Where to start if you want to open your store? Which store is better to open and how to choose a product for trade? How much does it cost to open your own small store and how to do it from scratch?

Hello, dear readers of the HeterBober.ru business magazine. With you, the entrepreneur and author of the site Alexander Berezhnov.

When starting entrepreneurs have a question about what kind of business to do, many choose the simplest and most obvious - retail trade, namely the opening of their own retail outlet or store, which is essentially the same thing.

The article will be especially interesting for a beginner who has decided to open a store without having enough experience. After studying it, you will learn about all the secrets and nuances of this business.

The information in the article is universal for opening any kind of stores.

For example, if you decide to open a clothing store, auto parts store, baby or grocery store, then you will have to go through the same steps. Here you will also find guidelines for opening the most common types of stores. This will be especially important for you if you have not yet decided which store is profitable to open.

Now I will tell you everything in order!

1. What you need to know to open a profitable store

Dear friend, the most important thing is that you should understand that the vast majority of people come up with the idea of ​​opening a store as a seemingly simple commercial project.

For clarity, I propose to consider the objective pros and cons of your store as a business. This will make it easier for you to decide which store to open and what to look for.

pros (+) your store as a business

1. Comprehensibility for the layman

That is why most start-up entrepreneurs consider their store as their first project. Since childhood, we have become accustomed to seeing markets, stalls and even supermarkets, where today you can buy almost everything.

The truth is that a person is reluctant to take on a task that he does not understand. In the case of the store, it seems to us that we will have the least problems. But this is only partially true.

2. Ease of implementation of the idea

In general, in trade, 99% of all business processes have already been worked out for a long time.

No wonder, having opened 1 store, its owner often does not stop, and with the right approach to business, outlets multiply like mushrooms after rain.

Indeed, all you need to do is not reinvent the wheel and go the beaten path that should lead to success in your business, unless, of course, you "hit the shoals" at the very beginning.

3. Ease of calculations (forecasting income and expenses)

Trading is the most understandable business also from the point of view of calculations. You have the cost of the item, the trade margin, and the costs you incur.

4. Stability of a business when it is promoted

A well-established outlet is a paradise for its owner. For example, a “brisk” grocery store in a residential area of ​​a city can provide you with a comfortable life, even in spite of nearby competitors.

5. The ability to sell your store as a ready-made business

Having built the entire store management system correctly, you can only occasionally coordinate the main processes, all things will go by inertia. So you will become the owner of a completely autonomous system that generates profit.

Naturally, many people who have capital, but do not want to open their store from scratch, will want to become the owner of such a "tidbit".

Now selling a ready-made business is as simple as a car or an apartment, you just need to notify potential customers that you are selling your profitable store.

Minuses (-) your store as a business

1. High competition

The downside of the simplicity and clarity of opening a store is the high level of competition. After all, there are a lot of such people who want to become the owner of their own retail outlet. Every second entrepreneur wants to open his own store in one area or another. This greatly complicates the start in this business and its further development.

2. Relatively high business entry threshold

If you are dealing with a product and selling it through a regular store, in this case you will need several hundred thousand rubles, or on average from 10,000 dollars, to start your own business.

3. The appearance of the remains of unsold goods

Another weakness of the store as its own business is the leftovers of the goods.

They are especially common in grocery stores and seasonal stores. For example, Christmas toys and other holiday accessories.

The cost of the remaining goods must be included in the current value, which leads to a drop in demand, since the final price of the goods rises, and the buyer does not want to overpay.

4. A large number of periodic routine operations

Suppliers and working with them, tracking product balances, updating the assortment, renting, working with staff (if any), taxes, checks, inventory - this is a far from complete list of what you will have to face while working on your own store.

5. Seasonality of the business depending on the chosen niche

Each trading niche has its own seasonality. It can be expressed more or less clearly. For example, in the summer, building and finishing materials sell well, while in the winter, sales drop significantly.

Other stores make super-profits in the winter for the new year, and in the summer they "suck their paws" in anticipation of a new profitable season. Pay attention to this factor when choosing a niche for your future store.

