How a Married Couple Built a $36,000/Month Vending Business
A 20-year medical device sales rep and his stay-at-home wife, both once burned flipping houses, built a vending route to $36K/month in about a year.
$36K
Monthly Revenue
16
Machines
27
Projected Machines (2 weeks)
I'm not going to be caught with my pants around my ankles ever again. I'm going to have a source of income where if the rug gets ripped out from underneath of my feet, we're going to be prepared.
Background
Graham had spent 20 years as a medical device sales rep, "traveling in and out of airports." Katie had worked in logistics, booking, and billing before spending the last 10 to 11 years as a stay-at-home mom raising their four kids. The couple had flipped houses before, getting burned when the 2008 housing bubble burst and again on another flip in 2021. Graham had been following Vendingpreneurs founder Mike Hoffman on Twitter for a while, going back and forth on whether to reach out.
"We tried to flip another house but lost a lot of money on that. So I said, 'There's got to be a different way.'"
The Challenge
Katie was hesitant after the failed house flip and wasn't sure this would be any different. Graham's own push came from a scare at his sales job: the company withheld a commission check without telling him, and he was suddenly without income.
"I was very hesitant with the housing venture that we did, and we didn't do so great on that one."
The Turning Point
Graham wanted someone with a proven system rather than trying vending alone. Mike's public transparency on Twitter became the test of whether the program was real, and the community gave the Parkers a support network they hadn't had during the failed flip.
"He was either full of crap or he had a system... it was like having a board of directors. After having just come off being burned on trying to flip a house, it was great to have that network of support around us, because you don't know what you don't know."
Where They Are Now
About a year after joining, the Parkers run 16 machines generating $36,000 a month, with 27 more machines installing within two weeks that they project will bring revenue to $58,000 to $60,000 a month. Their oldest daughter works the business on payroll, handling admin and cold calling. Graham had planned to leave his corporate job by Christmas 2026; that timeline has since moved up by about six months.
"Don't give up. Keep going forward. It's not as daunting as you think it is. The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Get comfortable being uncomfortable."
