These materials are intended for those who want to succeed in life, significantly increase their income and become rich, but do not have the initial capital to fulfill their dreams, who have decided to embark on a business path and feel ready for it. They will help you earn money using the vast opportunities of the Russian market, find the type of activity that best suits your character, your abilities and opportunities, and take the first step along the broad road of modern business.

There are many examples of how novice entrepreneurs managed to earn tens of rubles in a relatively short period of time. Of course, in order to achieve such a goal, it is necessary to show a certain determination, perseverance and energy. Therefore, some examples will not be full. They have a unique incarnation of their authors. For some, this is luck, for others it is a cold calculation. Therefore, to earn money you need to go the other way - your own!

First, determine what the market needs the most today, be it some kind of service or some kind of product. Answer for yourself what is in greatest demand, and immediately come up with the best option to satisfy this need in accordance with your strengths and capabilities - formula for your earnings and success. And be sure - start the incarnation, according to this formula of yours, and the matter itself will prompt the further course of action, correct your mistakes. Thinking - where to start?

We offer you a number of simple and most effective ways to earn money and activities that do not require special investments or, on the contrary, help to accumulate this very capital. They were very popular in the 90s - the end of the 20th century. And, it would seem, why do you need this junk? And then, what is sometimes new is a well-forgotten old. So, what did they earn in Russia, literally, 15-20 years ago.

1. Good old business - printing services
Having any printing equipment, for example, a copier, or having constant access to it, you can easily earn money by fulfilling orders from organizations and individuals. Fortunately, the prices for printing services are rather high, and it will not be difficult to find customers.

It is enough to submit to newspapers or put up advertisements around the city. Your ads posted in places where printing services are constantly required will give the greatest effect. These are the premises of district administrations, notary offices, banks, universities, libraries, etc.

Having earned a certain amount on this business, you can purchase more expensive and, accordingly, bringing much more income, printing equipment such as a risograph. This business will always find its customers and will always remain very profitable and promising.

2. Production of original layouts of documents
The production of original layouts, that is, the execution of various documents, forms and other printed materials on a computer, you can engage in both a separate activity and in combination with printing activities.

To carry out this business, you need to have a computer and a good printer, on which the quality of your work depends to a large extent. Do not spare money and get a laser printer, which, with excellent print quality, will quickly pay back your expenses for its purchase and will bring you a solid profit, because the production of one original layout on an A4 sheet costs from 5 US dollars and more.

In order to find clients, similarly to printing activities, apply to newspapers or post advertisements around the city.

3. Laminating paper documents
Take up lamination - covering documents, forms, photographs, etc. with protective plastic. The laminating machine is miniature, relatively inexpensive and will pay back the cost of its purchase within the first month of operation. Offer your services in crowded places and places where they are most needed, such as photo shops and other places.

Thus, you will ensure yourself a good and stable income. The approximate cost of laminating one document is 1 US dollar.

4. Earnings on the manufacture of envelopes
The prices of unstamped envelopes are steadily rising along with the increase in postage rates. You can earn money by making a template, buying paper and making them.

And by posting your ads in post offices or publishing them in local and foreign advertising and information publications, you will ensure a good sale of the manufactured envelopes.

5. Complete publishing business
Publishing is one of the most profitable businesses. It can bring profit, depending on your capabilities, from a few to tens of rubles. First, decide what you will publish.

It can be a solid book of 200-300 pages or a brochure of 10-20 pages. When selecting material for a book or brochure, it is very important not to infringe copyright and therefore not fall under a certain article of the law. When reprinting materials from foreign sources, be sure to make a link to this source.

Carefully consider the use value of your books and the cost of publishing them. If you do not have sufficient funds, arrange a subscription to it with an advance payment. This will allow you to collect the necessary amount for the publication of your materials.

Sell ​​your book among subscribers, at bookstores, through Rospechat kiosks, etc. By placing an ad in the media or posting them around the city, for example, at the same bookstores, you can also sell it by mail.

6. Selling books from a private library
Despite the abundance of books on the market, their sale remains a very profitable and promising business. Buy books for sale directly from publishers or from wholesalers, where they are sold without a trade margin, much cheaper than in bookstores in the city. Sell ​​them in crowded places" at the same bookstores, bookstores, mail order, etc.

After collecting a number of the most interesting books of various genres and adding books from your home collection to them, organize a private library and lend books on bail. This idea is feasible not only at train stations and airports, where people are happy to spend time reading an interesting book while waiting for a train or plane, but also in any friend crowded place. Go to the nearest library and see that despite the huge number of books on the shelves, it is almost impossible to choose something worthwhile.

7. Sound and video recording
If you have a double cassette recorder, or better yet a CD recorder and have some free time, get into recording. By duplicating recordings of popular music and selling them in crowded places, such as clothing markets, near the subway, etc., or by taking orders for recording, you can make good money.

You will receive the largest number of orders by posting your ads in technical schools, universities, hostels and other places where there are a lot of young people. Selling cassettes by mail will also give a good effect. To do this, submit an advertisement in the newspapers and to everyone who responds to it, send a detailed catalog of the available recordings indicating the cost of the cassettes and the conditions for their forwarding and payment. Purchase clean cassettes at clothing markets or from wholesalers.