6. In case of unsuccessful business outcome, the risk of losing 80% of money

If suddenly your business does not go, then the purchased commercial equipment will have to be sold for a pittance, and the rest of the goods will also be sold in bulk or simply given to friends for the holidays (if the product does not belong to food).

I hope that you now have a more complete picture of opening your store and know what difficulties you will have to face in the process.

It is possible to reduce the risk of financial losses if you approach the opening of your store, or rather trading activities a little differently, for example, by starting trading on the basis of the “Business with China” division.

This is a very trendy and interesting topic for today. My friends are doing it successfully. When purchasing goods in China, you can sell them at a premium of up to 500% without even opening a physical outlet. Such a business can also be done via the Internet.

He teaches this business very cool - a specialist on the "Chinese theme". Our team knows Zhenya personally and recommends him as a professional in this area.

Watch the video in which Evgeny's student shares his impressions of the training and monetary results:

We continue the theme of opening our store.

2. Opening a store from scratch - sweet myth or bitter truth

If by "zero" we mean the lack of knowledge and experience, then of course such a zero will not be an obstacle to the implementation of the project.

But if someone thinks that you can open your store without having anything, then they must disappoint you - this is really a myth!

Let's look at those mandatory elements, without which it is simply impossible to open a store in principle.

I will list this minimum, and then you yourself can calculate in numbers how much, according to conservative estimates, the opening and maintenance of the store will cost.

For example, a friend of mine, having opened a premium women's clothing store, invested in it more than 1,200,000 rubles ... This amount included rent of premises, repairs in it, purchase of goods, purchase of commercial equipment, hiring personnel, registration of a company.

How much does it cost to open your store?

1. Premises (retail space)

Own or rented.

Naturally, your premises (not rented) give you tremendous advantages, but unfortunately, a minority of people have such a bonus at the start.

Get ready for the fact that rent will "eat up" most of the profit, and during seasonal recessions you can work "to zero" without earning a penny or even go into the red, laying out money out of your pocket.

2. Commercial equipment

In rare cases, you will not need counters or other equipment: stands, refrigerators (if you open a grocery store). Depending on the specifics and size of your outlet, the cost of commercial equipment will vary.

3. Item

You can take part of the goods from suppliers for sale on a deferred payment basis. That is, give the money for it after the sale. But the other half of the product will most likely have to be purchased.

It is especially hard for beginners in this market. So, if you are a beginner, then not every supplier will agree to give you goods for sale due to lack of trust.

4. Seller

At first, you yourself can act as a seller, and this will even be useful, because it is the owner who is primarily interested in the success of his business.

So you will study the most popular products, work with customer objections and be able to transfer your developments to employees hired in the future.

5. Legal and accounting nuances

In any case, you will need to officially register your business, as well as periodically submit reports to the tax office and the Pension Fund.

In addition, you will be dealing with delivery notes, invoices and contracts. You will have to deal with all these points one by one.

I receive a lot of questions from people who want to start trading on the stock exchange and make money by speculation. They ask for a vector, a sequential algorithm of actions. In this article, I will tell you without embellishment and give answers to questions about what you need to know and where to start trading on the exchange.

More and more in Russia and the CIS countries trading on the stock exchange is gaining popularity. Everyone is interested in how to make money by speculating in the stock market. To inexperienced people, trading on the stock exchange is perceived as an opportunity to make easy money. Or, on the contrary, those who are of an older school and have experienced all the charms of financial pyramids since the MMM, treat the stock exchange in the same way as another money scam.

The point of view of both people has a right to exist, but has nothing to do with reality. Trading on the market is a legal activity with its own rules and procedures, which is supervised by state regulatory bodies.

Trading on the stock exchange lures with its imaginary simplicity. Whoever approaches the matter with such thoughts suffers further defeat, is disappointed and never returns to trading. Persistent and hardworking people succeed. However, this is nothing new. So in any business, only on the stock exchange there are no rental fees, penalties, difficulties with logistics, personnel and other things inherent in a business in the real sector. All you need is a merchant account and a computer with Internet access. Everything, you can already work and earn.

If you are determined to start trading on the exchange, then carefully study this article. All this has been tested on myself and with my own money.

