Ready-made business dumpling shop. How to start a dumpling business at home

Organize home business possible both in a large city and in a small region. Below is a business plan for the production of dumplings at home in a large regional center. What initial capital needs to be prepared and whether it is profitable to run a home business in the region, we will tell you in more detail.

Summary

Main activity: production and sale of semi-finished products (dumplings, dumplings).

Company location: private sector of the city, separate annex in a private household with an area of ​​35 sq. m. Form of ownership – private property of the business organizer. Supporting documentation – evidence of home ownership.

Opening hours: daily as orders arrive.

Services offered:

1. Dumplings, frozen, hand-made/stamped.
2. Dumplings, frozen, hand-made.
3. Frozen Khinkali.
4. Frozen manti.

As an additional service, we offer delivery of hot dumplings and dumplings in portions to offices (from 5 servings).

Form of legal registration: individual entrepreneurship.

Taxation: USN.

Price-list:

Name of product	Compound	Form	Price, rub./kg
Classic dumplings	Minced meat: pork, beef, onion, pepper. Dough: Premium flour, egg, salt, water, vegetable oil	Hand sculpting	270
		Stamping	200
Lamb dumplings	Minced meat: lamb, pork lard, onion, pepper	Hand sculpting	320
Poultry dumplings	Minced meat: chicken fillet, pork lard, onion, pepper	Hand sculpting	220
Khinkali		Hand sculpting	310
Manti	Minced meat: pork, beef, onion, spices, herbs	Hand sculpting	300
Vareniki:
	With potato	Hand sculpting	160
	With cherry	Hand sculpting	170
	With cottage cheese	Hand sculpting	220
	With cabbage	Hand sculpting	150
	With liver	Hand sculpting	190

Prices for each item are set based on an analysis of the price list of the closest competitors. As a highlight, an additional service is offered: delivery of hot dumplings in portions at a price of 160 rubles/250 g. Office workers can order a hot lunch, try the products and buy frozen dumplings home for dinner.

Planned expenses

To implement the draft business plan for the production of dumplings at home, you will need the following investments:

You can reduce the amount of your down payment if you use household appliances that you already have. If you plan to obtain permits from the SES, then separate tools and equipment are required. The amount needed to purchase products: meat, flour, eggs, spices, onions is immediately added to the down payment. In the future, the cost of raw materials will be taken from the revenue, since products can be manufactured based on pre-orders.

You can save on advertising if you make a business card website on one of free platforms to create websites and manage groups on social networks independently. In this case, the costs will go only to advertising budgets (contextual advertising, affiliate programs).

Since you won’t have to pay monthly rent for the premises, expenses will mainly consist of utility bills.

Project implementation planning

You can implement a home dumpling workshop project in 1 month. Of course, subject to the presence of a separate extension or if you plan to cook directly in your kitchen. Each stage is planned for specific dates to make it easier to control organizational processes and not waste time. An example of planning each stage for the implementation of a business plan in July is given in the table below:

Some stages of implementation will overlap, for example, a group is created from the first days of implementing an idea, since it takes time to promote the group on social networks. And this is extra time. Initially, your main clients will be acquaintances and Internet users, so it is recommended to focus your attention on this area.

Accommodation

If you plan to sell finished products through large retail chains or shops, then a separate extension or apartment is equipped. If you carry out production in your home kitchen, then you can only work through the Internet and through acquaintances. The SES will not issue permission for the official sale of your products.

To obtain permission from the SES, you must submit the following documents:

• Certificates and medical certificates for the meat from which the dumplings will be made.
• Conclusion of the SES commission on the suitability of the premises for the production of semi-finished products (presence of a hood, separate areas for cutting meat and making dough, equipped freezing and packaging).
• Conclusion from the city's fire, environmental and energy services on the safety of small private production.

To implement the plan in a separate extension, the following zoning of the premises is required:

• The space for cutting meat and preparing it for making minced meat is 10 sq. m.
• Peeling vegetables – 5 sq. m.
• Hardware preparation of dumplings – 10 sq. m.
• Hand sculpted – 6 sq. m.
• Preparation of vegetable and fruit filling for dumplings – 6 sq. m.

Total: separate room for home production dumplings must have an area of ​​at least 37 square meters. m.

Small production equipment

To make dumplings at home, you need to purchase the following furniture:

1. Cutting tables (metal) 3 pcs. – 18,000 rub.
2. Metal rack with shelves for finished products and blanks, 2 pcs. – 19,000 rub.
3. Metal sink with two compartments 1 pc. – 7,000 rub.

Total: you will need at least 45,000 rubles for furniture.

To organize the manufacturing process you will need kitchen appliances and tools:

1. Electric meat grinder 1 pc. – 7,000 rub.
2. Dough mixer 1 pc. – 8,500 rub.
3. Molds for making dumplings 3 pcs. – 120 rub.
4. A small line for the production of stamped dumplings - 70,000 rubles.
5. Hand tools and utensils (knives, cutting boards, spoons, containers for mixing minced meat and dough, pans for cooking ready-made dumplings and dumplings) – 64,000 rubles.

