How to open a private museum with an organization. How to open a private museum

05.03.2020

A museum is a special institution that stores monuments and objects that have their own unique history. Any museum begins with a collection, and the more original it is, the greater the interest in it. The main museum tasks include constant monitoring and analysis of the work of a particular museum. Modern museum technologies include several components:

  • Museum exhibitions require a special approach, because they must be properly organized and planned.
  • Equipment for storage of exhibits.
  • museum climate. At low humidity or too high humidity, the exhibits are deformed, and their value is also lost. It is necessary to install all the necessary equipment to prevent this.
  • Museum showcases.
  • Restoration equipment.
  • Keepers.
  • The concept is a document that will show the uniqueness of this institution at the present stage. It consists of three main points: modernization, innovation and the preservation of one's own traditions.

In order to create a new museum, it is necessary, first of all, to specifically identify its goal, it is on it that the further development of activities will depend. You can combine several appointments, for example, tell the story of your city in a club of like-minded people. Then you need to choose a room where certain exhibitions will be held, it is better if it is a very crowded place, you can save on advertising. An important factor is the choice of working staff (for the good functioning of the museum, at least four employees are needed). It is necessary to competently organize excursions in order to interest more people, and they began to bring their friends here. But, excursions alone are not enough, interest in them quickly disappears, it is necessary to hold creative evenings, meetings of like-minded people and various cultural events.

No museum can exist without constant funding. Therefore, it is necessary to find a rich like-minded person to solve this problem. It is necessary to prove the significance of this institution for the benefit of society, and then things will go up, increasing profits. To create a museum that will constantly have visitors, you need to have a lot of experience in this area, otherwise it will be a complete fiasco. This should be done by masters who know how to properly organize everything and outperform competitors. A competent trend in the development of a modern museum is the creation of internal and near museum structures that create a single space. People visiting the institution should receive cultural general development.

To open a museum, it is necessary to make a decision on the main tasks, as well as when opening firms or other companies.

It is necessary to develop a concept that would stand out against the general background and be competitive, find a permanent source of funds, select the necessary premises, a location with high traffic, hire professional and highly qualified personnel.

Private museums, as a rule, begin their existence from an interest in collecting. Then, when a sufficient number of objects have been accumulated in order to put them on display, the question arises about the definition of incentives, in the future, it is the incentive and motivation that will play a decisive role in museum policy. There are several options for museum policy:

  • Telling interested clients about your collection;
  • Search for a like-minded person;
  • Creation of a club of interested persons;
  • Monetary benefit, making a profit;

Private museums, as a rule, begin their existence from an interest in collecting.

Stage 2. Premises

The next step is the selection of premises. The nuance is that the premises should be purchased and become its owner. This will avoid possible “wanderings”, moving from one place to another, increasing the cost of rent and other difficulties.

You can also resort to finding sponsors who would agree to host a museum on their territory. Sponsors can be large enterprises and other institutions. Among other things, there is the possibility of obtaining premises in cultural institutions or from city or district authorities, which could offer premises on preferential terms. It is best to become the owner of the premises, and not to rent.

Stage 3. State

The staff of a small private museum should consist of at least 5 people. The second people after the owners are the main keepers. This person needs to have knowledge in the field of funds, he must cope with keeping records, have accurate information about the location of each of the items, and timely give the exhibits for restoration.

Often, these people also serve as curators at exhibitions and make decisions about putting this or that exhibit on public display.

We need to open a vacancy for an accounting officer and a cleaning employee. Also, sometimes you should resort to hiring:

  • Restorers;
  • Computer scientists (IT-specialists) to maintain the equipment used and update information on the museum's web portal in a timely manner;
  • Tour guides (a prerequisite is knowledge of a foreign language);

The minimum staff is 5 people.

