How to open a furniture store: a business plan and recommendations. Furniture production as a business: which direction to choose? Is the furniture business profitable?

People seek comfort and certainty. They want the work to be built thoroughly and bring in a solid income, they want to start their day in an environment that pleases the eye and meets all needs. The words "quality", "stability", "respectability" are applicable both to a well-established life and to a thriving business. One of the most stable and promising directions the latter is the furniture sector.

Analysis of the Russian furniture market

From a geographical point of view, most of the furniture manufacturing enterprises are located in the Central Federal District, namely in the Moscow region - Moscow and the Moscow region. At the same time, large players tend to stretch the network from the capital to smaller cities.

In the 1990s, the Russian market was dominated by imported products. The period of demand for domestic goods came after the crisis of 1998, when people simply could not afford expensive foreign furniture and preferred Russian manufacturers. A similar trend was observed in 2008 as well.

In 2015-2017, dense development was carried out in Russia, while the total share of sales in the furniture niche decreased by 5-7%. But 2018 promises an increase in demand. It's time to get into business.

The legion of furniture makers is dominated by trade organizations that sell finished and "made to order" products. Companies operating with a full technological cycle: design, production of materials, production finished product, the provision of delivery and assembly services is much less. Own production, maintenance of storage facilities is a costly business.

Furniture is conditionally divided into several categories: household, office and special. Further on the body and soft. The niche of the economy and middle price segments is firmly occupied by domestic manufacturers, but in the premium class, competition from foreign companies is extremely high.

To date, the Russian market is dominated (in descending order): cabinet, office, kitchen, upholstered, children's, furniture for summer cottages, specialized (includes furnishings for public buildings, transport, gardens, parks).

Business plan for a furniture store

So how do you start a furniture selling business? First of all, you should find out what the buyer is in demand for the current period, what the modern market offers and how to make a profit while avoiding high competition. And then calculate the costs, risks and strategy.

A business plan for the production and / or sale of furniture includes the following mandatory items:

Product type (cabinet, upholstered, office furniture, etc. in accordance with your assortment).
Technological cycle of production, estimated costs, payback periods.
Enterprise financing: own assets, borrowed funds, attraction of partners, investors, founders. Salary distribution plan.
Organization of production: rent or acquisition of production and storage facilities, purchase of related equipment, recruitment of personnel and specialized personnel.
Target audience of buyers: wholesale customers, private customers, dealers, retailers.
Realization of goods and services: own retail outlets, individual orders, direct deliveries to wholesale and individual customers.
Advertising and promotion of the company. Sum Money allocated for advertising.
Company registration and legal registration in the appropriate authorities.

Important: in order to avoid unforeseen expenses, each item of the plan should be carefully worked out and calculated.

Who is the potential buyer of the new interior? For the most part it is:

young families;
families with children of school age;
opening firms and organizations;
the elderly, pensioners.

Choosing a place for a furniture store

Chinese furniture center project

Retail space can be rented / bought in a large shopping center, a separate building, a room with a separate entrance, etc. The main criterion for selection is patency. It is not so important whether it will be a center or a sleeping area, the key to success is an intense flow of people in this location. It is also advantageous if the store can be seen from the roadway. A bright sign, visible from the road, will reduce advertising costs and attract potential buyers.

A small retail area with several expositions can be played up in the form of an apartment and samples of each room can be presented according to their intended purpose: kitchen, bedroom, living room, hallway. Distribute extensive retail spaces thematically: upholstered furniture, cabinet, glass, wicker.

In order to freely move from object to object and not miss a single sample, the passages should be made spacious, flowing one into another. And don't be afraid bold decisions! The more outstanding the styles and combinations, the more chances to be remembered and stand out from the mass of typical, hackneyed solutions.

In addition, you can hire a designer and work out the exhibition in all details. After all, if a bedroom is exposed, there should be a bedspread on the beds, bed linen, flower arrangements on the bedside tables, an intricate picture on the wall, dishes with original ornaments in the kitchen, a delightful carpet in the living room that beckons you to take off your shoes and step barefoot on a soft pile . Often, the interior comes to life and is “sold” precisely due to the decor and stylish little things.

How more area rooms - the higher the ceilings should be. In any case - from 3 meters. Lighting is of particular importance: it should not blind or distort the color, but it should be enough to see the details.

Furniture store advertisement

Why invest in advertising? So that people know that there is a company, it is engaged in the arrangement of residential premises, regularly informs customers about the arrival of new collections, the beginning of discounts and, with well-organized work, thereby attracts a new audience.

You need a website to grow your business. You also need pages on popular social networks, a customer base to which you can send commercial offers by e-mail, printed catalogs with product samples, company brochures. The methods are combined with each other and the optimal one is chosen.

If you have an initial budget, you can contact a marketer who will conduct a detailed market analysis, help identify the target audience and calculate advertising investment options with a high probability of payback.

For those who start without a financial cushion, there are plenty of options to make themselves known with minimal investment. A fair number of firms sell furniture "from photographs" - they create a page on Instagram or Vkontakte, post pictures beautiful interiors and offer services for the miscalculation, design and manufacture of an identical product. And, as statistics show, people order.

If the exhibition area is located on the territory of the furniture center, this is already an advertisement. It's all about the small - an attractive sign and an original exposition. Further development depends on the work of consultants and the quality of products.