Total: to equip a small home workshop you will need at least 150,000 rubles.

Suppliers

The main problem of a small manufacturer is to find regular and profitable suppliers of products. The quality of meat should be at a high level, and the price should be as low as possible. Focus on nearby farms in your region. Homemade dumplings are made from a variety of minced meats, so the meat may come from several suppliers. The larger the batch of meat you purchase, the greater the discount the supplier will provide.

For small home production, it is possible to purchase ready-made minced meat. The supplier must have an appropriate product safety document. The wholesale price for minced meat is 130-150 rubles. The minimum price for products is 220 rubles. From the markup 90 rubles. the cost of dough in the amount of 27 rubles is deducted. As a result, from 1 kg of minced meat the net profit will be 63 rubles, which is not bad for beginners, but not enough for the profitability of a full-fledged business. It is more profitable to purchase meat in bulk and make minced meat yourself.

Small production staff

In a small home-based industry, the staff consists of family members. If private business is being sold in an attached non-residential premises, it is possible to hire external workers.

Family members, as well as hired employees, can be registered with individual entrepreneurs under an employment contract. If an individual entrepreneur is registered as a self-employed entrepreneur, then he cannot hire personnel. After concluding an employment contract with personnel, it is necessary to pay contributions to the pension and social insurance funds.

For example, consider the staff for home production of dumplings and costs in the form of a table:

To save money, accounting can be outsourced. You need to allocate 82,000 rubles per month for employee salaries and contributions. In the first month, wages are paid from the entrepreneur’s personal pocket, so this amount can be added to the estimate. From the second month it is planned to become self-financing, since the products have high quality, and prices are 7% lower than competitors. If there is healthy competition, self-financing is possible in 5-6 months and depends on the marketing plan.

These are indicative figures. We do not consider them further as costs, since in our case members of the same family participate in creating a business and profits are distributed between them.

Planning expenses

A small home production of dumplings requires monthly funding for the following needs:

1. Salaries to employees and payments to funds – 82,000 rubles.
2. Utility bills – 15,000 rubles.
3. Household needs (purchase of raw materials) – 300-500 thousand rubles.
4. Unforeseen expenses - 15,000 rubles.
5. Depreciation of kitchen utensils and tools – 10,000 rubles.

In total, not counting the purchase of raw materials, it will take 122,000 rubles to keep a small business afloat. The percentage of monthly expenses is presented in the form of a graph:

The graph shows that 67.2% of monthly expenses are on employee salaries. Therefore, this type of business is beneficial for a family where there are no actual salaries, and all income is distributed between business development and replenishing the general family fund.

Project payback

Revenue with an average sales volume of 100-150 kg per month will be about 330,000 rubles. From this amount the cost of raw materials is deducted in the amount of 60% - 198,000 rubles. Net profitability is 132,000 rubles. It is planned that sales volumes will grow and within 6 months, on average, sales will increase by 45-60%. Along with turnover, profit will increase. Net proceeds will be divided into parts:

1. The company's fixed capital is 20%.
2. Return on investment – ​​40%.
3. Expansion of production – 30%.
4. Depreciation and contingencies – 10%.

With this division, the monthly return on investment will cost 52,800 rubles. But this is provided that personnel is a family contract, and 90% of the first month’s revenue does not go to employee salaries. Investments in the project amounted to 567,500 rubles. Thus, the payback will be 10-11 months. Starting from the second month, the purchase of raw materials will be carried out at the expense of revenue. The fixed capital and expansion item are necessary for further production growth without additional financial injections. In a year and a half, it will be possible to rent space and open a full-fledged workshop for making dumplings or implement the idea of ​​home cooking in a personal dining room.

Advertising

A group is launched as an advertisement in in social networks, where the menu, prices and composition of your products are presented in detail. It is necessary to launch an advertising campaign for the first customers, since the products are unknown on the market and it will take time to develop regular customers. A plus for advertising will be a project to deliver ready-made dumplings to offices. Potential buyers will be able to get acquainted with your products and, if they meet all the requirements, they will be willing to order dumplings home. The price of a finished sample portion should not be overpriced, since this move is made to attract a potential buyer. In the future, the markup can be increased.

It will be effective to organize home delivery of ready-made semi-finished products from 3 kg. But this move is unprofitable in large populated areas, where delivery from one end of the city to the other can take more than 30 minutes.

Eventually

To organize a small production of semi-finished products at home, you will need a separate non-residential premises and initial capital of approximately RUB 567,500. If homemade dumplings are made in a small volume in the home kitchen, then you can get by with investing in raw materials. Utensils and tools are used at home. But in this case it will not be possible to organize sales through stores or large retail chains. It is more profitable to immediately start a small home production.

