How to open your own pawnshop from scratch? The question asked by an entrepreneur who decides to start his own business. But, before proceeding with the paperwork and finding a place for a pawnshop, it is worth drawing up a business plan and calculating how soon the investment will pay off.

There can be no unequivocal answer to this question, since it is necessary to take into account a number of factors that directly affect the profitability of a business, in particular:

• location of the pawnshop - it is desirable to locate the enterprise in places with high traffic of potential customers;
• the cost of rent - the higher the monthly payments, especially at the initial stage, the more difficult it is for the entrepreneur to recoup his costs and start making a profit;
• advertising effectiveness - well-organized PR campaigns attract customers;
• competitiveness - the business owner should study the demand for the services of organizations of this type in a particular area and figure out how exactly his pawnshop will be attractive to customers;
• trained staff - if unskilled employees work in the pawnshop, the owner will lose part of the profit due to their mistakes or inability to communicate with customers.

For the pawnshop owner, the most difficult period is considered to be the first half of the year from the date of opening, since at this time the company is only gaining momentum and often operates at a loss. For this reason, more than a third of pawnshops cease their activities at this time. After this period, profits begin to grow gradually, after a couple of years, even a small pawnshop begins to bring its owner about 100-150 thousand rubles a month.

But even compliance with the above conditions is not a guarantee of business profitability. For this reason, it is necessary to draw up a detailed business plan, calculate all costs and risks, then the likelihood of opening a profitable pawnshop will increase significantly.

What do you need to open your own pawnshop?

Before you decide to open a business, you should choose its specialization. So, pawnshops can be of the following types:

1. car pawnshop- the organization accepts cars as collateral for the issued funds. Such a business is very profitable, but to organize its work, additional space will be required to accommodate machines.
2. Antique- here, paintings, expensive fur clothes, old souvenirs, rare coins and other things of antique value are accepted as collateral.
3. Technical- here, collateral items are household and other appliances that the client leaves in return for the money received.
4. Jewelry is the most common type of business. In such pawnshops, precious metals and precious products made from them are accepted.

Often there are pawnshops of mixed types, in which, for example, a client can pawn both a mobile phone and gold earrings. Such an integrated approach allows you to get more profit and attract an increased number of customers.

An entrepreneur, even at the stage of making a decision to open a pawnshop, should study the legislative acts regulating the activities of the enterprise:

• federal law No. 196, which spells out the main aspects of the activity;
• order of Rosfinmonitoring No. 203 dated August 3, 2010, which spells out the requirements for education and training;
• order of the Ministry of Finance of 2001 under No. 68n, which lists the requirements for the activities of pawnshops dealing in precious stones and metals.

It is important to take into account that the legislation obliges pawnshops to apply the OSNO (general taxation system), while the storage of items accepted as collateral is subject to VAT, but the interest received is not. In accordance with this provision, the entrepreneur will be required to keep tax records for each type of activity.

Step-by-step instruction

The first thing to do at the opening planning stage is to study the market for these services. The businessman should:

• carefully calculate the risks, costs of opening and organizing an enterprise;
• find out how much pawnshops are in demand in a particular locality and area;
• whether there is competition, whether he will be able to offer customers more favorable conditions than those of competitors.

If preliminary economic calculations suit the entrepreneur, the company should be registered with official bodies:

1. Register with the tax office as an LLC, indicating the relevant OKVED 65.22.6., 74.14., 67.13.5.
2. Register the pawnshop within thirty days from the date of registration with the Assay Office and Rosfinmonitoring.
3. To insure in the selected company providing these services, the accepted things in favor of the mortgagors. It is advisable to take out insurance for any amount so that you do not have to insure each item separately.

Selection and preparation of premises

The choice of location should be approached responsibly: a considerable share of success depends on the location. So, the best place for a pawnshop will be a shopping center or a separate room located in places with high customer traffic. It is very good if there is parking next to the pawnshop to be opened, and the premises themselves will be close to busy public transport stops.

The pawnshop does not need an expensive luxury environment - it is enough to put good chairs and a table in the area for clients, as well as equip the working area. But do not neglect security - you should install:

• alarm and panic button for quick security call;
• metal bars on the windows, in the place where the working and client areas are separated;
• metal doors;
• bulletproof glass;
• video surveillance system.

The set of equipment for work will depend entirely on the preferences of the entrepreneur and the type of pawnshop, but in any case, you will need:

• office equipment - printer, computer with licensed software, high-quality Internet, telephone;
• special equipment - to determine the authenticity of products, high-precision weighing equipment, etc.;
• commercial equipment - racks, counters, information boards, showcases, tables and chairs for staff and visitors.

Advertising

In order for as many customers as possible to know about the pawnshop, you should not spare money on advertising. First of all, you need to come up with a name for the pawnshop - it should be sonorous, memorable, not too long. Then you should order an eye-catching sign, which will indicate the name and mode of operation.

It will not be superfluous to order advertising in the media, hire promoters to distribute leaflets, organize enterprise groups on social networks. An excellent solution is to hold a promotion on the opening days, for example: “For the first customers, the interest rate is halved!”.

Recruitment

To organize the work of a small pawnshop, a minimum staff is sufficient, consisting of qualified and certified workers:

• manager
• appraiser;
• security guard
• accountant;
• merchandiser.

Often the functions of several employees are assigned to one employee, but this is best done only if the pawnshop is small, otherwise the employee will not be able to cope with all the duties.

Business plan

When drawing up a business plan, the most important thing is to calculate all costs and estimated profitability, profit. So, it is advisable to open a pawnshop, the profitability of which is at least 30%.

When writing a business plan, it is important to consider the initial costs:

• for paperwork - 50,000 rubles;
• repair and equipping of the premises - 1,000,000;
• purchase of office equipment and equipment - from 300,000;
• advertising - 150,000.

The initial costs should include funds intended for issuance to mortgagors (at least 9 million rubles), and money intended to finance activities before it goes into plus (at least 2 million).

You should also consider monthly costs, which include:

• payment of wages to employees - from 300,000 rubles;
• rent - individually, depending on the location of the premises, it can vary from several hundred to several thousand rubles per square meter;
• hiring security guards - from 150,000 rubles;
• other expenses, tax deductions - from 200,000 rubles.

To calculate the profitability of a business, you should calculate how many percent the net profit from the proceeds received will be. For example, with a million revenue, the profit is 142,200 rubles, respectively, the profitability of the enterprise will be only 14.2%. In the first months of operation, such indicators are not low, but after 3-6 months they should at least double - this will mean that the pawnshop pays for itself and begins to make a profit.

The average cost of opening a pawnshop will be 12,000,000 rubles, this amount will include:

• funds for issuing loans;
• initial expenses for the repair of the premises, the purchase of equipment, furniture, appliances;
• funds to finance activities in the first time.

With an average monthly revenue of 1,000,000 rubles and a net profit of 178 thousand rubles, the pawnshop will fully pay off in 84 months of work.

There is another option for opening your own pawnshop- Buying a franchise. This method will cost the entrepreneur more than self-opening, but will save on advertising (as a rule, franchisors provide all marketing materials). The advantage of opening a pawnshop under a franchise is brand recognition - people who want to get a secured loan more often turn to pawnshops with a famous name. And this fact is a guarantee of ensuring a constant flow of customers.

Main business benefits are the possibility of rapid development and high demand among the population for the services offered, so pawnshops are becoming increasingly popular as the main type of business activity. With due efforts, well-coordinated and accurate work, a sufficient amount of investment, a pawnshop will begin to generate income that will grow annually after six months from the date of opening.