Stage 4. Budget

If the museum operates using its own premises, the following costs will be included in the main monthly expenses:

  • Employee salaries;
  • Payment of utility bills;
  • Restoration costs;
  • Creation and subsequent maintenance of the Internet portal;
  • Printing services (printing of flyers, posters, brochures, brochures);

The costs associated with the acquisition of new exhibits cannot be calculated. However, it is worth considering that sometimes exhibits can go to a private museum for free: in this case, the donor is pleased to see his things at the disposal of the museum.

It is not safe to disseminate information about the value and monetary value of the collections that are stored in the museum. A person might think that the museum accepts gifts and resells them at an inflated price. In such cases, it is advisable to refuse to provide services for money.

The museum profits from the cost of visiting the exhibition, the cost of excursions, from charity, from donations, and in a very rare case, a private museum can profit from a grant for a project. In order to make a good profit and reach payback, you can resort to renting out premises. The premises are suitable for renting them out for presentations or other special events.

To get the maximum profit from the maintenance of a private museum, you can rent out the premises.

Stage 5. Activities

In addition to the design of permanent exhibitions, you can start holding temporary joint exhibitions using your own fund or cooperating with numismatists, collectors, etc. You can also involve artists. This will be a good information occasion: the announcement of the exhibition will get on the poster in the media, which will lead to an increase in the flow of customers.

Examples of activities of various private museums:

  • The Museum of the History of Photography hosts expositions of both domestic and foreign photojournalists and photo artists;
  • The private puppet museum organizes expositions of private collectors;
  • Also, many museums hold solo evenings, lectures, drawings of performances;

Outcome:

Costs associated with the monthly maintenance of a private museum with its own premises - from 2,000 to 5,000 conventional units;

The cost does not include the purchase of the exhibit.

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* Calculations use average data for Russia

Opening your own private museum seems to a small number of people a promising undertaking, yet a trip to such an institution is perceived by few as an interesting form of leisure. However, there is still demand, and if you choose the right theme for your museum and properly organize it, you can count on a good profit. Moreover, there are a huge number of development options here, an entrepreneur can work in different formats, offer his visitors something unique, and the variety of topics allows you to occupy a niche that no one else is engaged in. A good museum can be popular and generate income absolutely everywhere - both in small towns and in big cities, it is especially convenient to do such a business in historically significant places. Given some of the features of running this kind of business, you can start a business that will bring a stable and fairly high income. At the same time, for many entrepreneurs, such a business becomes an interesting undertaking, because it allows you to do exactly what he devoted his life to.

To begin with, in general, you need to study the market in order to determine what exactly is interesting to the population. When working in resort or simply popular cities with tourists, it is worth focusing not even on the local population, but on visitors, there are a lot of opportunities here. Determining the theme of the museum is the most difficult stage, here the entrepreneur has to do a full-fledged research, because in case of an unsuccessful choice, it will be impossible to even talk about covering expenses, not to mention making a profit. As for competitors, they are unlikely to significantly affect the conduct of their business, because no one will create two museums of the same subject, and when choosing a museum, people always go exactly where they themselves are interested, here a marketing campaign is unlikely to will affect their choice. However, there are museums that are just trying to attract their visitors through something new and unusual, these are, of course, most often museums in tourist cities, because it is difficult to attract the local population to the exhibition of some too unusual collection all the time. But tourists will be happy to visit not only historical sights, but also a very unusual museum. In general, after finding out what people are interested in and making sure that there will be enough people as visitors, you can start opening your museum.

An important point is the registration process. At its core, an entrepreneur has only one way out - to register a legal entity in order to make a profit on the provision of services, and his museum will simply be an entertainment, cultural and leisure institution. The process of registering a legal entity is standard, there are no special conditions here. But if he does not aim to make a profit, then he can register a non-profit organization, which will become an autonomous institution. It is quite difficult to obtain the status of a museum, which allows you to apply to the Ministry of Culture for any subsidies and support, usually private commercial organizations do not become them. But in any case, the application is submitted just to the Ministry of Culture, and there the value of the collection and its significance as a cultural asset are already assessed, as well as the state of the museum itself. In general, there is a difference here, commercial museums most often amass a collection that is unlikely to matter to the Ministry of Culture, and more "traditional" museums are almost always NPOs.