If the store is based in a separate building, you should organize a magnificent opening: print leaflets, hire promoters, decorate the entrance and offer pleasant bonuses to the first customers in honor of the start of work.

Search and selection of suppliers

Work in the furniture industry involves interaction with a number of contractors. First of all, these are manufacturers. The ideal option is to cooperate with the factory directly, but this is only possible if the volume of the order is beneficial to the manufacturer. The plant will not make a couple of cabinets and a kitchen for a small apartment. That is why it is easier for small firms to communicate with dealers and distributors.

When choosing a supplier, the following points are important:

Does the furniture meet the established quality standards?
Do the supplier's capabilities match the technical and design objectives of your projects?
Stability and reliability of the company, popularity in the market, recommendations of large firms.
Warranty terms.

Attention: the supplier must guarantee that the furniture conforms to the declared characteristics, subject to the conditions of transportation, storage, assembly and operation, produce replacement elements of the product during the warranty period to ensure the maintainability of the furniture.

Pricing: How to Conduct Competitor Analysis

In order to assess the situation on the market, experts advise conducting marketing research. This does not mean that you need to pay big money, wait months and rack your brains over a dozen schemes and tables. No, this is a set of data on what and how competitors trade, what are their advantages and disadvantages.

Firms-newcomers, as a rule, are not ready to spend the budget on analytics. Here's what you can do in this case: attend furniture exhibitions. Manufacturers from all over the world present existing and new samples, willingly get acquainted and share professional information. There are a lot of both ordinary buyers and representatives of retail chains at the exhibition, and this is a great opportunity to understand what they offer, what kind of discount system they use and what bonuses cooperation promises.

As a last resort, resort to the help of the Internet and collect all possible information about their competitors there.

Legal registration of business

Choosing a taxation system

In the field retail there are 4 main tax regime: UTII (single tax on imputed income), STS (simplified taxation system), OSNO ( general system taxation), PSN (patent system of taxation).

The simplified system of taxation is considered the most popular. For individual entrepreneurs there are no restrictions on the application of the simplified tax system, for an LLC there are a number of requirements for the number of full-time employees, income and branches.

Reference: the tax rate depends on the region, the type of activity of the company and the turnover of funds.

In general, the choice of the system looks like this:

small store without branches - USN
a store with a high, uninterrupted profit - UTII
seasonal trade, exhibitions – PSN
cooperation with legal entities, including VAT - OSNO

Choosing a form of ownership

Forms of ownership for the operation of a furniture company 2 - LLC and IP. To work with orders from commercial organizations, you need to register an LLC, and if you work only with individuals, it is enough to open the IP.

To register a company, you must prepare the following documents:

The name of the company
opening decision protocol
information about the director and accountant
charter indicating the type of activity and the amount of the authorized capital
Bank details
receipt of payment of state duty

There are few special requirements for the furniture trade. It will be necessary to conclude agreements with Rospotrebnadzor, Rospozhnadzor and MUP Gorenergo.

Recruitment and registration

To launch the project, you need a staff of employees: a director, sales assistants (the number depends on the area and assortment of the store), a designer, an accountant, a customer service manager. It is also necessary to conclude agreements with transport companies and carriers.

Employees should be officially registered in accordance with the provisions of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation: sign an employment contract, an order for employment, create an employee's personal card and make an entry in the work book.

The usual markup on furniture is +/- 50%, there are models with a 100% markup and more. During the promotions, discounts are set at 20%, 30% and reach up to 50%. The maximum discount is given in order to quickly sell stagnant goods and purchase a new collection.

Offers that guarantee personal benefit to the client work great: interest-free installments, low-interest loans, free delivery, check-out or cashless payments.

Working in the same area, entrepreneurs closely monitor each other. One of the ways to influence the consumer market is dumping - an artificial price reduction. Many companies, in order to survive competitors and capture a niche, put price tags below the cost of goods, thereby causing people to feel "there is a scam around, but these are honest." But sooner or later the cost will have to be raised, people will react negatively and again go looking for somewhere cheaper. How to deal with dumping? Become not competitors, but colleagues and, on a contractual basis, agree on a system of discounts that will be attractive to customers and provide an opportunity for sellers to earn.

Online shopping: a good way to cut costs

How to thread an elephant through the eye of a needle? Or applicable to furniture: how to present the maximum number of collections and samples of goods without investing a single extra ruble in rent? Open an online store. Most of the buyers, before coming to the salon, look for and select models on the Internet. Many do not even reach the salon and make a purchase online - a photo of the product from various angles, descriptions, guarantees and manager's consultations are enough.

The larger the range, the more calls come in with questions. That is why it is advisable to organize the work of a call center and hire specialists who will competently advise and lead the buyer to miscalculations and orders.

By tracking the behavior of buyers on the site, you get pure statistics on which models are in the highest demand, where, on the contrary, there are obvious shortcomings in everyday life. Based on the information received, it is possible to adjust the work of a real salon, open additional points and exhibit a guaranteed in-demand assortment.

With the growth of demand and turnover, it makes sense to open new salons, expand the model ranges. Many large enterprises stake on the regions and open branches in the region and nearby cities.

No matter how changeable economic sphere, fashion, the behavior of competitors, service remains the main thing in any business. I would like to return to a place where the service is high quality, fast and friendly. Properly built communication, clear work of employees within the team and following current trends will help you survive and flourish under any circumstances.

