u/Flashy_Kitchen_8289

Hey everyone,
I just finished my very first week of securing locations for my vending business, and I wanted to share my honest experience, the mistakes I made, and how I’m pivoting for week 2.
The Mental & Language Barrier
To be honest, just getting out of the car and walking into businesses was incredibly tough. English is not my native language, so I can't speak it completely naturally yet. Every time I parked, I had to sit in the car and mentally prepare myself, fighting off the anxiety before going in. Most of the time, people were not very enthusiastic and just gave me a quick "No, we don't need it." It was discouraging.
The Location Mistake (Suburbs vs. City)
I wasted 4 whole days driving around the suburbs because I wanted to find something close to my house. Almost everyone there already had machines or zero interest.
However, on Friday, I decided to change my approach and drove into the city. That completely turned things around! I visited some apartment complexes and realized a lot of them don't have any vending machines at all. It instantly sparked new ideas and gave me a massive wave of motivation.
Where I wasted time:
• No planning: I lost hours just sitting in my car looking at Google Maps trying to figure out where to go next. Going out without a solid route is a huge time-killer.
My Plan for Week 2:

1. Preparation over improvisation: I am going to pre-select exactly 10 locations per day on Google Maps and plan a tight, efficient route before I even start the car.
2. Marketing materials: I went out this week with absolutely nothing in my hands. By next week, I’m printing professional brochures so I have something high-quality to leave behind with managers.
3. Building rapport: I’m thinking about bringing small "thank you" gifts/treats for potential clients (or property managers) to break the ice and overcome the language barrier with kindness.
   It was a rough start, but Friday showed me there is real potential out there. If any experienced vendors have tips on how to pitch to apartment complexes or how to overcome that initial "cold-call" anxiety, I’d love to hear them!
   Wish me luck for Week 2!

Saw a YouTuber mention a location outreach hack yesterday and I’m curious if anyone here has actually tried it.

The idea: send a small gift basket with samples of the products/snacks you want to stock in your vending machine to your dream locations (like luxury apartments, offices, etc.) to get attention from property managers.

Today I went door-to-door to a few luxury apartment buildings and reception would only give me an email address for the property manager — wouldn’t let me speak to anyone directly. Feels like those emails might just get ignored.

Has anyone tried the gift basket approach? Did it actually help you land locations? Would love to hear real experiences.

Guys, I need some honest advice.
I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram videos about vending and decided I want to try this business.
My current situation:
no LLC yet
no machine yet
no location yet
basically starting from zero
Right now I’m just trying to secure a location first and then figure out the rest after that.
Has anyone here actually started this way? Is this a realistic approach or am I doing this backwards?
My husband already has an LLC (not related to vending), so technically I could probably use that in the very beginning if needed. Then once I start getting traction, I’d create a separate LLC specifically for vending.
I’d really appreciate honest feedback from people who’ve actually done this.
How did you start step-by-step? What would you do first if you were starting from scratch today?
Thanks in advance.