Today we will talk about the idea that our reader sent us. Sometimes, in order to stake out a place for yourself in the market, you need to create something unique, special, not the same as others, something that can attract the attention of the consumer and arouse his interest.
For a long time I was in the position of head of the personnel development department in one of the large manufacturing enterprises. I can say that I liked the work, and the salary was high. But meanwhile, I never left the desire to do my own thing. own business. In 2009, the crisis came and the plant was closed, the entire staff was left without work.
It was then that the question arose: “what to do next?”. I live in the Kaliningrad region and there are a lot of those who deal in souvenirs (from amber, as a rule). So I decided to move in this direction. I opened a point of sale in a small resort town, bought a batch of souvenirs. But since the products are all the same due to the purchase of goods from one supplier, my business is stuck. And then I realized that it was necessary to create something that others would not have. Something special and unique.
I am by no means an artist by nature, so the production had to be simple for me, and the materials and technologies should be low-cost and affordable. I opted for manufacturing souvenir paintings OK. I wanted the picture and the frame to be as one whole, and the image itself was located inside. I tried a large number of materials and different ways processing and brought out something special, his own. I started using this technique and initially produced three types of products (under gold, under stone and vintage). Now there are five of them.
In my production, I used the so-called product processing room (simply a garage), a computer, a printer (I used the simplest four-color one) and the most ordinary PVA glue.
I use pictures for my work. famous artists, views of the sights of your area and views of the sea, interesting pictures Japanese style. There was a big order for the last theme from a Japanese restaurant. Portraits are in rather good demand. I have partnered with photographers working for various events and they are the same and offer my services.
On this moment I have several points of sale - two of my own in resort towns, six points in souvenir shops in Kaliningrad itself (we want to sell them now) and two points in hypermarkets in the gift department. In February, we planned to open a souvenir shop with a personal brand “Pozitiff”, which will be located at the railway station in Kaliningrad.
There will be sold my work and the work of my two partners involved in the manufacture of individual works.
Let's talk a little about the product itself. It is a monolithic picture, which is embedded deep into the base. I stylize it now under a stone, under gold and under vintage. The most commonly purchased product sizes are 16x21 and 26x34 cm.
Product cost
Chipboard, cut into pieces 16 by 21 cm - 10 rubles apiece
Business card or photo paper - 8 rubles per A4 sheet
Printing a picture - 1 ruble
PVA - (expense for 50 pictures - one bucket) - 1.6 rubles apiece
Sandpaper - 2 rubles per 1 picture
The composition with which wood is processed - 4.6 rubles per piece
As a result, it turns out that the cost of a product for a vintage style in the amount of 16x21 is 23.2 rubles.
If you make it under a stone or under gold, then the cost will increase by 3-6 rubles.
You can find all the materials I have listed above in any of the specialized stores.
Now let's calculate the income:
I sell pictures at a price of 200-220 rubles (in stores, their average cost is 300 rubles). On average, about 300 pictures are sold per month. Taking into account production costs, taxes and transportation costs, the net income is 180 rubles per picture. From here you can already find out how much I have per month. If we take the average for several months, it turns out that my net income starts at 55,000 rubles.
As surprising as it may seem to you and to me, my main clients are not tourists at all, but local residents. At the moment I am in the business of producing paintings from chipboard. And this occupation brings me joy and desire to develop in it.
I advise you to create your own, unique and unlike the others. Then you will definitely be doomed to success!
Good luck!
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Chipboard cuttings and pictures from the Internet Alexander Dmitriev turns commemorative products popular with tourists
IT tools used by Alexander Dmitriev
- Adobe package
- Microsoft Office suite
- 1c accounting
To launch his business of producing original souvenirs, Alexander Dmitriev from the Kaliningrad region only needed to arrange to pick up chipboard trimmings from the carpentry workshop for free and buy a color printer, photographic paper, sandpaper and glue. The entrepreneur told Biz360 about how to organize the production of unusual souvenirs with low cost and high margin in the tourist region.
Alexander Dmitriev, 33 years old, was born and lives in Svetlogorsk (Kaliningrad region). Graduated from the Kaliningrad high school management in the specialty "management". In 2009, after several years of employment, he founded his own company, Studiya Pozitiff. Engaged in the manufacture of souvenirs from waste furniture production. Now they are sold in 16 points in Kaliningrad and Svetlogorsk.
