Repair and tailoring services are in demand in any city. Some businessmen are sure that starting such a business is easy, but, as practice shows, this is far from the case. This article details the question of how to open an atelier.
Most newcomers leave the business without waiting for profitability. In order for the studio to improve and bring stable profit, it is necessary to take into account the many details that distinguish the sewing business from other areas of business activity.
Expert Advice
Before you start looking for premises, employees and finances, you should pay due attention to one key factor. Many owners of such establishments are capable tailors, fashion designers and cutters. Simply put, people who know the nuances of sewing skills and the market. If a businessman does not understand anything in fashion trends and has never come across the word “patterns”, then you should think about other areas of business.
Of course, a capable manager knows how to open an atelier from scratch. But only the person who held the needle and thread in his own hands and sewed many products with them, understands the needs of the client and knows what details to pay attention to. If an entrepreneur is only interested in means, and he is far from the creative process, it is better to choose another sphere, since you need to invest your soul in this matter. Atelier is not a tailor's factory in which thousands of special clothing units were commissioned.
Where to begin
The main thing you need to open an atelier is to determine its location. There are a number of options, namely:
- Open it in a crowded area, for example, in a shopping center.
- To provide repair and tailoring services in a quiet area.
Fans of the first option say that if the institution is located in the shopping center, then patency is greater. People doing shopping at the same time want to tailor their purchased clothes, which is why they go to a tailor located in this center. This is actually so. To be sure of this, you just need to observe how busy the sewing workshop is, which is located in a crowded place.
Fans of the second option say that not everyone prefers to give things to a tailor immediately after shopping. In addition, even more need arises in the repair of previously purchased clothes, and to go for this purpose to a shopping center away from home is uncomfortable. In this situation, a sewing atelier, which is located next to the house, is very helpful.
A plus of the second option is that the rental price is significantly lower than in the city center. If you need to pay an average of 40-45 thousand rubles or more for a room with a square of about 15 m 2 in a shopping center, then in a quiet area you can rent the same room at least several times the cost.
Another method for those who want to open an atelier and don’t know where to start is to purchase a franchise. The advantage of this method is that you will have to implement the steps given by the franchisor, which until now have made many companies profitable. There is no need to figure out how to open an atelier for sewing and repairing clothes; you just need to follow all the tips that others have tested before.
Many entrepreneurs are confident that the acquisition of a franchise only increases start-up capital. However, if you calculate how much it costs to open an atelier alone, then these costs are quite capable of several times increasing the starting capital of a franchise business.
Despite the fact that before opening a sewing atelier, a businessman is able to write a very detailed business plan, in practice it will need to be edited in any case. If the owner of the institution is still a novice entrepreneur and does not quite clearly represent the conduct of the business, then the real numbers from the calculated ones will be very different.
Most often this happens when a tailor becomes a businessman, doing an excellent job of his own, but very poorly imagining a list of the formation and promotion of entrepreneurial business. In the final, he will need to master such a list, stuffing "bumps", expressed as a loss.
What to do: repair or sewing
Experts advise immediately opening an IP atelier for repairing clothes, promoting it to a good level, in order to fill a decent customer base and only after that start tailoring activities.
Arguments:
- To hem trousers, to narrow or embroider a skirt, to fit a suit in size is a job that is notable for accessibility. But tailoring to order is very expensive.
- Residents of the district should find out that the institution employs experienced employees who are easy to entrust with a very sophisticated order.
- Need to create a customer base. Satisfied customers will advise the atelier to their own friends and relatives. Do not miss the fact that word of mouth is the best PR.
- The cost of a sewing workshop is significantly less than at the studio, which is engaged in tailoring to order.
- The number of things that need minor or major repairs is constantly overtaking the number of costumes or dresses to order.
- Employees are given a unique opportunity to gain experience in order to successfully fulfill difficult orders in the future.
Costs
It is important to determine whether it is profitable to open an atelier. The smallest deposits reach an average of 350,000 rubles. These funds will be enough to create a small organization. Income at first will be insignificant, overall profitability will be small.
But after promotion, the institution is able to give a constant profit of about 80 thousand rubles per month with normal customer traffic (approximately 10 customers per day). The average value of a check is 250 rubles, these are only approximate numbers, which are proof that the maximum payback period is 2-2.5 years.
Funds will be needed for:
- Rental payment.
- Equipment purchases.
- Purchases of consumables.
- Tailors salaries.
- Payroll accountant.
- Finishing the premises, equipping with all necessary workplace and room for customers.
- Advertisements.
If a businessman is thinking about how to open an atelier for tailoring under an order, then it is worth knowing that investments in starting up a workshop will amount to much more, on average 3.5 million rubles. The fact is that products in such establishments are made unique, from expensive fabrics and most often for peculiar figures. Therefore, every whim of the customer will have to be taken into account.
