To open your own business is, by and large, simple. There would be a desire and, of course, initial capital. But what will it be like, a “newborn” enterprise?
Will they be able to stay afloat, return the money invested and make a profit? In order for the answers to these questions to be positive, one must correctly approach the choice of type of activity. What, for example, does it make sense to open another shoe store if sellers are languishing in anticipation of buyers around the next five similar angles? That's right, no. So what to do? To search!
Search for a free niche, choose an unbroken type of activity where demand exceeds supply and competition is negligible. You say no such? You are mistaken. There is. And as proof of this, we will now talk in detail about how to organize cookie production with a prediction of what it is and what it is eaten with. In the literal sense of the word.
A bit of history
For many years now, China and Japan have disputed the right to be called the "discoverers" of fortune cookies. And what is it all about? And why have culinary battles for him lasted so many years? And the Americans produce it - without exaggeration - in multimillion-dollar batches? And both in the East and in the West why is this type of business extremely profitable and highly demanded?
Fortune cookies - the common name for fortune cookies - translates as “fortune cookie” (or good luck). And it is a fragile dough product in which a “paper” with text is “hidden” - thereby predicting. Doesn’t resemble anything? For example, the true Russian “fun” is to hide a coin in a dumpling and wait for one of the “lucky ones” to test their strength. Yes, that's exactly it.
Only instead of dumpling - cookies, and instead of a dangerous "piece of iron" - a piece of paper. On which the prediction is written. And although the Chinese are "pulling the blanket" with might and main, proving their primary belonging to the authorship of this culinary masterpiece, and the Japanese, menacingly waving katana, claim that Japanese cookies with predictions appeared long before the Chinese even learned to write, we can confidently declare: “And we didn’t need to be able to write!” Blinded a dumpling, put there the first small thing that came to hand - and here it is, happiness!
And what are we worse?
Then why are we lagging behind enterprising Asians and no less nimble Americans? How could we lose sight of such a lucrative type of business, forgetting our national traditions and directing our efforts to cooking hamburgers stuffed with cholesterol, while such an attractive business idea simply “gathers dust” on a shelf? We urgently correct the situation and quickly figure out how profitable this type of business is for us, and what can we get at the exit by deciding to open the production of cookies with predictions?
Sales areas
But before you run to open the IP, you still need to have at least a general idea of where this cookie is so in demand. Who needs it and why, who will buy it from us, and whether it will be at all. Will be! Yes, how.
Because today in Russia it is, firstly, a very fashionable product, and secondly, there are too few domestic suppliers on the market, which, of course, is only in the hands of a new businessman.Why fashionable?
Because this is a kind of "trick" as some kind of catering establishments, and all kinds of parties and celebrations. So, very often the waiters and bartenders of “advanced” restaurants, along with the bill, present to the client just such a cookie with a prediction inside. This kind of surprise will be irreplaceable during all kinds of parties, banquets, weddings, bachelor parties, family events.
And, of course, during the meeting of the New Year and Christmas, where all desires and predictions should, by definition, come true. So, as you can see, the running gear, demanded at any time of the year. The warehouse will not last long, but because profits will flow like a river. And the process of producing cookies with predictions, to put it mildly, is not at all dusty. It is enough to buy the appropriate equipment, stock up on the right ingredients and texts with predictions, after which you can safely establish your own business. So how to make fortune cookies?
What is it made of?
Just note that as a culinary product, whether American, Chinese or Japanese, cookies with predictions are nothing special. And the ingredients for their preparation are needed the most simple. It is enough to stock up on flour, eggs, sugar and water in the right quantities. The dough is kneaded, from which a certain size of cakes is baked.
While they are warm, they are “stuffed” with wishes, predictions, and then folded in a special way. That, in fact, is the whole process. As you know, the taste of such a confectionery product can hardly be called refined. But, according to most manufacturers, the main thing in cookies is predictions, and the rest is just a shell for them.
But we are not sewn with bast ...
And therefore, if you pull yourself a little and not count on momentary unprecedented profits, you can go a slightly different way. Tightening the belt, we invest a little more money in the business, and as a prize we get a competitive advantage. That is, we produce not a lean product with a piece of paper instead of a filling, but an amazing elite cookie, the predictions in which will no longer play a dominant role, but will become - as it should be - a pleasant addition to high-quality, melting in your mouth baked goods.
What is needed for this?
Yes, just a little. Just diversify the recipe. By adding fruits, berries, nuts to the main ingredients, using chocolate, glaze, cinnamon, and topping, we create truly unique “happy” products: raspberry, lemon, banana, vanilla, coffee ...