Dismissal as a starting point
Alexander Dmitriev from Svetlogorsk wanted to open his own business even at the time when he worked at a TV production company as a personnel manager. The work was quite interesting, but the young man dreamed of his own business.
The events of 2009 became a powerful impetus for Alexander to start working for himself. Then, due to the financial crisis, the company where he worked was closed, and all the staff were fired. Alexander began to think about what to do.
Svetlogorsk, where he lives, is a resort town. Many tourists come there not only in summer, but almost all year round. It was a logical idea to link your business with the “resorts”. But what could be offered to them that no one else had offered?
While searching for a business idea, Alexander Dmitriev was visiting a friend in the furniture industry. He was then very surprised at how much leftover lumber was thrown away. Among the waste were scraps of chipboard, plywood, MDF panels. Alexander asked his friend to give him some of the leftovers, which would still go to the trash. He had an idea to make souvenirs for tourists from waste.
In the same place, in the workshop of his friend, he cut rectangles of various sizes from furniture production waste. At home, using a printer, Alexander applied an image to photographic paper, and then glued the picture onto blanks. “I wanted the image to be inside the base, and the frame and the picture were perceived as a single whole. In the end, it turned out exactly what I wanted - something special. My souvenir paintings turned out to be very unusual and interesting, they riveted the eye,” says the master.
Alexander experimented with manufacturing techniques, processing materials in different ways. As a result of these searches, souvenirs turned out to be stylized as stone, gold, in vintage style, etc. They favorably differed from the standard souvenir products traditionally sold in the Kaliningrad region. It is almost all of amber and is quite the same type. And souvenirs from Dmitriev resemble paintings in a frame measuring 16x21 or 26x34 centimeters. They are attached to a wall or other surface with a twine loop.
Having sold the first 120 souvenirs in three weeks, Alexander earned more than his monthly salary at the enterprise.
Project economics
Alexander Dmitriev honestly admits that he is not an artist. Therefore, he cannot make drawings for his souvenirs with his own hands. To do this, he uses a printer and illustrations from the Internet. It also significantly reduces the cost of products.
The entrepreneur notes that he needed a small investment to start. For the production of souvenir paintings, he used and continues to use furniture production waste, which is given to him free of charge. To make illustrations, he needs a computer, which he had, and a printer, the purchase of which cost 1.5 thousand rubles. A private garage became a place for processing souvenirs. “In principle, any room with an area of about 3 square meters can serve as a workplace,” says Alexander. He also buys PVA glue, with which he glues photographic paper with an image to a plywood, wood or chipboard base.
In 2009, when Alexander Dmitriev registered as individual entrepreneur, he bought the simplest Epson TX110 printer and refillable cartridges for it. The equipment lasted a full two years. Then Alexander purchased an Epson L800 printer with a continuous ink supply system. It has already cost eight thousand rubles. “Printing on such devices in the translation of ink consumption into money is mere pennies,” says Alexander. Print image for one small picture costs about a ruble.
In the process of creating souvenirs, he discovered that photo paper can be replaced with business paper. It is, in fact, an imitation of the canvas. If you put an image on it, then you get the complete impression that it is real picture. Alexander Dmitriev buys business card paper in whatman paper in a store that serves a printing house. From one drawing paper cuts 10 sheets of A4 format. Each sheet costs 10 rubles with this approach.
The cost of a souvenir painting made of chipboard measuring 16x21 centimeters is almost 25 rubles. It consists of the following components:
Chopped chipboard - 10 rubles (but it’s more profitable to negotiate with furniture makers and pick up production waste from them for free);
Photo paper or business card - 5 rubles;
Photo printing of a picture - about 1 ruble;
Compositions for water-based wood processing - 4.5 rubles;
PVA glue (assuming that one container is enough for 50 paintings) - 1.5 rubles;
Sandpaper - 2 rubles.
If you stylize the picture as gold or stone, then the costs will increase by 2-5 rubles. Alexander sells such a souvenir for 220 rubles. After deducting the cost of shipping products to the point of sale and deducting taxes, the net profit is approximately 180 rubles. That is, the profit is seven times the cost of production! An entrepreneur makes an average of 20-25 souvenirs per day. A month sells about 300 pieces.
Points of attraction for tourists and locals
After launching his own business, Alexander Dmitriev began to look for points of sale. First, he arranged with several entrepreneurs who trade for tourists that he would sell souvenirs through them. Entrepreneurs buy paintings from Alexander for 200 rubles, and make their own cheat of 100 rubles.