The success of any enterprise is associated with certain circumstances. What is important is how interesting the products of the enterprise are for consumers, how competitive they are.

At the same time, starting a business from scratch, the main thing is to do it right choice in favor of one direction or another.

There are many options for starting a new business. Each of them is attractive in its own way and has certain advantages.

Advantages of the furniture business

In terms of development prospects and profitability furniture business from scratch takes one of the first places. According to the studies of purchasing activity, the volume of furniture purchases over the past two years not only did not decrease, but even increased.

There is a decrease in sales of luxury furniture. And yet, this decrease is very small. And sales of furniture of average and economy level have grown. This trend continues and is likely to continue in the coming years.

The fact is that buying furniture is perceived as a serious purchase, along with a car. However, unlike the machine. Buying furniture is more affordable. Therefore, investments in the furniture business seem to be correct and economically justified.

Why opening a furniture business is profitable

Starting your own business is always a big decision. Therefore, every entrepreneur wants to make sure. Some of its features act as such insurance in the case of this business:

Sales stability

Furniture sales do not fall depending on the time of year. They do not depend on foreign exchange rates and cost natural resources. Along with clothing, furniture is an item that is always needed. Therefore, she is the leader in sales.

A slice of the market made at any time of the year will show that the level of furniture sales remains stable.

At the same time, the availability of offers is also an important point. Furniture prices have risen, but not critically. It is still public, unlike cars. This is also due to the fact that most of these products are produced in Russia.

But this circumstance also has a negative connotation for a beginner in the furniture business. This is high competition.

However, it is surmountable. There are hundreds of furniture options. Therefore, you can always find your niche and work within it, receiving stable, decent money;

Possibility of small investments

Furniture production involves completely different levels of investment. There are several market segments in which you can work. If we talk about low-budget investments, then such a business is available to everyone. At the same time, own production is good because it can be gradually developed. You can introduce new technologies, purchase equipment and get more interesting and diverse products;

Lack of a large number of documents

To start a furniture business, you do not need to draw up a lot of documents. The company can organize and individual entrepreneur. At the same time, there are no special requirements for production facilities. It is enough to comply with general fire and sanitary standards;

Supplier selection

Thanks to a large number suppliers of upholstery materials, various fillers, accessories and other things, everyone will be able to choose the most profitable options.

What do you need to start a furniture business?

Of course, to start a new business from scratch, investments are required. However, the amount of these investments depends on the capabilities of each merchant. Therefore, it makes sense to talk about general conditions organization of such a business:

First of all, you need to register as an individual entrepreneur. The cost of this procedure is small and limited to a few thousand rubles. At the same time, it is completely optional to use the services of various companies;

You will need to choose a taxation system. The most acceptable is the system of tax on imputed income. Thus, the entrepreneur will pay a fixed amount annually. Nothing more is required of him.

Everything is done with the help of multifunctional centers that arrange everything required documents. To do this, you only need an application and a receipt for payment of the state fee.

It will take production room. In order to save money, it can be rented on the outskirts. After all, this is not a place to sell. Therefore, such a room should not be located in the city center or in close proximity to it.

We must not forget that such a room must comply with fire safety requirements. Otherwise, it is fraught with large fines and suspension of the enterprise.

It is necessary to provide ways for waste disposal and delivery of products to retail outlets. Thus, the location of the production should be convenient, and the room itself should be spacious.

A competent choice of suppliers of accessories and upholstery materials will save good money. Each of these suppliers seeks to find a new client and cooperate with him indefinitely. long time. Therefore, it always makes sense to negotiate the conditions for granting discounts and other privileges.

Also, it will be necessary to hire assemblers and other personnel. In order to reduce the cost of their wages, they should establish a minimum wages. Its level is established by law and the salary cannot be less than it. And the rest of the income, workers will have to earn.

It is about linking the level of earnings of employees of an enterprise that is open from scratch to the level of productivity of their labor.

The more an employee has completed in a day, the more money he will receive at the end of the month. This approach seems to be the most justified. Under the condition of conscientiousness, the employees themselves will be interested in it, first of all.

Thus, it will be possible to seriously stimulate them. Ultimately, this will lead to an increase in labor productivity, and, consequently, to an increase in sales. In addition, the performance discipline will increase, and the interest in the results of labor on the part of the team will also increase. These circumstances will create exactly the conditions that are necessary for the sustainable development of a new business.

In general, it should be noted that the furniture business is a promising industry. This segment of the market is constantly evolving, there are new models, new developments.

Improving the quality of services and end products. Therefore, being inside and understanding the ongoing processes and following them means creating a full-fledged, efficient and profitable business.

At the same time, the level of investments is determined by each investor independently. However, in order to reduce risks, it is undesirable to use all your capabilities at once. It makes sense to let the business and the conditions in which it will develop show itself.

Kuprienko Dmitry, an experienced entrepreneur in the field of furniture production, shares practical advice about how to start and organize a business in the production of furniture, what you need to organize your first workshop, how to rise from scratch and where to start in this business.

Many firms that started their business with the manufacture of cabinet furniture in small workshops a few years ago became quite successful and expanded their business. Today, some of these organizations, in addition to the production of kitchens, wardrobes and other interior items, provide a number of other services to the population. Usually this is cutting laminated chipboard and making facades from MDF according to customer sizes, pasting the ends of PVC parts and melamine edges, assembling doors from aluminum profile and sale of furniture fittings with accessories.