You will need expensive original equipment, premium fabrics and branded accessories up to sliding tailor's mannequins from the eminent brand. In addition, elite class cutters and professional seamstresses are needed. Important is a good repair of the premises, trendy appearance and expensive materials for decoration. No matter how it sounds, but a respectable customer will not come to the “shed” more than once.
The main caveat is the popular name of the builder or fashion designer that customers know. An experienced tailor will not work for a penny forever. At first, the prices for his services are allowed to be reduced in order to involve the clientele, however, some time later, you need to be prepared to pay for the experience and a unique approach.
Decor
Of course, before you open the studio, you must collect the required documents. Firstly, a beginner of entrepreneurial activity will have to contact the tax structure. The ideal solution is to register an IP, but LLC should not be excluded either. In addition, it is necessary to obtain approval from the SES and firefighters. You also have to carry out a labor safety check. On average, it takes about 2 months to collect a package of documents.
What taxation to choose
In order to simplify institution tax payments, the ideal option is to submit an application for choosing UTII. Alas, not in every region of the state, local government structures make it possible to conduct business under this tax system.
In this regard, the most popular is the simplified system (USN). It makes it possible for businessmen to pay either 6 percent of the total profit, or 15 percent of pre-tax income. If the entrepreneur does not submit an application regarding the choice of taxation, then he will automatically be included in the group of individual entrepreneurs who conduct business on a common basis.
Why you should not run an atelier at home
Businessmen who decide to personally become employees in their project need to pay attention to the promotion of the business, and not get involved in the work process. The entrepreneur must work on the project, and not in it - this is the key difference between the employee and the businessman.
The idea to open an atelier for tailoring and repairing clothes at home has significant disadvantages, namely:
- Development limit.
- Colossal dependence on the situation in the family or home.
- Residence will become work.
The development limit is that it is difficult to leave employees you are not familiar with in your home or apartment. And it’s better not to hire people with whom you have a strong relationship, because the relationship will lose its strength for some time, and in addition, the loss of an employee.
In the end, it looks not solid when a businessman will indicate an apartment in promotion, in particular, if it is located on the upper floors of an apartment building. In general, such an organization is difficult to advertise and develop through the hiring of employees.
The dependence of the situation in the family or home is that not everyone will be curious about the activities of a businessman. Envious neighbors will arise that can become a hindrance not only in the form of grunts near customers, but also in the form of a pile of garbage on the site.
It is a completely natural case when the number of customers is suddenly reduced to a minimum, and only after some time one of the former customers will say that the neighbor was saying something out of envy. In such a situation, the very word of mouth, which until that moment was an effective tool, will turn into an active enemy.
Where to open an atelier
To fix clothes, there will be enough room in a large shopping center, where there are shops with the proper products. Customers regularly need length adjustment services as well as body shaping. A businessman needs to be prepared for quality and quick work. The only drawback is the substantial rent.
The second method is the room, which is located on the ground floor of an apartment building in a quiet area or in a small row near a crowded place. In this case, the rental price will be less. In some cases, they do as follows: the acceptance point of orders is located in the center, and the workplace is located on the periphery.
The method will be an ideal solution for executing orders that do not need operational execution. In any case, the smallest dimensions of the room should be an average of 10 m 2 . After some time, if the customer base has become larger, it makes sense to expand.
Equipment
The key equipment, of course, will be a sewing machine, preferably multi-functional. Even a businessman will need a specialized cutting table, a sliding tailor's dummy and other devices: needles, threads, scissors and so on. The approximate price for equipment ranges from 20 thousand rubles.
Staff
It is very important to seriously approach this issue before opening an atelier, since the success of the entire project lies in the skill of the employees. In particular, it is recommended to solve this issue already at first, when the entrepreneur began to enjoy the confidence of customers.
When hiring employees should be guided by the following requirements. A person must be a master of his own business. In simple words, he must have sewing skills in order to fulfill orders quickly and efficiently.
It will not be superfluous if the tailor has communication skills, this will help him to properly discuss with customers. Calmness, accuracy, conscientiousness and competent performance of work are important criteria by which candidates for the position are selected.
Mode of operation
It is recommended to set the work schedule in accordance with the geolocation or similar to the schedule of the shopping center where the businessman’s organization is located. Some entrepreneurs are guided by customer patency. Acceptable schedule: from 9 am to 8 pm, it is advisable to make Saturday and Sunday working days.
Advertising
Do not be greedy when it comes to promotion. It is recommended to distribute flyers, as well as lay out flyers in mailboxes. It is imperative to communicate with the distributors of boutiques in which clothes are sold. It will not be superfluous to tell sellers that it will become easier for them to sell products if the client knows that the trousers of interest will suit him nearby. In addition, each customer should have atelier business cards.
Summary
Consequently, to open your own studio you will need a starting capital of about 200,000 rubles. A small institution every day is able to fulfill about 15 orders. Repair services are often valued at 100-300 rubles, and for personal tailoring ask from 2 thousand. Naturally, the cost depends on the difficulty of the order and is considered individually.