Initial settings

I will repeat myself. The very first thing that a novice speculator must understand for himself - there is no simple money, there is no freebie, and the exchange is no exception in this regard. As with any activity, you will have to work hard to achieve results. There is no need to carry sacks here, to load the wagons too. It will be necessary to work exclusively with the head. But believe me, it's worth it.

• Never quit your job. thinking that you will immediately earn a lot for your living trading on the stock exchange. Trading involves risk. Here money is both earned, and no one is insured against losses.
• Initially, consider trading as a hobby, but take it seriously. Additional income from speculation may well overlap at times your salary at your main job... Potentially, in trading, endless enrichment is possible. It just depends on your trading skills.
• Do not hurry. Try to do everything thoroughly and think through to the end. A big mistake for novice traders is rushing. I know a lot of stories when a person, without really studying the subject area, began to trade and lost to smithereens. Since this was not a trade, but a game that was no different from a casino. And trading on the stock exchange is not a casino, and you will have to pay for frivolity.
• Do not carry the last money on the exchange, which means a lot to you. Do not take loans for trading, and do not borrow. You should start trading free amount.

Try not to advertise left and right that you have started trading. You don't need pressure from the outside at the beginning. Do it for yourself, silently and calmly. You will trumpet when you get positive results. Although you won't have to trumpet, everyone will notice and start asking where you earned :)

Realize that it will take time for you to learn and gain experience to get results. It all depends on the individual characteristics of a person: in his desire to learn and the desire to achieve a result. Just try to be consistent in everything.

If you want to significantly save time for studying stock trading, then I recommend to go through.

Subject area study

There is no need to invest money at the first stage, because first you need to thoroughly study the subject area. Often, for beginners and those who want to "start getting rich quickly now," everything happens exactly the opposite. They immediately carry money to the exchange without studying the subject. It is clear how such stories end - money spent, time and nerves. It is necessary to understand what it is all about - trading on the stock exchange.

What you need to learn to trade on the exchange

You need to know the specifics of the exchange on which you are going to trade.

• the principles of the exchange;
• trading instruments;
• bidders;
• the principle of price formation;
• due to what the price rises / falls;
• time of the auction;
• tool specifications,
• types of market analysis;
• etc.

In general, explore your field of activity. As a rule, the site of the exchange on which you plan to trade is sufficient for this. All the information listed above is there in the public domain. It will not be superfluous to read, in addition to the site, additional literature on trading on the stock exchange.

Literature about the exchange

There are many books about trading on the stock exchange. I read a lot of them, not counting the information on various sites and forums on exchange topics. Of all the books I've read, the most eye-catching books I can recommend are:

1. . V. Tvardovsky, S. Parshikov - the only sensible book at the moment about trading on the Russian stock market from the founder of an investment company.
2. . Larry Williams - book from the record-breaking profitability trader and multiple winner of the Robbins World Cup of Championship of Futures Trading. Served on the Board of Directors of the National Futures Association.
3. . Linda Raschke, Larry Connors - excellent book from traders to practitioners.
4. and . Jack Schwager - in the book, the author interviews America's best managers and investors.
5. . Edwin Lefebvre - a book about the world's most famous speculator Jesse Livermore. It was first published in 1923. And in our time it remains one of the most popular books in financial literature.

Choosing a broker for trading on the exchange

Broker Is an intermediary between you and the exchange. With it, you can make transactions in the market.

After you have read the introductory data and studied the subject area, the question arises: how, having knowledge of the subject, make money on the exchange? At this stage, market analysis begins. Next, I will tell you what is meant by this item.

Market analysis

Trading terminal

Market information is displayed to the trader in the form of a price chart. The chart can be viewed in the trading terminal. There are not so many terminals provided by brokers on the Russian stock market. The most popular is the QUIK terminal. Everything you need for trading is there. Everything about him suits me, so I recommend it to you too. You can download the QUIK terminal on the broker's website.

If you want to trade currencies in forex, you will need to familiarize yourself with the most popular trading platform.

Each broker provides demo access to the trading terminal.

Demo account- this is a great opportunity to learn and test the functionality of the terminal in the virtual trading mode. This is useful and necessary. How to open a demo account and set up a QUIK terminal for trading, I have discussed in detail in.