"I have principled position for sale through entrepreneurs. They are used to cheating 100% of the cost, but I set the condition that the picture cost no more than 300 rubles. This has shown to be effective. It is better to earn on a large turnover than to wait for a buyer who will buy a painting for a high price. I had such a case when an entrepreneur from a store at the airport set a price of 770 rubles for a product. And then he complained that my pictures were not selling well. While they were selling them there, I managed to turn the turnover three times with other points, ”recalls Dmitriev.
Then Alexander opened his own store in Svetlogorsk - a pavilion with an area of 15 "squares" in mall on the coast of the Baltic Sea.
Stable demand for souvenirs prompted Dmitriev to look for additional points of sale. New points of sale were focused not so much on tourists as on the local population. “To my surprise, the turnover from them was at the level of “tourist” points of sale.”
At points of sale designed for locals, local photo and flower shops began to order souvenir paintings. For some reason in flower shops buyers prefer to buy souvenir paintings along with bouquets.
Theme of souvenirs for different points- different. Where there are tourists, images of the sights of the Kaliningrad region diverge quite well. locals more often they buy stylish pictures, picture postcards, vintage images. Most often, Alexander puts on his paintings the works of famous artists, views of the sea, photographs of the sights of the region, original pictures V Japanese style.
For his souvenirs, the entrepreneur uses pictures that he downloads from the Internet. In order not to violate copyright, takes images that are in the public domain. If he finds pictures contemporary artists, then is written off with them. As a rule, all of them allow free use of their work, but with the obligatory indication of authorship and the name of the work. Alexander puts this information on reverse side souvenirs.
In order to expand the network of selling souvenirs, Alexander personally meets with entrepreneurs who have their own stores and demonstrates their products. “Many are immediately ready to cooperate and take products for sale. My souvenirs cause buyers big interest. Because you will never guess that the picture is not made of stone or clay, but of chipboard or plywood,” he said.
Now products from Dmitriev can be bought in his personal souvenir pavilion in Svetlogorsk and fifteen souvenir shops in Kaliningrad and the region.
By the way, Alexander's business is a family business. The wife helps to deliver the goods to the points when Alexander is busy making souvenirs. Of the hired workers, they have two people - sellers in stores. They get a piece wages: 200 rubles for each job and 10% from sales.
Sometimes portraits and paintings are ordered from Alexander as a gift. Their cost is already much higher - 1000 rubles. The entrepreneur has experience working with a local Japanese restaurant: his owner ordered 20 paintings for interior decoration. Dmitriev also regularly collaborates with photographers who ask to make different pictures with your pictures.
Alexander was thinking about going outside the Kaliningrad region with his souvenirs. But it is surrounded on all sides by the countries of the European Union. It is impossible to sell your products there without obtaining special permits. Therefore, the entrepreneur focused on expanding the network of points of sale in the region. “Fortunately, our region is becoming more and more more interesting for tourists. For example, we recently hosted the Vocal KiViN festival. At that time, I had a surge in sales of souvenirs,” says Alexander Dmitriev.
Most of us go to work and most of of us force ourselves to do it. Very few people get high from the business they have been doing for most of their lives. Me too for a long time worked at the enterprise as a manager, and this was not what I would like to do all my life. My hands always “itched” to do something of my own. Once I visited a friend of mine at a furniture factory, and I was very surprised at how much material they throw into a landfill. These are the remains of chipboard, plywood, MDF. I always had a desire to get into the production of souvenirs, because. There are a lot of them all year round in our area. I took a large amount of chipboard leftovers from him and began to experiment with them. I wanted to create something unique, not like other souvenirs sold by our entrepreneurs. And I succeeded. I made souvenir paintings, where the image goes into a frame, stylized as different types: under the stone, under the vintage, under the gold, etc. Fantasy here can be limitless. I myself am not an artist at all, so I print all the images on a printer.
- Manufacturing technology of unique souvenir paintings
- How much can you earn in the production of unique souvenir paintings
- How much can you earn making souvenir paintings
- Technology for making souvenir paintings
The crisis broke out and the company where I worked was closed, and I had to turn my hobby into income. I found several points of sale through entrepreneurs, and opened my point in a resort town. Things went slowly, but there was a stable demand, because. The items were truly unique. To expand the turnover, I found more points of sale, not only focused on tourists, but also on local buyers. To my surprise, the turnover from such points was on a par with tourist ones. They began to order pictures in the form of postcards from me to flower shops, because. they are very well taken along with flowers. I also made 20 custom-made paintings for a Japanese restaurant and began to collaborate with photographers who are now constantly making orders. By the end of the season, I calculated the average profit, it amounted to about 50,000 rubles. per month.