The profitability of the enterprise is 24%, the business will pay off in 1 year. At the same time, funds will be set aside for development. At first, the family is used as a staff; in the future, additional workers can be hired. The business plan for producing dumplings at home with calculations, presented above, is less profitable in megacities, where there are many large competitors, than in small towns.

• Selecting a room
• Packing of dumplings
• Recruitment
• Secrets of dumpling making
• How to start a business producing handmade dumplings
• Which tax system to choose for registering a dumpling shop
• How much money do you need to start a business?
• What equipment to choose for manual production of dumplings

Today you won’t surprise anyone with the variety of the “dumpling miracle”. Supermarket shelves are bursting with a variety of semi-finished products different manufacturers, according to different prices. Beginning entrepreneurs cannot compete with them. This requires huge capital, great connections and long arms. Of course, a novice businessman doesn’t have all this.

But the major players in the dumplings market have a very vulnerable side. In almost 99% of cases, they produce dumplings using automatic machines and with the meat content in the dumplings at most 50%, or even less. Of course, the price of such dumplings is several times lower, and there is a demand for them. But as practice shows, every year the Russian consumer begins to understand more and more about the quality of products. If you give him a taste of a real tasty product, and do not deceive him with its quality, you can win his trust for many years. It is this path that small enterprises are taking today, producing dumplings without adding soy and other elements that reduce the cost of the finished product. These are the so-called “elite” dumplings, the price of which cannot be lower than 200 rubles/kg. You can't beat the taste of real homemade dumplings.

All dumplings priced above 150 are made from natural meat, without the addition of vegetable soy. Soy is added only to cheap dumplings. This rule is followed by the Siberian Gourmet company, a leader in sales of semi-finished products on the market of the Urals and Siberia.

Hand-made dumplings are always more attractive to consumers, as they are tastier and of higher quality, unlike dumplings produced by automatic machines. This is exactly the advantage of small workshops, where exclusively manual labor is used. The cash turnover of a workshop producing only 200 kg of dumplings per day can reach 1 million rubles per month. Of these, the profit can be 150 - 200 thousand rubles. But not everything is as sweet as it seems at first glance. The correct economic approach is important here. First things first.

Where to start planning the production of handmade dumplings

Why should production planning begin with sales? Yes, because many novice businessmen went broke when they invested millions of rubles in the purchase of expensive equipment, and ended up with warehouses filled to the ceiling with finished products. Their mistake was that during the formation of the business they did not plan the sale of their products. This kind of thing could have happened in the 90s, when there was a shortage of products and any product went out of stock. Today, in a period of fierce competition, business needs to start with the question: “Who will I sell to? this product, who is my buyer?

In the case of hand-made dumplings, the first sales can begin with the sale of trial batches to close acquaintances and friends. If you see how your dumplings are praised and ordered again and again, you may think that your enterprise will succeed. After all, your dumplings will be in just as much demand on the shelves of local stores. So we need to open up...

Selecting a room

Many entrepreneurs involve relatives and friends in the business at a very early stage. Making dumplings at home. When capital is very limited, this is often the only way out of the situation. There is nothing shameful about this. When the volume of production and sales of dumplings exceeds 200 kg per day, you can already think about renting premises, purchasing equipment and expanding the staff.

When producing even 200 kg of dumplings per day, the size of the room must be at least 50 m2. It should include areas for receiving and cutting meat, an area for preparing dough, an area for modeling (production) of dumplings, and an area for storing finished products. The workshop must meet all sanitary standards for food production. The room must be clean, the walls must be plastered and painted, the floors must be plastered or tiled. The premises must be equipped with a toilet. It is also necessary to install a container with a disinfectant solution for processing and washing hands with instructions for them. And so on. Don't forget about fire safety. These are the minimum requirements for this type of enterprise.

What equipment to choose for the production of handmade dumplings

1. Flour sifter - from 15 thousand rubles;
2. Dough rolling - from 30 thousand rubles;
3. Meat grinder - from 17 thousand rubles;
4. Dough mixer - from 60 thousand rubles;
5. Minced meat mixer - from 40 thousand rubles;
6. Refrigeration chambers, 2 pcs. - from 100 thousand rubles.

Total costs - from 262 thousand rubles.

By the way, you can start producing hand-made dumplings without the above equipment at all. Everyone made homemade dumplings. Such production is limited only by the presence of a meat grinder, and other operations are done manually. The other side of the coin of such savings is the speed of dumpling production, which will be extremely low.

The above set of equipment is enough to produce up to 700 kg of hand-made dumplings per day. When production volumes reach 1000 kg per day or more, it is worth thinking about purchasing blast freezing chambers and building a separate warehouse for finished products. Manual modeling can be partially replaced by automatic modeling. To do this, you can purchase a dumpling machine, for example the HLT-700XL brand. In general, the market for equipment for the production of dumplings includes Italian, Ukrainian, Chinese and Russian equipment. However, prices vary significantly. Italian equipment is considered the most expensive, but it is also the most reliable and advanced. However, many enterprises successfully operate using cheaper Chinese analogues. The most affordable equipment for the production of dumplings is considered to be ours - domestic. Ultimately, the choice of equipment depends on the preferences of the business owner and his financial capabilities.