The only and main disadvantage of virtual trading is that it does not reflect the whole reality of what is happening, and does not affect your emotional component, which greatly affects trading. Therefore, I recommend opening a real account right away.

Search for patterns

Money on the stock exchange is earned on patterns that tend to be realized in the long term according to a certain scenario. At this stage, observation is required. You need to watch the market and try to notice when the price is behaving in a certain way. This is called a pattern, pattern, price pattern, or signal. Many traders call it differently, but the essence is the same - after the appearance of this pattern, the market behaves in a predictable way, which makes it possible to make money on it in the future. Just sit and watch. I recommend taking screenshots of the screen. In due time, I have accumulated a whole collection. The main thing is to do all this diligently. And "fill your eyes", and learn to feel the market well. Highly recommend!

There are no dogmas on the market, so do not treat the perception of new information as recommendations that are 100% correct. You must have a fair amount of skepticism.

You have read books, have been observing the market for a sufficient amount of time, analyzing your screenshots. You have formed a personal opinion about trading on the exchange. Further, on the basis of the information received, a decision-making system is built, which is the trader's tool for making money on the exchange.

Exchange trading

Now the question arises of how much money is needed to start trading on the exchange. It depends on your preference and how much time you are willing to devote to the market. It is necessary to clearly understand that trading in the market is associated with risk. To begin with, I would recommend that you take your time to deposit a lot of money into your trading account. This can be done as you gain experience and develop your own trading style. Parting with money on the stock exchange is very easy, but saving and earning is not so easy. So take your time and do everything consistently.

The market provides opportunities every day except weekends and holidays. Beginners have a very serious problem - they constantly want to be in the market, constantly think about missed opportunities. It is being developed. It is necessary to approach trading with a sober look and take deliberate actions, and not under the influx of emotions. With experience, you will understand all this, but for now, just heed my advice - take your time.

* Calculations are based on average data for Russia

600 000 ₽

Minimum start-up capital

8 %

Profitability

22 months

Payback period

74 500 ₽

Profit per month

Your own meat shop is an attractive, exciting, but very complex business that requires the constant participation of an entrepreneur in all processes. How to start opening a butcher shop and what are the most basic steps you need to take?

Many aspiring entrepreneurs are thinking about opening a butcher shop. There are several reasons for the visual appeal of this business. The first is in the product itself. Meat is an everyday commodity. Meat is always in demand by buyers, it was bought and will be bought even during a crisis. The meat trade is, as a rule, a very lively and lively business, a large flow of buyers, this is a kind of drive. Moreover, the seller has the opportunity to increase his profit by producing and selling semi-finished products, sausages, dumplings, etc. Even if a large retail chain appears in the neighborhood - “death with a scythe” for any grocery store, a butcher shop can not only stay afloat, but also thrive due to the ability to vary the range and offer customers fresh and unique products that cannot be found in a supermarket.

Increase in sales without investment!

“1000 Ideas” - 1000 ways to differentiate yourself from competitors and make any business unique. Professional kit for developing business ideas. Trending product 2019.

Secondly, you can enter the meat trade with small investments (from 600 thousand rubles for a small outlet). Large areas and expensive equipment are not required here, as, for example, in a restaurant or canteen. Even in case of failure, the ready-made business and its products are easy to sell, avoiding serious financial losses. No strict formalities are required from an entrepreneur - you can trade in meat without a license and the need to obtain product certificates.

How to start opening a meat business? After analyzing the advice of practicing entrepreneurs, you can deduce a whole chain of actions that should lead to success in this type of business. Please note that the division into steps should not be taken as a strictly regulated guide to action, since many stages must be carried out in parallel.

Step 1. Do I want to open a butcher shop

Before you start opening a business selling meat, firstly, you need to think about whether you really need it. Experienced entrepreneurs who have made a name for themselves in this industry emphasize that people who come to the meat business are divided into random ones, that is, those who, looking through all possible ways of earning, by chance decided to sell meat, and those who, for whatever reason, reason, he felt this occupation as his own, had a certain personal incentive to engage in it. For example, a person was dissatisfied with the quality of meat sold in city markets, or he felt a desire to develop in an industry familiar to him (for example, raising pigs or calves and then selling them profitably). Well, or was he looking for a new way out for his talent as a butcher-cook or a kebab maker, when his heart is drawn to everything meat ...