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A separate conversation if the entrepreneur has items of important cultural and historical significance, if they really are in a private collection, then the Ministry of Culture will be interested in having these exhibits on display, but it will be very difficult to rent items of this kind. This is in case the entrepreneur assumes the possibility of renting some valuable things in other museums or other institutions. In general, from a legal point of view, there are no restrictions on the conduct of its activities, the main thing (in the case of a commercial organization) is to pay taxes, but to one degree or another, the historical museum, in any case, has to contact the Ministry of Culture in its area on many issues. Therefore, before starting work, it makes sense to contact there in order to find out about the requirements and some provisions in the region, because, for example, there may be a restriction on the use of any items obtained during even a private archaeological expedition, this may be for example, if the excavations took place on the territory of hostilities in the past.

The next step is to find a place to work. There are many options here, but they depend, just on the chosen format of work. Some private museums are even located in the houses or apartments of their founders, but these are rather small museums that are of interest only to a small group of like-minded people. A normal museum needs at least one exhibition hall approximately 100 m 2 in size. True, there are smaller halls, and much larger ones, museums in general are very, very different. An important point may be exactly the location in the city, optimally, of course, located in the center, but there the cost of rent will be very high. 100 m 2 will cost 70 thousand rubles a month on average, but this is a very rough indicator, in large cities this money will not be enough, in a small town, on the contrary, it will be possible to save money. When working in a smaller room, of course, the savings will be more significant. In general, the museum in this regard is a rather complicated undertaking, because in some cases there is seasonality (for example, in tourist cities), and not every month the flow of visitors is equal, but the amount of rent is constant, and it must be paid without delay.

In general, it is better to have a reserve fund of funds in order to be able to pay rent at least six months in advance without the risk of being left without a room. With 70 thousand rubles for rent, such a fund will amount to 420 thousand rubles. For six months, at least work will be done to attract visitors, after which the risks will decrease. And the museum, which is subject to seasonality, should plan its budget for the year ahead. Some entrepreneurs, by the way, find temporary places to place their expositions, thanks to which they can not engage in this activity at all for several months, but also not pay rent. For example, you can negotiate with an already operating museum to open its exhibition only for the summer months. Here you already need to explore the possibilities in order to find the best way out of your situation.

In general, if a decision was made to open a museum, then the organizers probably already have some exhibits, that is, the exhibition is ready to one degree or another. In extreme cases, a decision has already been made about what and where to buy. It must be said here that the cost of the exhibits can be very different. These may be the finds of archeological students who sold them for a symbolic sum, it may also be things made by the entrepreneur on their own (some people who are fond of some kind of creativity subsequently think about opening a museum of their crafts, and some it succeeds), and it can also be real works of art, antiques, things of great historical value - such expositions can be estimated at millions of dollars. That is, even the approximate cost of purchasing exhibits cannot be named, the range is very, very wide, in fact, from “free” to “astronomical sums”. It all depends on what exactly you are doing. And, of course, you need to consider what size the exposition will be, and in general, how many of them there will be in one museum.

