CFD 212 - Matt Miller Shows a Whole Lot of School Spirit Using an UNbusiness Approach!
As a father of three, Cash Flow Diary podcast guest Matt Miller wanted to find a way to help local schools raise money for education while also earning revenue at the same time. What started out as a very simple idea with a single gumball machine grew to what Matt’s business is today. In fact, the concept was so simple that it was embraced across the country and continues to get tremendous results as a year-round fundraising mechanism.
So, what is the concept? School Spirit Vending, which is something Matt could create in his spare time to also create passive income. His first gumball machine cost him $32 in an online auction. He loaded his kids up in the car and drove across town to pick it up. When he got to the seller’s house, he got to pick the man’s brain about the business of vending machines, what worked, what didn’t and why. In the end the man opened up to Matt, telling him he had 19 other machines in his garage he wanted to sell, so Matt negotiated a deal that would allow him to purchase all the machines over time.
Before founding his popular vending company, Matt was an Airforce pilot, salesman extraordinaire and ad exec with expertise in print media and vending. Matt says that the discipline he learned in the Airforce is something he could take forward with him into later life. It paid off because he was very successful in sales. But office politics would change his path. He’d have to get through some really tough times, which pushed him to create School Spirit Vending. In short time Matt was able to walk away from his corporate job to spend more time with his kids and live the life of his intention.
If you’ve ever wondered about how people get vending machines placed in front of stores or if you have ever wanted to get involved in vending machines, this episode of Cash Flow Diary is for you! According to Matt, this is a simple enough business that “even he” could do and so can you. But he also admits there was a learning curve in figuring out how to fix and maintain the machines, especially those that are larger and involve circuit boards and cranes. Learn more.