Now almost every second family has a video recorder and video recording can also become a very profitable business. You will need two VCRs for this. Otherwise, everything is similar to sound recording.

In the long term, having earned a small amount of capital, it is important to expand and organize a small sound and video recording company, scattered around the city with several outlets.

8. Video rental
It is not even necessary to have a VCR to carry out this activity. By purchasing several dozens of video cassettes (DVD, CD) with recordings of popular and new films and organizing their rental on bail, you will receive a source of daily stable income. The only condition that guarantees you success in this business is that the repertoire of films must change periodically.

9. Repair of household appliances
Our domestic equipment, and in particular televisions, often fail and a very good income can give you a job repairing them. If you do not have the qualifications necessary for this, enroll in the appropriate courses and in two or three months you will feel like a specialist in the field of radio engineering and acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to repair TVs. And by publishing your ads in newspapers, pasting them around the city or putting them in mailboxes (everyone now has a TV), you will get an excellent opportunity to test this knowledge in practice.

You can also repair other household appliances, such as refrigerators, audio-video recorders, computers, etc. In addition, not all of our TVs are equipped with a PAL unit, LF input, UHF and remote control units. By purchasing these blocks in radio stores, in specialized markets, or by making them yourself, install them in TVs. It should be noted that, for example, without a UHF or LF input unit, it is impossible to connect a VCR to a TV, and without a PAL unit, it is impossible to see a color image, since most video cassettes are recorded in this particular color system. Therefore, by installing these blocks, you will get a large number of customers and will earn good money.

10. Production of radio electronics
This work can be done without even having the special soldering iron skills that will come with practice. Buy circuits in radio stores or specialized markets, detailed descriptions for assembly and commissioning, radio components, boards, cases and other necessary materials for the independent manufacture of remote control units, PAL, telephones with automatic number identification (AON), Sinclair type computers.

They are very easy to manufacture, assembled in a few days and are in constant demand from buyers. More powerful computers such as PCs are very expensive and inaccessible to a middle-income family, and Sinclair, with its availability and cheapness, allows you to get acquainted with the fascinating world of computer games in practice, get basic programming skills (unlike game consoles) and will remain very popular. The meaning of PAL blocks is mentioned above, and you probably know very well about the popularity of caller ID phones.

Sell ​​your products in the same markets, at radio shops or advertise in periodic advertising and information publications, post them around the city. Success is guaranteed to you!

11. Private transport
Having a personal car and knowing your city well. You will earn big money by being a private taxi driver. And for this it is not at all necessary to drive around the city, looking around in search of voters. Stand outside large stores that sell bulky items such as furniture, refrigerators, televisions, and so on.

Delivery services do not always work quickly, and often do not exist at all, and you can help people deliver their purchased items. You can “pick up” clients standing at stations or just at the subway and at bus stops where public transport does not run well. This work is most effective in the late evening or even at night, when transport does not run at all or runs very rarely.

It should not be overlooked that many commercial enterprises require drivers with personal vehicles, for example, to transport goods to retail outlets in the morning and transport them back to the warehouse in the evening. This job pays very well.

12. Driving training
Usually, the level of driving education in driving schools does not allow you to prepare well for the exam in the traffic police. By publishing your ads in newspapers, pasting them around the city, at driving schools and making a set of students, you will ensure yourself a decent income. To attract the largest number of clients, set the tuition fees slightly lower than in a driving school.

Let's give the first lessons only on quiet streets, in special closed areas, and so on. And only as your student masters driving skills; take it to busier sections of roads, to intersections with heavy traffic. It is very important that your student is able to put into practice the theoretical knowledge of the rules of the road that he receives at school.

Please note that this business can only be occupied by those who have a driving experience of at least 3 years. And do not forget to install on the windshield and rear window of your car identification marks "Training". Perhaps you will start releasing special video courses.

13. Breeding purebred dogs
Dogs can not only relieve stress, cheer up their owners, but also bring income to the family. And which! The annual "salary" of an ordinary dog ​​is a few rubles. It should be noted that this business requires at the initial stage not only monetary costs and physical strength, but also a certain mental attitude. Without this attitude, without love, care, without responsibility for the fate of your pets, there is nothing to get down to business.

Buy a puppy only with a good pedigree and carefully check the authenticity of his documents. It is best to buy in kennel clubs or at sales shows that are regularly held by these clubs. Here you can compare puppies, consult with cynologists about which puppy is the most promising for breeding. Remember that only a quality puppy with proper care, upbringing and a good attitude towards him will eventually turn into a quality dog. And for your future business, this is crucial.

It should be noted that breeding purebred cats can also bring a good income.

14. Breeding pets
Breeding pets can bring a good income: hamsters, white mice, guinea pigs, etc. These small animals are unpretentious, feed exclusively on food of plant origin, multiply with amazing speed and are always popular with children.

