Hands-on Learning/Business Math

[Condessa]

So, I bought my daughter a vending machine off of Craigslist.  I am going to help her get it set up in a location and show her how to maintain it, and then hand over the reigns to her.  I want to use this as a learning opportunity for her, as well as an earning one.  I’ve been trying to come up with ideas for ways to do that, and thought I’d ask if anyone here has any ideas.  Here’s what I’ve thought of so far:

-the mechanical aspect.  It is an older, mechanical machine, so we will be opening up the coin mechanisms to change the prices manually, and get to see how they work while we’re at it.

-electricity cost calculation.  Before we talk to a location owner, we can look at the refrigerator motor’s electrical usage, and calculate what that would cost on a monthly basis in our area so we have that information ready if asked.

-public communication.  We are planning on asking if we can place it in dd’s gymnastics gym, so it will be adults she knows.  I thought we could practice beforehand and have dd do the asking, though I would be there to help as needed.

-basic business math.  We will go over how to calculate gross sales, net profits, and profit margin.  Vending machine owners commonly pay location owners a percentage of their profits, so that would mean keeping good records and calculating that percentage to pay.  Is there anything else that should be included in basic business math?

taxes?  I need to figure out what this will mean as far as taxes.

 

Any thoughts?

[Earthmerlin]

I don't have ideas but I absolutely LOVE this post! It's one of my goals to give my own daughter a solid financial education with plenty of practice. She's only 9 and I'm trying to figure our next step. I like your idea so much though!

[Condessa]

My dd is almost 10.  I've been thinking about doing this for about a year, but hesitating at the cost.  So when I saw this one on Craigslist for $30 from a guy who mostly just wanted his garage space back, I decided it was time for the project!