The crisis, border closures, and lockdowns that occurred as a result of the pandemic have led people to change their consumption habits. It turns out that the most profitable business in Russia now can be the one that will save money either now or in the future, and will also be adapted to modern realities. Experts and entrepreneurs told Izvestia which businesses should be opened now in order to get the most income.
Kirill Plokhikh, Director of the Faculty of Business at Synergy University, suggests that stock store, food delivery, fitness center, design clothing development, street food, event agency, catering, online – a school for children and a cleaning company. According to him, investments in each of these niches range from 450 thousand to 3 million rubles. Profitability usually occurs within the first eight months of launch. For example, with an average investment in an event agency, the level of income from it can be about 60%. At the same time, much depends on the management strategy, the correct choice of the target audience, the location of the enterprise, and competent investment in advertising.
“But often startups occupying the above-mentioned niches remain afloat, at least in Moscow. It is important that these businesses are not niche businesses, but the mass market, they are well-known, they are understandable in terms of launching. There is a huge number of self-instruction manuals, a rich regulatory framework for doing this business. Moreover, it is quite transparent from the point of view of the law, ”said the expert.
Vladislav Samarin, founder and CEO of EnerGO, called powerbank sharing an interesting direction of popular business for buying a franchise – like car sharing, only with chargers for gadgets. Investments in it amount to up to 1 million rubles and pay off in less than a year, while the business requires “much less involvement than coffee shops.” This is interesting for entrepreneurs who already have their own business and are interested in receiving additional passive income.
Takeaway food
Vladislav Samarin noted the wide popularity of such businesses as take-away coffee shops, self-service coffee stations (similar to vending), pizzerias and other take-away formats.
“A significant driver of growth here is the purchase of a franchise. This makes it possible for those who are interested in their own business and have funds from 500 thousand to 1.5 million rubles to start entrepreneurial activity rather quickly, ”he noted.
The entrepreneur added that a franchise with investments of up to 700 thousand rubles pays for itself in 12 months, these are average indicators, subject to the regulations of the management company. Larger projects with investments from 3 million rubles and areas from 200 sq. m “with comfortable eating areas” pay off in about two to three years, he said.
Marketplaces
Anton Larin, CEO of the service for selling goods on XWAY marketplaces, notes that in 2020 the pandemic forced entrepreneurs to go online – this is evidenced by the “record increase in the turnover of well-known marketplaces”, which Kommersant wrote about on June 16, 2021. He emphasized that for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), this format allowed to save on rental of premises and logistics, as well as to reduce the cost of promotion. Despite the growing competition, sites are an affordable sales channel for small businesses, he said.
Among the most promising niches today, one can single out: HYIP products – a subgroup in which the speed of launching to the platform is important. Trending products include pop-it anti-stress toys and masks from the Squid Game series. The demand for assortment can be monitored both using analytics services and within the platforms – for example, on Ozon, in the seller’s personal account, there is a tab “best-selling products”, among which are facial massagers, robotic vacuum cleaners, hair styling devices, he said. Larin.
Its one niche is seasonal goods, for the sale of which you need to prepare in advance – to make purchases in the summer for the New Year, in March – for Halloween, and so on. In addition, it is worth planning in advance the time for the promotion of the product card in order to enter the top-listing on the site on time, the expert noted.
Another subgroup includes goods of constant demand – food, household chemicals.
“Developed logistics and fast delivery on platforms make this category more and more in demand among online users,” added Larin.
Own-made goods are “the most difficult group” that requires investments in marketing activities, since first buyers have to learn about the product, the expert said. This category includes hand-made products, such as handmade candles.
The specialist recalled that on marketplaces, the main assets of the seller are product cards and reviews, only by investing resources in the development and improvement of which high sales can be achieved.
Nikolay Novoselov, business director of the distribution platform of LLC Kuore, noted that there are now about 400 thousand sellers in total on marketplaces. To successfully make money on such sites, he said, it is not necessary to sell a product. Of the businesses that are growing the fastest around marketplacers, the most successful he called logistics and packaging, transhipment small logistics centers, daily FBS deliveries (a sales scheme in which a supplier independently collects orders from buyers, packs them and transfers them to a delivery service or courier), and flexible FBO (sales from warehouse, not from supplier), intermediate storage and reverse logistics. He pointed out that the central platform for the selection of performers is the YouDo service, which supplies individual drivers and companies.
Speaking about the packaging business, the expert noted that “each of the millions of parcels” that are sent somewhere is packed in a film and / or box. He lamented that in Russia at the moment even cardboard boxes continue to be a “huge problem”: the queue for production, the queue for delivery, minimum runs. If you need something more complicated, sometimes finding a solution is simply impossible, he explained.
Maybe crowdfunding?
Maria Balmfort, head of the crowdfunding platform Boomstarter.ru, said that small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs come to the platform to launch online sales. She explained that crowdfunding is when a business sells pre-orders for its product, which is “a good way to honestly test demand and see what products are actually in demand.” Fiction, music albums and health products are the most popular with buyers on the platform, she said, as these are the most lucrative areas. They are among the top three industry leaders that generated the most sales for SMEs in a year.
How to make your business highly profitable
Sergey Kapatsevich, product director of ATOL SIGMA of the ATOL group of companies, told Izvestia that controlled businesses turned out to be the most stable during the period of pandemic and crisis. For this, entrepreneurs began to pay more attention to several areas.
“Firstly, we are talking about business intelligence, which allows you to control profits and increase sales of high-margin products, while reducing costs on unpopular menu items. Secondly, many have reduced the costs of write-offs and product spoilage. To do this, it is necessary to automatically control the movement of ingredients in the warehouse and to carry out purchases of only running positions, ”he said.
In addition, according to him, the control of purchase prices and production costs has increased, including with the help of technological maps. A prerequisite for controlling the processes is an inventory, which demonstrates to the owner any deviations in the balance in the warehouse and makes it possible to identify overspending or suspicious actions on the part of staff, Kapatsevich said.
In addition to reducing costs, the loyalty system and additional sales play an important role, the expert added. They allowed some market players to attract new guests and retain regular ones. It is about the use of bonuses for the favorite products of regular guests, SMS-mailings to notify guests, he concluded.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