The breeding of budgerigars and aquarium fish is also of great commercial interest. Many people who have taken up this business live only on the income from this activity. Of course, in order to achieve such a result, it is necessary to pay constant attention to your pets, to have certain experience and great knowledge in this matter. Read the relevant literature, consult with specialists and people involved in the breeding of your chosen species, and in time you will get no less result.

You can sell pets, birds, fish at "bird" markets, pet stores, etc. In the future, you can open your own zoo or even a private pet store, selling not only animals, but also food for them, cages, aquariums, various devices to take care of them, etc.

15. Photographers Service
Even with minimal skills in handling a camera and photographic equipment, you can do photography. At first, it is not at all necessary to have a photo lab. You can take the film for processing in a photo studio. Shoot outdoors and at home, in kindergartens and schools, at weddings and other celebrations. Deliver the photographs taken to the customer yourself or send them by mail. Recently, Polaroid cameras have appeared on the Russian market, which allow you to take pictures almost instantly. True, according to unverified data, the photographs taken in this way are not of very high quality and darken over time.

Having accumulated some experience in this matter, you can open a private photo studio and take artistic and ID photos. The services of a photographer are always needed and well paid.

Today, some people have a video camera, and if you are one of them, it makes sense to engage in video filming as well.

16. Hairdressing services
No one can do without the services of a hairdresser. And besides. that the prices for all types of hairdressing services are persistently creeping up, you can organize your own hairdressing salon and earn excellent money by completing relatively inexpensive courses and receiving a certificate.

Equip your hallway with a mirror and shelves, buy the necessary fixtures and start with your friends, work colleagues. If your first practice turns out to be successful, the rumor about inexpensive hairdressing services through your acquaintances and acquaintances of your acquaintances will spread like circles from a stone thrown into water and you will not have problems with clients and, as a result, with money. In the future, you can submit advertisements to the media, hang them around the city and work on call at the client's home.

17. Household services or a husband for an hour
Organize a private atelier of household services. Work alone or with helpers, such as your family members, in your own home or at a client's home. Clean apartments and offices, wash and iron linen, wash windows, look after apartments in the absence of owners: water flowers, take out mail, take care of pets. You can earn good money by exterminating domestic insects.

18. Tutoring
If you have knowledge in the field of sciences, take up tutoring. Submit ads in newspapers or hang them in schools, technical schools, universities, just in crowded places in your city. Help your clients in mastering the sciences, prepare them for tests, exams, admission to universities, technical schools. You can perform various tasks, drawing work, draw up term papers and graduation projects, and so on.

Compiling a collection of the best essays, a collection of solutions to typical problems in mathematics, physics, chemistry, with their subsequent sale through kiosks and Rospechat stores, through street book sellers, by mail or in the same universities can bring good income.

19. Translation services
Today, many firms and entrepreneurs enter the international market, wishing to establish business contacts with foreign partners. As a rule, the conclusion of any contract or transaction is preceded by a lengthy correspondence, and they, having difficulty with the language, need the services of an interpreter. Such services are also absolutely necessary for people working with various publications in foreign languages, when translating various technical literature, advertising brochures, and so on.

Using your knowledge of the language, you can earn good money by working as such a translator. And if your knowledge allows you to communicate freely in a foreign language, work at international exhibitions, presentations, excursions with the participation of foreign guests, and so on.

Get a typewriter with a Latin script and, in parallel with the translation, arrange business correspondence abroad. It will not be superfluous to have a typewriter with a Russian font for translating into Russian. To find profitable customers, publish in newspapers or post advertisements around the city.

20. Sale"SECOND HAND"
Recently, many shops and wholesale depots have appeared in Russia selling “Second hand” - used clothes by weight, where you can buy quite tolerable things for a ridiculous price, among which there are practically new ones, for example, out of fashion in a number of countries. But that doesn't mean it's the same for us.

Start selling these clothes. This business is very profitable! Go to one of the large stores or wholesalers and pick up a small amount of clothes to start with. .Usually I sell goods to wholesale buyers in bags of 25-100 kilograms and offer significant discounts. In order not to "pierce", consult with the employees of the store (base) - what product is better to take for sale and where to sell it.

Having bought goods, go to the market or go to other cities, while taking into account the specifics and climatic conditions of this region, and sell clothes already by the piece, and not by weight. The result of such trading is always the same - a good profit.

21. Knitting and sewing
A good income can be brought by knitting or sewing. If you do not know how to knit by hand, buy an industrial machine. Having given her a program, you can knit sweaters, scarves, children's clothes, etc. To do sewing, you need to have a good sewing machine. In addition to a variety of clothes, you can sew various leather products: waist belts, purses, watch straps, etc., car covers, overalls, and make a soft toy.

You can sew or knit to order models developed independently or according to patterns and drawings in specialized publications, fashion magazines. Sell ​​your products at clothing markets or sell them to consignment and commercial stores.

22. Food production
Relatively inexpensive, small-sized and easy-to-use equipment for the production of popcorn, crisp potatoes, cotton candy and other food products pays off in 2-3 months of work and can bring a stable monthly income of several rubles.

In the long term, with a little capital saved, you can buy more expensive and much more profitable equipment such as a bakery or a distillation plant.

