Many believe that if there are no funds that can be invested in your own business, then you can completely abandon plans to start your own business. However, it is not.
Many activities, especially in the field of household services, do not require large expenses, but they may well become a good source of profit over time, the main thing is to draw up a competent business plan at the first stage. Without investment, for example, you can do business such as hauling furniture. This will be discussed in the article.
Furniture hauling as a business
Products for the equipment of residential or any other premises are quite expensive. So, not every family can afford to buy a new one right away in return for a failed sofa. In such cases, as a rule, the furniture frame does not suffer, but the upholstery is wiped, hopelessly dirty, cracked or receives any other defects.
Furniture hauling as a business has been carried out for a long time, there are many companies on the services market offering, for a third of the price of new furniture, to change the old upholstery. And it is precisely due to such a difference in cost that many people are in no hurry to throw out used sofas and armchairs, but they call the hauling masters to the house.
If you are a specialist in this matter, why not do the same? Skillful hands and a bright head are all that is required of you. Furniture hauling as a business is a good option for those who don’t have free money to start their own business, but don’t want to work “for uncle”.
Demand for services
In fact, replacing upholstery may not only be necessary if old furniture is worn. In today's realities, people are increasingly paying attention to interior design. Shabby, although quality products may not fit into the new design of the room after repair. And the usual hauling of upholstered furniture can solve this problem. Not everyone is able to produce it with their own hands, so the demand for services of this kind is growing every day.
Important advantage
The undoubted advantage of the described method of updating products for the equipment of premises is the fact that the entire process does not take long at all and can be carried out directly at home at the customer’s place. For you, as an entrepreneur, this means that you will save money on renting a workshop for repair work.
However, if it is possible, it is still better to open an office or an order desk in some shopping center so that potential customers can see samples of fabrics offered for hauling, a catalog with photographs of already completed work, and the like. Seeing the solidity and solidity of your company, service consumers are more likely to contact.
After all, whatever one may say, we all prefer “live” communication. In addition, furniture hauling as a business can be supplemented over time by such activities as buying up old armchairs, sofas, etc., and their restoration. Then certainly you can not do without a separate room.
Risk assessment
Before you draw up documents, analyze the competition and demand for this type of service in your locality. Perhaps remaking old furniture with your own hands in your area is simply unprofitable.
If there are few competitors, and you are able to offer consumers the same good quality as existing companies, and perhaps even lower prices for their services, then you can safely get down to business. All initial expenses will be spent only on registering a business - obtaining the status of an individual entrepreneur - and purchasing the necessary tools.
Equipment
You do not need any expensive and technically sophisticated equipment. The main tool in such activities is a sewing machine, with which they sew covers and other elements of products. Also indispensable equipment, without which the constriction of the sofa with your own hands is unlikely to succeed, is a furniture, or construction, stapler. In addition, you will need an electric drill, jigsaw, screwdriver.
The rest of the working tool (screwdrivers, a hammer and the like) is available in every home. Do not forget about the need to purchase consumables: screws, threads, screws, screws, needles, staples for a stapler, and so on. Sheets of plain or laminated fiberboard will also be needed. And for those cases when you have to change the filler, you need foam rubber of different thicknesses.
Furniture constriction material
Each master should have a choice of material - from the most budgetary to the most expensive. It is ideal if you even have good skin on hand, because, as practice shows, upholstery change is not averse to ordering and owners of luxury furniture. It is best to buy fabric for hauling at wholesale warehouses, there you can also get accessories and packing.
Prepare a catalog with fabric samples so that customers can choose the pattern and color of the future new upholstery. Such samples can be obtained directly from the supplier.
Transport
Do not think that absolutely all furniture hauling work can be done at the client's home. After all, business is not just about replacing upholstery. Quite often, it is necessary to change structural elements that fail, spring elements, soft filler. Therefore, sometimes it is necessary to carry out repairs in the workshop.
To transport furniture there, you need a car such as a pickup truck or a van, it will have to be hired, which requires additional costs, or it is an obligation to transport to the customer, which can cause the refusal of your services, because it’s easier for the client to find an artist who will do everything himself. Therefore, as the business flourishes, you should consider purchasing a small small vehicle, such as the Gazelle.
Customer service
Before starting the process of furniture constriction, it is necessary to conclude an agreement with the customer. The document should prescribe all the work that is associated with updating products. The contract must be concluded after the furniture is inspected, that is, the upholstery is opened.
Advertising
Long-term orders will provide you with small advertising costs: flyers on bulletin boards, newspaper ads, adding your contact information to the database of reference services. You can distribute business cards in furniture stores, hardware stores, large shopping centers, and markets.
But, like in any other “service” activity, the best recommendation is good work quality, an individual approach and meeting the agreed deadlines. This is the only way you can attract a sufficient number of consumers of your services.
An increase in the number of customers, among other things, will be facilitated by a website portfolio with examples of work, especially if the gallery is made on the basis of “before and after” photographs.
Additional services
In addition to services such as changing the upholstery of a sofa, hauling a chair, you can do it yourself, for example, changing foam rubber, sewing covers for products, repairing transformation mechanisms, frames, supporting structures, spring blocks, and so on. You can also make a simple restoration of furniture.
Pricing
The cost of work should be, on the one hand, not very high so as not to scare away potential customers, and on the other hand, to fully compensate for all your expenses, both monetary and labor. At the same time, prices should be consistent with the cost of new furniture of similar quality. As a rule, people do not mind paying 30 percent of the price of a new sofa for updating an old one.
However, if the cost is already equal to 50-60 percent, most will prefer to buy new furniture, even of lower quality than the old one. So, for the hauling of chairs, the average price is 250-600 rubles, and for the new cover for the mattress the customer will have to pay up to 2-2.5 thousand rubles. You can update the sofa at a cost of 2 thousand rubles and above.
As a rule, this amount does not include the cost of materials, it is taken from the client when the order is placed, in the form of an advance payment. It is also better to draw up a separate price list for additional services (sewing pillows, covers, replacing the filler, repair, etc.). You can provide a system of discounts when ordering a banner headset or furniture set.
Prospects
Due to the low initial costs and high profitability, you can recoup costs after the first five to ten orders. In the future, you can hire several craftsmen and serve public institutions, such as clubs, restaurants, cafes, cinemas. Over time, most companies that started with a change in upholstery and furniture repair switched to such a popular direction as hauling car dealerships.
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