The point is that if in the first case there is a high probability of being emotionally burned out from doing something other than your own business, then in the second case the chances of success are much higher, since a person initially has immunity to failures, losses and other adversities. But the main difference between “non-random” and “random” people in the meat trade is not even that. The main thing is knowledge or, at least, a clear understanding of the specifics of working with meat on the one hand, and ignorance of these features in others. And the difference between the first and the second will begin to appear from the very first minutes of work, as soon as the “random” person discovers that the pieces of beef, which he did not stack in a row, but on top of each other, for some reason turned green. Or when he suddenly realizes that he does not know at all what to do with meat that has not been sold for several days. And a hundred and one more nuance. Simply put, a successful business selling meat (like any other business in general) begins with a love of meat, a clearly understood and partly hard-won task, goal, mission. If in your case it all started with something else, then you should once again ask yourself this question directly: “Do I want to open a butcher shop?

Step 2. Analyze the local market

If the answer to this question is yes, then the first thing you should do is conduct a local market analysis. First, you need to find out what kind of meat people want to see and at what price, who sells this meat, who brings it in and who buys it. There is no need to regret the time spent on gathering information - in practice, it pays off many times over due to avoided errors. A holistic picture of the current competitors, prices, possible obstacles and ways of responding to certain events should form in my head. The key task at this stage is to mentally fit yourself and your future store into the existing picture. Moreover, after analyzing the situation, sometimes you have to abandon the original ideas that seemed brilliant. For example, when it suddenly turns out that rabbit meat, horse meat or lamb in a particular region is not needed by anyone for nothing - simply because it has historically developed that way and the tastes of the population are different.

Step 3. Determine the assortment, calculate the margin and profit

After you analyze the market, you will have a more or less clear picture of what you want to trade and what turnovers are in question. The strategic issue is finding a supplier. You will need to find excellent quality meat available. The catch is that no one will ever say that their meat is of poor quality - everyone always sells only “good” and “best”. Much at this stage will depend on how you analyzed the market. You need to get out of your comfort zone: communicate with buyers, sellers, suppliers, farmers and draw conclusions. At the same time, a wide range of prices within the same city or region, as a rule, cannot be found. The difference will be no more than 10%. In a word, digging on the surface, the advantages and disadvantages of this or that proposal can hardly be discerned. In this matter, there is no universal remedy - you yourself need to look for and negotiate, drive, watch, call, and so on.

At this stage, you also need to draw up an approximate financial plan, which should be guided in the future. There is one difficulty here - compared to other types of business in the sale of meat, the pricing system is rather complicated. It depends not only on purchase prices, purchasing power of customers, fixed costs of the entrepreneur, prices of competitors and other traditional factors, but also on the characteristics of cutting and drying of the supplied products. Once in the store, one carcass can be sold for dozens of positions, and each one must be assigned its own adequate, but at the same time profitable price. The way of calculations here is complicated, scrupulous and lengthy, but they have to be done constantly, since you may need to change the cut, the supplier may suddenly raise prices, and the client may order a non-standard piece. At the same time, with a thoughtless approach, there is a real risk not only of losing some amount of profit, but of losing it altogether. Therefore, it is best to use automated electronic services for butcher shops for price selection, which allow quick calculations using ready-made algorithms. It would also be reasonable to make such calculations at the very beginning, choosing the most acceptable wholesale price, and only then look for a supplier using it.

The mark-up for meat in general in the market is quite low because buyers are very price sensitive. The reaction to any price increase is extremely painful - they simply stop taking meat, switching to cheaper products. Therefore, margins in butcher shops almost never exceed 20-30%, and the entrepreneur's profit is made up mainly of the number of sales. Of course, the mark-up varies depending on the type of meat. For example, on pork it can be 40%, and on semi-finished products it can reach 60-100%, but on average the same 20-30% comes out. Much of the pricing issue will depend on the region - in those regions of Russia that do not have large enterprises or farms nearby, meat prices are much higher. When calculating, do not forget to take into account the damage to products - at the very beginning, losses are unlikely to be avoided.