23. Fast food organization
After buying buns and ham in bulk, make sandwiches or, if you have culinary skills, bake pies and go to the clothing market with hungry sellers and buyers. You can sell your masterpieces of culinary art and just standing on crowded, busy places in your city.

Once you've made a small fortune, buy equipment to make and sell hot dogs, hamburgers, and so on. Know that feeding people is always profitable!

24. Sale of soft drinks
Organize a stall or mini-cafe selling soft drinks, ice cream, etc. In hot weather, you can earn good money selling these products, for example, on beaches or in gardens. Buy ice cream directly from a cold store or from wholesalers, and you can make drinks yourself, for example, from concentrates.

During the summer period, many enterprises need kvass sellers. Earnings - percentage of revenue. During the day, you can sell 2-3 barrels of kvass, while earning a significant amount. You can cook kvass yourself.

25. Food collection and transportation
Rent a car or use your personal vehicle and organize the collection or purchase of agricultural products in areas where it is abundant, such as state farms. You can also buy milk at the nearest state farm. Bringing these products to the city, where they can be sold, as a rule, 2-3 times more expensive, you will earn good money.

You can organize the collection and transportation of fruits, vegetables and any other goods from other regions to your city. For example, in the southern regions of Ukraine and Moldova, walnuts and corn grow, from Astrakhan in August during the harvest period you carry watermelons, etc. You will not only recoup all expenses, but also get a solid profit. In this case, in the near future, you can become a major entrepreneur.

26. Catching and growing crayfish and fish
Currently, prices for most types of fish and crayfish have risen sharply and in some cases even exceed the cost of animal meat. Agree that no one will refuse to buy freshly caught fish, and even more so crayfish. In addition, some restaurants buy crayfish.

In the future, you can organize a point for the sale of fish products and sell fish caught on your own or negotiate with organizations that have a license to catch fish on the supply of fish and fish products. You can also organize a small workshop for the production of fish products.

Content

Today, the unstable financial situation in the country leads to job cuts. Some people get laid off by new companies, while others look for ways to start their own profitable business. After reading the article, you will find out which business is profitable to open in Russia with little investment.

What business is in demand now

Supply is formed by demand. This is one of the main economic laws, therefore, in order to open the most demanded business, you need to determine what products and services the population of your city needs. It is believed that in any region, organizations involved in the repair, replacement of plumbing, the sale of household chemicals and products are in the greatest demand. To find out more precisely what kind of business is relevant now, an analysis of the market for services and goods will help.

Service Demand

According to statistics, employment agencies are very popular: the crisis and constant layoffs increase the need for such organizations. Demand for plumbers, hairdressers, electricians and funeral directors remains unchanged. In Moscow and other large cities, the first place in terms of the number of applications is occupied by companies engaged in commercial transportation. Organizations from the sphere of beauty and health are only 1% behind in the top. By finding out which services are most in demand among the population, you can organize a profitable business.

What is profitable to sell now

Aspiring entrepreneurs love to wonder what people are in demand right now. Actual products remain the same. An example of high-margin products: flowers, drinks, jewelry, handicrafts. Such goods are distinguished by stable demand, low production and storage costs. Popular alcoholic beverages are considered popular products.

What kind of business is now in demand in a small town

Small settlements are bypassed by novice entrepreneurs. In their opinion, the business there brings very little income. This is partly true, because salaries there are lower than in megacities. The cost of renting and buying premises will also be less than in big cities, so you can organize your own business with minimal financial costs.

The most popular business in a small town is a general barbershop. In addition to hairdressers, there should be manicure-pedicure masters, beauticians and masseurs. Shoe and furniture repair shops are popular regardless of the financial situation of the country, because. people tend to restore old things out of fear of spending big.

Demanded business

Commercial activity is always aimed at satisfying the needs of people or stimulating demand. Any promising business is built on this. You can artificially create demand for products by running product advertising on the street and on television. The relevance of the entrepreneurial field and whether business decisions are effective still play a significant role.

Profitable business

Commercial activity should bring maximum income with minimal cash investment and exploitation of various resources. These features characterize a highly profitable business. During the crisis, it is not necessary to open enterprises engaged in the production of any products. Their profitability will be low, the risks are high, and you will see real profit only in a few years. The service sector is considered successful.

Super profitable business

All novice entrepreneurs dream of receiving fabulous money, but few manage to realize this in practice. Some allow you to build a super-profitable business from scratch in just a couple of months. Another way not to save money and get a lot of money is to create a business that is completely new for the region and in demand. Direction options: from restoration or car rental - to your own thrift store.

Most profitable business

By opening your own bakery in a large city, you can quickly return all invested funds - in less than 2 months. A similar situation is observed with healthy food restaurants. People are no longer attracted to fast foods. The fastest paying business is able to return all invested funds in a month. Before opening your own business, study by sorting them by profitability indicators for your region - so you can weed out offers that will lead to the bankruptcy of the company in the future.