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You also need to take care to properly equip your rooms. To do this, you will need to purchase the appropriate equipment. In general, placing exhibits in museums may require the purchase of somewhat unusual equipment (for example, racks for armor), but we will consider ordinary shelving and display cases. They are usually made from simple materials, but sometimes you need an increased degree of protection if you have to deal with valuable items, that is, when there is a possibility of theft. Of course, a simple local history museum hardly needs a complex and expensive security system, but in some cases it is critically necessary. The cost of a rack 4-5 meters long is 30-40 thousand rubles, small showcases are 1.5-2 times cheaper, that is, one average museum hall can be equipped with furniture for 200-300 thousand rubles. Of course, there are many options here too, a lot depends on the exhibits themselves, sometimes you don’t even have to buy something more expensive than a simple table. Additionally, a security complex is installed, for this you can contact a specialized private security organization, which will be able to connect a security system for an amount of about 50 thousand rubles, but in the future you will have to pay for security. Here, too, much depends on the complexity of the system, on the level of security, you need to count on the amount of 5 thousand rubles. For the protection of large museums, the amount will be several times larger. A separate item of expenditure will be the creation of a design project, if this, of course, is appropriate when creating a museum. Some of these institutions are really equipped in accordance with any theme, so it makes sense to contact a specialized office that performs such work. The cost of a design project (its development) is approximately one thousand rubles per square meter of a room (taking into account that the size is 100 m 2, that is, if it is a large room, otherwise it is 1.5-2 times larger). Thus, about 100 thousand more rubles are needed for a design project.

It is also worth considering who exactly will work in the museum. It should be noted that the entrepreneur himself is quite able to serve a small institution, but if the museum has a huge number of exhibits, and many of them are valuable, then it is worth attracting special employees. Well, if they already have experience in similar positions, many museum workers who have worked in public institutions will almost certainly be interested in the higher level of salaries that a private museum can offer them. To service an average museum, a staff of 4-5 people will be enough, the salary of one person here lies within 20 thousand rubles for an average city. Of course, in large settlements, people will have to pay a little more. In fact, the entrepreneur himself can also continue to take part in the work of the museum, especially if he forms a collection that is of interest to him. Here you will need a person responsible for the exhibits, their accounting and maintenance, an administrator, and in some cases a guide. Sometimes cheap labor is additionally involved in organizing exhibitions; this is necessary, for example, when working with large paintings or heavy sculptures. Thus, the salary fund is about 100 thousand rubles a month, but this figure only applies to really large museums, which are visited by a lot of people. At the same time, it is better to outsource all business processes that are not related to making a profit, this includes the already mentioned security activities, as well as bookkeeping. Either an additional knowledgeable person or the entrepreneur himself should deal with the issues of regulating relations with the Ministry of Culture, but even a specialist from the outside does not have to be hired, but only contacted if necessary.

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Now let's take a closer look at the possible formats of work. The simplest example is an ordinary historical or similar museum, which is mostly interesting for a certain group of people, but “general cultural” institutions often host entire school classes or even student groups if their exhibits consist of objects of research in a certain field of science. Here already people go to the museum for the sake of enlightenment (and in the case of schoolchildren - often simply on a voluntary-compulsory basis). Therefore, when organizing a museum of this kind, it is worth starting cooperation with educational institutions, offering a discount on mass trips. The entrepreneur only benefits from this, because the discount on tickets does not affect the level of income, because many people come at the same time. However, the most interesting for schoolchildren, students and their teachers are registered museums, which, as already noted, are most often non-profit enterprises.

A different format of work is museums with unusual themes, there are a huge number of such small institutions in the world that collect things that are incomprehensible to a simple layman. The most banal example is the Museum of Celebrity Items. Everything is determined by the founder's imagination, but the biggest risk in this direction is not finding an audience. On the other hand, there are examples of museums of this format that people from all over the world go to. The cost of a ticket to such institutions is usually an order of magnitude more expensive than a ticket to a simple museum, although only a well-known institution can set such a price. The next category is museums designed for tourists, these are exactly the institutions that are most dependent on the season, but in special cases they can earn many times more in a couple of months than a regular museum. Usually these museums are devoted to the history of the city, its architecture, art, some events that took place in the life of the city. It is clear that such a museum will be successful only in a city that is initially interesting to tourists. And a separate category is museums that are dedicated to some unusual direction, which the organizer himself is fond of. What distinguishes such museums is that most of the exhibits are the product of the creative thought of the museum owner himself, such institutions just start with exhibitions in their own apartment or house. It can also be anything, but here you need to be sure that there will be enough like-minded people to make money on it. An additional (and sometimes the main or even the only) item of income is the sale of made things; in general, any museum can deal with the sale of exhibits.