Step 4. Find a suitable room for the purpose

The step on which 90% of the success of a meat store depends is the right location and premises. It is imperative that the butcher shop is located in a walk-through area - profits in this type of business are formed mainly due to sales volumes, and not due to markups. When choosing a location, experienced entrepreneurs recommend spending a day or two and personally counting pedestrian traffic. The minimum traffic for a working day is about 2000 people. From the received number of buyers of the store can become about 2-3%. This data can be used in planning revenue and net income.

As a rule, a large area is not required for butcher shops: even 90 and 100 sq. meters - this is a lot, the rent will be too large and unaffordable. For a start, 10-25 sq. meters, the optimal area is about 30-40 squares. The cost of renting such a room can, depending on various factors, vary from 15 to 120 thousand rubles. In table 1, we presented the average rental price according to the Avito website for cities in Russia with different numbers of inhabitants. Data is current as of September 2017.

Table 1. Average rent for retail space 25-60 sq. M. meters in Russian cities *

* according to the Avito website as of September 2017

Looking ahead, we say that expensive repairs are not required for butcher shops: the specifics of the business are such that buyers, in principle, do not care about the design of the premises. There are no requirements for the interior as in the salons of kitchens or catering establishments. The main criteria are store visibility and traffic. Of course, you need a sewerage and toilet, water supply and a sink. There are some other points to consider. For example, wide doorways for unloading incoming products will not interfere with the room.

Step 5. Settle legal issues

Since the process of finding a suitable premises can take more than one month, from the point of view of economy, it will be more profitable to register a business after there is a preliminary agreement with the supplier and a place has been selected. However, in order to conclude a lease agreement, it is already necessary to have at least an individual entrepreneur. For a small butcher shop, an individual entrepreneur is quite enough, and the so-called simplified taxation (6% of income), or UTII, the amount of tax in which is constant and tied to the area, is suitable as a form of taxation. An individual entrepreneur is issued within three days, the size of the state duty is 800 rubles.

The premises for the sale of meat, like the meat itself, must comply with certain standards. An entrepreneur does not need to obtain any licenses, but some issues need to be resolved. Issues with fire safety and SES most often bypass tenants. The owners of the premises usually already have the appropriate permits. After opening the store, within a month, it is necessary to notify Rospotrebnadzor about the start of trading activities. But the main thing that you need is a certificate for meat and a veterinary form for meat No. 4. The supplier should provide them, so the problem is solved by selecting a good supplier. Also, one should not forget about the consumer's corner with a book of complaints and suggestions and that employees must have health books.

According to the experience of practitioners, many of the rules imposed on butcher shops are not always feasible in reality. For example, it is not always possible to equip two entrances to the premises or regularly receive veterinary certificates for products from a supplier. Questions are usually resolved with a veterinary inspector who periodically drops into the store. In general, the room should be well ventilated, properly cleanable, properly positioned, and the cutting deck should be in place, and staff should have uniforms and gloves to keep the inspectors happy. Fanatical adherence to the norms of the law is usually not required in practice.

Step 6. Purchase equipment

As a minimum set, you will need equipment for cutting, storing and displaying. The first category will include a cutting table, a cutting block, knives, axes, hooks, etc., about 15-20 thousand rubles will be spent for these purposes. Also, for a butcher shop, you cannot do without a band saw - it will increase productivity, work with frozen products and increase the quality of cutting. The saw is the most expensive of the minimum equipment. Prices for it can exceed 80-100 thousand rubles, which discourages many entrepreneurs from starting a business. Here you can consider the option of used or ordering equipment from China - costs can be reduced by 1.5-2 times. It is not recommended to completely abandon the band saw - otherwise the connection to the butcher's skills is great, and many commodity items will simply need to be abandoned.