Profitable online business

A distinctive feature of activities on the World Wide Web is the lack of binding to one's place of residence. You can search for clients both in your city and beyond, so organizing a profitable business on the Internet is easier than doing it in the real market. A novice entrepreneur does not even need start-up capital. There are several areas of such business:

• provision of online services (programming, design development, accounting, etc.);
• launch of an online store;
• participation in affiliate programs;
• creation and promotion of your information product.

An actual business with the provision of services on the Internet can be created if you are a specialist in any field. You need to draw up a portfolio or launch a business card website, where your skills will be described in detail. You can start an online store without money, acting as an intermediary between foreign sellers and buyers from Russia. Goods will be sold with a small markup.

Online store

Consider opening an online store in more detail.

Pros:

• minimum investment (often 10-15 tr is enough)
• you can work in the Russian Federation from any city
• everything is growing rapidly: in 2018, the turnover of online commerce exceeded 1 trillion rubles, the forecast for 2023/24 is 3-4 trillion rubles.

The main problems 2 - to find a profitable product and stand out from competitors.

Advice - communicate more with the owners of existing online stores. Then the ideas will come by themselves.

The best place for communication is clubs of owners of Internet sites. The largest of them - "Insider", unites tens of thousands of entrepreneurs. The club is founded by the owners of large sites, every month there are large (including free) online and live events.

• it is run by the founder of the club, Nikolai Fedotkin, owner of the Video-shoper store (10-15 thousand people visit the site per day)
• the issues of choosing a niche (they give more than 1000 proven products), competition, creating a website, advertising, suppliers, individual entrepreneurs, delivery, etc. are solved.

The webinar is free. You won't find anything better in Russia now.

Many people want to make a profit without spending their own money, but not everyone succeeds. In practice, you can organize if you offer products of your own production, engage in intellectual work, or act as an intermediary, organizing purchase and sale transactions. Some open collection points for glass containers or scrap metal in the garage.

If your business constantly requires more and more investments to stay afloat, know that this is not normal and the situation needs to be corrected. In my two years in financial consulting, I've talked to a bunch of entrepreneurs who suffer from this problem. In 2015, I myself left such a troubled business with a debt of 1.5 million rubles.

Businesses are different, but the problems are the same - and far from always they are that the product is bad. I’ll tell you about the three most common mistakes due to which your business does not bring money.

Common mistakes entrepreneurs make

1. You think that all the money in the business is yours.

Entrepreneurs often live with the mindset “I = business, company cash = my wallet.” If they want to go on vacation, they take it from the cash register. It is necessary to refuel the car - they again climb into the cashier. They are the owners, so you can.

Actually it's impossible.

The money that is in your cash register or in your checking account is not necessarily yours.

If you work on a prepaid basis, it can easily be customer money, and you are already spending it, although you have not yet fulfilled your obligation. For example, you make websites, spent an advance payment, and the client changed his mind and asked for the money back. Nothing to return.

Or you will need this money in the future. For example, on the 10th you took money from the cash register for a new phone, and on the 20th you have to pay your salary. Some of them will be left without a salary, because you bought a phone with other people's money.

2. You are chasing more sales.

The concept of profit is taught in high school social studies lessons. But entrepreneurs, adults, seem to forget about it - and evaluate their business by the amount of money in the current account. Indeed, they are easier to count than profit. But they don't say anything about performance.

For example, an entrepreneur sold 300 belts in a month with an average check of 3,000 rubles. He multiplied the numbers and received 900,000 rubles. After that, he will deduct the maximum purchase price - there are, say, 300,000 rubles left. Seems to be OK. Earned, happy.

And if you subtract the salaries of sellers, transportation of goods, rent of premises, marketing costs, taxes, you get not 300,000 rubles, but minus 50,000 rubles.

3. Can't quantify managerial decisions

Every action in business needs to be evaluated through the prism of profit. There are no good and bad management decisions, there are profitable and unprofitable ones. But entrepreneurs do not calculate the effect that their actions bring.

Ready to increase conversions? Draw up a sales funnel and see how much revenue and profit it will eventually give. Do you want to automate business processes? Estimate how many your employees have. Then consider whether this time can be better spent.

For example, you have a store with one cashier who serves one customer in 30 seconds on average. You have automated sales, and now the cashier spends 15 seconds on the customer. But does it make sense? If there are queues in the store, then yes. People will stop being nervous and leave, there will be more sales. Next, you need to calculate how much more and when this increase will pay off automation.

And if there were no queues, then no automation will bring any benefit. Is that the cashier will sit a little more idle.

Of course, it is not necessary to fanatically calculate the effect of rearranging the cash register by 3 centimeters to the left. But the key decisions that you invest time and money in are necessary.

How to avoid such situations

1. Take money from the business for yourself in accordance with your roles

Most likely, you have two of them: the owner and the director. The owner is entitled to dividends from profits. Determine what percentage of the profits you will take for yourself, and stick to this number. The director is entitled to a salary. Look at how much directors earn and charge yourself the same.

Dividends and the director's salary are yours. Everything else is business.

2. Remember that an increase in revenue is not always an increase in profits.

Open any book on economics. It says that as the volume of sales increases, the price falls and the unit cost rises. It happens that one sells 10,000 units of goods per month and works at a loss, and the other sells 1,000 units - and in chocolate. Increase sales only as long as it gives an increase in profits.