With some experience and basic knowledge in this area, you can organize your own small business, which has every chance of success. Moreover, some serious capital investments and the presence of large production areas on the initial stage you won't need. With the right approach, rational use earned funds and a certain amount of luck, you can literally in 1-2 years have a decent income.

How to start a furniture manufacturing business?

Kuprienko Dmitry(author of the material) - has been manufacturing custom-made cabinet furniture for more than ten years:

"The presence of a huge number of players in this market segment should not stop you. In any business, as elsewhere, the evolutionary process never stops - someone goes bankrupt, and a more efficient entrepreneur takes his place"

Since, as already noted, starting a small business for the production of cabinet furniture does not imply large cash costs, there can be no talk of any expensive advertising campaigns and other promotions. Finding your customers can be much easier and cheaper. It is enough to order business cards and distribute them to everyone you can, or publish a few ads in special newspapers.

Also try to negotiate with small hardware stores for cooperation, since the chances of finding a customer in such a place are quite high. Renovators often plan to purchase new furniture as well. If you can convince the owners of these outlets that they will benefit from a certain percentage of your orders, then customers will soon appear.

In addition to traditional methods, you need to start preparing your website or blog, since every year more and more orders, especially in large and medium-sized cities, are received by craftsmen via the Internet. Of course, promoting such your own virtual store will require financial and material costs from you, but not everything is done at once. Gradually developing the main production, in parallel, engage in the development of an Internet resource, which, under a successful set of circumstances, will provide you with many orders - the dream of all entrepreneurs without exception.

How to choose the right material supplier?

Sufficiently high competition in this sector forces firms providing this kind of services to pursue approximately the same financial policy. Therefore, choosing an organization based only on prices will be fundamentally wrong. Some may sell some products cheaper than competitors, while others - more expensive, as a result, the average cost of components for the production of furniture will be approximately the same everywhere. Naturally, we are talking about the same level of quality, since materials and accessories from different manufacturers have different prices.

The maximum possible range of goods and services offered by the organization to its customers. In such a place, you should be able to buy almost everything you need without spending extra time and money on trips to other stores for some small change. Moreover, it is highly desirable that the components be sold in different price categories, since customers have an unequal income level, and not everyone will be able to pay for expensive elite materials, and some only need these. Therefore, you should have the freedom of choice in one place.

No less important are the terms of execution of your orders and the discounts that are provided to regular customers. Duplicate the information received from the company's employees with experienced clients. It is from them that you can learn important nuances.

The location of the organization plays a significant role, it is better to start working with a company that is located as close as possible to your workshop. Voyages across the city, with the current traffic congestion during the daytime, take up a lot of precious time.

The territory should have convenient access to the workshops and properly equipped platforms for loading parts into your vehicles. It's good when in such places there are canopies that guarantee the safety of parts in any bad weather.

Search for premises and purchase of equipment

For the manufacture of cabinet furniture at the initial stage, you will need a room with an area of \u200b\u200babout 20-25 square meters, it will be good if it turns out to be one a large room. Please note that a small warehouse will be located here for both recently imported blanks and for finished products. In the same room, it will be necessary to drill and process parts, as well as assemble furniture, so choosing a room of less than 20 squares is not recommended.

In addition, pay attention to the possibility of maintaining the temperature in it at the level of 10-15 degrees in the autumn-winter period. Immediately calculate how much it will cost you. Sometimes cheap rent is completely offset by expensive heating. There was no need to remind at all that the room should be dry, since this is one of the main conditions, and by neglecting it, you risk a lot.

Confidence in the safety of all property is also important, because over time, if the business develops successfully, components and equipment worth several thousand dollars can be simultaneously located in the workshop. Do not forget here about ensuring convenient loading of finished furniture and unloading of imported parts with fittings.

When buying equipment, many cannot decide on the class hand power tools. There are very opposite opinions on this matter: some people prefer to buy inexpensive goods and change them as needed, others work only with expensive products of world famous brands.

There is also a tool that is in the middle price range, and here it is, perhaps, worth choosing at the very beginning. In addition to production needs, it is always useful for other things. In order for you not to have any problems during the execution of orders, you must have in your arsenal:

Electric drill - 2000 rubles;
Cordless screwdriver - 2500 rubles;
A cordless screwdriver - 2000 rubles;
Electric jigsaw - 2200 rubles;
Manual frezer- 2500 rubles;
Sander- 2500 rubles;
Electric end saw - 7000 rubles;
Industrial dryer- 1600 rubles;
Perforator - 2200 rubles.
Kit cutting tool: drills, cutters, knives and crowns - 3000 rubles;
Standard set hand tool home master - 1000 rubles;
Clamps - 1000 rubles;
Miter box - 800 rubles.

Over time, as you gain more experience and save money to develop your production, you will acquire more sophisticated equipment that provides a higher level of production. In the meantime, it is quite possible to get by with what is listed in this section, since this is quite enough to produce cabinet furniture from finished parts. Your costs when purchasing the mentioned instrument will be about 30 thousand rubles, and prices may deviate in both directions by about 20%.

