At the assumed 6,000 paid item vends per 30-day route month across ten machines and $2.50 realized net price, the Colorado wage scenario produces $46 cash after capital maintenance and -$1,146 depreciation-inclusive EBIT before financing, income tax and distributions. Continuous cash break-even is approximately 5,953.1 paid vends per month; the reference permits at most 8,000 after all paid resource tests. At 20% fewer paid vends, monthly cash is -$1,127. State occupation wages are observations; placements, stock, sales, net price, commissions, loss, paid workload and opening allowances are assumptions to validate for the actual sites.
Owner-operated route of ten indoor packaged snack-and-drink combination machines at ten accepted third-party locations, with paid replacement work
State benchmarks: May / July 2025 · Page prepared October 20, 2026
The assumed ten-machine route still completes 6,000 paid item-vends at $2.50 net each. The paid roster at the Colorado occupation anchors calculates $4,169.46 loaded payroll, -$1,145.82 mature EBIT and $45.85 cash after capital maintenance before payment-settlement movements, financing, income tax and owner distributions. Payroll differs from the same national roster by $518.92. Price, paid transactions, host acceptance, storage, vehicle cost, commission, loss, payment cost and opening allowances remain assumptions. This calculation changes wages; it does not price a selected local route.
| Paid role | SOC | Hours per month | Historical hourly anchor | Applied hourly wage | Observation scope |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paid route driving, stocking, collection and customer recovery | 53-3031 | 104 | $20.88 | $20.88 | Direct state occupation estimate |
| Paid vending-machine diagnosis, repair and recovery | 49-9091 | 12 | $21.93 | $21.93 | Direct state occupation estimate |
| Paid location, purchasing and business management | 11-1021 | 17.33 | $63.39 | $63.39 | Direct state occupation estimate |
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics tables. Route service, technical repairs and management are separate allocations. The owner may perform eligible work, but that replacement cost remains paid in the model and is counted once. The 18% employer addition is assumed; verify local wage floors, worker status, overtime, leave, benefits, driving and actual recruiting terms.
At the same net price and mix, the financial minimum for nonnegative cash after capital maintenance is 5,954 whole paid item-vends per month; the depreciation-inclusive EBIT minimum is 7,173. The modeled resource ceiling is 8,000 paid item-vends, including usable stock, replenishment gaps, route travel, handling and expected incident recovery, with separate technical and management clocks. The EBIT threshold fits those aggregate assumed resources. A monthly aggregate does not prove an executable calendar, simultaneous access, shelf life or customer purchases.
The reference schedules six visits per machine each month and a maximum five-day replenishment gap. Only 180 item positions per machine are treated as usable before expected losses, below the cited combo’s nominal total. Product mix and slot-level stockouts can bind earlier. Measure each location’s actual item sales and service window before increasing the target; a stock ceiling is separate from achieved demand.
The 2022 employer-industry row for NAICS 445132 records 50 establishments in Colorado. It reports $67,047,000.00 in nominal receipts. These are historical employer businesses, potentially operating many routes and machine types. They do not count available hosts, establish local demand or predict this route’s sales. U.S. Census Bureau: 2022 Economic Census Core Statistics: Vending Machine Operators.
Test sales and cash boundaries · Plan stock and route control · Research standard and source scope
Planning information only. Results precede financing, income tax and owner distributions and do not guarantee placement, permission, demand or profit.
We examined the available wage records for this owner-operated route of ten indoor packaged snack-and-drink combination machines at ten accepted third-party locations, with paid replacement work, checked the Census population observations and calculated the staffing implications using the stated wage benchmarks. The results below show what that completed analysis establishes.
The same roster costs $4,169 at the selected Colorado wage benchmarks versus $3,651 at national medians, including the stated employer-cost allowance. This isolates wage differences; it does not compare local rent or customer spending.
