Profit & ROI Calculator

How to use this number

Payback time is the number worth watching most closely. It's what tells you whether a route is actually a good use of capital, not just whether it's profitable in theory.

• Run it for your worst realistic case, not your best one. Slide sales down to a cautious number and margin down toward 15–20%. If the payback time still looks reasonable, the route has real cushion. If it only works at the optimistic numbers, that's a warning sign, not a plan.
• Don't forget your investment total might already be ready. If you used the Startup Cost Calculator first, its total carries over into this one automatically. You can still adjust it here if your real number differs.
• Compare a location before you commit, not after. This is the calculation to run against a specific location's expected headcount and traffic before you agree to place a machine there.

For the full reasoning behind these margin ranges and what "net margin" actually accounts for, see vending machine costs, profit & financing.