The market of New Year's goods has certain specifics. The production of Christmas toys does not require expensive and technically sophisticated equipment, but it is impossible without qualified personnel.
It is often quite problematic to find specialists in their field, which creates additional difficulties. Nevertheless, despite the factors that frighten investors, the profitability of such a business is quite high. How is the manufacture of christmas toys? What costs will this activity require? How to properly organize a business and occupy an empty niche in the market? Read about it in the article.
Seasonal or non-seasonal business?
People buy Christmas paraphernalia just before the holidays, so the start of sales of Christmas decorations should be in September, not before. It turns out that this Is the business seasonal? Not certainly in that way. Yes, indeed, you will receive the bulk of the profit in the last three to four months of the year, however, the manufacture of glass balls and other Christmas-tree decorations takes place all year without interruption. Throughout the twelve months, the craftsmen are working, trying to produce as many toys as possible. And at the end of the year, products are sold out like hot cakes, which provides you with a good profit.
But you need to consider one nuance. During the working period, you will have to pay off rent and utility bills, pay salaries to employees, and purchase raw materials at your own expense, that is, you need a fairly large start-up capital. But at the end of the year, all investments will return with interest.
On the issue of competition
Many entrepreneurs are afraid to engage in such a business, because they believe that there is huge competition in it. This is actually a fallacy. Yes, all the shops and street retail outlets are littered with Christmas tree decorations before the New Year, so it seems that there is simply no place for beginners there.
In reality, domestic manufacturers of these products can count only a few dozen, about the same number of wholesalers are involved in the sale of goods. At the same time, the main share of the company's products is exported abroad (for some, up to 90 percent of production is exported).
Why, then, on the shelves of shops is such a variety of Christmas toys? The fact is that most of the Christmas tree decorations we import from China. One large domestic factory a year can produce no more than three hundred to five hundred thousand units. In general, fifteen to twenty million toys of Russian manufacturers annually enter the market, which makes up less than 40 percent of the market.
All other items are shipped from China. The production of Christmas-tree decorations in this country has been put on stream, however, most of the products are made of plastic; accordingly, they are not of good quality. But such toys are cheaper than glass ones.
Assessment of prospects
It is quite difficult, but possible, to compete with Chinese products because of its cheapness. Russian Christmas decorations have a high fineness, excellent quality, are unique and have a variety of designs.Now domestic manufacturers are actively introducing new technologies, automating some stages of production, which allows updating the assortment more often in accordance with the fashion trends of New Year’s decor.
Consumers perceive such innovations very positively - people are tired of low-quality stamped products and want to see on the Christmas tree classic, vintage toys and glass balls familiar from childhood. Therefore, although imported goods still dominate in the market of Christmas decorations, there is considerable potential for expanding and developing domestic production.
Christmas tree making
As already mentioned, to create such products does not require significant technical equipment. Indeed, almost the entire process is done manually. Equipment costs will amount to about fifty-one hundred thousand rubles, the same amount will need to be spent on materials and raw materials. Pay special attention to the condition of the room: it must have good ventilation, because most of the work involves the use of high temperatures. We will tell you in stages about how the production of Christmas toys is carried out.
Purge
First, glass blowers use a gas burner to blow out balls from glass tubes. Such work requires skill and utmost care. Experienced craftsmen use the minimum amount of materials and devices and select the right size of the glass tube, optimal firing regime by eye, determine the moment of air injection and uniformity of rotation. And the permissible error (just imagine!) Is only 0.2 millimeters.
How to make a toy figure out of an inflatable balloon? For this, special pliers are used. It is necessary that the ball has very thin glass walls, and this is rather difficult to achieve, because the glass cools quickly, as a result of which tension is created inside the product.
The manufacture of Christmas toys is impossible without the involvement of qualified and experienced glassblowers, so pre-engage in the search for suitable specialists. Since the work is almost completely manual, productivity will not be high - one master can give out only 200-250 balls per day. The number of glass blowers you need to hire will depend on how much production you want to produce. In the regions, the salary of such specialists starts from fifteen thousand rubles.
Metallization
Chilled glass preforms are placed in reagent containers, where they (to give shine) are coated with a thin layer of metal (aluminum or silver). A special composition is injected inside the products (for example, ammonia, silver oxide and distilled water), after which they are placed in bathtubs with hot water, under the influence of which a reaction occurs, and silver is deposited on the walls.
Painting and drying
The production of Christmas toys continues in the paint shop, where they enter after plating. Here, the primary background painting of the balls is carried out. This should be done with constant rotation of the products so that air does not penetrate under the paint layer. Otherwise, bubbles will appear and the coating will be damaged. Toys are painted with nitro enamels, nitro-varnishes and other materials.
When varnishing and selection of colors, the method of creative variation is applied, as a result, each product is unique and unique. It is possible to varnish Christmas balls in containers with paints and varnishes or in booths with hoods. But in this case, the process is also done manually - the toys are gradually immersed in paint, while rotating, so that the air does not remain under the film.
After varnishing, the products are installed vertically to avoid flowing into the trays of the drying chamber filled with sawdust and sand. Then, manually using rags from the varnished decorative layer, the remains of sawdust and sand are removed, and glass toys are sent to the artists for final decoration.
Drawing
This stage, like the previous ones, involves the use of manual labor. Design artists know exactly how to make decoration from balls of extraordinary beauty. A drawing is applied to the product, if necessary, it is covered with sparkles. Painting toys is even more time-consuming than blowing balls, so artists are at a lower speed than glass blowers. One master produces 50-100 products per day.
After the drawing is applied, the tip is cut off from the decoration and a cap with a loop is put on this place. Everything, the toy is ready!
Packaging
Pay special attention to what products will be packaged. Often, manufacturers transfer the work of making cardboard decorative boxes to contractors. But wholesalers often complain that not a single batch reaches the retailers intact, because many toys fight during transportation. Of course, this will negatively affect your reputation, so develop safe packaging, even if it slightly increases the cost of products.
Nuances
As already mentioned, you will have to cover the costs of producing Christmas balls and glass figures from your own pocket or from a loan, since wholesale sales start no earlier than September. Many companies use borrowed funds, and then, as the product is sold, they return the loans. Of course, this entails certain risks. In addition, prices for Christmas decorations cannot be significantly inflated, otherwise your products will not be able to compete with cheap Chinese products.
Nevertheless, there are opportunities for increasing income. So, some businessmen try to work for export, others organize paid tours of the factory for everyone, during which you can watch the process of making toys and even try to create a glass masterpiece yourself. Go for it - and everything will turn out! Good luck