For storing and displaying fresh meat, you will need a closed refrigerated display case. The cost of one such 1.5 meter showcase starts at 30 thousand rubles. You also need at least one chest freezer, prices start from 15 thousand rubles. For recycling, you must definitely purchase a meat grinder for preparing semi-finished products, for example, minced meat, all kinds of rolls, cutlets, dumplings and others. Usually for butcher shops professional meat grinders are purchased at a cost of 20 thousand rubles, but if funds do not allow, then a couple of ordinary household ones may be enough for a small store to start. The costs of lamps should also be foreseen. It's no secret that the quality of lighting directly affects the volume of sales. The store will also need scales, trays, overalls for employees and other little things.

Thus, the required minimum of equipment for a butcher's shop will require 200-250 thousand rubles. Entrepreneurs with experience in the meat business advise that when choosing and buying equipment, it is necessary not to attach excessive importance to it - in the first place in terms of importance should be the assortment. So consider saving options. To begin with, it would be quite reasonable to take used equipment. If you're lucky, you can find good quality equipment with a good discount of up to 50-70%. Many shops, restaurants, cafes either close, or move, or replace equipment with a newer one, etc., so there will always be options to save money if you look carefully.

Step 7. Recruit staff

The key employee of the butcher shop is, of course, the butcher. Moreover, it should be not just a butcher-seller, but a butcher-cutter with knowledge of “shop” cutting. Without knowing the principles of such cutting, you can lose up to 25 kg of meat from each carcass. Even if the supplier is engaged in cutting the meat, this skill is necessary, since in a butcher's shop there is always something to cut, prepare, put into minced meat, and so on. Here, entrepreneurs usually choose one of two strategies - someone spends time and money looking for the perfect specialist with experience, others teach young guys the necessary skills on their own. It is clear that not everyone can afford the first option, besides the dependence on the skills of the cutter creates some lack of freedom and shackles the hands of the entrepreneur. For the second option, and in general ideally, the entrepreneur himself knows the whole meat kitchen from the inside and has all the necessary skills.

If we talk about the role of the entrepreneur himself, then, of course, he can independently act as a cutter, a seller or as their replacement, especially when it comes to a small point and the very start of a business. However, in any case, it should not be irreplaceable. In an optimal scenario, the entrepreneur plays the role of a manager, only occasionally monitors employees, is engaged in promotion and strategic planning. All other duties not directly related to making a profit - accounting, security, etc. - are transferred to freelance specialists.

Ready-made ideas for your business

How much to pay store employees? There is no clear answer here: there are too many variable factors that depend on the financial capabilities of the business, the experience and skills of the staff, the work schedule, etc. At the same time, there are some guidelines that can be taken as a basis when calculating future expense items. Table 2 shows the average salary of butchers for September 2017, based on an analysis of the ads on the Avito website.

Table 2. Average salary by profession butcher in Russian cities *

* based on data from Avito website as of September 2017

An important point is the personality of the butcher shop seller. This person should not only be good at meat, he should be liked by people. The flow of buyers in this business is great, so you need to be as patient, polite as possible, be able to interest and talk about the meat.

Step 8. Take care of the promotion of the butcher shop

There are passive and active methods of customer promotion. Passive methods include must-have items such as store signs, pillars, and signage. To active - everything else. The meat trade is not a business that will tolerate an advertising campaign on a grand scale. It is more important here not to thunder in the whole country or city, but to be famous in your area. That is, the most effective are low-budget local advertising methods - posting ads, distributing leaflets and flyers, the least effective are expensive television advertising. It is best to focus on the distance in the immediate vicinity of the store, namely within a radius of 800 meters. Advertisements are best posted at entrances and in elevators, where they can be read several times. In general, the meat market is a fairly traditional market, so it is not so difficult to stand out from competitors with the help of advertising in it as it might seem at first.

You can also use the Internet to sell meat, but it is better to focus on the individual tasks of the store - for example, to find new customers and sales markets. It is most advisable to create your own website if the store already has some significant competitive advantage. For a small point, which practically does not stand out, the site can only do harm by deceiving the client's expectations and distracting the entrepreneur from more important tasks. At the same time, even a small retail outlet must be present in 2Gis, Yandex.Maps and Google Maps. Social networks in this type of business are almost irrelevant and require extra effort to keep them active. Of course, the biggest, underwater part of the iceberg is word of mouth. It is thanks to the recommendations of other people that the flow is ensured that no other type of advertising will give the store. And word of mouth, as you know, is mainly based on product quality. Also, do not forget to follow the trends in the meat industry and business ideas of foreign butcher shops, sometimes something worthwhile appears among the sea of ​​junk.