3. Make a financial model when you plan to change something in the business

A financial model is a table that shows how a change in one indicator affects all others, including the most important one - net profit. It is easy to understand from it whether you should work on this or that indicator or it is ineffective.

conclusions

The problem with entrepreneurs lies in what I call the absurdity of doing. A person works 14 hours a day, always comes up with something, solves some problems. With this approach, the process comes to the fore, not the result. I do, I do, but I don’t know what it gives.

I'm in favor of a different approach.

The main indicator that a business is operating efficiently is not the number of actions, but profit. Every action must lead to profit. And you need to evaluate each action in terms of how it increased profits.

And in order to evaluate a business through the prism of profit, you need to keep financial records: know the business resources, key indicators and growth levers. Read more about what financial accounting is and why an entrepreneur needs it, read in our previous one.

Many aspiring entrepreneurs seize on an attractive idea and start their journey to the top of the business with great enthusiasm. However, among them there are many who, over time, suffer serious losses and leave the race.

When frustrated, some begin to blame themselves, others blame the government, and still others try to find errors in the calculations and study the business plan again in detail, if one was ever drawn up.

There can be a great many reasons leading to the collapse - natural disasters, financial crises, theft, illness, and even minor family troubles. But why then do some businessmen make a good income even in "bad weather", while others cannot earn in the most ideal economic conditions?

The answer to this question will be two mistakes of unsuccessful entrepreneurs - a poor understanding of the essence of a successful business and the wrong choice of project.

An experienced businessman takes only the most promising ideas that can bring guaranteed profit in a short time. The degree of his interest in any direction will be influenced by several factors at once: the necessary start-up capital, the existing demand for products, the level of competition and the complexity of the project. In other words, a successful salesperson will never be attracted to a process just for the sake of the process.

What business is profitable

Profitability criteria are the same in any business segment. Firstly, the most profitable direction will be the one in which the most money rotates, so you should not look for your exclusive and small niche, hoping for a lack of competition.

If you compare a hairdresser and a violet shop, you will notice that such a flower business has much fewer competitors than a beauty salon, but is in low demand among the population.

Secondly, often an entrepreneur makes a big profit, being engaged only in the sale of goods, and not in its production. To arrange the release of your goods, you need to make considerable investments in the rental of production facilities, the purchase of equipment, as well as the necessary raw materials.

It will take a large staff of employees involved in the manufacturing process of the goods. You can start trading yourself or with one person in the state, investing only in advertising.

Small business

This type of business has the main advantage - mobility. It is much easier for a merchant to find a profitable place for sale and change it if necessary. The same plus applies to the goods sold - you can always change the assortment without significant losses, and the manufacturer will need to dismantle old equipment, sell raw materials and, possibly, hire new staff.

At the moment, the most profitable commodity will be products from countries with low production costs. It is worth paying attention to China and other Asian countries that supply various products - cosmetics, clothing, accessories, sporting goods and much more.

If you do not like trade, pay attention to the service sector. Activities such as furniture repair, pillow restoration and even tattooing always bring income. But don't forget about advertising and the effectiveness of word of mouth.

Medium business

In the middle segment, the profit per unit of goods may be a slightly lower percentage compared to a small business, but large sales volumes will give a significant final income. But for a successful start, initial investments will be required.

The most profitable niches are construction organizations that sell materials and provide repair or installation services; transport companies - taxi services or car rental; trade networks; themed cafes; pharmacies.

Big business

This segment includes financial and credit organizations, the oil and gas sector and the extraction of other minerals.

The ideas listed above can serve as an impetus in the right direction, but only a well-written business plan will reduce the number of obstacles in your path. Even if you did not study at the Faculty of Economics, it is quite possible to compile it if you wish and with due diligence.

Write in your own words, analyze the activities of competitors, study the prices of suppliers, do not forget about monthly expenses.

Try to depict the model of your project on paper as fully as possible, and much will become clear. Build your business with care - this will definitely bring you closer to success!

The services of small printing houses are addressed by private traders - owners of small printing outlets; government organizations - for internal document management (tax officers, postal workers, etc.); educational organizations - for the reproduction of methodological materials; banks, trading companies (prices); catering establishments and manufacturers (price tags, labels, menus, copies of certificates); large factories, advertising and PR agencies (questionnaires, leaflets, flyers), etc.

Usually a small printing house assumes the availability of equipment capable of fulfilling not very large printing orders in a short time. One machine, however, will not be enough. The second component is the so-called “auxiliary” machines, which allow you to perform a number of actions with already printed products. It is the combination of these two types of equipment that can be considered a mini-printing house. In the Moscow market of printing services, both printing houses and clients are clearly separated: small orders are carried out in mini-printing houses, medium-sized ones in medium-sized ones, and large ones, respectively, in large ones. The main thing here is to identify the niche in which you are going to work, starting a printing business. If you already have potential customers, you need to purchase equipment that will be used as much as possible. When buying equipment that is too powerful, you will have to look for additional customers to load the machines “to the fullest”.

