My mother is an amazing woman who taught me much of what I know. Part of that was visiting fun places. Often, we would forget to bring snacks and turned our hopes to using a vending machine. Usually, it didn’t work right. Every time the machines failed to do their duty it left my mom devastated.

That is why my venture takes vending machine management to its fullest potential. In my hometown, the vending machines are terrible.  They are dirty, the payment process is a pain or doesn’t even work. When I get the product, it might even be expired. Sometimes snacks fail to escape its metal clutches. The technology is outdated, and there is nobody to air customer grievances to. Professor Jupiter Industries is going to fix how vending machine companies work. Customers using my machines will not be turned away due to frustrations and behind the scenes there will be measures put in place to ensure that things go smoothly.

Many innovations with the future company come from a management perspective. Most vending machines organize their inventory by placing comparable products on a shelf and do not replace an item until it sells out. My company will organize its shelves by target market and heavily track what sells and change inventory with the goal of optimization. Vending machines are a man-less store front and should be treated as such. The machines will use end cap marketing techniques to sell the most inventory as possible. By placing items with the highest gross margin and demand at eyelevel for the target market (which is different for adults and children), the layout will encourage impulse buys. Every inventory item will be adjusted by switching the location or product until it’s making the most money possible.

The next innovation is in customer service. It sounds ridiculous at first, a vending machine is a machine, there is no place for a person to stand. That is outdated thinking when something called the internet exists and has become an integrated part of life. From the company's launch there will be a website for reporting problems and requesting types of snacks. As soon as there is enough revenue to support it, there will be a “management hub” created. What sets this apart from a typical call center is remote machine access. Workers can pull up any machine's system and resolve issues in real time. Machine ate your money? No problem. After a quick review of the security system, the money can be returned, or the snack forcibly dropped. How will customers be able to communicate what machine is acting up you ask? Every Professor Jupiter Industries vending machine will have a unique name assigned to it and written clearly on the machine. This gives the company a fun way of finding and organizing data, with the bonus of giving customers a human element to latch on too. By making using a vending machine a personal experience people will want to come back.

The final huge innovation in management is the preloaded card system and app. Like popular coffee shops, Professor Jupiter Industries will launch a physical/digital preloaded card that works with an app. This will happen when it is reasonable to assume that the customers encounter more than one machine on a regular basis. In the app, customers will be able to see every machine on a map and “prepay” for vending machine services. This lets the company bring in money faster for investments and wards off fear of credit card information being stolen by machines. My mom got her card stolen by a vending machine and has not trusted one since. By doing this, it adds an extra layer of protection for customers and lets parents plan out budgeting and what their kids spend.

The target market for the company is overwhelmed parents who need a hassle-free way to get snacks and tired commuters who need a bit of energy to make it home. We will target these people because they are the ones that need a simple and effective vending machine the most. Initial target locations include the local downtown area, transportation hubs, and community gathering places. The secondary market is landlords who desire to bring values to their property. Each machine will have a custom inventory because it will adapt to its area. Anywhere that many people pass by would be a suitable location. Once the card system is launched, schools and hospitals become prime locations. In schools, machines will complement existing meal plans. In hospitals, staff can enjoy well-deserved favorites while families gain a convenient option during long visits. As the company grows bigger, custom designed and built machines will be added to the equation, with the intent of providing each location with exactly what they need beyond prepackaged snacks. The goal is for the company’s life force to be tied to repeat customers. Professor Jupiter Industries should put in the work to be a brand that cares about customers and provides a service that works.

Bringing the company to market is still in the preliminary stages. I am entering several pitch competitions to raise enough start-up capital with minimum debt. With luck, the company should have seven machines and a part-time employee by the end of year one. I project $39,690 in revenue across the seven machines, with net income of approximately $22,000. Each additional machine adds roughly $10,000 in annual revenue, with the management hub launching in year three and the loyalty card in year four. Every year, the company should be steadily growing adding machines and buying existing vending routes. There is potential for millions in revenue once the company has more than one hundred machines which should be reachable in under ten years.