Do you need a machine before a location? Actually no. In many cases it’s smarter to secure the location first, then size the machine and products to match demand. Your job here is to find high-potential spots—nothing about negotiating or closing, just building a target list and ranking it. You can place a Vending Machine ANYWHERE there is an Electrical Outlet. You only need to determine spots that can be worthwhile and then figure out who you need to talk to.

What “finding a good location” really means

  • High, repeatable exposure (foot traffic or concentrated headcount).
  • Clear line of sight (people can actually see the machine).
  • Minimal on-site competition (no café in the same hallway, limited micro-market presence).
  • Long hours / 24⁄7 (night shifts, visitors, late check-ins).
  • Practical access (power nearby, delivery path, decent cell signal for cashless).
  • Right audience fit (what people there actually buy).

Even at “low” conversion (~3%), volume wins. If 10,000 people pass daily, 1% is 100 sales; at $1.00 profit each, that’s $100/day—often <30 minutes of work/weekly—ON THE LOW END. Hospitals and captive employee sites typically outperform that.

How to find locations: Google/online workflow

1) Map search keywords (copy/paste these)

Search in Google Maps with your city/area:

Industrial/employee heavy

Medical

Travel/hospitality

Fitness/rec

Education/residential

Transit/auto/civic

Retail/service back-of-house

2) Use Google Maps features to pre-qualify

Photos & Street View

Confirm sightlines, staff density, and access before you drive.

  • ✓ Find long sightlines near natural paths (lobbies, elevator banks, main corridors).
  • ✓ Spot outlets, floor space, and breakroom doors visible from traffic.
  • ✓ Scan parking lots, loading bays, and staff entrances for consistent headcount.
  • Look for: lobby corners
  • Near elevators
  • Breakroom windows
60-second check
  1. Open Photos → “All” and scan interiors for corridors, seating clusters, and outlets.
  2. Drop Pegman for Street View to verify sightlines and doors; note camera dates.
  3. Pan to parking/loading areas; count bays and observe traffic patterns.

Validate when people are actually present.

  • ✓ Favor wide plateaus or late-night spikes (24/7 care, hotels, transit).
  • ✓ Compare weekday vs. weekend; note shift change peaks.
  • ✓ Benchmark similar sites in the same neighborhood/time window.
  • Late-night activity = gold
  • Plateaus > single spikes

Nearby / “People also search for”

Expand your list fast with similar sites.

  • ✓ Open promising neighbors in new tabs and review them back-to-back.
  • ✓ Capture clusters (industrial belts, hospital corridors, hotel zones).
  • ✓ Star immediately—don’t rely on memory.
  • Map in clusters
  • Work one zone at a time

Filters

Surface 24/7 or shift-based demand.

  • ✓ Use Open now after 10pm to reveal overnight operations.
  • ✓ Combine category + hours (e.g., “hotel” + “open 24 hours”).
  • ✓ Cross-check holiday weeks and events.
  • Night shift signal
  • Consistency > novelty

Save to a list

Keep a clean pipeline you can act on later.

  • ✓ Use themed lists (e.g., “Hospitals — A-list”, “Warehouses — North Loop”).
  • ✓ Prefix with tier: [T1], [T2] to match the scoring model.
  • ✓ Add a one-line note (hours, rough exposure, obvious competition).
  • Name consistently
  • Star first, refine later

3) Build your tracker (simple spreadsheet)

Columns that matter:

  • Place name, Address, Category (from list below), Est. Foot Traffic or Headcount, Hours (note if 24/7), Competing Food (Y/N + notes), Visibility notes (possible placements), Cell Signal guess (ok/weak), Parking/Delivery path, Contact placeholder, Priority score (see scoring below), Status/Notes.

How to find locations: drive-around (field scouting)

1) Plan your loops

  • Hit industrial belts, airport/port perimeters, business parks, warehouse clusters, hotel zones, university edges, and sports/rec corridors.
  • Group by neighborhood to minimize backtracking; plan around shift changes, lunch, and event windows.

2) What to look for (fast visual cues)

  • Employee density: full parking lots on weekdays, shift-change clumps, multiple shift signage.
  • Access/flow: clear main entrance, elevator banks, long hallways, breakroom doors near traffic.
  • Competition check: café closed on nights/weekends, tiny or empty micro-market shelves, no obvious vending nearby.
  • Power & signal hints: outlets along corridors, routers/APs in ceilings, everyone on phones (usually good signal).