Packing of dumplings

It is also worth studying the process of packing dumplings. Currently, three types of packaging can be distinguished: manual, automatic and semi-automatic. Manual process packaging is when the operator manually packs the dumplings into a plastic bag and seals the open part. This method is still used by many small producers in provincial cities. And this justifies itself, because to purchase an automatic packaging line, an entrepreneur will have to shell out at least $20 thousand. For small businesses, the way out of the situation is to purchase a semi-automatic line, the cost of which is just over $3 thousand.

How much money does it take to produce dumplings?

An important point when starting a business is the issue of supplying ingredients for the production of dumplings. These include flour premium, beef and pork meat, egg, onion, pepper, herbs, salt, water. According to some data, for the production of dumplings with a volume of 200 kg per day (4800 kg per month), monthly costs for raw materials will be at least 300 thousand rubles.

Recruitment

The most important cost item for a dumpling shop is labor costs. The less automated the production process is, the more workers are required. Therefore, even a small workshop for hand-making dumplings will require 10-15 people directly involved in the process of making dumplings. Also, a small enterprise will need to hire a technologist, driver, sales managers, and loaders. Accountants and cleaners can be hired under contracts paid provision services (or outsourcing). Do not forget that each employee must have a health book with him in case of inspection.

Which taxation system to choose for a dumpling production workshop?

The organizational form of a workshop for the production of dumplings can be an ordinary individual entrepreneurship. The most favorable tax regime for such an enterprise is the simplified taxation system (STS), 6% of revenue or 15% of the enterprise’s profit.

Secrets of dumpling making

• You can simply reduce the cost of dumplings produced by adding potatoes to the meat. The resulting meat is potato dumplings, the taste is no worse than pure meat dumplings, and the cost is the same.
• You can reduce the cost of dumplings without losing quality by increasing the percentage of water content in the dough and minced meat. Technologically, it is possible to increase the percentage of water content in minced meat to 20%, while the taste of dumplings only becomes better.

How to start a business producing handmade dumplings

The production of handmade dumplings must begin simultaneously with registration as an individual entrepreneur or individual and at the same time establish markets for finished products. To begin with, you can organize it at home and involve relatives in helping. After the first profit appears, you can think about renting premises or purchasing production space as your own. If over 200 kilograms of dumplings are produced per day, then the minimum production area should be 50 square meters. The room is divided into separate sections:

1. receiving and cutting meat;
2. dough preparation;
3. production of dumplings;
4. storage area.

In addition to the above, the room must have toilet room, as well as a special container for workers to wash their hands. IN mandatory availability of special disinfectant solution detailed instructions according to the rules for its use.

Which tax system to choose for registering a dumpling shop

When setting up production of hand-made dumplings, there is no need to open a legal entity. It is enough to register as an individual entrepreneur. In this case, the most optimal solution would be to choose a simplified taxation system. You can also pay tax on both revenue received and profit. In the first case it is 6%, and in the second - 15%.

How much money do you need to start a business?

To set up production of handmade dumplings, you need 250,000 rubles. This price only includes the purchase of equipment. Additional financial expenses will be associated with the acquisition of the necessary ingredients and transportation costs for their delivery, wages to employees and insurance premiums, taxes and rent, additional expenses.

What equipment to choose for manual production of dumplings

Despite the fact that dumplings are made by hand, you still cannot do without equipment. You will need to purchase:

• flour sifting apparatus;
• dough sheeter;
• equipment for kneading dough;
• meat grinder;
• mince mixer;
• at least two refrigeration chambers.

This equipment is enough to produce up to 700 kilograms per day. When producing more than 1000 kg. In addition to the above-mentioned equipment, you will need to purchase a blast freezing chamber and a dumpling machine. With such volumes, there is a need for additional space.

Dumplings are one of the most popular dishes in our country, and their production is quite profitable business. It would seem that all the niches in the manufacture of these products are occupied, and with the current competition it is impossible to break into the market with a new brand. Is there a chance of success in the dumpling business? Where to start and how to beat your competitors? Our next interlocutor will answer all these questions.

Reconomica I talked to a dumpling manufacturer who, with a limited budget and in a short period of time, managed to conquer part of the market in his city. A young entrepreneur from Astrakhan began his career from the very bottom, working as a loader at the grocery market, and currently occupies a worthy place among manufacturers working for quality.

The businessman told us his success story, and revealed to us some secrets, what things should be paid attention to when choosing frozen semi-finished products (and many other interesting things about the quality of products on the Russian market food products). Readers will also have the opportunity to take an inside look at the production of dumplings, which for some will be a discovery, and for others this information will shock.

