Furniture business: production of cabinet furniture. Where to start the furniture business. Furniture store business plan

With the right approach, the furniture business can bring quite good income: from 40% per annum in foreign currency and higher. However, in order to make this possible, it is necessary to properly organize the work of the enterprise and find effective sales channels.

Learn how to start a furniture business and how to develop it!

Features of medium and small furniture business

Medium and small companies - furniture manufacturers - are characterized by an emphasis on specialization. Simply put, they choose for themselves some narrow market niche and try to gain a foothold in it.

For example, some companies are exclusively engaged in the manufacture of furniture for trade organizations: pharmacies, jewelry stores, bookstores, etc. Others produce furniture from certain materials (glass, wood, plastic, etc.). Still others - market highly functional products (for example, computer desks, wardrobes or bar counters).

Among the most promising and relevant areas can be distinguished the production of cabinet furniture. Let's try to figure out together where to start work and how to reach the desired level.

Step 1. Registration and organization of the enterprise

First of all, you will need to decide on the target audience. That is, think about who will buy your finished furniture. It can be:

• intermediaries (specialized furniture stores, design and repair studios that will purchase products from you and resell it to their customers);
• retail buyers (ordinary middle-income people who update their furniture every few years);
• wholesale buyers (government agencies and enterprises, hotels, office centers, etc.).

The type of your enterprise will depend on the category of buyers. If you have plans to sell products only to individuals (retail), it will be enough to register and conduct the furniture business as an individual entrepreneur. But if you plan to cooperate with various organizations, enterprises and intermediaries, you will need to register LLC, OJSC or ZAO.

In addition, you will need a license to conduct trading activities and undergo certification procedures, as well as obtaining permits from the fire service and SES - the future of the enterprise and the store depends on the verdict of these authorities.

To register an enterprise, you need a number of documents:

• data on the name of the organization;
• protocol (decision of the founders) on the opening;
• information about the director and accountant;
• details of accounts for making authorized capital and calculating business activities;
• confirmation of payment of state duty;
• Charter, which indicates the size of the authorized capital (at least 10,000 rubles.).

In general, when organizing the furniture business, you should consult with professional lawyers - only they will help you prepare all the documentation correctly, and you can successfully work in the future.

Step 2. Search for a room

We continue the conversation on how to start a furniture business. The next stage is, you guessed it, the search for a suitable room. You will need a production workshop and an office where your customers will come to place an order.

It is logical that the office should be as close as possible to the concentration of potential buyers of your products. But the production workshop can be located in any place suitable for you.However, some entrepreneurs believe that it is much more convenient when both are located on the territory of one large building. Not far from them may be a store selling ready-made furniture.

What size should the premises be? In principle, there is no single rule on this subject. However, it is believed that the minimum workshop area should be 200-300 m²office - about 50 m², and the store - from 200 m². In addition, you may need a warehouse to store finished products and raw materials - its area should be at least 100 m².

In this case, special requirements are imposed on the production workshop:

• location on the 1st floor;
• the presence of all communications;
• three-phase electricity 380 W;
• the presence of loading platforms and access roads;
• lack of increased humidity and dampness.

Only in such conditions is it possible to create truly high-quality, durable furniture that will be in demand in the market.

Step 3. Purchase of equipment

Having dealt with the premises, you can proceed to the next step. In order to start the production of cabinet furniture, you will need the equipment listed below.

• Band saw. This category includes machines used for cutting metal and / or wood.
• Drying. Units of this type must be present at the production of wooden furniture.
• Woodworking. This includes a variety of milling, milling and copying and drilling machines, splicers, wood aging devices.
• Glassworking. Equipment for cutting, cutting, edging, sandblasting, engraving, drilling.
• Metalworking. For metal cutting, welding, drilling, polishing and cutting.
• Additional tools (screwdrivers, drills, furniture staplers, hammers, screwdrivers, pliers, etc.).

Do not forget about the software!

In addition, you will need the appropriate software for the workshop. Almost all modern machines are integrated with such programs for the manufacture of furniture as KZ-Mebel, Astra Furniture Designer, Astra Raskroy and others.