Thus, the cost of opening a museum can be both very small and very significant, an average simple museum can be opened (without taking into account the collection, the cost of which, as was noted, cannot be estimated at all and is always calculated individually) for the amount of about one million rubles with taking into account reserve funds for maintaining work in the first months. The amount of monthly expenses is 200 thousand rubles, and it should be noted that this is a very large figure. To cover the costs, you need to maintain at least a page on the Internet about your museum, and for this you need to invest at least an additional 50 thousand. The cost of a ticket to the museum starts from 50 rubles (but not even the one described here, but much simpler), the average cost is 300 rubles. Thus, to cover the costs, almost 670 people will have to be involved every month, or about 30 people per day (a working month with 22 days is taken into account).

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In this material:

Private museums are a promising and interesting direction for organizing your own business. This niche is in stable demand in Russia, especially in cities with developed tourism. How to open your own museum and make money on it? A ready-made museum business plan will help to understand these issues.

Advantages and disadvantages of opening a museum

Each business has positive and negative sides that an entrepreneur will certainly face - the simplicity and complexity of the organization, competition, payback, etc.

Advantages of the museum business:

  1. Does not require licensing. To open such a business, you do not need to obtain a license to operate. For example, to create a magazine, you need a license from the Ministry of Press. For a museum enterprise, such documents are not required.
  2. The relevance of the idea. Museums always attract tourists and lovers of antiquity. Among them are major collectors who prefer to book private tours.
  3. Ease of organization. There is no need to maintain a large staff.
  4. Fast payback.

Flaws:

  1. Location dependent. If the museum is located far from the cultural center of the city, it will not be of interest to tourists.
  2. Seasonality. Most of the visitors are tourists from other cities and countries. They usually travel in the summer. There will not be a large flow of visitors during the off-season.
  3. Availability of specialized knowledge. It is important to correctly arrange the items in the expositions so that they complement each other and create a single composition. In addition, special storage conditions must be created for each exhibit - temperature and humidity conditions, and special lighting for written sources and paintings.
  4. Reliable security is needed - even the largest museums are robbed if they contain items valuable to collectors.

Definition of subject matter

The choice of topics is determined by a number of factors:

  1. The presence or absence of experience in the museum field. If there is no experience, consultations of specialists are necessary - professional museum workers and collectors.
  2. Knowledge of the topic. It makes no sense to choose an unfamiliar topic - this is a sure sign of failure. For the project to be successful, an entrepreneur must work with topics familiar to him or gain this knowledge by reading literature, communicating with colleagues, attending conferences and webinars of professionals.
  3. Having your own collections. Most private museums were formed from private collections and gradually expanded. Own collection is a big plus. Most famous museums were formed on the basis of such collections.
  4. Competition. All existing museums are potential competitors. The primary task is to lure visitors from them. It will not be easy, but quite feasible with the right approach to project implementation and a good advertising campaign.
  5. tourist attraction of the region. For example, creating your own museum enterprise in St. Petersburg or the Crimea is much more profitable than somewhere in the outback.

When choosing a topic, it is necessary to take into account all these factors, they are all interconnected and complement each other.

Additionally, it is necessary to analyze the target audience. It will show how visited the museum of a particular subject will be.

Since the primary task of an entrepreneur is to make money on visitors, this factor should be the main one.

After choosing a topic, you need to decide on the type of enterprise.

Museums are of two types:

  • closed;
  • open air.

Business organization

Registration

Any business must be registered.

There are two registration options:

  • entity;
  • individual entrepreneur.

Most private museums in Russia are registered as individual entrepreneurs. There is no need to formalize the status of a legal entity.

To obtain an IP, the following documents are required:

  1. Copy of the passport.
  2. Receipt for payment of state duty.
  3. Application form P21001.
  4. Application to the tax office.