There is nothing to do in business without experience working with your hands! Where did I start

Greetings to all. My name is Marat, I am 27 years old and I live in Astrakhan. I am engaged in the production of frozen products instant cooking. My products are of high quality and affordable prices.

This is how my career began.

In this article I will tell you how I managed to go from an ordinary loader to an entrepreneur who owns a small production workshop equipped with the most modern equipment. Currently I employ 8 people who are happy with their workplace.

I started as a loader, and I’m not ashamed of it!

He began his career at the local city market, as a simple loader. I came back from the army, there was no work, and I decided to temporarily work as a loader. I loaded everything, from cereals to meat. This profession did not look very prestigious, but I earned my thousand and a half a day. Often I had to stay for night loadings, and this was additional income. Little by little I got involved in this business, and I even began to manage to save some money.

I worked as a loader for a little over a year. I didn't register employment contracts with the market administration, but negotiated directly with entrepreneurs. I worked for several retail outlets at the same time. It was hard, but I always managed. I also worked for two trade pavilions selling meat.

From loaders to cutters

One day, the owner of one of the meat pavilions called me and asked me to come quickly. It turned out that the day before May holidays, her hewer fell ill with another bout of drunkenness and did not come to work. This often happens in trading. She asked me to chop the meat, since there was a line at the counter and there was no one to work.

I’ve tried chopping meat before, but I’ve never been able to do it at this pace. Buyers demanded to let them go. I had to put aside doubts and just do the work. I started a new job in my life - chopping meat.

The first cuts I made were uneven, but within two hours I got the hang of it, stopped dropping the ax and the meat from my hands, and something even started to work out.

The first day of working as a hewer pleasantly surprised me

Since the meat was good, and there were many buyers on this pre-holiday day, all four carcasses were sold before the evening.

Evening came, the meat was sold, the counters were empty, and it was time to pay for my work. The fact is that a meat chopper receives 7 rubles for each kilogram chopped. I ground four carcasses, and the total weight was 465 kilograms. The salary per day was 3225 rubles. This is more than good. Of course, I was very tired that day, my hands hurt from being unaccustomed to it, but it was worth it.

So I decided on my future profession - working with meat products

Then I firmly decided to learn how to chop and cut up meat. I began to often replace hewers at different points and earn more. On normal days, less meat was sold from the point, about 100 to 150 kilograms, but at the same time I could serve several retail outlets at once. My income on the market began to consistently exceed 2,000 rubles a day, given that I could go home after three o’clock in the afternoon.

Gradually I turned into a professional hewer. The meat business sucked me in completely, and I even started my own small business. I studied market life very well, and knew exactly where to buy, when and how to sell meat. All I had to do was open my own store.

The meat outlet at the city market is my first business.

First steps in the meat business

To rent a retail space and a refrigerator, I needed documents, and I... It cost me 3,500 rubles. The sanitary record and some other papers cost another 2,700 rubles. The necessary equipment - a cart, a cutting block, an ax and scales - cost me another 16,000 rubles. I purchased all the equipment used.

I tried to work so that I wouldn't have any problems

Renting a retail space at the market cost 6,000 rubles, and renting a small refrigerator cost another 3,000 rubles per month. Accounting services cost another 4,000 rubles per quarter. Deductions ranged from 6,000 to 8,000 per quarter.

For tax reporting, I did not miss a large amount of goods, and approximately deducted no more than 10,000 rubles per quarter. Everyone is trying to avoid taxes. Tax audits are rare, and they are mainly carried out based on customer complaints, or when someone snitches on a competitor. I tried to work in such a way that I would not have any problems.

My first business was relatively successful. I tried to sell at least 100 kilograms of meat a day and my earnings were 3,000 rubles for such sales. I specialized in selling beef. The retail markup for this meat is 30 - 50 rubles per kilogram (in our region, at least). I cut and sold myself, so I saved on hiring a seller and a cutter. Moreover, I also served neighboring points and received additional income from them. Things progressed, the business developed, and I made new acquaintances.

I noticed someone else's business and began to analyze it

One day I met the so-called dumpling makers. This was a caste of entrepreneurs who produced dumplings. These dumpling makers bought meat every day for their products. But not tenderloin, as many might think, but the cheapest thing on the market.

The horrors of our town

For some, this will be a revelation, but on Astrakhan shelves, and in other cities, I think, too, dumplings made from meat waste are sold.

No matter how scary it may sound, the filling includes exactly what is not sold on the counter, gets weathered and loses its presentation. The filling of dumplings includes such “delicacies” as head meat, flank meat, films, everything that is not sold from the counter for several days and is discounted due to the fact that it may go to waste.

Poor quality dumplings flood store shelves.

If these people are given free rein, they will put whatever they want in dumplings.

