Tell me, do you happen to be one of those people who cannot imagine their life without chocolate? Yes? You are not alone! It is precisely because of the mass consumers of these products that chocolate manufacturers and sellers have always been able to survive any crisis times without much loss. Therefore, if you are thinking about starting this kind of business, we offer to figure out together how to open a chocolate store.
Highlights
There are several options for conducting this case. First of all, you can simply open a chocolate boutique for the sale of confectionery products, which you will purchase from suppliers. You can also establish your own production and sell products either through your store or through retail chains.
Advantages of the Chocolate Business
The advantages of this kind of activity include the following points:
- constant demand for products (it is difficult to imagine the times when people stop buying chocolates);
- small starting capital (if you plan to make chocolate in small quantities for retail sale, rather than large-scale production);
- lack of complexity in the technology for the production of chocolate products: at the initial stage, it is not difficult to master the basic tricks of the process, later you can use your skills and experience to create your own recipe;
- high income: according to experts, entrepreneurs engaged in this field may well expect a profit of 200%.
disadvantages
Like any other business, the chocolate business, in addition to its advantages, has its drawbacks. These include the following:
- In order for your products to be competitive, you need to make them unique and attractive to the consumer, which is not such an easy task in the conditions of modern diversity in the market of chocolate products.
- Even if you plan to open a large enterprise, you can hardly compete with the main leaders in the production of confectionery products, since they worked on the development of their own brands for many years and invested a lot of money in their promotion and advertising. However, within the framework of one city, you may well be able to take a place in the niche of these products.
How to open a chocolate shop with your own small production
This option is optimal for beginning entrepreneurs who do not have large sums of money for initial investments. So, if you want to retail the chocolate you created, the business plan of such a business, first of all, should include clauses on renting the premises and purchasing the necessary production and trading equipment.
Choose a store format
If you decide to open a chocolate boutique, then first you need to decide on its format. So, you can focus exclusively on exclusive products of our own production or, in addition, to cooperate with other suppliers.
In addition, you can offer your customers the creation of custom-made chocolate products. It is also necessary to determine the price category of your goods: it is desirable that there is a wide range of products on sale at various prices, which will attract more customers to your boutique.
We select a room
Pondering the question of how to open a chocolate store, each novice entrepreneur thinks about where to place his boutique.It is advisable to select places with high traffic: for example, you can rent a room in a large shopping and entertainment center.
If you prefer a street format store, then give preference to busy pedestrian streets. As for the area, you can start a business with a small department of 10-12 square meters. However, the optimal area of the chocolate shop is 30 square meters.
Design and equipment boutique
Particular attention should be paid to the selection of a suitable design for your store. As a rule, for the decoration of boutiques of this kind, chocolate-cream tones are used that match the color of the product you are selling.
Also do not forget about stylish racks and refrigerators for storage of confectionery. In addition, your store must be equipped with air conditioning, because with an increase in temperature, chocolate very quickly loses its presentation.
Staff recruitment
Understanding the intricacies of how to open a chocolate store, you need to pay attention to hiring skilled workers. For a small boutique, one seller per shift will be enough. In this case, you must either select an employee who has experience in institutions of this kind, or conduct appropriate training so that the employee is well versed in the assortment, can help clients with the choice, and can decorate gift sets beautifully.
If you are going to sell your own products, then for its production you will need to hire a professional pastry chef who knows all the secrets of this process.
Range
You can quickly attract regular customers if your boutique offers a wide range of products, including confectionery with a wide variety of fillings, chocolate of all kinds (black, white, milk, with and without additives), truffles, figures and chocolate fountains . It also makes sense to put up for sale a product dedicated to various holidays. Such sweets will be sold out very quickly.
Advertising and promotion
At the first time your chocolate boutique works, don’t be too lazy to spend time and money on its active advertising. Consider a bonus system for regular customers, arrange product tastings, give small gifts to customers when making a purchase for a large amount, etc. Also, such a business can be actively promoted through social networks.
Chocolate making equipment
If you plan to open a shop with a small workshop for the manufacture of chocolate products, then you do not need to purchase a whole production line, including expensive units.
So, it’s quite possible to get along with a quality oven and refrigerators.
However, if you are planning a large-scale production, then you can’t do without the appropriate equipment. Typically, such a production line is intended for the manufacture of high-quality chocolate, dehydrated chocolate paste, curly chocolate, glaze for coating ice cream and confectionery products, chocolates (both with and without filling) and casting sweets and tiles.
We offer you to learn in more detail what equipment is used for chocolate.
For the manufacture of products with or without fillers, a special chocolate casting line is intended. With it, you can make both candy and tiles (in one or three stages, depending on the design of the unit). Also, chocolate manufacturing equipment includes a tempering machine. It allows you to get a homogeneous chilled chocolate mass with a stable form of cocoa butter.
Conch machines are used to remove excess moisture and residual tannins from the raw material itself. Chocolate mill is used for production of natural product, chocolate with vegetable oils, as well as chocolate and cocoa mass.A ball mill is used to grind and mix chocolate and cream masses.
Molds for the production of chocolate are designed to give the confectionery product the necessary look. Since this equipment is quite complex, at least 10 million rubles will have to be spent on its purchase. In this regard, not every novice entrepreneur can afford to open such a business.
Today we briefly talked about how to open a chocolate shop, introduced you to the equipment necessary for the production of this beloved treat. We hope that this information will help you, and soon we will be able to visit your chocolate boutique.
