Today, increasingly, both in the improvement of streets and private territories, they use not the usual asphalt pavement, but paving slabs. In this regard, the demand for this building material is constantly increasing. And if municipal organizations most often cooperate with large enterprises, then entrepreneurs and private individuals are ready to buy paving stones from small firms. In this regard, the production of paving slabs is an excellent and promising, as well as a profitable, quick payback and not requiring significant start-up investment business idea. We’ll talk today about how to start a business in this area.
Market analysis
Before drawing up a business plan for the production of paving slabs, it is necessary to study the supply and demand for this building material available in the market of your region. At this stage, you should analyze how much your future competitors produce paving stones, as well as the price of their products and services that they additionally provide to customers.
Then you need to decide on your potential buyers. As a rule, these are repair and construction brigades, private shops, hotels, as well as cafes and restaurants with open summer areas. In addition, you should consider the question of who will supply you the raw materials.
So, if there are no sand or granite quarries near your city, then you may have to import products from remote regions, which will significantly increase the cost of paving stones, as well as reduce the profitability of your business. As a result, if market analysis makes it clear that demand exceeds supply, and there are no problems with the delivery of raw materials, you can safely begin production of paving slabs.
check in
The business plan for the production of paving slabs should begin with this point. Fortunately, to open such an enterprise there is no need to receive any certificates or licenses. It is enough to register as an individual entrepreneur (IE), after which you can proceed directly to production.
If you wish, you can go through the procedure at any time voluntary certification your products. This will be a big plus for you, as this will confirm the high quality of your pavers and its compliance with state standards.
Production of paving slabs as a business: assortment
From the very beginning, it is very important to decide which paving stones you will release. We suggest figuring out which varieties of this building material exist. So, today on the market there is a clinker, vibrocast and vibropressed paving slabs.
The most expensive is the pavers of the first type. For its manufacture, high-quality clay, as well as special equipment for firing, is required. There is no point in starting a business for the production of paving slabs of clinker type if you plan to organize a small enterprise. This is due to the fact that the market for such products is rather narrow.
The best option would be the production of paving slabs by vibrocasting. There is always a great demand for such paving stones, as it is durable and wear-resistant, and is also offered in a variety of shapes and colors.
The technology of vibrocasting itself is quite simple, and the products manufactured by it are characterized by low cost. As for vibropressed tiles, it is in many ways similar to vibrocast. However, its manufacture is more complex and expensive.
Additional assortment
By the way, in the business plan for the production of paving slabs, it is possible to include the manufacture of borders, facing stone and items of park decor. In addition, you should not give up work on laying your pavers in the wrong hands. It is best to provide the client with a full range of services: from the production of tiles and related products to their installation and installation. It will be more convenient both for the client and for you.
Selection of premises for the workshop
Since the technology of manufacturing paving stones requires maintaining a special temperature regime, a business plan for the production of paving slabs should include the selection of a well-heated room. As for the location of your workshop, it does not play a special role.
In this regard, you can safely rent any suitable premises with a minimum area of 60 square meters. Do not forget to make sure that the building has the necessary communications in the form of water supply and three-phase electricity with a voltage of 380 V. Also, when choosing a room, keep in mind that you will need to equip special drying chambers for paving slabs.
As a rule, they are small rooms with underfloor heating and specially insulated walls. This is done due to the fact that inside it is necessary to maintain a temperature of 35-40 degrees. Besides the fact that you need to equip drying chambers for paving slabs, do not forget about the storage room. It is advisable to organize a warehouse with a margin of space, as over time the volume of paving stones produced can increase, and additional space will be required for its storage.
Production equipment for paving slabs
This item will account for the main item of expenses associated with starting a business. So, the line for the production of paving slabs should consist of the following equipment: concrete mixer, molding vibrating table, stripping table and plastic molds.
This set is minimal and sufficient for the manufacture of both square and curly pavers, as well as decorative fences and facade tiles. If you plan to produce additional building materials, you will need to purchase the appropriate equipment.
It is interesting that today you can meet people who organized their own home production of paving slabs. In this case, you can save a little on the purchase of a complete production line, however, labor will be required much more.