Inspect the roles and source rows →The reference operating month is below EBIT break-even. Its continuous EBIT threshold is approximately 7,172.1 completed paid item-vends per month; test a permitted activity increment within paid delivery capacity, or change price and costs.
See the calculation and cash results →| Component | What the evidence establishes | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Wage records and state population | Selected May 2025 occupational records and July 2024/2025 Census estimates, with exact fields and source rows. | Source records checked |
| Paid payroll and break-even | Calculated from observed wage benchmarks and the explicitly modeled roster, employer allowance, price and costs. | Derived result |
| Opening budget and commercial costs | Published fit-out, equipment, occupancy and other allowances define this comparison scenario. State-specific commercial quotes have not yet replaced them. | Reference assumptions |
| Revenue | $15,000 per mature month follows 6,000 completed paid item-vends per month at the stated price. It is not observed sales or a researched state revenue average. | Modeled sales assumptions |
Each test changes one input from the published reference. These are sensitivity tests, not local market forecasts or probability ranges.
| Test | Monthly EBIT | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Published reference | -$1,146 | The stated inputs on this page |
| 20% fewer sales units | -$2,319 | 4,800 completed paid item-vends per month; other inputs unchanged |
| 25% higher occupancy cost | -$1,258 | $563 per month; other inputs unchanged |
| 10% higher wage rates | -$1,563 | Same paid roster; employer allowance unchanged |
The completed research covers the source observations and analysis described here. The funding and revenue scenarios still contain commercial assumptions; they are not a completed local feasibility study. Read the evidence and its limits.
Published research and calculations support business planning and education. They are not personalized financial, investment, tax or legal advice, and they do not guarantee costs, revenue, profit or financing. Estimates depend on the stated format, location, source periods and assumptions. Check the requirements and commitments that apply to your circumstances.
This completed planning profile combines checked state wage and population sources with a transparent financial scenario. Use its opening-cost, operating-cost and revenue figures as planning inputs, then replace location-sensitive assumptions when evaluating a specific address or service area.
| Evidence family | Published basis | What to confirm locally |
|---|---|---|
| Opening costs | Published planning inputs — replace with local quotes | premises scope, fitout, equipment, installation freight tax, deposits, preopening training, opening inventory, contingency |
| Operating costs | Published planning inputs — replace with local quotes | occupancy, utilities, insurance, materials, payment fees, marketing, software administration, maintenance |
| Paid labor and employer costs | State wage benchmark used — confirm employer costs | paid roster, wages, wage floor overtime, employer taxes, benefits leave, workers compensation, owner role |
| Revenue and collections | Published planning inputs — validate price and demand locally | realized price mix, demand volume, capacity, industry cross check, launch ramp, seasonality, collections |
| Permissions and fees | Confirm for the selected address | activity address jurisdiction, initial fees, recurring fees |
National equipment prices can support the plan where configuration, delivery and taxes match the intended purchase. Confirm rent, selling prices, demand and permissions for the actual location instead of applying a generic state adjustment.
The Census estimate for Colorado is 6,012,561 people. It grew by 24,059 between July 2024 and July 2025 (+0.40%). This statewide movement cannot identify a viable frontage or the trading pattern of a neighborhood.
Using the same paid roster, Colorado occupational wages produce $4,169 of monthly loaded payroll. That is +14.21% relative to the identical roster priced with national occupation medians ($3,651). Only wage benchmarks change in this comparison; it does not measure a state’s overall business attractiveness.
BLS wage source · Census population source · Exact fields and workbook rows
Owner-operated route of ten indoor packaged snack-and-drink combination machines at ten accepted third-party locations, with paid replacement work. A local route sells packaged snacks and drinks through installed machines while controlling location terms, product availability, inventory, payments, paid replenishment and technical recovery.
