4 Crucial Mistakes You Need to Avoid When Starting an ATM Business
Running an ATM business can work as a great source of passive income. However, this field, like all others, comes with its share of pitfalls. As a result, knowing what possible drawbacks you might face is crucial even before starting an ATM business. This way, you‘ll know what you expect going forward and you may then take steps to avoid mistakes that others have made.
1. Not Determining Feasibility
Ask any industry expert how to start an ATM business, and the reply will involve beginning the process by determining if your plan is feasible in the first place. If you do not carry out a reasonable study and base your decision on a whim, you leave the success (or failure) of your ATM business completely to chance. Determining feasibility includes addressing short- and long-term benefits. While you need to look at how much it costs to start an ATM business, you also need to get a fair indication of how much revenue it might generate.
2. Not Paying Attention to Location
If you plan to get just one ATM, your primary concern when selecting a suitable location is traffic. However, it’s not as simple when you have multiple ATMs as part of your business. In such a scenario, you need to think about how the location of all your machines relate to each other, especially if you plan to service them on your own. If your ATMs are located far apart, you could end up spending much time traveling from one machine to another. Fortunately, this is not the case if you work with an ATM processing and management company.
3. Not Crunching the Numbers
Irrespective of the scale of your ATM machine business, you need to crunch numbers for every machine you own. If you end up getting a very small percentage of the surcharge revenue or if a location suffers because of poor footfall, the time and effort you put into the process might outweigh the profit you make.
4. Overestimating Profits
Just how much money you make through an ATM business depends on the footfall each machine receives as well as the percentage of the surcharge amount you receive per transaction. The internet can be misleading when it comes to how much money you may make by owning an ATM business because it does not take your specific situation into account. A better way to get an idea of possible revenue is by talking to other ATM owners in the vicinity. Alternatively, you may also get an estimate from a reliable ATM processing and management company.
Conclusion
The pros and cons of ATM businesses require equal attention when you’re thinking about starting an ATM business. If you begin the process without following due diligence, you may expect a roadblock or more along the way. For instance, if you plan to handle cash management on your own, misjudging capital requirements may lead to your machines being without cash for prolonged periods.
What helps is that you may avoid most mistakes of starting an ATM business if you choose to work with a reputable ATM company that specializes in aspects as procurement, placement, deployment, cash management, and maintenance.
