A person drinks tea several times daily. Naturally, everyone wants this drink to be tasty and of high quality. Recently packaged teas of popular brands presented on supermarket shelves do not satisfy buyers. More and more consumers prefer to buy quality loose teas in specialized stores. Therefore, the tea business is a very promising occupation.
Expediency of opening a business
If you doubt whether your tea business will be profitable, you should answer yourself a few questions. Namely:
- How much weight tea products are in demand in the village? As a rule, in small towns, the demand for this type of product is rather modest. There is a chance of success only if you are the first representative of this business in your city.
- Are there any competitors? You should evaluate how many points of sale of weighted tea are in the village, how they are distributed in the area and what advantages they have.
- Can you resist the competition? Think that you can offer this to the buyer so that he gives preference to you, and not to the well-known and trusted seller.
To understand whether it would be appropriate to open a tea business, it is worthwhile to conduct a survey among the population (through social networks and through personal contacts) about what kind of tea people prefer. If the vast majority of respondents buy packaged and flavored teas, your elite products are unlikely to be in significant demand.
Popular formats
There are several popular ideas of the tea business, which in practice have demonstrated their worth. Here is some of them:
Shop - allows you to sell a fairly large volume of products, as well as complement the range of related products. Also, the presence of a separate room provides ample opportunity for decoration. If the area allows, in the future you can organize a small cafe.
Tasting room - a store format in which the buyer is given the opportunity to pre-try the products.
A point of sale in a supermarket or shopping center is limited in area and design options, but has good traffic.
Place on the market - minimum rental costs, equipment and design, as well as good traffic. Nevertheless, the concepts of "market" and "elite tea" do not coexist in the minds of most buyers.
Online store - a virtual platform characterized by the least financial investment, allows you to set competitive prices for products. But to attract a buyer, you will have to work on the design and functionality of the site.
Business Registration
An important stage in starting a tea business from scratch is the legal process. So, the first thing you need to register as an individual entrepreneur. Perhaps, as you develop, you will find it appropriate another form, but for the start of work, IP is an ideal option. For registration procedures and notarization of documents, it will take you about two weeks time and about 6,000 rubles. If you want to speed up and simplify the process, contact a law agency, but be prepared to increase costs.
Location and premises
If you plan to open a tea business from scratch, you need to pay special attention to finding a room. It should be in a place with a large cross. Ideally, this could be a room in a large supermarket or shopping center. If you want to open a separate kiosk or shop, it is better if it is located in the city center. Open a similar institution in a residential area, as a rule, is unprofitable.
For a tea shop, a small room with an area of up to 25 square meters is enough. m. In addition to the sales area, the store should have a room for storing goods, which will maintain a warm and dry microclimate, in which tea is stored in the best way.
Having found a suitable room, try to conclude a long-term lease for a period of at least six months. Otherwise, you will not be immune from the fact that the tenant may increase the rent every month.
Equipment and facilities
In order to start the tea business, you will not need so much. Here are the key acquisitions you need to make to get started:
- cash machine;
- electronic balance;
- showcases and racks (it is better to make to order for individual room parameters);
- glass or metal cans for tea;
- shovels for weighing goods.
To reduce the cost of equipping a store, consider purchasing some used items.
Assortment and suppliers
When planning to open a tea business, you should take care of finding reliable suppliers of quality goods, as well as consider an assortment line. In your arsenal should be at least 30-40 items. Moreover, not only varieties should be different, but also prices (it is important to present products for every taste and budget on the shelves).
Given that recently people have been paying more and more attention to health, pay attention to herbal teas with a therapeutic and restorative effect. It is also worth considering introducing granular and pressed teas into the assortment. Of course, do not forget to study the range of competitors to understand what new you can offer customers.
The crucial moment in opening a tea shop as a business is finding suppliers. At the moment, there are several reputable distributors in the domestic market who have representatives all over the country (Tsarskoe Compound, Russian Tea Company, Nadin and others). It will be lucky to establish contacts with direct suppliers from Asia. This will significantly save on procurement and introduce unique positions in the assortment.
Staff recruitment
How to start a tea business? It is important to pay maximum attention to details, the most important of which is the staff. Not only the product range is important, but also the attentive professional service. You can search for employees by announcement on the Internet, in the press, on social networks, through specialized agencies.
Choosing employees based on interview results, you should pay attention to their training. It is important that they thoroughly know and follow the rules of friendly customer service. Also, the most important point is the knowledge of the range. The seller should be able to give comprehensive advice to the buyer.
After starting work, it is important to monitor the work of sellers, because it is precisely on their politeness and knowledge that your profit largely depends. It is important for you to have objective information about how sellers work in your absence. To do this, use the practice of "mystery shoppers". Some of your friends may be in their role. Also in the trading floor you can install surveillance cameras.
