The $500 Upgrade That Is Really a Time Purchase
Two AI vending machines $500 apart, and the only real difference is room. How I price capacity in hours, and when bigger is just vanity with a fee.
small business
Why Laundromat Owners Are the Most Useful People to Know in Your Town
Laundromat owners run cash-flow businesses and can say yes to vending, ATMs and more. Here’s why they’re worth knowing and how to find one who’s rarely on site.
The ATM Processor Contract Is the Real Business You’re Buying
Where a $3 ATM fee actually goes, who takes a slice, and why the exit clause in your processing contract matters more than a few cents in fees.
The $3 ATM Fee Is the Clearest Pricing Lesson I Know
Why people pay nearly $5 to get their own cash, what that teaches about pricing any small business, and the break-even formula to test a price change.
Ten Grand, Two ATMs, and the Money That Never Leaves the Box
What $10,000 really buys in an ATM business: two machines, a cash float that earns nothing, and a 90-day test of whether you bought income or a job.
Finding the Person Who Can Say Yes: How to Get a Business Owner’s Contact Info
A great pitch to the wrong person is wasted. How to find a business owner’s contact info from free sources, what it costs in time, and the rules to follow.
Quarters Are Slow Money: Coin Counters and the Real Hourly Math of Coin-Op
Four hundred quarters make $100. The hourly math of a coin-op route, when a coin counter pays for itself, and whether coin income belongs in a freedom plan.
Payback Period Is the Vending Number I Trust Most. Here Are the Four Ways It Lies.
Claw machines to ice kiosks lined up by payback, plus the four ways the payback number misleads you and the three-question scorecard I’d use instead.
Ice Cream at 10pm: Why Niche Businesses Pay Better and Break Harder
A $5,399 AI freezer machine is a clean lesson in niche businesses: less competition, better pricing, and a narrower, more fragile path to getting paid.
I Like Bitcoin. I Still Wouldn’t Own a Bitcoin ATM.
Three states banned crypto kiosks in 2026. Why I’d run a cash ATM or host a kiosk instead of owning one, and how I’d get bitcoin exposure separately.