Manufacturing technology of unique souvenir paintings
The picture is a monolithic product with chopped edges, the basis of chipboard, plywood, MDF, board. I print images on a printer, and process them so that it goes into a frame. I choose the style relative to the image. The most popular are vintage, stone, ivory. All tools and materials for processing are available at any hardware store, I don’t use anything specific and expensive. the main objective- simplicity and low cost of production and aesthetic appeal of products.
How much can you earn in the production of unique souvenir paintings
The cost of the product does not exceed 25 rubles. Moreover, I take furniture production waste for free and give it life. I sell them for at least 250 rubles. I make about 15-18 pictures per day. During the season, the sale is about 15 paintings per day from all points. This is about 2200 rubles. per day net, taking into account overhead costs. In the off-season I sell about 8 pcs. in a day. It's about 1200 rubles. in a day.
Today I have my own souvenir pavilion where 80% of my products are produced according to my technologies and about 15 points of sale through other entrepreneurs.
What I want to say with this article. The crisis is still the engine of progress and a reason to stir in every sense of the word. The main thing is to correctly think about what you will do and how to sell it.
How much can you earn making souvenir paintings
You can make good money on waste furniture production. Making souvenir paintings is quite a profitable business. The cost of producing one picture is from 30 to 50 rubles. The price includes: the basis of the picture (plywood, chipboard, MDF) - about 15 rubles; photographic paper - from 3 to 5 rubles per sheet; decoration elements - 5 - 10 rubles; as well as abrasive paper, glue, varnish, paint and impregnation agents - 20 rubles per item.
The average market price of a souvenir painting is 200-250 rubles. We can conclude that it is quite possible to earn 180-200 rubles from one product. From 200 to 500 paintings can be sold per month. The business is not seasonal, but in holidays sales are always higher than on weekdays. As a result, the monthly income ranges from 36 to 90 thousand rubles - it all depends on the amount of goods sold. It is best sold in souvenir shops and gift shops or art lodges. It would also be nice to organize trade via the Internet, place ads on several sites, in in social networks or on the forums.
Technology for making souvenir paintings
The technology for making souvenir paintings consists in preparing small pieces of wood board (giving them various sizes and shapes, impregnating with varnish or painting). The next step is to print a picture of the desired size and content on photo paper with an inkjet color printer. After that, it is given the desired shape, unnecessary residues are cut off, the corners are made rounded, and the like. Next, you need to use glue (you can PVA), glue the printed picture to a wooden blank. Almost ready product decorate with straw, cloth, even cereals. In this case big role fantasy, uniqueness and accuracy of the work of the master play in attracting buyers.
Most of us go to work and most of us force ourselves to do it. Very few people get high from the business they have been doing for most of their lives. I also worked for a long time at the enterprise as a manager, and this was not what I would like to do all my life. I always have hands itched'Do something for yourself.
Once I visited a friend of mine at a furniture factory, and I was very surprised at how much material they throw into a landfill. These are the remains of chipboard, plywood, MDF. I always had a desire to get into the production of souvenirs, because. There are a lot of them all year round in our area. I took a large amount of chipboard leftovers from him and began to experiment with them. I wanted to create something unique, not like other souvenirs sold by our entrepreneurs. And I succeeded. I did souvenir paintings, where the image goes into a frame, stylized in different ways: stone, vintage, gold, etc. Fantasy here can be limitless. I myself am not an artist at all, so I print all the images on a printer.
The crisis broke out and the company where I worked was closed, and I had to turn my hobby into income. I found several points of sale through entrepreneurs, and opened my point in a resort town. Things went slowly, but there was a stable demand, because. The items were truly unique. To expand the turnover, I found more points of sale, not only focused on tourists, but also on local buyers. To my surprise, the turnover from such points was on a par with tourist ones. They began to order pictures in the form of postcards from me to flower shops, because. they are very well taken along with flowers. I also made 20 custom-made paintings for a Japanese restaurant and began to collaborate with photographers who are now constantly making orders. By the end of the season, I calculated the average profit, it amounted to about 50,000 rubles. per month.
A little about the product.