Ten machines at ten accepted indoor locations sell for an assumed 30 days each month. At 20 completed paid item-vends per machine-day, the route completes 6,000 vends. Six replenishment visits per machine make 60 monthly stops; the recurring calendar must actually keep the longest gap to five days. The assumed 180 usable stocked-item positions per machine, before 2% acquired-item loss, support 10,584 monthly paid vends under equal sales and mix; the stock calculation conservatively applies expected loss during that gap. Paid route coverage is 104 person-hours, technical repair 12 and management 17.33. At the complete 8,000-vend ceiling, the route uses 93.6 hours, repair 12 and management 8.8; expected incident work grows with the proposed activity. Vend 8,001 requires 12.00125 repair hours and exceeds that paid clock. Aggregate arithmetic does not establish a safe driving calendar, site access, compatible products, equipment uptime or paid demand; an individual busy machine can bind first.
| Input | Reference assumption |
|---|---|
| completed paid item-vends per month | 6,000 |
| Realized net revenue per paid item-vend | $2.50 |
| Monthly route periods | One 30-day route month |
| Variable cost share | 60.9% |
| Storage occupancy cost / month | $450 |
| Other fixed costs / month | $1,000 |
| Employer cost allowance | 18% above base wages |
The assumed $1.10 acquisition cost per stocked item and 2% loss of acquired items produce $1.1224489796 product cost per paid item-vend. A $2.50 realized net sale leaves contribution after that product cost, a 10% location commission and a 6% blended payment allowance. Both percentages are budget assumptions on net revenue, not quoted provider or host terms. The loss is charged once; refunded failed attempts do not become completed paid sales. The $1,000 monthly standing allowance comprises $450 vehicle fuel, registration, insurance and routine servicing, $100 for ten reader/telemetry subscriptions, $150 business insurance, $200 bookkeeping, communications and location development, and $100 cleaning and routine repair materials. These are unquoted allowances. Storage occupancy of $450, paid technical work, product cost and $200 capital-maintenance cash are separate. The $100 subscription budget is distinct from transaction charges; actual hardware, network, payment and minimum fees need a matched provider contract.
| Role / SOC | Paid hours / month | Wage benchmark / hour | P25–P75 / hour | Base wages / month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paid route driving, stocking, collection and customer recovery53-3031 · Driver/Sales Workers · State observation | 104 | $20.88 | $17.26–$23.58 | $2,172 |
| Paid vending-machine diagnosis, repair and recovery49-9091 · Coin, Vending, and Amusement Machine Servicers and Repairers · State observation | 12 | $21.93 | $17.86–$23.48 | $263 |
| Paid location, purchasing and business management11-1021 · General and Operations Managers · State observation | 17.3 | $63.39 | $43.84–$93.84 | $1,099 |
Base wages total $3,533 per month. An authored 18% allowance for employer costs adds $636, giving $4,169 of loaded payroll. The allowance is a planning shortcut; it is not a state-specific payroll tax calculation or benefits quote for Colorado.
May 2025 BLS occupation medians anchor driver/sales, coin-vending-machine repair and general/operations management replacement work. These are cross-industry occupation proxies, not vending-route hiring quotes, contractor rates or a statement that a founder takes the resulting payroll home. The model pays 24 weekly route hours, 12 monthly repair hours and four weekly management hours; weekly amounts are annualized by 52/12. The 18% employer addition is an assumption. The 0.06 route recovery hour per expected customer/access incident is an aggregate allowance for triage, access, collection and extra driving across the assumed incident mix; it is not the duration of every extra trip. The separate 0.25 technical recovery hour adds diagnosis and repair, with that event’s driving already in the route pool. Events may overlap, but the same work is counted once. Verify actual duty scope, worker status, employer costs, relief, overtime and repairs before replacing any role with owner work. Every operating role is paid, including management or supervision. If the owner performs a modeled role, their compensation occupies that role once; no additional owner draw is included in operating profit.