Step 9. Become “yours” for the buyer

From the very first days, a meat store should strive to win its customers and gain profit in the first month. If it was not possible to get profit even in the second month of work, this is a reason to sound the alarm. It means that one of the previous steps was passed with errors: the place was chosen incorrectly, the wrong seller, the wrong assortment, pricing policy, and so on. It is imperative that the customer sees as much fresh tasty meat as possible on the counter from the start and wants to return. Trying to trade with half-empty windows is a guarantee of imminent failure. Even with the most conservative estimates, almost 3.5 tons of meat with a 30% markup will have to be sold to cover the costs per month. Since meat is a perishable product and lives for 1-2 days, the purchase will have to be made constantly or every other day. Moreover, it is worth at least once to sell stale meat - the bad fame of a new store can spread instantly.

We must not forget about the seasonality factor in the meat trade - you need to build a response strategy in advance. This factor is most noticeably felt in the summer, when there is a general drop in demand for meat products. During this period, store owners buy smaller volumes of meat, reduce cutting, and redistribute their assortment. A profitable direction for this period is the sale of kebabs and barbecues, active cooperation with cafes and restaurants. Many butcher shop owners manage not only to smooth out the effects of the season, but also to earn more in the off-season than in the season. The main thing is to feel the needs of the buyer and respond promptly to them.

12 people are studying this business today.

For 30 days, 192491 times were interested in this business.

Calculator for calculating the profitability of this business

When starting their own business, many entrepreneurs often choose retail. That is, they open their own store. At first glance, opening a store is quite simple, but this is far from the case. At the very beginning of the organizational process, many questions arise, which are sometimes difficult to find an answer to. In order to achieve success and protect yourself from unnecessary troubles, you need to thoroughly prepare for this business in advance and take into account a number of important issues.

What to sell? (selection of goods for sale)

Think about whether your products will be in demand and analyze the competitiveness of the future store. The choice of products sold depends directly on the region, the needs of potential buyers and, ultimately, on your personal preferences. Think about the total area of ​​the premises, about the form of trade (sale through the counter or self-service), and also about the location.

Financial calculations

Make a business plan. This will help you prioritize, identify potential customers, strategize in detail, meet competitors, and take other necessary steps to turn your idea into a business.

Required package of documents

Before registering an enterprise, consider the following points: the name of the organization, the type of activity, the number of founders, the taxation system, who will take the position of chief accountant and general director. After registering a legal entity, you must register with the pension and medical funds, as well as with the social insurance fund.

Don't forget to get permission to sign the store. To obtain an opinion from the State Fire Supervision Authority, prepare: a letter of application, a certificate of registration of an enterprise, a contract for the lease of premises, an insurance policy of the facility, a BTI plan. You will also need a permit for cash registers.

Room selection

Regardless of whether you are building, buying or renting, keep in mind the following key points:

• Layout and size of the premises. It is necessary to provide premises for an office, a storage room, think over whether you need a service entrance.
• Location. Where your store will be located depends on its traffic and, accordingly, income. There should be parking and easy access near the store.
• Technical amenities. Pay attention to the fact that you can easily install water, electricity, telephone line, heat and security system without any problems.

Equipment

You will need: cabinets, showcases, counters, shelves, etc. When converting an ordinary space into a sales area, remember about space and design impression. The store should be beautifully and stylishly decorated, then people will come back to you again and again. Don't forget about the cash register equipment. The number of checkouts significantly affects the quality of service and sales.

Selection of suppliers of goods

The quality of the goods in your store depends directly on the suppliers. Give your preference to companies with an impeccable business reputation. In such work, commitment and punctuality are very important. When choosing a product, pay attention to its quality, price and delivery schedule. If you already have several suppliers in mind, think about why they are better than the rest, how reliable are they and why did you choose them?