But this is not the worst thing. The most scary people- these are butchers who are trying to deceive dumpling makers and sell them already spoiled meat, having first washed it with potassium permanganate to remove the smell. These tricks very often work, and inexpensive store-bought dumplings turn out to be something that, according to all sanitary standards, should be in the trash.

What you need to know about semi-finished meat products. A short excursion into large productions

And I’m even afraid to imagine what’s going on at those enterprises where food chemicals are used. Meat can be replaced there with another substance. This is widely practiced in the food industry, and it is easy to prove it by comparing the price of sausage or frankfurters with the purchase price of meat.

Raw materials cannot be cheaper than the final product. If the price of sausage, sausages or cutlets is lower than the price of meat, then you need to be prepared for what you eat toilet paper mixed with pork skins and flavor enhancers. And for information, I’ll also say: if the sausage is chicken or with poultry meat, this does not mean at all that the bird will be deboned and the meat separated from the bones before being processed into minced meat. This procedure is expensive. It is easier for the manufacturer to turn minced meat into paste using triple distillation through an industrial meat grinder. This explains the presence of a paste-like substance in dumplings instead of meat.

But our dumpling makers do not use chemicals - due to their lack of education, but simply sweep away everything that should soon be disposed of.

Planning a new business. Business plan for a dumplings production enterprise

I watched dumpling producers for a very long time and tried to calculate their benefits. Their dumplings were sold in the middle price segment and ranked behind those sold in large chain stores.

If we think about it (and call a spade a spade), then the online dumplings have paste-like chemicals instead of filling, and those sold under the guise of homemade ones still contain meat, of course, the worst, but still meat.

Homemade dumplings not because they are made with love, but because there is no equipment

These dumplings are called homemade because they are made by hand by people from Central Asia. This is also beneficial for the employer; he saves on the purchase of expensive equipment, and hand-made dumplings can be passed off as homemade dumplings.

This state of affairs is the case in almost all mini-workshops at the local level. The quality of the products leaves much to be desired. Maybe entrepreneurs are happy to produce high-quality products and be proud of them, but sometimes a bad product, by default, suits everyone - manufacturers and end consumers.

Logical inference

Having found out enough information, I began to think about expanding my business. I reasoned like this: I have meat suppliers, a refrigerator for storing meat products and a distribution point. I could buy raw materials cheaper and of acceptable quality. I will not have any waste, because I could sell all the residual production products from my point. The profitability of such workshops ranged from 30 to 70%. I could maintain this profitability, but significantly improve product quality by being able to purchase raw materials directly.

I started compiling short business plan, and this is what came out of it.

The dumpling machine is the main unit in my workshop.

Cost of equipment for a dumpling shop. Specific numbers

Necessary equipment:

• Gazelle with a used thermal booth – 160,000 rubles.
• Dumpling machine JGL-120 – 130,000 rubles.
• Professional meat grinder, capacity 100 kg. per hour – 32,000 rubles.
• Dough mixer for hard dough brand L4-HTV, capacity 60 kg. per hour – 84,800 rubles.
• Freezer POZIS FV 115, 4 units. – 60,000 rubles.
• Refrigerator compartment – ​​22,000 rubles.
• Blast freezing chamber, equipment with installation – 110,000 rubles.
• Tables from of stainless steel– 4 units. – 14,000 rubles.
• Cutting tables and other equipment – ​​15,000 rubles.
• Sinks, plumbing, etc. – 13,000 rubles.
• Electronic scales, large and small – 19,000 rubles.
• Other expenses, furniture, cabinets, changing rooms - 20,000 rubles.
• Video surveillance system – 44,000 rubles.
• Repair and equipment of the premises to bring it into proper sanitary condition - 150,000 rubles.

I calculated the amount that I planned to spend on renovating the premises for an area of ​​150 square meters. This included tiling, plastering in places where it was needed, and painting walls and ceilings with water-based paint.

The amount of one-time expenses amounted to 873,000 rubles. This is a normal amount, since several dumpling shops were sold in the region, and their price tag exceeded 1,000,000 rubles.

True, I didn’t have a filling and packaging machine, but I decided that I didn’t need one yet. The point is that registration trademark It costs around 400,000 rubles, and I couldn’t afford it yet.

Good staff is half the success of an enterprise

Next, we had to focus on planning the staff of workers necessary for the normal functioning of the dumpling shop. My highlight was that I decided to hire a technologist who would understand the task at hand. And the task was this: to keep the quality of the products stable high level constantly.

As an experienced butcher, I know that all meat products appearing on the market are popular, since the manufacturer initial stage production does its job conscientiously.

A good team is half the success.

You should never let the work of the workshop take its course!

In general, the entire food business is very simple. If the product is edible and tasty, then people will take it. It will be taken as long as the manufacturer controls the entire technological process and the product remains of stable quality. Nobody wants to experiment with food. If a person likes a product once and does not let him down again, then this product will always be sold until the quality deteriorates.

