Own business: grocery store. Grocery Store Business Plan

You finally decided to start your own business, but don’t know where to start and how exactly to realize your plan? Do not worry, now we will correct this situation. According to statistics, most people think about opening a grocery store, a business plan for which is developed according to a special scheme. The reason for this popularity in this area is that people will always want to eat, which means that food will be in price.

Do not forget that food trading is the most competitive segment of the market, and therefore, you need to spend a lot of time and money to develop a store concept. Only in this case you have a chance to gain a foothold and get such a welcome profit.

The advantages of such a business

1. A large market that can be easily predicted. One of the basic human needs is food. In this case, the product market will only develop and expand. To make a good profit, it is not necessary to open a supermarket, sometimes a small store inside the quarter justifies expectations.
2. Ease in assortment formation. For starters, it will be enough to buy a small number of different products, and after opening to adjust the variety. You can go to similar stores and conduct covert research.
3. Well-developed supply chain of products. Owners or other employees of the store will not need to travel for goods, since almost all wholesale suppliers independently deliver goods to places of sale.
4. No need to keep a huge amount of goods in reserve, as you can make applications even several times a week.
5. You do not need to worry about inflation, as prices rise in proportion to it. You, observing the rise in prices of raw materials, at the same time raise the prices of goods, as a result, you lose nothing.

Cons of such a business

1. A large amount of work awaits you every day, which is associated with the purchase and receipt of goods. Basically, profit consists of the volume sold, and not from the margin, since it is no more than 25%.
2. Almost every store has shortages. This happens due to dishonesty of customers, especially if you have a store that involves self-service, theft of staff, shortcomings during the reception of goods, errors during the sale, etc. In this case, it is recommended to establish liability for employees.
3. It is necessary to constantly monitor the shelf life of the goods. If you want to have a good reputation among buyers, there should never be expired products on your shelves. This should be monitored constantly and remove low-quality goods. Some suppliers may pick up the bulk of such products. The rest negatively affects your profit.
4. Constant monitoring by the relevant authorities. Some products, especially alcohol, are subject to strict rules. Quite often, due to the human factor, the services will find violations in you, and you will have to pay considerable fines.
5. The amount of revenue directly depends on the location of your grocery store. If you have chosen the wrong place or organized your business near similar enterprises, then most likely you should not expect significant profits.

First stage

Grocery store - a business that involves choosing a place with a sufficient number of customers. If there is no room, then you need to start with the selection of potential rental points.In this case, there are several options:

1. A small room, which is located in the sleeping areas of the city. In general, such points are designed for buyers who live in the nearest houses. As for goods, the most important thing is to focus on everyday demand, namely: bread, dairy products, cigarettes, alcohol, etc. The profit in this case is insignificant, but stable, which makes it possible to calculate the volume of sales. You can make a small shopping pavilion with your own hands. In this case, it will look like a stall or tent. A plus
2. such a decision is the absence of rental fees and easy transportation to another place. If the area already has a similar store, then the success of your business can be ensured only if you provide the best or cheapest goods.
3. Large stores inside neighborhoods that have a floor area of ​​more than 100 m². The main advantage of this option is that you can organize a mini-supermarket, which includes self-service. In addition, practice suggests that stores with a counter bring in 2 times less profit than mini-supermarkets. It is important to understand that counterless trading involves a lot of start-up capital. It is recommended to take into account the fact that such stores can be unprofitable, therefore, before starting a business, you need to carefully analyze the possible flow of customers.
4. You can open a grocery store - franchising, that is, a network branch of a well-known brand. In this case, you can get help from a company that owns stores. But at the same time you will have to comply with all their requirements.
5. Small shops that are located near traffic intersections. These outlets are mainly focused on one-time purchases, alcohol and cigarettes. Due to the large number of competitors, profit in this case is possible if you sell something unusual and unique, for example, fresh baked goods. In general, if you decide to follow this path, then first come up with the concept of your business.

Second phase

It's time to find out the most important information - how much money you need to open a grocery store. To do this, you must know:

1. How much will it cost to rent a room, or how much money you will spend on its construction.
2. Knowing the area and business concept, you can start planning what kind of equipment will be used. This issue is very important, since it will take most of the starting capital.
3. A well-chosen premises can solve many problems, for example, a fire alarm has already been installed in it, sanitary requirements are fulfilled, etc. Thanks to this, many questions immediately disappear and problems with regulatory authorities will be resolved very quickly.

Possible equipment

We should dwell on this issue separately, since a grocery store is a business that largely depends on properly selected equipment. In general, it can be divided into 3 groups:

1. The usual racks and counters that are made in workshops. When you order them, make sure that they are made universal, so that in which case you can easily sell them or use them elsewhere.
2. Finished equipment, which is sold in specialized stores. It includes, for example, freezers. When choosing them, it is worth paying attention not only to the cost at the moment, but also to future profitability, that is, the consumption of electric energy, etc.
3. Equipment provided by suppliers. These include, for example, cameras for selling drinks, etc. This, of course, is a significant plus, but at the same time you will not have the right to display other goods on their counter.