Software

No, we are not talking about expensive CNC machines, but just two programs that can greatly facilitate your work at the stages of furniture design and when ordering cutting chipboard. One way or another, but you will have to do this anyway, until things are going well that allow you to hire an employee for this purpose. Without the use of software, this entire process will take a lot of time and effort, and errors in calculations are also possible. Therefore, it is worth paying attention to very simple and useful programs:

PRO 100- a program created for the design and construction of furniture. With its help, you can easily carry out both the visualization of an object and the calculation of the parts necessary for assembly. To date, there are several versions of PRO 100, as the program is constantly being improved. The latest development allows you to create quite realistic 3D pictures.

Cutting- a program whose purpose is to assist in compiling the best option for cutting sheets of chipboard and MDF. Using it, you will quickly find out how much material is needed for the manufacture of a particular product, and you will also be able to minimize unclaimed waste. Cutting saves both time and money.

In addition, it is desirable to have a laptop. Your future work associated with frequent visits to housing, offices and other facilities where measurements will be made. Almost all customers in this case are childishly impatient, they want to immediately see what their furniture looks like. With a laptop and PRO 100, you can render in 45-70 minutes. By the way, this greatly increases your chances of getting an order.

Prospects for the development of the furniture business

Following our recommendations and setting aside part of the money earned for business development, you will be able to reach a new quality level within 2-3 years. In the process of fulfilling orders, acquaintances are made with construction teams, since repairmen and furniture makers, in fact, are inseparable. Such connections, like the Internet project, will allow you to increase the number of customers and increase your income.

An important factor that guarantees success of undertakings, is the constant expansion of the production base, both in terms of increasing space and purchasing new equipment.

From the first days of work you will dream of panel saw and edge banding machines. They provide independence, allow you to quickly correct errors on the spot and save money.

But you can’t rush to buy them, many craftsmen, applying ahead of time to a bank or private individuals for a loan to purchase them, incorrectly assessed their capabilities and subsequently suffered losses. Therefore, it is better to make such serious purchases with your own money or borrow a small amount.

Expensive machines justify themselves only with the appropriate volumes of processed material, only then they are effective.

Their cost is approximately:

Panel saw (made in China) - about 200,000 rubles.
Curvilinear edge banding machine (made in Russia, China) - about 50,000 rubles.

There is equipment and a little cheaper, and much more expensive than the given prices. But even familiarization with the average cost of machines, which are usually purchased for small workshops, is enough to avoid making impulsive decisions. Without a carefully calibrated business plan, which is confirmed by an increase in the number of orders, you should not start this event. Just as undesirable for effective development may be a delay in such a purchase. You will simply waste money and time.

Furniture manufacturing has always been considered a promising occupation, especially in our country, since a huge percentage of the population still exploits old sets and dreams of new ones. People who bought a kitchen, closet or hallway about 5-8 years ago are already starting to think about replacing them, so furniture makers will always be with work. You just need to organize it correctly.

New idea for business: Production of fences and railings for private households under the Lego Fence franchise (novelty, lack of competition, high demand even in current market conditions).

Despite the presence of a constant huge demand in the furniture sales market, most start-up entrepreneurs, and indeed experienced businessmen too, do not even consider this option as possible to create successful business considering that the furniture market is already oversaturated with supply. The price of an “entrance ticket” to the business, long payback periods and a high level of competition also “scare away”. Is this really the case, or can the question of how to open a furniture store from scratch be considered from a different angle?

Brief business analysis:
Business setup costs: 3-7 million rubles
Relevant for cities with a population:from 10 thousand people
Situation in the industry:high competition
The complexity of organizing a business: 4/5
Payback: 1.5-2 years

Furniture store formats

How to open a furniture store, how to start such a complex business, how to avoid the mistakes common to novice entrepreneurs? First of all, you need to decide on the format of the furniture store and conduct a thorough marketing research.

What are furniture stores?

Of course, each type of store requires its own rules of operation, various investments and other factors that must be taken into account when determining the format of trade.

When choosing a type of store, you need to consider economic indicators in the region and the country as a whole, the purchasing power of the population in a particular locality, the presence of competitors nearby.

Currently, almost any major furniture chain offers those who wish to create a business under their own brand. What does the franchise buyer get? First of all, it is a comprehensive support expressed by:

in providing finished business plan furniture store;
in providing samples of furniture;
assistance in staff training;
some advantages when obtaining a loan for organizing and / or developing a business.

What, in turn, is the buyer of the franchise obliged to do?

Make payment for the use of the franchise within the terms specified in the contract;
clearly comply with all the conditions for granting a franchise (these may be requirements for premises, employees, doing business, etc.).

Working on a franchise imposes certain obligations on the entrepreneur, but many people like this approach to doing business with its stability and relative safety. Relative, because in fact, some franchise companies often do not fulfill their obligations under the contract, and the businessman receives the promised support only in words. Therefore, the choice of a franchise must be approached with full responsibility.

Another format of a furniture store that deserves attention is an online store. Internet trading has already become very popular in big cities, while in the regions online shopping is still treated with caution.

To open an online furniture store, you will need an amount several times less than to create an offline outlet. What is required to open an online store?

First of all, this is a website.
Premises for storing goods - at the discretion of the business owner.
Availability of own delivery service or contract with a third-party service.
An office space that will house operators who take and process orders, answer customer calls, and other employees.