To register an IP you need:

  1. Apply. There are two ways - at the place of residence and through the Internet. The second option is the most common.
  2. Select OKVED code. This code tells the authorities how the type of business activity is registered.
  3. Write an application (form Р21001).
  4. Pay the state fee in the amount of 800 rubles.
  5. Register with the tax office.

There are examples of registration of private museums as non-profit associations. This status does not prohibit the entrepreneur from deriving commercial benefits from his activities and gives him the opportunity to receive financial support from the state.

Location and search for premises

The ideal place is the cultural or historical center of the city. The main flow of visitors is tourists. Most of them will not look for a museum on the other side of the city, especially if it has just opened and has not yet gained mass popularity.

Advantages of opening a museum in the city center:

  • convenient transport interchange;
  • higher visitor flow.
  • high rent - you will have to compete with large offices and enterprises for which the high cost of rent is not a problem;
  • the dense development of the city center creates difficulties for organizing a tourist destination - this is an additional cost for rent.

Museums that cannot afford to rent in the city center also find a way out - they open in abandoned industrial and historical sites - factories, workshops, military hospitals, barracks, libraries, galleries, houses where prominent personalities lived.

If there is no money to rent or buy premises, expositions can be shown in other museums. They will take a part of the profit for themselves, but they will independently solve all organizational issues.

Exhibits

Expositions of private museums are formed by:

  • private collections;
  • rental of individual exhibits or entire collections in other museums.

REFERENCE: The first museums in Russia were formed on the basis of private collections. Thus, the Hermitage, which arose in 1764, was replenished for the first time only with private collections. For example, the famous Siberian collection of gold jewelry first belonged to Peter the Great and only in the second half of the 18th century was transferred from the Kunstkamera to the Hermitage, where it is still kept.

Recruitment

Recruitment is an important and responsible moment. The staff is the face of the museum. The success or failure of this business depends on how well he performs his work.

To organize a museum you will need:

  1. Guide. He must know the expositions perfectly, find the connection between the exhibits and understand the historical context of the finds. Ideally, this is a professional historian or museum worker. In addition, he must speak foreign languages ​​​​in order to arrange excursions for foreign tourists.
  2. Restorer. Most archaeological finds need to be restored. For example, ceramic dishes usually arrive at museums broken - they need to be restored. This can only be done by a professional restorer.
  3. Security guard. It makes no sense to open a museum without proper security - it can be quickly robbed.
  4. Cashier-accountant. In small museums, the position of accountant is usually assigned to the cashier. This allows you to save on the maintenance of employees.
  5. Appraiser. Collections need to be replenished regularly. It is impossible to buy exhibits without a professional appraiser - there is a risk of overpaying or stumbling upon a fake.

Financial plan

Start-up investments and running costs

Initial investment:

  • purchase or rental of premises - from 50 thousand rubles;
  • purchase of furniture for expositions - 200 thousand rubles;
  • purchase of equipment to support the temperature and humidity regime - 100 thousand rubles;
  • payment of state duty - 800 rubles;
  • advertising - 60 thousand rubles;
  • salary of employees - 150 thousand rubles;
  • purchase of exhibits - from 100 thousand rubles.

Income

The profitability of such an enterprise depends on:

  • tourist attraction of the city;
  • the location of the museum;
  • seasonality;
  • exhibits and public interest in them.

The average cost of an entrance ticket is 200 rubles. Additional income - the services of a guide and paid permission to photograph the exhibits.

Guide services - 1000 rubles. The fee for using the camera is 100 rubles.

Monthly earnings - 400 thousand rubles.

Profit calculation

Every month, the income from the work of the museum is 400 thousand rubles. Taxes, utility bills, and employee salaries are deducted from this amount.

Net profit - 200 thousand rubles.

Payback - from 1 year.

The museum business is not new, but still relevant type of entrepreneurial activity. Most domestic museums were formed from private collections. You can still make money on this today. Exhibits can be bought absolutely legally - without the fate of black archaeologists and other antiquities hunters.



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