Step 4. Purchasing Materials

Speaking about where to start the furniture business, we should separately dwell on the procurement of materials. The most popular are chipboard and MDF boards, laminated boards. You will also need adhesive and varnish-and-paint materials, accessories, etc. (depending on the specific features of the furniture that you will produce).

You should not save on equipment or materials - the quality of the final product will depend on them, and as a result - your reputation in the eyes of customers and the income that you will receive.

Step 5. Recruitment

To work in one shift (21 working days a month, taking into account weekends and holidays), approximately the following staff will be required:

• Director (from 40 thousand rubles per month);
• accountant (from 35 thousand rubles);
• Account Manager (from 20 thousand rubles);
• production master (from 30 thousand rubles);
• designer-designer (from 25 thousand rubles);
• workshop specialists (from 20 thousand rubles a month) - from 2 to 8 employees who can handle machines and understand the peculiarities of working with different materials;
• auxiliary workers (2 people at 12 thousand rubles per month).

If you are simultaneously compiling a business plan for a furniture store, you will additionally need to find 2-3 sales consultants, a cashier, security guards, movers, drivers and technical personnel.

Step 6. Advertising

Now let's talk about the most interesting. When you already have a base, you need to think about how to promote the furniture business and start earning income from it.

There are many sources that you can use to place your ads. From standard (placing ads in newspapers, magazines, etc.) to the latest (advertising on the Internet).

When compiling a business plan for a furniture store and production, the costs associated with advertising must be taken into account. After all, if you do not invest a penny in it, your potential customers will not be able to find out about you.

Why is it worth focusing on online advertising?

How to promote furniture business in your city? Nowadays, when high technology is playing an increasingly important role in people's lives, creating and developing your own website is an excellent option. The main thing is that it be of high quality and in the best way present your company.

Create a photo gallery and show visitors of the site (your potential customers!) That you really know how to make furniture, with a fantasy come to the execution of each new project. You can create a separate section where you talk about yourself and your employees - let people see that they trust real professionals and get exactly what they rely on.

Website promotion can be done by writing thematic SEO articles on such requests as, for example, “custom-made furniture from the manufacturer” or “high-quality cabinet furniture”. You can bypass competitors in your city in 1-1.5 months.

Last step: analysis of financial prospects

Of course, I want your furniture business to bring tangible income. Let's try to find out how much you can earn on it, if you approach the organization and promotion of your business correctly.

The size of the starting investments depends on many factors: the quality of equipment and materials, the size of employees' salaries, rents, etc. In large cities such as Moscow or St. Petersburg, several times more money will be required to successfully start work. However, on average, you can start a business of manufacturing and selling cabinet furniture by investing 3-4 million rubles in a project.

Properly advertising your company, you can earn on the sale of finished products from 400 thousand rubles a month. However, this is not about net income - it should be borne in mind that some expenses (salaries, rent, etc.) will be regular.

The minimum payback period for medium and small furniture enterprises is about one year.

Is it worth buying a ready-made business?

Many people now prefer not to organize the work of their own production from scratch, but to buy an existing furniture company or part of the shares. In principle, such a choice will free you from many problems and troubles, however, the choice of the business that you want to acquire should be taken very carefully. Experts recommend paying attention to such factors:

• the identity of the seller, his level of competence and work experience in this area;
• location of the acquired business;
• reasons for the sale;
• legal cleanliness (there should be no hidden debts or litigation);
• financial records over the past few years;
• the rights that will be transferred to you as the buyer after the sale of the business (including the rights to technology, emblems, trademark, etc.);
• available equipment and its condition;
• qualification level of employees working in the production;
• prospects for expanding the scope of activities and increasing the number of sales channels.

You can study all these aspects yourself, or you can use the services of specially trained appraisers and other specialists. Despite the fact that for their help you will have to pay a certain percentage of the transaction, you will be absolutely sure that the furniture business that you purchase will pay off the money spent on it and will constantly bring you income in the future.

If you already own a small but profitable business in this area, do not stop there and expand your horizons!