Risograph and offset

The equipment of small printing houses is divided according to several criteria. Some entrepreneurs buy risographs, others buy color copiers, others buy offset printing machines. Risograph is, first of all, black and white printing. There are also color risographs that allow, for example, to print a black and white leaflet with a red flag. Business documentation, instructions for household appliances, etc. are usually made on such devices. You cannot print business cards on a risograph - for this you need an offset machine that allows you to print complex colors and combine them. If we talk about offset printing, then the additional ones here will be: a cutting machine, equipment for the production of printing plates (copy frame and plate processor), a binder, a folding machine, etc.

A good risograph costs about 10 thousand dollars, although the price varies greatly depending on the configuration. The price of a color copier is from 10 to 50 thousand dollars. For 10-15 thousand dollars, you can also buy a used one- or two-color offset press. It will be possible to make business cards and other simple works on it. A mini-printing house consisting of one offset printing machine, if you know the used equipment market, you can “build” for 10-15 thousand dollars. But you can invest 150-200 thousand - it all depends on the amount of start-up capital.

Sergei Nemtsov, director of the Moscow printing house Elena, says: “Initially, we were an advertising agency, we placed orders with printing houses. Then we bought small cutters and other office devices. That is, they began to deal with the final finishing of the printing industry themselves. Having gained experience, we decided to purchase an offset machine. Initially, our focus was directed precisely at offset printing. Given the investment, this is, of course, expensive equipment. But there are numerous leasing and lending systems that make it easier to possibly start a business. Although now I would look for used equipment, but in good condition. This, as in the case of a one-year-old car, is already completely ready for operation, it does not need to be brought “to mind”. Prices for used equipment - from 15 thousand dollars, new - from 200 thousand dollars. The range of prices in the Moscow market of printing equipment is very large - it all depends on the technical characteristics.”

Hot breath of competitors

The risograph is cheaper and, as a result, more accessible, but you need to be aware that such equipment is within the power of not only you, but also your competitors. The lower its cost, the closer their breath will be felt. To build a business, you need to have a realistic idea of ​​who the service will be provided to, what your advantages will be, and so on. “You can, for example, play at speed,” says the director of the RA “Solist” Alexander Yer, who opened a printing house at his advertising agency about four years ago. - For example, do all orders as soon as possible. Employees must be prepared to stay overnight. Thus, the audience of “hot” clients is covered. You can offer options for printing technologies, advise what suits the customer and what does not, focus on the high quality of services, taking into account, of course, other factors.”

All mini-printing houses are united by a similar operating principle based on screen printing. The first to appear on the Russian market were devices from Riso, a pioneer in this field of printing, called “risographs”, and Duplo, which later entered this market, prefers to call its devices duplicators. There are currently three main manufacturers on the market - Riso, Duplo and Ricoh (all Japanese). Ricoh devices are also produced in Europe and Russia under the brands Rex-Rotary, Nashuatec, MB, Gestetner. In the Moscow market now, mainly devices of the entry-level A4 format and systems of the A3 format are in demand. It is difficult to say exactly which manufacturer is better. All devices are arranged approximately the same. Of course, we are not talking about prestige here: it is more appropriate to compare a mini-printing house with a truck, and it does not matter on which truck to transport boards.

The most popular is printing from scanned paper originals. However, an increasing number of consumers are paying attention to such details as the presence of a computer interface (RIP) for connecting the mini-printing house to a PC and printing electronic documents (the unit is included in the delivery or purchased separately) or a network card - for using the mini-printing house as a device network printing.

Workhorses

It is risographs that can be called workhorses in the office equipment market. They are designed for fast (up to 120-130 ppm) and economical printing on A6-A3 paper. With print runs in the range of 50-5,000 copies, they successfully compete in cost per print with copiers and small-format offset presses. The cost of a copy in this case decreases sharply with an increase in circulation. Important advantages of mini-printing houses are a long service life of machines (up to 9 million copies), low power consumption (up to 400 W) and environmental friendliness (consumables are often non-toxic). Unlike offset printing, when working with a mini-printing house, no costs are required for preparing the printing process. Even if you purchase used equipment that worked for the previous owner without any service, the “insides” of the device can be completely safe and sound.

But the big plus of the latest generation of copiers is their ability to work on almost any paper - from inexpensive thin (46 g / m?) To cardboard (240 g / m?). Experts strongly advise you to purchase A3 devices, even if you plan to print only A4 copies. The fact is that on an A3 format device in one pass you can print two copies of A4 format at once. This extends the life of the machine, reduces the cost and significantly speeds up the printing process. And for "cutting" finished copies, you can purchase a special cutter that can cut paper stacks 500 sheets thick.

It is at the very beginning of organizing a business that an important problem needs to be solved - what equipment to buy. Here you can go two ways. The first is to purchase used machines, the “mileage” of which allows, at some cost, to produce high-quality printing that can satisfy the needs of not too demanding customers. The second way is to purchase absolutely new equipment. Some experts argue that starting with a new car is more correct. This is especially important if you do not have a highly qualified equipment specialist on staff who can quickly find the cause of possible problems and eliminate them. In the experience of many print shop owners, used equipment often fails and needs close monitoring.