Dropshipping work

Dropshipping is an interesting new trading format in which the seller only takes orders for the manufacturer, while acting as an independent legal entity or individual entrepreneur. In this case, the manufacturing company often bears the costs of warehousing, delivery and all other expenses.

The entrepreneur can only take orders in his store and send them to the factory, receiving his legitimate commission.

Of course, having only catalogs available to present furniture products to customers, it is unlikely that it will be possible to attract many customers. Therefore, one or two samples of furniture are still worth putting on display.

The supply of goods is the most difficult aspect of any business, unless, of course, you are a direct manufacturer. When choosing a supplier, it is especially difficult to trade via the Internet and according to the dropshipping scheme. If in the first case the seller still somehow contacts the supplier through rare personal meetings, then in the second situation the seller often never sees the manufacturer.

Relying on the decency, responsibility and reliability of partners in our time is a huge luxury that a sane businessman cannot afford. Therefore, first of all, you need to look for reviews about the manufacturer. And not only reviews of those who worked with this supplier, but also customer reviews about the quality of the product produced by this company.

After all, the main claims of the end user most often relate to the quality of the purchased goods. And the demand, as you know, will be from the one who took the order and promised the client “mountains of gold”.

So, what should be considered when choosing a business partner?

Manufactured products should stand out for common market furniture not only good quality but also at affordable prices. Which is better: to make only two sales of 50 thousand rubles each in a month, or 15 sales of 20 thousand each?
You need to look for reviews about possible suppliers on the Internet - on various sites and forums. However, you should not blindly trust what is written, it is quite possible that these reviews may turn out to be custom-made. The best option is to personally communicate with organizations that have worked with this supplier.
Choose companies that have proven themselves and have a solid work experience in the furniture market. You should not contact new companies without serious recommendations, even if they offer super favorable conditions for cooperation.
It is better to try to work with firms that produce furniture from domestic raw materials and accessories. Companies that use foreign materials in their products are highly dependent on currency fluctuations and the general political and economic situation in the world.
It is better to deal with suppliers who agree to give furniture for sale, who are ready to work in installments and provide other preferential terms.
It is always necessary to request a certificate for the supplied products. Moreover, this should not be a one-time service, but a document on the proper quality of the goods should be for each purchased batch (if the products are bought in bulk). Suppliers will understand this anyway.
If you open a narrow product range store, you should try to deal with one supplier. Furniture trade is not an area where you can rush from one supplier to another. Sooner or later, due to the threat of disruption of contracts, most reliable suppliers may refuse to cooperate. In addition, it will be much easier for any businessman, especially a beginner, to work and analyze work with one partner.

You need to understand that in the low and middle price segment of the market it is difficult to find a manufacturer working with the manufacture of exclusive furniture in a single copy or small-circulation lots. Such things are done either by factories that produce luxury furniture, or by small furniture workshops that work exclusively by order.

Also, you should always keep an eye on new trends. For example, at present, a transformable and built-in multifunctional furniture. Sales of cabinet furniture remained with a slight drop by several positions only in the low price segment.

Thorough marketing research is the second stage pre-training when opening a furniture store from scratch. It is foolish to meddle in a niche that is chock-full of offers. Of course, in any business there will always be a place for another applicant for a “place in the sun”, but in this case, business promotion will take much longer and cost a lot more.

Despite the not entirely favorable environment for small and medium-sized businesses in the country, sales in the furniture market are growing - slowly but surely. According to experts, this is partly due to the "gloomy" forecasts for the Russian economy. People are looking to update furniture now, not sure if it will be possible in the foreseeable future.

In addition, the share of imported furniture on the Russian market fell quite sharply, making it possible for the development of the domestic furniture industry. But even this fact did not increase competition in the market, all because of the same fears of going into the furniture business due to high costs, long payback and high competition.

The decline in mortgage rates led to an increase in demand for real estate, an increase in construction, the number of home purchases in the primary market and, as a result, an increase in sales of new furniture.

What should a novice entrepreneur consider when analyzing competitors?

You need to start with the location of the outlet. Often the choice of location is decisive in sales. There are shops where prices are higher and the conditions are not as favorable as in others, but people go to them. Because the store is conveniently located. Not often, but such precedents do occur.
Pricing policy. Since the assortment of furniture stores is approximately the same and suppliers from competitors located in the same locality are often the same, even a small price reduction can become a serious argument in the competition. Especially for a budding entrepreneur. Who needs to win his client, to make himself a "face".
Terms of the contract of sale. You need to try to include more pleasant “bonuses” for buyers in your work. Carrying out promotions, introducing discounts in certain numbers month (of course, for “stale” products), free delivery within the city, free assembly, lower prices for climbing to the floor and other “chips” will allow you to stand out from your competitors.
Reviews about competitors buyers. This is also an important factor. If the buyer is loyal to the store, he will definitely recommend it to his friends, acquaintances, relatives on occasion.

All the necessary information can be found under the guise of a buyer at a competitor's point of sale by interviewing their buyers. Knowing the main points of the work of competitors, you can build a competitive strategy. The “sit and do nothing” option will not work here. The furniture business is a tough industry where only those with the strongest grip remain.

