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Schools and Healthy Vending Machines Is your school struggling to make ends meet? Do you need new books, new computers or training for your teachers? Where can you find some extra money that will help your school be able to afford all the things your students need? You may have tried earning some extra cash with standard school vending machines but in the days ahead you may be forced to either remove them all together or replace them with a healthy alternative. Junk food vending machines will make your school money but at what cost? Childhood obesity is at an all-time high in the US and school vending machines are a major contributor to this epidemic. Wouldn't it be great if you could earn money for your school while making a huge impact on the health of your students? This is possible with healthy vending machines. Profit Potential In the past, schools have had to choose between nutrition and profits. The only way they could make money from their machines was if they were stocked with sugary sodas and processed junk food. If they tried offering healthy alternatives, sales fell flat. When kids have to choose between granola bars and potato chips, they'll usually go for the greasy chips if these products are nestled side by side in the same vending machine. However, if you replace not only the food but the vending machine itself, the snacks become more attractive and the entire vending experience becomes more enjoyable. Not to mention the potential for huge profits schools have with healthy machines. Several choices are available if your school decides it wants to implement healthy vending machines. 1. Lease and Operate Program When you lease a machine, a specialist is assigned to you to help you determine which products will be most popular at your school. You are also able to decide what type of video content will be displayed on each machine's LCD monitor. This could include school announcements and information about the snacks inside the machine. Leasing is the easiest option since all the work is done by vending machine personnel. 2. Own and Operate If your school decides to buy a machine (or several machines), your healthy vending specialist will help you select your product inventory and get you started. An extensive training program will ensure you are ready and able to maintain your machines. Owning and operating your own machines is a little more work but the profits are much higher since you don't have to pay any fees to the vending company. The machines are simple to set up after reviewing the training videos and talking with customer support personnel. If your school decided to purchase a large number of machines (perhaps an entire district wants to make a single purchase), representatives will fly out to your location(s) and install the machines for you. 3. Young Entrepreneur Program With this option, your school can buy or lease a healthy vending machine and your students can operate it like a small business. As part of a business class or as a special entrepreneurs club, this program teaches students concepts like supply and demand, budgeting and how to handle money. All of the profits go back to your school and into restocking your vending machines. Digital Advertising Pairing digital advertising with vending machines seems like a simple concept. So why hasn't it ever been done before? Vending machines sit in high-traffic areas so why not take advantage of all that foot traffic and sell advertising on your machines? In 2009, companies spent nearly $6 billion on digital advertising. Clearly this type of marketing is working for these businesses so it makes sense for you to offer them a completely new way to spend their advertising dollars. Companies will jump at the chance to get their name in front of your customers. Make sure your vending machine comes equipped with an LCD screen and let it become your second revenue stream. Of course this screen can be customized to also give customers nutritional information about the products or other information specific to the location (i.e. announcements). But using this technology to make money without having to do any extra work is a smart way to go.
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