Except cars

If we talk about other necessary business requirements, then, first of all, this is the premises. No matter how small a printing house is, it requires a warehouse (both for source codes and for finished products). In general, a mini-printing house takes up little space - you can start with 40 square meters. m. However, there are cases when a mini-printing house was located on 20 square meters. m. - literally in a fenced off corner of the office space. Under such circumstances, it is quite possible to combine both production and office in one place. When they are separated, of course, mobility will be lost and it will be necessary to establish the logistics of the process.

It is difficult to name the period for which the equipment can pay off. The threshold of profitability in this case depends on many reasons. “I can say one thing,” says Alexander Yer, “if you start a business with the production of printing products on offset equipment, you will need about a year just to bring the work of the printing house to a more or less coordinated relationship between customer orders and your capacities. The payback period of the equipment also directly depends on the availability of a customer base, on the location of production, and on many other things. If we talk about the return of “ours”, then we can name a period of three years. In the first year, of course, you no longer need to invest, but the balance will actually be zero. Until you bring the technical parameters of your equipment into proper shape, until orders are formed, you can forget about a permanent serious income. The same opinion is shared by many owners of printing houses. For this business, the famous proverb is quite applicable: “The first year you feed the business, the second year the business feeds itself, the third year the business feeds you.”

But with a well-constructed promotion of services, much can be achieved. There are examples of people who, not even being specialists in printing, but having an entrepreneurial streak, achieved great success in this direction.

“If you take new offset equipment, then the printing house will pay off no sooner than in three years. Of course, when buying equipment that has already worked for some time, there is a risk that it will break. There are no guarantees. And how much the used equipment will pay off is unknown. But usually, if you take an “old” machine, in a year or a year and a half you can “recapture” it, and then the profit will start,” says Sergei Nemtsov, director of the Elena printing house.

Labor results

It is very difficult to orient the reader in terms of profit - it depends on many things, but on average a mini-printing house (offset press + auxiliary equipment) can actually generate income of about 2-5 thousand dollars per month. Let's consider a simple example. The price of one print on copiers is $0.50, and the cost is about 12 cents/print. With almost a full load of the machine, you can get a "dirty" profit of 10 thousand dollars a month. With the deduction of the cost of maintenance, rental of premises, salaries of employees - it turns out about 2-3 thousand dollars of net profit per month. However, we must remember that in the summer for printing houses, in fact, the dead season sets in, but the costs remain.

Renting premises, salaries to employees, upgrading equipment - all these are constant items of expenditure. Future owners of mini-printing houses should pay special attention to the issue of purchasing consumables. There are quite a lot of so-called “compatible” materials on the market, which are about 30% cheaper than the originals. However, all sellers of risographs are strikingly unanimous in the choice of consumables - they strongly recommend that their customers use only original materials and do not sell any other materials in principle. The consequences of using unbranded materials are catastrophic. For example, if you use compatible consumables on Riso, then you can safely set aside $ 1,000 for a new drum. It's one thing if a $100 inkjet printer breaks down, another thing is a risograph thirty or forty times more expensive. It also happens that one thing can be written on a tube of paint, but something completely different can be inside. In the case of compatible materials, there is a chance of getting into a refilled tube, where ordinary printing ink is sometimes poured. And although experts usually distinguish “linden” by smell and consistency, it is very difficult for the average user to assess the quality of the paint. To avoid trouble, it makes sense to buy consumables in the same company that provides service.

Success factors

As for the other success factors, the presence of a customer base is in the first place. Of course, the efficiency of order fulfillment and the location of the production itself are also important. Enterprises in industrial areas or with a complex access system can also scare away customers. “In principle, it doesn't matter where the production is located,” Sergei Nemtsov believes. - The main thing is to have a convenient access to the office - loading and unloading of goods is constantly going on.

In the case of a mini-printing house, first of all, you need to think about what it will do and for whom. Advertising in this type of business is mainly direct marketing, that is, the manager calls potential customers. Although some entrepreneurs place ads in newspapers and magazines such as "Goods and Services". Another important point: the printing service is complex. There are no clear, at first glance obvious measures to determine whether the work is done well or not. An open marriage is easy to determine, but there are many intermediate criteria in printing. The client, having learned about you, will not immediately run to place an order - you need to win his trust.

Regarding the pricing policy, we can say the following: if we calculate the operational profit on the order, that is, according to direct costs from the total income, it can be argued that the printing industry is a highly profitable business. The seller can vary the prices for the service depending on how much he wants to receive this order. There is a wide range of all kinds of actions: since mini-printing houses are designed for small and urgent orders, you can “play” on raising prices for “urgent” customers. For example, invitations are needed for some event in the morning, and the customer comes, say, the day before at six in the evening. Then you can demand an additional fee for urgency - as a rule, the client goes for it. In this case, the price may double. Ideally, by the way, it makes sense to establish round-the-clock work of the printing house - in this case, it will bring maximum income.

Alexander Ivanov