Scheme for opening a business selling furniture

The general scheme for organizing a business selling furniture looks something like this:

Organization stage	Required time	Cost of implementation, rub.
Carrying out marketing analysis	Up to 1 month	Free (subject to independent work)
Choice of store format	Up to 1 week	For free
Supplier search	Up to 1 month	For free
Finding a suitable retail space	Up to 1 month	For free
Conclusion of a lease agreement	1 Week	Depending on the region, from 80 to 800 thousand
Documentation of business (registration of an individual entrepreneur or LLC, registration with tax authorities, etc.)	Up to 1 month	5-8 thousand
Personnel search	Up to 1 month	For free
Staff training	Up to 1 month	For free
Solving organizational issues (determining the work schedule, developing a system of employee motivation, a system of penalties, etc.). Development of marketing tools (promotions, discounts, etc.)	Up to 1 month	For free
Loan funds (if necessary)	1-2 weeks	For free
Concluding an agreement with a furniture supplier, ordering samples	1 Week	From 600 to 2,000 thousand
Carrying out renovation work in the premises and the design of the trading floor	Up to 1 month	From 50 to 400 thousand
Development of an advertising campaign and the beginning of its implementation	Up to 1 month	From 100 to 300 thousand
Creation, coordination and installation of signboards, billboards and billboards	1 Week	From 20 to 80 thousand
Store opening	1 day	For free

Most of the stages of organizing a business are carried out simultaneously, so the total timeframe that you can “meet” by opening a furniture store from scratch is about 2-3 months.

How much investment will be required

In order to open a furniture store from scratch offline, a very significant amount will be required, unlike the online version of a furniture store, franchise work and dropshipping.

In addition to monthly payments for renting a room, you will have to spend a lump sum on the acquisition cash register equipment required for bookkeeping. After - periodically pay for the maintenance of the CCP. You also need to pay salaries to sellers, accountants, loaders and furniture assemblers, and technical workers.

Based on the experience of various furniture stores operating in the regions, opening a store will require from 500 thousand rubles to 1.5 million for every 100 square meters. meters of area. In Moscow and St. Petersburg, this amount increases to 1-2.5 million rubles for the same area.

Do I need a business plan to sell furniture

The question of whether a business plan is needed for a furniture store is a bit irrelevant. So complex project very difficult to implement without a step-by-step guide that needs to anticipate most of the common mistakes in this business.

The business plan should guide the novice entrepreneur through all the stages of organizing a business, bypassing the main obstacles that his predecessors met. You can try to draw up a business plan yourself, using for this various manuals. But, firstly, it will take quite a lot of time, and, secondly, it is not a fact that a non-specialist will be able to correctly reveal all the necessary aspects of the document.

Most best option– order the development of a business plan in specialized company. In addition to guaranteeing the quality of the compiled guide, this can serve as an advantage if it is necessary to provide a business plan to the bank, if you need to take a loan.

Location and premises for a furniture store

As already mentioned, the location of a furniture store can play a decisive role in sales volumes. What conditions should a businessman provide for when looking for the right premises for a retail outlet?

The question whether it will be a separate building or only a part of the area in a shopping center or somewhere else does not really matter. The main thing is that good access roads lead to the building, including for trucks.
It would be better if the store is located on the first floor in the first line of houses on the street.
The location area also does not matter much. For the ratio of price and quality in matters of choosing furniture, people will be ready to go even to the other end of the city. Especially if you get free shipping on your purchase. But, nevertheless, it will be better if the location is chosen taking into account the categories of potential buyers.
The choice of premises should also be based on taking into account the necessary parameters - a separate entrance (if the store is located in a residential building) and an emergency exit, a ceiling height of at least 3 meters (for the possibility of installing high furniture samples). Standards for lighting (artificial and natural) must also be observed.
After the conclusion of the lease agreement, the premises must be inspected by employees of Rospotrebnadzor and the fire inspectorate, about which an appropriate conclusion will be issued.

In general, the final criteria for finding a suitable store space should be determined by its format. For a furniture hypermarket, you will need a separate large building with warehouses, which is unlikely to be found in the city center. For a luxury furniture store, it is better to be located closer to the private cottage sector. A standard or narrow-focused store can increase visitor traffic due to the location of high-rise buildings and new buildings in residential areas.

By the way, the installation of a shop sign on the building must be agreed with the landlord. And if the store is located in a residential building, then also with its residents, because. The house is the common property of all persons living in it.

Business registration

Today, there are two forms of doing business that are suitable for organizing a furniture business - use two tax regimes, and what taxes a particular individual entrepreneur pays.

Costs, profits and payback periods

As already mentioned, the total amount required to organize a furniture business depends on the region of the country. On average, this figure is up to 10-15 million rubles in Moscow and St. Petersburg for a store with an area of up to 1,000 square meters. meters, and 3-7 million rubles - for other cities and regions.

Profit planning is also calculated based on the specific working conditions and the format of the outlet. But, if we take into account the experience of working furniture stores, in general, furniture stores reach the break-even point by the end of the second year of their work. Given the size of the cost of organizing a business, these are very good indicators.

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Almost anyone can start their own business. The desire to become an entrepreneur arises in each of us at a certain stage of life. At this point, we begin to search, or metropolis, village or town. The most important thing is to find a business that would bring not only profit, but also pleasure.

Deciding on the format of a furniture store

Surely each of us bought furniture and household appliances and certainly faced a situation where we had to choose between price and quality, a finished product or made to order according to individual measurements. Accordingly, we can conclude that all stores are conditionally divided into several types, differ in format, price category and assortment.