The middle 50% wage interval describes the occupation’s observed wage distribution. It is not a confidence interval for this business’s total payroll. Allocate the aggregate hours across an actual roster and check wage rules, overtime, leave and employer obligations for the chosen location.
| Use of funds | Cash paid |
|---|---|
| Ten delivered payment-ready machine hardware allowances, excluding host site work | $65,000 |
| Used route vehicle and initial setup allowance | $12,000 |
| Storage shelving, handling and security allowance | $2,500 |
| Opening product inventory at acquisition cost | $3,000 |
| Location setup, anchoring and electrical allowance | $4,000 |
| Business, insurance and professional setup allowance | $1,500 |
| Launch and location-acquisition allowance | $1,000 |
| Opening contingency allowance | $6,000 |
| Refundable deposit (two months of occupancy) | $900 |
| Paid pre-opening training | $1,251 |
| Total payments before opening | $97,151 |
The equipment and premises allowances are the same in all 50 states for this operating format. They are a comparison baseline and must be replaced with local scopes and quotes. Training uses 40 aggregate paid hours at the modeled team’s weighted loaded rate. The refundable deposit is cash tied up, not an operating expense.
The cash schedule tests 60 months, with sales ramping through 40%, 55%, 70%, 82%, 90%, 96%, 100% of the volume assumption. Full payroll and fixed costs begin in month one. The reserve covers the deepest cumulative operating deficit plus the stated buffer. A buffer is retained cash, not spending and not part of project payback twice.
Earn revenue only from successfully supplied paid items, net of refunds and applicable sales tax. The model charges sold-product cost and expected acquired-item loss, then purchases replacements that hold the opening inventory cost balance constant. Buying extra stock requires extra cash rather than a second charge to the same sold item. A two-day net-sales settlement receivable is an assumption; cash collections, card settlements, host commissions, supplier dates, tax liabilities and refunds need a dated reconciliation. The 60-month schedule measures month-end cash and excludes supplier credit, financing, income tax and owner distributions. Asset purchases are depreciated over 60 months for this scenario. No sale or deposit recovery is assumed at the end.
At the assumed 6,000 completed paid item-vends per month, the reference scenario loses $1,146 per mature month after paid labor and depreciation. The break-even threshold is 7,172.1 completed paid item-vends per month. More starting cash alone does not solve that operating gap.
| Measure | Monthly amount |
|---|---|
| Revenue | $15,000 |
| Variable operating costs | $9,135 |
| Loaded payroll, including management | $4,169 |
| Occupancy assumption | $450 |
| Other fixed operating costs | $1,000 |
| EBITDA | $246 |
| Depreciation | $1,392 |
| Operating profit (EBIT) | -$1,146 |
| Maintenance capital expenditure | $200 |
| Mature project cash flow | $46 |
EBIT break-even revenue is $17,930 per month: $7,011 of fixed costs plus depreciation divided by a 39.1% contribution margin. At $2.50 per completed paid item-vend, that means 7,172.1 completed paid item-vends per month and 89.7% of the stated capacity.
| Measure | Months 1–12 | Mature month |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $154,950 | $15,000 |
| Operating profit (EBIT) | -$23,545 | -$1,146 |
| Project cash flow | -$10,245 | $46 |
Project payback is not reached within the 60-month reference schedule. It measures recovery of actual pre-opening payments from cumulative project cash, with no financing or owner distributions. It does not measure cash paid back to an owner.
A placement, a busy lobby or a provider revenue claim does not establish this machine’s purchases. Product mix, discounts, tax, payment charges, refunds and host commissions can lower retained yield. Measure successful vends and cash at the specific site.
A machine can display spare nominal positions while the wanted selection is empty or a payment/dispense fault prevents a sale. Cleaning, extra trips, refunds and technical recovery need paid time at the proposed sales ceiling. Do not count a refunded failure as revenue.
Change the assumptions to see how this format responds. The sections above remain the published reference, so you can compare your scenario with the original. Use the browser-local export buttons below to save only the scenario you are working on.
Reference scenario. JavaScript enables editing and exports.