Staff
If you plan to open a workshop with a capacity of 30 square meters of paving stones per day, then you will need to hire three employees. There are no special requirements for the qualifications of employees. Their responsibilities will be to comply with the concrete mixing formula, filling out forms, as well as sending products to the pressing table and the drying chamber. If you plan to provide additional services to customers, then you will need to hire other employees to perform these works.
Raw materials
Thinking over the question of what is needed for the production of paving slabs, one should not lose sight of the raw materials. It must always be of high quality if you want your products to be competitive. So what kind of raw materials will be required for the production of tiles?
So, in order to make 30 square meters of paving stones, you need: 0.8 tons of cement, 2.5 tons of sand-granite mix, 2.3 kg of plasticizer concrete and pigments in the required quantity. At the same time, be sure to keep in mind that experts recommend purchasing cement of the same brand whenever possible.
Especially if you are busy executing a large order. The fact is that when using different types of cement, you can encounter a problem in the form of a mismatch in the color of the finished paving slabs from different lots. The same applies to pigments.
Technology of paving slabs
We offer you to learn more about the stages of the process of manufacturing paving stones by vibrocasting. So, for starters, cement-sand mixture is kneaded in concrete mixers. Then this solution is distributed in forms on a vibrating table, where it subsequently takes the density necessary for further work.
After this, the forms with the solution are covered with a PVC film and sent to the shelves, where they are kept for a day. Then the molds are heated in a special drying chamber. The next step is the removal of finished products. Then the paving stones are laid out on pallets, where they withstand the necessary time until they are ready.
Storage, packaging and transportation of finished paving stones
As we have already found out, it is necessary for customers to release and lay paving slabs some time after the completion of the production process. So, in the summer, paving stones acquire the necessary characteristics within a week after manufacture, and in winter this period can last up to 28 days. After the end of the stripping, paving slabs are laid out on pallets, wrapped with stretch film and reinforced with a special fixing tape.
Of course, to move such a mass without the use of rigging equipment will be quite problematic (in this case, it is best to use rockles). It also makes sense to take care of organizing a site for loading finished products into trucks for shipment to the buyer.
Sales of finished products
First of all, you should make demonstration samples of your paving slabs, which you will show to your potential customers. They should be cast in various shapes and sizes, so that the buyer can see with his own eyes how the products purchased by him will look like live, and not in a photograph in the catalog.
In addition, a sufficient number of colorful booklets should be printed. They need to provide photographs and a description of all types of tiles that you produce or plan to produce in the future, accompanied by detailed descriptions, as well as information about the advantages of paving stones, the rules for its operation, etc.
In addition, it makes sense to establish relations with the repair and construction teams. This is best done individually. Advertisements should also be placed in local print media and on the Internet. In addition, you can put up ads in cottages and cottage villages.
The financial side of the business
As already mentioned, to start a business on the production of paving slabs does not require large cash investments. So, for the purchase of equipment that allows you to produce up to 30 square meters of finished paving stones per day, you will need to spend about 200-250 thousand rubles. To this amount should be added the cost of renting the workshop.
With regard to the cost of production, the production of 1 square meter of tiles will cost you 210 rubles (including the wages of workers, the purchase of raw materials and utilities). Such tiles are sold at a price of about 350-370 rubles per square.
Thus, we can conclude that the profitability of the paving slab production business reaches 50%, which is a very high indicator. You can recoup the initial investment within a couple of months after the start of work.
Business prospects
After you have mastered all the intricacies of paving slabs and won a good reputation, you can think about expanding your business through the release of additional products and the provision of related services.
As for the last paragraph, it makes sense to offer our customers the implementation of work on the arrangement of the adjacent territory, as well as the erection of various buildings. To do this, you can start cooperating with a construction company or even organize your own.
In order for the business to bring you more profit, you must constantly develop and remain competitive in the market. In this regard, over time, you will need to purchase additional production equipment.
For example, a forklift truck, as well as a conveyor-type line for the production of building blocks and tiles according to the method of vibration pressing, will be useful. Of course, this will require significant financial costs. However, due to the increase in production capacity, you will get the opportunity to produce more diverse products, which, accordingly, will contribute to an increase in the company's profits.