The picture is a monolithic product with chopped edges, the basis of chipboard, plywood, MDF, board. I print images on a printer, and process them so that it goes into a frame. I choose the style relative to the image. Most popular– vintage, stone effect, ivory. All tools and materials for processing are available at any hardware store, I don’t use anything specific and expensive. The main goal is the simplicity and cheapness of production and the aesthetic appeal of products.The cost of the product does not exceed 25 rubles. Moreover, I take furniture production waste for free and give it life. I sell them for at least 250 rubles. I make about 15-18 pictures per day. During the season, the sale is about 15 paintings per day from all points. This is about 2200 rubles. per day net, taking into account overhead costs. In the off-season I sell about 8 pcs. in a day. It's about 1200 rubles. in a day.
Today I have my own souvenir pavilion where 80% of my products are produced according to my technologies and about 15 points of sale through other entrepreneurs.
What I want to say with this article. A crisis- this is still the engine of progress and a reason to stir in every sense of the word. The main thing is to correctly think about what you will do and how to sell it.
For those who are interested in my products and want to communicate directly, for all questions, write to me by mail [email protected]
Examples of my paintings:
Business idea sent by our reader.
Very often, to start a business, you need to come up with something that will distinguish you from other market players, that will distinguish you from the rest.
For quite a long time I worked as a manager of the advanced training department at one of the Kaliningrad manufacturing enterprises. Despite the fact that the work was quite interesting and well paid, I wanted to start some kind of business. In 2009, just such an opportunity turned up for me - because of the crisis, our enterprise was closed, and all the staff were fired. This was a strong impetus for starting my own business.
As I already mentioned, I live in the Kaliningrad region, which is a tourist region, so I started looking towards a business with a tourist bias. In our region, a large number of entrepreneurs are engaged in souvenir products from amber. I decided to try myself in this direction too. A batch of souvenirs was purchased, a point of sale was opened in one of the resort towns. But this business was doomed to be a failure, since everyone buys from the same suppliers, and the products do not shine with variety. The business went down very quickly. It was decided - you need to come up with something of your own, which will be radically different from banal magnets and key fobs.
I am a full-blooded entrepreneur and I have no artistic skills at all, so I tried to find a production that would be simple and low-cost in the first place. The choice fell on souvenir paintings. I wanted the image to be inside the base, and the frame and picture to be one. A lot of materials and processing options were tried, but in the end it was exactly what I wanted - something special. The products were very unusual and interesting, which riveted the eye. I decided on the manufacturing technique and product options - stylized stone, vintage and gold (at the moment there are already 5 types of products).
What do you need to make paintings?
It took me very little to get started:
- Computer.
- Simple 4-color inkjet printer.
- A place for processing (a garage is quite suitable).
- PVA glue (thanks to those who invented it!).
For work I use pictures popular artists and stylish pictures in the Japanese style (by the way, not so long ago I sold 30 of these pictures at once to a Japanese restaurant), views of the sea, photos of the sights of the area. For photography, I work with local photographers who work at events and offer my services (certainly not for free).
You also need to make sales. I organized it in several places:
- 2 own points in resort towns.
- 2 points in gift departments in supermarkets
- In 15 souvenir shops in Kaliningrad.
What are chipboard paintings
This is a monolithic picture, which is embedded deep into the base with chopped edges, stylized in different style(gold, stone, vintage, ivory). The most popular product sizes are 16×21cm and 26×34cm.
Profitability of painting production
Manufacturing costs
- Chipboard sliced 16X21 (I order from furniture makers) - 10 rubles. PC.
- Photo paper or business card paper (business card paper is cheaper and more interesting) - 8 rubles. A4 (1/2 sheet - 4 rubles)
- Photo printing of a picture (ink consumption) - 1 rub.
- PVA glue (1 bucket is enough for 50 paintings) - 1.6 rubles. PC.
- Sandpaper - 2 rubles. (for 1 picture)
- Compositions for wood processing (water-based) - 4.6 rubles. PC.
- TOTAL: 23.2 rub/pc. format 16x21 in vintage style
If you style it like gold or stone-like coating, then the cost increases by another 2-5 rubles. PC.
Moreover, all materials are available at any hardware store, so it will not be difficult to establish production.
Profit from sale
- We sell pictures for 200-220 rubles. ( average price in the store 300 rubles.)
- On average, about 300 pictures are sold per month.
- Net income from one picture sold is 180 rubles. (including production costs, transport costs and taxes).