It would seem that this is an idyll, and nothing can stop you from making money, but practice shows otherwise. When production starts flowing, other factors intervene - .

If, for example, 500 kilograms of meat are processed on a working day, and 50 of it is stolen by workers, this means that the dumplings will have a 10% underweight of filling. The buyer will immediately feel this. If they don’t add it to the dough mixer required quantity eggs, then instead of broth in the pan the buyer will have a sticky liquid, and such dumplings cannot be added to the soup.

A good dough should be yellowish in color. This means that it is involved in technology.

After such incidents, sales will always fall.

Therefore, a person responsible for output products is necessary in production. Many people make the mistake of appointing one of the workers responsible for the production process. A simple worker, even the best one, will not cope with this responsibility.

I tried to form a staff according to all the rules of good production

• Technologist, who is also the production manager – 35,000 rubles.
• Driver – forwarder – 20,000 rubles.
• Meat deboner, minced meat procurer – 23,000 rubles.
• Dough preparer – 23,000 rubles.
• Procurer of onions and carrots for minced meat, laborer – 18,000 rubles.
• Dumpling machine operator – 26,000 rubles.
• Packer - 18,000 rubles.
• Accountant – 22,000 rubles.

The amount of monthly expenses was supposed to be 185,000 rubles. To this amount was added the rent for the premises of 20,000 rubles per month. Total, to start the project, with the first monthly payment, the amount was 1,078,000 rubles, excluding the cost of electricity and other expenses. The amount is quite serious, and if I were an investor who did not know this business, I would have thought about it, but I had already worked with meat products for several years and knew exactly what I could do.

A little about the profitability of the production of dumplings and semi-finished meat products

Ideally, the profitability of fresh frozen products ranges from 30 to 70%. For the normal functioning of the dumpling shop, I needed to produce at least 600 kg. dumplings a day. This amounted to 12,600 kilograms of product per month, taking into account a five-day working week.

The raw material cost of a kilogram of dumplings using my technology is 146 rubles - taking into account the use of first-grade beef and pork. Another 2 rubles per kilogram was spent on packaging and labeling. Sales wholesale cost of a pack of dumplings weighing 0.5 kg. was 90 rubles. It turns out that from a kilogram of dumplings, I had a profit of 34 rubles. It was dirty profit, and they also had to pay wages.

How much of the proceeds remains net profit?

If the entire monthly batch is fully sold, the profit should be 428,000 rubles. Since the calculation was made based on the raw material cost of the product, all that remained from this amount was to pay wages to the workers, which amounted to 185,000 rubles monthly, and taxes, transportation costs, rent and electricity were also paid from it. Additional expenses were added by about 60,000 rubles monthly.

By my calculations, dumpling shop should bring from 150 to 180 thousand rubles. This is a good result, because the workshop should work autonomously, without my participation. My participation should only be in the first six months of the workshop’s operation, and then the staff should also include two sales representatives to sell products and expand the distribution network.

Launch of dumpling production

After all the calculations, I decided to organize a business. It took me two months to do this. I decided to open the workshop in October. At this time, the vegetable season is already ending, and good sales of meat products begin.

As planned, the workshop, equipped with equipment and staff of workers, was ready to open.

About marketing - how to find sales for new products

I started worrying about sales early on. I visited many stores and retail chains in order to negotiate the sale of products. There was only one offer for sellers - they would receive goods that would not sit on the shelves, and the price of the products would be the same as that of other entrepreneurs. Many agreed to these conditions and decided to purchase a trial batch.

First batch of products

The opening day arrived, the equipment was tested, and production began. On the first day we produced 350 kg. dumplings. There were several stoppages during the production process due to equipment adjustments.

On the second day we already reached the working target of 600 kg. This was the daily norm, and there was no need to exceed it. Almost a ton of product has accumulated in freezers.

Delivery of goods and waiting for orders

I stopped production for several days to distribute goods and wait for the first orders from stores. I delivered the first batch to more than 25 stores. Almost all the goods had to be distributed for sale. An agonizing wait ensued.

I was confident in my product, because, in addition to the good quality of the dumplings, cooking spices were added to each package. It looked attractive and was also very convenient for the buyer. This packaging method was suggested by the production technologist. This, of course, resulted in certain costs, but also gave an advantage over competitors.

A quality product is the key to the success of any business.

As I expected, almost all the stores placed orders for the product. Production was resumed and began to operate as planned.

The start of a new business went without surprises

Everything turned out just as I planned. My experience in the market helped me start earning money right away. I knew everything about my competitors and used all the accumulated knowledge against them.

Expansion of production

For more successful sales and to eliminate the distribution of goods to stores, I decided to rent a retail outlet at a food wholesale center. This step required additional investments of 90,000 rubles. This money was needed to purchase chest freezers and the necessary equipment.

I raised the plan to 800 kilograms per work shift. This was almost the maximum power of the unit.

Sales also came close to these indicators.

