There is always a demand for household chemicals: neither seasonal fluctuations, nor a crisis affect it. After all, even in the most difficult times, people want to live in beautiful, well-groomed housing. Every day we clean, wash, wash the dishes, take a shower ...
Manufacturers meet customers and offer high-quality and inexpensive products of various categories - on the shelves of stores you can find disinfectants, detergents, washing, cleaning, disinfectants and, of course, cosmetics.
Today we will talk in detail about how to draw up a business plan for a household chemistry and cosmetics store.
Sale of household chemicals is a great choice for a novice entrepreneur
Due to the specific characteristics of the goods themselves, the sale of household chemicals has many advantages. In particular, this is because:
- most of the funds are spent quickly enough, and the average family updates their stocks at least 1-2 times a month;
- almost all products have a long shelf life and do not require special storage conditions;
- due to the fact that the average cost of a unit of goods is low, you can immediately buy a fairly large assortment;
- As an entrepreneur, you can choose any format of trade - from a shop to a business market.
Of course, competing with major market players will not be easy - almost every city has its own chain of household chemical stores. However, there are always places that are not yet “captured” by networkers. In addition, it should be borne in mind that it is simply impossible to present products of all brands that are on the market in one store at once. And just this factor you can use to your advantage.
Step 1. Organizational matters and registration
A lot depends on the format of the store you have chosen. If we are talking about a small retail outlet, it will be enough to register as an individual entrepreneur.
However, if you draw up a business plan for a household chemistry and cosmetics store with the prospect of developing into a chain of stores, you should immediately consider this and open an LLC.
In the case of a small store, you can limit your trading to the counter. But if the size of the room allows, it is better to organize self-service or mixed trade (some of the products are cleaned in the windows, and some are on the shelves in the public domain).
Licensing of trade in this case is not required.
In addition, it is important to choose the name of a household chemical store. It should be simple, vivid and memorable, because it is the “face” of your business. If there is not enough imagination at all, you can choose the name of the “classic” type of household chemical stores - for example, “Hostess”, “Cinderella”, “Brownie”, “Shine”. You can use beautiful female names or flower names. They are not too complicated and well recognizable. Remember that "as you call a ship, it will sail."
Step 2. Choosing a room
It is no secret that a competent choice of premises is one of the main factors of your success. Sleeping areas can be "cut off" immediately - as a rule, they have long been monopolized by large supermarkets and supermarkets with a large selection of products that people have long been accustomed to.
But on the central streets of the city, a household chemistry store will be very helpful.Ideally, you can rent a room located near the grocery stores or directly on the territory of one of them. Why so? Everything is very simple: at the same time as food, people, as a rule, acquire household chemicals.
The area of the premises must be at least 100 m2. Naturally, a quality repair should be carried out in it. The rental price in modern shopping centers ranges from 5 to 20 dollars per 1 m2.
Step 3. Determine the range
When compiling a business plan for a store of household chemicals and cosmetics, you must definitely decide on the assortment of goods that you will offer to your customers. It is desirable that in your store, buyers can find not only household chemicals, but also personal hygiene products, as well as cosmetic and perfume products.
What products diverge the fastest? First of all, these are:
- face, body and hair care products;
- shaving products;
- cleaning and detergents;
- shoe care products;
- decorative cosmetics and perfumes;
- washing powders;
- hosiery;
- all kinds of beautiful gift sets.
If you do not plan to create a highly specialized store selling luxury products, it is better to focus on mid-range products that are in great demand.
Separately, it is worth mentioning that in order to increase turnover at the initial stage, it is recommended to reduce the trade margin. It is hard to imagine that buyers will bypass the store offering the right products at affordable prices.
The number of commodity items should vary between 5-15 thousand. That is, the available goods should be targeted at citizens with different levels of income.
Step 4. Purchase of equipment
Go ahead. How to equip a household chemistry store? The basic kit includes counters, shelving and display cases. There is a cash zone behind the counter (preferably 1-3 cash registers are available). The racks are placed on the trading floor, along the walls and in the center of the room.
It is important that there is a sufficiently large distance between them so that buyers have the opportunity to freely move around the store. If we are talking about a self-service store, at the very entrance there should be shopping baskets and cells where people can leave their things.
You can save some money by buying used equipment. However, in the pursuit of cheapness, do not grab the first counter offer. Your image directly depends on how well your store is designed and, as a result, your profit. Therefore, if you did not succeed in finding used equipment in good condition, it is better not to stint and take new ones - the money spent will quickly pay off.
Step 5. Purchase of products
When drawing up a business plan for household chemicals and cosmetics, you need to immediately think about where you will purchase the goods themselves.
The best option is direct cooperation with manufacturers. Among other things, they will provide you with powerful information support, provide all relevant hygienic conclusions and quality certificates, and also help with the design of retail space. But such “generosity” can be used only if the goods of competing companies are not sold on the territory of the store.
An alternative option is cooperation with wholesale bases. In this case, the design of the outlet you have to come up with yourself. But you can offer your customers a much larger assortment of goods. The margin level should not exceed 15% - the only way you can not "fly like plywood over Paris" and receive real income.
Step 6. Search for staff
In addition, an item related to the selection of employees should be included in the business plan of household chemicals and cosmetics. The following positions should be present in the staffing of your store:
- managing director;
- accountant;
- sellers (on average, about 5-8 people);
- cleaners.
For a small outlet, this is more than enough. It is advisable that your employees already have experience in similar positions and are able to create a positive reputation for the store.
Step 7. Advertising
Unfortunately or fortunately, a lot really depends on it. For this purpose, you can use flyers and leaflets (distribute them on the street), advertisements in the media, on local television channels and on radio stations. Recently, advertising on the Internet has been considered an effective way to promote various goods and services.
The costs associated with advertising must be included in the business plan of the store of household chemicals and cosmetics. After all, it is in your interests that potential customers find out about you as quickly as possible and turn into real ones!
In addition, customers can be attracted through a variety of promotions and loyalty programs. Often please your regular customers with gifts, create a system of cumulative discounts - in this case, you will still receive well-deserved profits, but not at the expense of high prices, but due to an increase in the amount of the average check (a person wants to take advantage of an advantageous offer and buy more different goods at an attractive price )
Step 8. Analysis of the main expenses
So, summing up all of the above, we can distinguish the following costs necessary for opening a business in this area:
- rent for the year - from 200 thousand rubles;
- equipment for a household chemistry store - from 400 thousand rubles;
- conducting an advertising campaign - from 50 thousand rubles;
- purchase of goods - from 1 million rubles per year;
- salaries to employees - from 400 thousand rubles a year.
Starting capital for opening a store is about 2-2.5 million rubles.
Important! The prices indicated in this article may vary depending on your place of residence. So, in large megacities such as Moscow, they will be several times higher.
Step 9. Estimated Forecasted Profit
If you can competently organize the work of a shopping facility and choose a good place to place it, the monthly profit can reach 5-6 thousand dollars. Practice shows that the profitability of a household chemistry store can really be quite high - this is evidenced at least by the fact that the project pays for itself within 6 months. Moreover, the profit does not depend on seasonal fluctuations, because people always need home care products and cosmetics.
