The housing market is down, Wall Street has fallen beneath the 9000-point mark, and unemployment is slowly rising. Recession is on everyone’s mind, and anyone looking to get into business for himself is more than a little afraid, for good reason: starting a home based business is risky under normal conditions, let alone during a recession. Franchises vastly increase an entrepreneur’s odds of survival, but there’s still more that can be done.

There are specific kinds of franchise businesses that provide even greater security, specifically in the face of a recession. One of those is the vending industry. A vending franchise offers a very special opportunity, in that according to many business professionals, it is entirely recession-resistant.

There are only a handful of markets that don’t suffer under the weight of recession, and each of them is recession-resistant because it provides some product or service that people either need in spite of recession or want because of recession. Some of the industries that survive on human necessity are food, medicine, home repair, car repair, and gasoline. Regardless of what national economics look like, people continue needing food, medicine, a functional home, and a working car, so recession has no effect on such businesses. Other businesses, like entertainment, alcohol, and tobacco, thrive in a receded economy because people seek them out as a momentary escape from the harsh realities of a dwindling economy and all the practical problems that come along with that.

In some ways, vending falls under the second classification. Depending on what a given vending machine provides, people are looking for just a momentary pleasure in the midst of life’s growing stresses. The product from the machine may only be candy, bringing relief that only lasts for a few minutes, or it may be a movie rental, giving perhaps two hours of enjoyment, but in either case, a quarter or a couple dollars is a small price to pay for a little bit of escape.

For the owner of a vending machine, this understanding can pay off: the business will bring in a solid income even when other lines of work are barely staying afloat. So if you’re looking into purchasing a business for sale and having a hard time finding business opportunities that feel safe in the midst of economic setback, here are some vending options for you.

Vendstar
Founded by a true entrepreneur who decided to leave an executive position with an international corporation to make business ideas like this home business franchise available to other franchisees, Vendstar is a highly lucrative, highly customizable business. Their greatest claim to fame is that the business model has proven successful in the hands of every kind of franchisee imaginable. College graduates, retirees, married couples, singles, and parents have all purchased, replicated, and profited from the Vendstar franchise. In part this is because of Vendstar’s one-of-a-kind machines, designed for both optimal space preservation and storage capacity.

U-Turn Vending
Another successful name in the vending industry, this franchise differs from the pack primarily because of the design of its machines, which, instead of being stationary, are built to rotate, on a center pivot. Because the candy section of the unit spins, making all four sides accessible, there is four times as much holding space for various sweet treats as there is in a usual machine, and each container is removable, making restocking a breeze. Taking all this into consideration, this recession-resistant, inflation-resistant, low-cost, year-round vending franchise is one to give attention to.

DVDNow
The revolution in movie rental has begun, taking movie-watchers out of rental stores and putting them into the grocery stores, malls, convenience stores, and department stores they’re already shopping at. DVDNow is at the forefront of that revolution as one of the first companies to merge DVD renting with the automated vending machine. This method provides movies right where customers are, at low prices that they appreciate. One of the cheapest work from home businesses out there, this franchise is primed to make a killing, particularly in the midst of recession, when people just want to spend a couple hours getting away from life with a good movie.

Love Maine Lobster Claw
Possibly one of the most creative vending businesses out there, Love Maine Lobster Claws affords consumers the opportunity to draw a live lobster out of the machine with the aid of a joystick-operated claw mounted to the ceiling of the tank: that is, if the buyer is dexterous enough to catch one. It’s a machine that’s part vending machine, part arcade game, and part seafood counter at the grocery store, but it’s all fun and all profit. Some machines have been able to bring in $750/week, making it the perfect work at home franchise for the fun-loving franchisee looking for a solid income.

Many businesses are out there, and it’s often easy to believe that the bigger they look, the more profitable they must in fact be. Sometimes that may be true, but that is no reason to overlook the smaller, simpler opportunities that, surprisingly, are just as impressive, because they may very well be the ones that can weather serious economic troubles better than anything else.


November 16, 2008