Megan spends two to three days a week restocking her machines (Image: Collect/PA Real Life)
A former finance worker has turned her back on the corporate grind and is now raking in over £7,000 a month from her own vending machine empire, working just three days a week.
Megan Healey, 26, hailing from Manchester, had a flair for selling even as a teenager, flouting school rules to peddle cookies and energy drinks.
She now commands an impressive array of 27 vending machines scattered across 18 sites in Manchester, Liverpool, and Rochester. Her entrepreneurial journey wasn’t without its challenges; her initial venture netted a mere £30 a month.
However, with diligent research and determination, she has managed to scale her business significantly. “I was working in finance but my manager was just awful and I’ve always wanted to make my own money,” Megan said.
The catalyst for her career pivot came after a breakup: “Then I broke up with an ex and I think that’s what drove me to change my life and buy a vending machine.”
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Megan has machines in 18 different locations (Image: Collect/PA Real Life)
Megan is now looking to expand her workforce and is optimistic about the future, believing “that the sky is the limit.”
Raised in Tameside, Greater Manchester, Megan left Wright Robinson College and initially pursued photography in 2017, collaborating with local fashion brands and modelling agencies in Manchester.
After four years, disillusionment set in as she found the industry toxic and discovered her true passion lay in the business aspect.
“I think I just preferred making money,” she admitted. This realisation led her to a finance job in 2021 with a £27,000 annual salary, but dissatisfaction soon followed.
“I really hated it though,” Megan recounted. “My manager there was awful, and I think I’ve always wanted to make my own money.”
Fuelled by the ambition to be her own boss, one woman dedicated her spare time to delve into the world of vending machines. She shared: “I thought (it) would be a semi-passive income which would make me money while I worked another job.”
The venture also resonated with her past, as she added, “It also took me back to selling snacks and drinks at school. It was a full circle moment, but more professional, advanced and didn’t require me operating every single sale.”
Megan approached the business with diligence, investing nine months in research, learning about repairs and the commercial side of vending machines.
She revealed: “There was no one in the UK doing it online, so it was difficult to find any information but I stumbled across an American YouTuber and fell into a bit of a rabbit hole.”
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Megan said a break-up with an ex drove her to buy a vending machine (Image: Collect/PA Real Life)
A personal break up became the catalyst for her decision to dive in. She confessed: “I think that’s what drove me to change my life and buy a vending machine.”
Her first purchase was an old Necta model from eBay for £700 in June 2022, capable of holding 40 drinks and 250 snacks, stocked with Pepsi, Aeros, and Polos.
Despite initially being clueless and without a location, Megan eventually found a card shop owner in Barnsley through Facebook adverts who agreed to place her machine outside his high street shop.
Reflecting on the early days, she admitted: “It was so bad,” adding, “I didn’t have the experience I have now – I definitely wouldn’t put it there though.”
Megan’s initial foray into the vending machine business began modestly, with her first machine netting only £30 a month. However, this did not diminish her ambition.
“I don’t know how that didn’t put me off, to be honest. But I was so driven to do more and make more money, I just carried on,” she disclosed. Her perseverance paid off when she flipped the machine for a tidy £300 profit.
This helped her with the purchase of a new machine placed strategically within a small Manchester care home, drastically improving her monthly earnings to £300.
By analysing sales data from the card reader, Megan discovered her clients’ penchant for Coca-Cola, prompting her to invest in another machine stocked solely with the popular fizzy drink.
“I did some sales analysis from the card reader and I was able to work out what people actually wanted. They were just drinking so much Coke, so I then bought another machine exclusively for Coca-Cola,” she stated.
The care home has proven to be an unexpectedly lucrative spot, even bringing in as much as £1,500 during the summer months.
Megan reflected on the progress, admitting, “It took me a while to get to that; don’t get me wrong,” She expressed her delight at the peculiar success of the location: “But I like to think it’s a once-in-a-lifetime location because despite it being so small, it makes so much money, which just makes no sense.”
Across all her machines, Coca-Cola reigns supreme in sales and profitability, with Megan revealing that she purchases bottles for 80p each and sells them for £2.
Other products’ popularity fluctuates according to the placement of the machine, with drinks generally outperforming snacks.
Energy drinks specifically sell well in machines located in warehouses and factories, where she speculates that shift workers seek a boost to combat fatigue.
Currently dividing her time between restocking machines two or three days a week and running a separate sneaker business, Megan enjoys the balance her ventures bring to her life.
She is also in the process of creating a course to share her knowledge and assist others in establishing their own vending machine enterprises.
In the future, she hopes to employ someone to handle the restocking, as she admits, “I’m only small, so it can be quite tiring,” She added: “I’d like to grow so I can focus on the logistics side. If I could do that, then the sky’s the limit.”
You can follow Megan’s journey on her account at: www..com/@meganhealeey.