And then we put them in beautiful “clothes” - multi-colored packaging, decorate them with ribbons ... and raise the purchase price a little. Believe me, there will be no end to the buyer. Moreover, many, having tested your products once, will come the next day with an offer to make cookies with custom predictions for them. And this is not an allegation. The assortment of many "smart" Western companies includes up to two hundred or more types of fortune cookies. And their profits are millions.
We are organizing a business
How to make fortune cookies? Rather, it’s not even necessary to raise the question at the initial stages of development of this interesting business. First of all, you need to decide for yourself the main thing - whether it will be a small production at home, where you will bake the “lucky ones” yourself manually, or whether it will be a full-fledged workshop with the appropriate equipment. The latter option assumes a completely different level of income, but also requires substantial investment. And, of course, a completely different design of their activities.
By and large, to do this business alone is a futile task.Because the production of such cookies with predictions - regardless of where and how many people will make it - requires the entrepreneur to have many different permits, including from the SES.
One can not do without a GOST certificate, and a declaration of conformity for the confectionery itself, as well as hygiene certificate on paper on which wishes will be written in fortune cookies. Therefore, as they say, to walk, so to walk. It is best to tax your business as an LLC, obtain a license, and then proceed with the search for premises for the shop, maintenance personnel and equipment, while simultaneously probing the ground for future clients. Let us briefly consider all these and other organizational issues in order.
Shop
It is necessary that the premises for the workshop meet certain requirements. Production can be located both in a separate building and in a residential building (but only on the ground floor or in the basement). Its maximum area, subject to location in a residential building, should be no more than 700 m2. But most likely, at first such a huge space would not be needed.
It will be enough premises with an area of seventy to eighty square meters, where it is quite comfortable to settle in. However, it is necessary to have utility rooms - a warehouse, a pantry for raw materials equipped with refrigeration equipment, separate rooms for making dough, washing dishes and all equipment. All rooms must be equipped with bactericidal lamps.
Staff
Naturally, the number of employees will depend on the volume of production. For the first time, such a small confectionery factory will be able to cope with the work of three or four people. Further more. This will already be seen in the circumstances. But ... important! All employees must have medical books on hand plus experience in the relevant industry, that is, the food industry.
Equipment and process technology
To make cookies with predictions, you need to purchase special so-called automated lines. Smart machines themselves will do everything under the guidance of a skilled employee: they will start by kneading the dough, and finish by packing ready-made “fortune tellers”. However, if you plan to produce - as mentioned above - more refined and varied culinary products, you will have to go broke and buy additional, but also automated, lines.
As for the production process itself, it is extremely simple. According to a predetermined program, the dough mixer prepares a dough quite liquid in consistency, which is fed through dispensers to special dish saucers located in the oven. The oven works according to the convection principle, as a result of which three minutes are enough to completely bake the blanks.
Then the latter goes to another line, where the machine lays pre-prepared wish-papers in them, and then first folds them in half, after which it gives the traditional shape for cookies with predictions. Products are cooled, pass quality control and packaged.
Information for the entrepreneur!
There are also semi-automatic lines for the production of such cookies. They will cost you much cheaper, but, starting from the moment of laying the pieces of paper, all other functions will have to be performed manually. And this will require a much larger number of employees.
As for the packaging itself, it deserves to be said separately about at least a few words. Cheap types of cookies are loaded in regular cardboard boxes. But if you want your business to be truly profitable, remember that beautiful, exclusively designed packaging over time can become - in the full sense of the word - the face of your company. And skimp on it is not necessary.
Text
Fortune cookies are, as has already been said, confectionery products in which pieces of paper with various phrases are hidden. As for the texts themselves, they can be different, including thematic ones, especially if fortune cookies are made on the occasion of a holiday: New Year, wedding, Valentine's Day, friendly party.
If production is intended for the mass consumer, then common aphorisms, standard wishes and predictions like “an extremely pleasant surprise awaits you tomorrow” are usually used as texts. Sometimes in custom-made “fortune cookies” even advertise an institution or store.
Speaking of advertising ...
It is precisely about it that the entrepreneur who has chosen the production of cookies with predictions as the business should take care. Therefore, it is necessary even at the stage of organizing a case to declare itself publicly. Advertising of cookies produced by you should be in newspapers with announcements, on the pages of business directories, on the Internet. In the latter case, for these purposes it will not hurt to acquire your own website. This is the only way to create a truly profitable business and find good and regular wholesale customers.
Summary
How much does it cost to organize such a pleasure as a fortune cookie business? I would not want to frighten and disappoint you, especially bearing in mind the so colorful perspectives described above. However, you won’t erase words from this song. The confectionery business is an expensive enterprise that requires significant financial investments. You will have to spend from 10 to 150 thousand dollars on its organization. The upper or lower threshold of the indicated amount depends on your plans and appetites.