Therefore, first of all, a novice entrepreneur needs to decide on the format of his future store.

To make it clear, I will guide you through several basic formats of furniture stores.

Furniture shop of narrow specialization. This is an establishment that offers customers a certain type of product, for example, exclusively soft sofas, kitchen corners and chairs. In this niche, this store is considered a full-fledged owner, offering customers a wide range of a specific group of goods. The required area for such an outlet is from 300 sq. m.
Furniture hypermarket. In such a store provided wide selection headset in the living room, bedroom, office, bathroom. To open such a store, you need a large room, not necessarily in the center, you can even outside the city. Recommended area from 1000 sq. m.
Furniture salon. This establishment differs significantly from its brothers in that it offers a wide range of expensive, luxury furniture from well-known manufacturers. Such stores are visited by people with high material wealth who can afford to buy a sofa for several thousand dollars. As a rule, there are not very many such furniture stores even in big cities. You can order goods there exclusively from the catalog, all furniture in the store is presented only as an exhibition material.
Store-warehouse. Such establishments offer their customers ready-made furniture from the factory. Here you can no longer order a sofa or bed according to individual measurements, you can only choose a product exclusively from the proposed grid of standard sizes. The advantage of buying such furniture is its cost and the ability to purchase goods in one day, and not wait several weeks to produce it.

It is worth noting that the cost of opening a furniture store will directly depend on the chosen format.

Where to get money to open a store?

In our article, we promised to tell you about how to open a furniture store from scratch. There are several options that you can use individually or all together.

Bank loan

If you do not have enough money to open a business, buy real estate or purchase household appliances, then they can be borrowed without problems. Is it worth it? Dealing with banks is a risky business, but sometimes quite justified. I recommend that you, before making this important decision, think carefully about everything. First, you need to make sure that the business is profitable, determine its approximate payback period and the level of competition. Once you are sure that you have made the right choice, go to apply for a loan.

Financial assistance from the state

Surely many of you have heard about such an opportunity to receive a certain amount for the development of your business. All that is required of you is:

Register with the employment service as unemployed;
Submit a certificate of income from the previous place of work;
Draw up a detailed business plan with calculations and submit it to the commission, which will make its verdict on receiving financial assistance or refusing it.

Thus, you will receive free financial assistance for the development of your business. Agree, even a small start-up capital won't bother you.

Investor

Another option for getting money and the opportunity to open a furniture business from scratch. Finding a partner or investor is quite difficult, but if you are confident in the profitability of your idea, have developed a detailed business plan to achieve the goal, then you can try to find a person who will agree to financially support your project.

Registration of a furniture business

To obtain a furniture trade permit, you should collect and issue a certain package of documents and permits.

The first step is to register with the tax office. Need to apply for registration legal entity(LLC) or individual entrepreneurship.

The second step is obtaining permits from the sanitary and fire service. The store premises must comply with safety standards and regulations. After checking specialized services, you will be issued a permit document.

The third step is obtaining permission from Rospotrebnadzor.

Where is the best place to rent a room?

In order to sell the goods, in this case furniture, you need to rent suitable premises. As noted above, first you need to decide on the format of the store, after which we can draw conclusions about the required area. After that, the rented premises of the outlet should be repaired so that it meets all fire safety requirements.

furniture store location

As for the location of the store, the same format of the outlet is taken into account here. If you are planning to open an elite furniture salon, then you need to rent a place in the city center, because rich clients will not go to your remote sleeping area. Opening a furniture hypermarket requires a large area on which the store itself will be located, as well as a parking lot and a warehouse. Therefore, it is most profitable to open a hypermarket outside the city or in a residential area of the city, where the rental price is much lower than in the center.

As for the design of the premises, in the case of a hypermarket, there is no need to do any special repairs, it is quite enough to comply with the rules for storing furniture and comply with the requirements of the fire and sanitary services.

If you open a salon of luxury furniture, you should take care of the interior in the room. This store does not need a large area, 30 sq. m., because in such establishments, customers choose all the goods from catalogs and only make and pay for the order. Therefore, there is no need to rent a large room, it is enough to equip a place for employees (table, chairs, computer) and a place for clients (soft sofas).

When opening a furniture store, your main expenses will be paying rent and advertising costs, which will attract wealthy customers. As for profit, you will receive a certain percentage from each order made. In this case, you, as a store, do not invest in the purchase of goods, the costs are borne by the buyer, who pays all the costs. Thus, your salon only provides the opportunity to select and order goods from the catalog and guarantees their delivery.

Making furniture to order or finished products?

You need to decide in what format you will work. First of all, you need to create an assortment. There are two options.

Manufacture and sale of products. In this case, your store is engaged in independent production furniture and its implementation. In our previous publications, we somehow discussed the possibility of opening a furniture and other goods manufacturing business, if you are interested, read it. In this case, production and sale are combined. This is a pretty good way to earn money, but financially costly for a novice entrepreneur.

The second option is exclusively the sale of furniture. This option involves mediation between the manufacturer of the product and the client. Profit trade point receives from each order by setting a margin on the product that sells.

As a rule, the second option is used more often, because it is less costly and risky.

We create a business plan

A business plan for a furniture store is a document that calculates the costs of implementing an idea for the production of furniture.

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