3) Quick counts (15-minute method)

  • Do three 15-minute counts during peaks (e.g., 7–8am, 12–1pm, 4–6pm or shift changes).
  • Note traffic direction (where they naturally look), and line of sight to likely spots.
  • Snap reference photos (for yourself) of candidate placements and outlet locations.

15-minute timer

15:00

Quick note

4) Log it immediately

Jot your count, any obstacles (locked doors, security desk), and ideal machine type later—for now, the goal is to capture potential.

Location types (prioritized list)

Tier 1 — Captive, repeat buyers

  • Hospitals/medical centers, large clinics with long hours
  • Manufacturing plants, warehouses, distribution & fulfillment centers
  • Call centers/support centers, large office parks with limited food options
  • Retirement/assisted living campuses (staff + visitors)

Tier 2 — High-exposure public

  • Transit hubs (train stations, major bus depots), large park-and-ride facilities
  • Convention centers, sports complexes/arenas, community event venues
  • Large hotels/conference hotels, ski/vacation resorts

Tier 3 — Community & leisure

  • Local (non-corporate) gyms, climbing gyms, boutique fitness, dance/yoga studios
  • Recreation centers, swimming complexes, ice rinks, bowling, trampoline parks, skating rinks
  • Libraries, community centers, churches/megachurch campuses, museums

Tier 4 — Residential & mixed-use

  • Large apartment communities, condo towers, student housing common areas
  • Workforce housing, extended-stay properties, RV parks/clubhouses

“Hard mode” / special process (still worth mapping)

  • Airports, government buildings, malls (often formal contracts/RFPs)
  • K-12 schools (nutrition rules, district contracts)
  • National chains (corporate vendor lists)

Tools & habits that speed this up

Google Maps Lists

Organize prospects by tier and zone—then navigate in one tap.

  • ✓ Create themed lists and star promising sites on the spot.
  • ✓ Prefix with [T1]/[T2] to match your scoring model.
  • ✓ Add a one-line note: hours, exposure, competition.
Paste into Maps → New list.

Spreadsheet color codes

Glanceable tiers and statuses.

T1 T2 T3 T4 HOLD
  • ✓ Green = Tier 1; fade as tiers drop.
  • ✓ Gray = on hold / re-check later.

Street View habit

Preview sightlines and entrances before you drive.

  • ✓ Drop Pegman on entrances and internal roads.
  • ✓ Check imagery dates and compare angles.

Late-night “Open now”

Reveal 24/7 and shift-based demand.

  • ✓ Search after 10 pm; filter by Open now.
  • ✓ Cross-reference with Popular times.

Event calendars

Time drive-bys when crowds appear (observe only).

  • ✓ Arenas, convention centers, campuses.
  • ✓ Note recurring weekly or seasonal surges.

Re-scout seasonally

Priorities shift with the calendar.

  • ✓ Winter: ski corridors; Summer: lake/beach districts.
  • ✓ Re-score and reshuffle your A-list.
Winter Summer Holidays

Red flags (for scouting purposes only)

  • No realistic line of sight anywhere people actually pass.
  • A strong café/micro-market right on the same hallway.
  • Perpetual construction blocking corridors or entrances.
  • Chronic vandalism signs without visible security measures.
  • Zero cell service across the building (not just a dead corner).

What to do now

Do this: start online, build a short ranked list, and research each candidate’s business and managers before you drive. The vending industry keeps growing—new buildings, expansions, and management changes add fresh locations all the time—so keep feeding your pipeline. Use the internet first: Google Maps for hours and activity, the company website for “About/Team/Contact,” LinkedIn for roles, and quick news/registry checks to confirm ownership. For contact info, look for the owner/GM, operations or facilities manager, property manager, HR/admin, a reception/front-desk line, and a general inbox (info@, office@, management@); note direct dials and extensions when available. By researching first and then doing a short field pass to verify sightlines, competition, and power, you’ll talk to the right person with the right ask. Don’t worry about perfect scripts or picking the exact machine yet—find the spots, map the decision-makers, log clean notes, and you got this.