Advertising campaign
When all legal and organizational issues are over, a small but no less responsible part remains. Before you open a tea business, it is important to conduct a good advertising campaign so that potential buyers know about you. Here are some things to consider:
- Bright, attractive and recognizable sign. It should attract the eyes of people passing by and encourage them to go to the store, even if they had absolutely no plans to buy tea.
- Advertising in local media (television, radio stations, print media).
- Outdoor advertising on billboards, transport and so on.
- Distribution of business cards and flyers.
- Bright and memorable program of events on the opening day with entertainment and gifts.
- Discount program for regular customers.
- Promotions and discounts.
Financial plan
When planning your own business, you need to evaluate how much it will cost you, and how soon you can recoup the costs. To do this, you need to draw up a business plan for the tea shop with calculations. On average, opening a business in this industry costs entrepreneurs 500,000 rubles. This amount includes the following main points:
- rental of premises;
- payment of utility bills;
- equipment and facilities;
- purchase of the initial consignment of goods;
- advertising campaign;
- remuneration of employees;
- additional unplanned expenses.
In the industry average, the monthly profit of a successful tea enterprise can reach 70 thousand rubles. Under such conditions, your business can fully pay off in a year or two.
Franchise work
Starting your own business should be preceded by training in the tea business, during which you should learn both about the tea itself and about the specifics of work in this sector. The surest way to gain valuable knowledge and avoid the difficulties associated with advertising, staff training and finding suppliers is to open a franchise business.
But keep in mind that, as a rule, the franchisor sets rather high requirements for potential partners. In addition, you will be forced to pay royalties. Well, of course, do not forget that working on a franchise somewhat limits you in matters of assortment and business expansion.
Useful tips for beginners
Judging by the reviews, the tea business is an interesting and profitable business. But this is also a rather complicated field of activity, which requires special knowledge and a special approach. Here are the main recommendations of professionals that should be considered for beginners in the tea business:
- Carefully monitor the quality of products, personally try what you sell. If you notice damage to the goods or the consignment turned out to be of poor quality, do not try to sell it. Once having bought a bad product, the buyer will no longer return and will surely make anti-advertising among friends.
- Monitor the market constantly. You should be aware of the actions of competitors, about new products, about changes in pricing policy.
- Before starting a business, be sure to draw up a detailed business plan. If you are poorly versed in such matters, entrust this work to specialized firms or agencies whose specialists will think over and calculate everything for you.
- Make sure that your institution has its own face in the form of an original design and an interesting concept. The buyer appreciates not only quality goods, but also the atmosphere.
- Communicate with customers through social networks. Create a sales page where potential customers can familiarize themselves with the assortment and ask you questions.
- Do not stop your choice on one supplier, because there is always a risk of unforeseen situations and supply disruptions. Collaborate with multiple companies at once.
Positive business reviews
Judging by the feedback from entrepreneurs, the tea business has a number of undeniable advantages. Namely:
- To start work, you do not need large start-up investments, because the start of work does not require a large room and expensive equipment. The initial shipment may also be small.
- Tea is not a perishable product, and therefore you can not worry if the first time the product will not be sold very actively.
- Tea products are always in demand, regardless of the season and crisis.
- Together with tea, you can offer customers related products - sweets, sugar, dishes, storage containers and so on.
- As a rule, a high margin is set for tea products (over 100%), so initial investments quickly pay off.
- Brand teas have more and more fans every year.
- The tea business brings aesthetic pleasure to both the entrepreneur himself and his employees.
- There are very real prospects for expanding from one point to the whole network.
- It is possible to franchise some well-known tea brand.
Negative business reviews
There are also negative comments in the reviews of entrepreneurs about the tea business. The disadvantages of this type of activity are as follows:
- Recently, more and more tea shops and shops have opened, so the competition is quite tough.
- Since the bulk of tea products are delivered from abroad, the purchase price is highly dependent on currency fluctuations.
- In small and remote settlements, the demand for such products is quite low.
Kombucha as a business
Recently, people have shown an increasing interest in a healthy lifestyle and all kinds of folk remedies for treatment and general strengthening of the body. Of particular interest is Kombucha. The one that is grown in three-liter bottles. It has a lot of useful properties and has a specific, but rather pleasant taste.
If you want to make Kombucha a part of your tea business, you can sell in your store both the mushroom itself, which people will grow at home, and the finished drink for bottling. You can promote your products over the Internet or offer them to stores and catering establishments.
Kombucha business has a number of undeniable advantages:
- Great interest from potential consumers. Everything related to a healthy lifestyle and strengthening the body attracts customers.
- Almost no start-up investments are needed. Especially if you are already preparing drinks for Kombucha.
- There are no risks. In case of failure, you lose nothing, because you did not invest anything. If buyers are not interested in your products, you will safely scale back production.