideas
- Passive Income: 3 Unique Side Hustles Strategies for 2023
- How to Make Money Online For Beginners: 11 Easy Ways To Start
This article was produced and syndicated by Career Step Up.
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock.
