Does my office need a vending machine?
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by: Sarah Maple
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Word Count: 419
If you are the owner of a small business at the moment, the likelihood is that you may not even be considering spending money on additional luxuries for the staff kitchen. However, when one considers the amount time and money spent on staff refreshment by traditional means, a coffee machine might not seem so decadent. In fact, could vending machines even save you money?
The first thing to consider is the time taken by members of your workforce when they are making coffee, tea, and other hot drinks. Think about how many times these breaks occur and how long it takes to boil the kettle and deliver a round of drinks to a group of employees. Then, by factoring their wage, benefits, and employers tax, it should then be possible to work out an average cost per cup.
After this, you can then add the cost and time of buying ingredients. Do you get your milk delivered? How far (and how much time away) is the local shop when staff need to nip out to buy sugar? Then divide these total costs by whatever the average number of cups per month is and add the result.
Also, think about cleaning costs. Do you employ a cleaner for a set number of hours per week, and if so how much of their time do they devote to cleaning mugs and cups? If not, do staff members, or yourself, ever take time out of the work schedule to wash up etc? Add these costs too.
Now consider, where you office/warehouse/business is located. Is there a coffee shop/cafe nearby that staff members go to because they don’t like what’s available at work? Calculate the average amount of time lost (cost) here.
Bear in mind electricity costs for machines such as dishwasher and kettles and prices for utensils such as mugs and cups etc.
Finally, consider the so called ‘non-tangible’ aspects, such as increased worker efficiency if they are happy, refreshed, and feel valued by their employer. Today’s vending machines are available in a range of sizes and with variable cost options for different sized workforces and types of businesses, and so you don’t have to be lumbered with a huge cuboid dominating the office and nor is it even necessary to charge for each drink anymore. A small but efficient vending machine might even save your small business money.
About the Author
A variety of coffee vending machines from Klix, with 35+ drinks to select from including coffee and tea. Simply the widest range of vending machines.
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