The main equipment for the grocery store: refrigerators, counters, cash register, scales, various equipment, such as knives, boards, etc.

The main points of a business plan

Not even an experienced entrepreneur will ever take up work without fulfilling important points; this is the only way to open a grocery store. A business plan is the first important condition, so that it is easier for you to develop your own, consider an example.

1. Organizational part. To begin with, you need to determine and describe in detail in your business plan exactly which trading company you will open: a separate store or a counter in a large shopping center. We suggest you consider the process of opening a counter with a selling area that will be identical to the size of the store.

To open you will need commercial and refrigeration equipment, as well as a consignment of goods. In general, for this you will need from 1 to 5 thousand euros.

2. Registration of the store. The business plan of the product pavilion includes 2 registration options:

• IP - individual entrepreneur;
• LLC is a limited liability company.

In the first case, if there are debts, then all of your property may be confiscated for repayment. In the second option, the entrepreneur only wields authorized capital. Now it remains to figure out how much the grocery store brings and whether it is profitable to open such a business.

Third stage

After completing the first 2 stages, you have learned how much money you need to open a grocery store, and you can start paper business. The first thing to do is register your business. If you have financial capabilities, then use the help of a law firm that will deal with the preparation of all documentation.

In this case, you can be sure that everything will be done correctly and legally. In addition, thanks to the participation of such companies, you will have time to tackle the arrangement of the store and the search for suppliers.

Do not think that if you only give a signal about the opening of the store, the suppliers themselves will come to you to offer their products. It’s better not to wait for this and start ringing large bases on your own. Thanks to this, you can find cheaper and higher-quality products and at the same time save a lot.

At this stage of preparing the store for opening, you should formulate and think over the full range. Practice shows that for the first time it is impossible to guess the nomenclature, therefore choose according to the principle of "a little bit of everything". When the grocery store, the business plan of which you must already develop, is open, you can experiment and pick up your unique assortment of goods.

It is very important to find products that are unique, the only way you can attract customers. For example, it can be fresh pastries, homemade dumplings, unusual desserts, etc.

Also at this time you should hire an accountant. This may be, for example, a working person who will work for you, or contact the agency, but for this you will have to pay a tidy sum. In addition, it is worth taking the time to recruit staff. Do not treat this irresponsibly, since a lot depends on it.

How to make a store profitable?

It is very important to know how much profit the grocery store brings and what needs to be done to increase it. A store can only be profitable if you find your customer. To do this, you must stand out from your competitors, for this you have 2 development options:

1. Offer customers unique products. We already spoke about this earlier.
2. Provide quality service. Unfortunately, today it’s hard enough to find an institution in which the staff will smile and politely communicate with their customers. This is confirmed by the fact that the choice of personnel should be approached with particular responsibility. Just think, do you really want to come to the store, in which they were naughty and cheated. Therefore, during the selection of personnel, take into account the appearance of employees, their manner of communication, their attitude to goods and work, discipline and the absence of bad habits.

At this stage, in principle, everything is ready, and you can open your own grocery store, the business plan of which must be fully implemented.

Advertising is the engine of progress

As you know, no company will be successful if you do not enlist the support of advertising. It is recommended that she work in several directions at once. For example, these may be booklets, radio advertising, television, and of course, word of mouth. When developing booklets, consider what would be nice if they had written attractive information about quality products, discounts, etc.

Reasons why small stores cannot compete with large chains:

1. At wholesale suppliers, large stores will have a significant discount.
2. Large stores boast a wide assortment and possible procurement delays.
3. In large networks, the selection of personnel is more responsible, they even arrange certain castings. It provides the best service.

Estimated calculation: average grocery store revenue

Let’s take an average family, having analyzed the item of expenses, we can conclude that from 30 to 50% of the family budget goes specifically for food. Every businessman should understand and calculate how much the grocery store brings.

Consider a situation that will help us answer this question. Take the district or village in which approximately 1,500 residents live. Now you need to determine their monthly income, let it be a small amount - 6000 rubles. To find out the exact number of your region, use the developed statistics. Knowing all these numbers, you can determine the size of the grocery market. To do this, simply multiply the numbers 1500x6000x30% = 2.7 million rubles per month.

If you consider that the average margin is 20%, then your store will bring about 300 thousand rubles a month. Now, to calculate the net profit, you need to take into account the wages of workers and rent. For example, for a salary to sellers, an accountant and a director, you will spend about 70 thousand and about 50 thousand for rent. As a result, the grocery store's revenue will be 180 thousand.

Conclusion

Now you know all the necessary information to organize your store. Keep in mind that such a business requires responsibility and constant control. For example, a monthly audit at a grocery store is a mandatory procedure, since you need to monitor the profitability and success of your investments.