6,000 completed paid item-vends per month × $2.50 = $15,000 revenue. Loaded payroll: $4,169 per month. Break-even uses 89.7% of capacity.
The download preserves the published scenario and its source references.
Bring the exact locations, product types, temperature/handling scope, machine dimensions and power, delivery and accessibility arrangements, storage, owner/operator responsibilities, taxable sales, payment/refund process, host agreements, employment and repair arrangements to the responsible authorities, landlords/hosts, insurer and qualified advisers. Confirm official requirements for each machine jurisdiction and product rather than applying one state’s food or tax treatment to the entire route.
| Workstream | Official starting points | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Business and activity | Which entity, name or activity registrations apply, and which local or specialist office also has responsibility? | |
| Tax | Which registrations and treatment apply to the actual goods or services, location and staffing arrangements? | |
| Employers | Which employer accounts, reporting steps and labor obligations apply to the planned paid roster? |
Take the activity, address, proposed equipment and staffing plan to the relevant office. Record applicability, supporting documents, fees, dependencies and renewal terms from the actual official response.
Agency routes were listed on the IRS Colorado directory when retrieved September 5, 2026. Links identify starting offices; they do not verify a permit, tax treatment, fee or opening time for this business. Open the full Colorado opening checklist →
Verify the actual placement agreement, address use, access, power, machine dimensions, delivery/anchoring, safety, food and tax obligations, insurance and exit terms. A seller’s location lead or advertised machine price is not an accepted operating location.
Price exact machine condition, payment configuration, delivery, installation, connectivity, warranty labor/parts, storage, vehicle, product mix and working cash. Confirm who pays freight, taxes, power changes and a failed-machine recovery.
Match every item to price, acquisition cost, shelf life and taxable treatment, every stop to paid time and access, and every receipt to successful delivery and settlement. Revise or remove a location whose retained contribution cannot support its complete obligations.
Opening stock, machines and placement work precede proven sales. Supplier purchases, tax and host settlement can precede card cash; a lost site can require removal, repair and redeployment without another paying location. Deposits, stock assets and paid owner work remain visible.
For a selected address or service area, collect an evidence pack covering premises and equipment quotes, paid demand, staffing, collection terms and the responsible authorities. The state wage and population evidence on this page does not supply those location-specific inputs.
State: Colorado, FIPS 08. Cross-industry, ownership 1235. H_MEDIAN supplies an available hourly benchmark; H_PCT25 and H_PCT75 describe the occupational distribution. 53-3031 (Driver/Sales Workers), state workbook row 4299; 49-9091 (Coin, Vending, and Amusement Machine Servicers and Repairers), state workbook row 4197; 11-1021 (General and Operations Managers), state workbook row 3560. Retrieved October 20, 2026.
The national comparison uses the same paid roster and these national H_MEDIAN observations: 53-3031, national workbook row 1330; 49-9091, national workbook row 1137; 11-1021, national workbook row 8. Any national value substituted for a suppressed state value is identified separately. National observations do not become state observations.
SUMLEV 040; STATE 08; POPESTIMATE2025 and POPESTIMATE2024. July 1 estimates; change and percentage change are calculated within the same vintage. Population is context, not a customer forecast.
OEWS covers employee jobs across industries. It is a statistical benchmark, not a hiring quote or legal wage floor. Employer benefits and overtime premiums are outside the wage measure; tips can be included.
An official route to the state government and major agencies. This directory does not confirm the fees, permits or approval times for a particular address or business.
All selling prices, demand, paid hours, employer allowance, premises, startup allowances, cost shares, ramp and cash buffer are authored planning inputs. No commercial quote or researched state total is implied.
The stated operating format and paid roster define the scenario. Wage and population observations keep their geography and period. Replace commercial assumptions only with evidence that matches the scope, then reconcile the same inputs across earnings, cash and the delivery schedule.
Plan your next evidence check →