It's simple in food production

After three months of work, the whole city knew my dumplings. This has become quite a popular product. I’ll tell you a little secret of my success - by producing products you either make money right away or you don’t. If the product is tasty, it will immediately become popular, and therefore will immediately sell. It’s quite easy to make a name with good quality and an inexpensive price, but then it’s difficult to maintain this level. Buyers will not forgive if for some reason the product one day appears on the shelves in an inedible form.

What you should absolutely not do

If the product turns out to be defective - due to human factor, or due to equipment failure, then it is better to throw it away. You can’t be greedy in these moments and sell it at a discount.

Several times I took large quantities of dumplings to a dog shelter. This is very expensive, but it is better to lose 50,000 rubles once than the trust of customers.

Correct calculation - successful business

Now my business is stable. Product output is going according to plan, and sales are keeping pace with production. I increased the salaries of my employees, as the production plan increased, and consequently, the workload on the staff increased.

Now I’m thinking about acquiring a brand and entering other markets in the region.

In this material:

Dumplings are tasty, fast and nutritious. In an age when people save their time as much as possible, home cooking food went by the wayside. This is especially true for dumplings, the making of which takes most of the day. Previously, this dish was enjoyed on weekends or holidays for obvious reasons, but today everything has changed. The counters are filled with frozen semi-finished products, allowing each consumer to taste their favorite dish 10–15 minutes after boiling water in a pan. The dumpling production business requires serious investments, but this does not take away from it such features as high profitability and demand.

Production of dumplings: relevance of the idea

Dumpling counters in shops and supermarkets are simply bursting with an abundance of goods. It seems that there are so many manufacturers that it is impossible to wedge between them. On the one hand, this is true; high competition brings big problems. But if you look from another point of view, namely from the price segment, it becomes clear that people always lack something average. Cheap dumplings are practically dead weight, while too expensive ones take an extremely long time to be sold. There is always a shortage of dumplings that are not inferior in quality to expensive ones, but have an average price.

It is also worth noting that the products presented in the stores are almost all imported. There is very little local production, since it is extremely difficult to break into a chain supermarket. High-quality dumplings made in the workshops of entrepreneurs are most often sold in small pavilions, where the markup on the product exceeds the cost of elite products.

The relevance of dumplings on the market is as follows:

• popularity of the product;
• affordable price;
• ease of preparation;
• satiety;
• taste.

Dumplings are in demand and will remain so for a long time, but for the production and retail sale of goods it is necessary to formulate detailed business plan with financial calculations and step-by-step organizational measures.

Advantages and disadvantages of business

Positive sides:

• demand - despite the abundance of types of dumplings on the market, each of them is in demand;
• quick payback – an average workshop for the production of dumplings can pay for itself in 6–8 months;
• the possibility of expanding the assortment - in the future it is possible to produce other frozen products (dumplings, filled pancakes, pasties for heating);
• simple technology for manufacturing the product.

Negative sides:

• high requirements for the premises;
• competition;
• serious start-up capital.

The requirements for the premises are serious, but still they are standard for food production, and therefore feasible. Start-up capital only involves the purchase of equipment, which is really expensive, as well as the hiring of a large number of personnel.

Description of the list of goods and services

At the start of a business, you can limit yourself to only the production of dumplings. At the same time, it is worth understanding that it is impossible to understand how successful or unprofitable a business is by just one type of product.

Initially, it is necessary to produce 2–3 types of dumplings:

• domestic;
• classic;
• children's.

Thus, the manufacturer will not only understand which taste is closer to the buyer, but will also expand the boundaries of the target audience.

A common stereotype among the population is that store-bought dumplings do not contain meat, the ingredients are unnatural, and therefore the product is harmful for children.

Psychological technique of the manufacturer - if you name one of the types of products “Children’s”, then the parents’ attitude towards the product will immediately change, which means sales will increase.

As additional services You can develop a special sauce for dumplings, which comes with the pack. This will have the least impact on production costs, and will attract maximum attention.

Market analysis: assessment of the level of competition and risks

For a novice businessman, competition comes from everyone – both regional and federal manufacturers. The first ones practically do not need advertising, because they are known to buyers for many reasons:

• “word of mouth” – friends, relatives, acquaintances always recommend this or that locally produced product;
• seller's recommendation - buyers often ask for locally produced goods;
• personal search - attentive people independently study the manufacturer, focusing on the regional representative.

Federal companies producing dumplings are known to everyone - their products are widely advertised on television and are widely represented in stores in every city in the country. There is one “but” - the quality of the product is lost due to mass production, so the consumer is wary of dumplings of this kind. Undoubtedly, they sell well, but not as much as the manufacturer himself would like.

To assess competitors, you should visit several large supermarkets, retail pavilions and specialized stores selling semi-finished products. When comparing prices and products, you should pay attention to the production time of dumplings. For example, if a product was produced a long time ago, but the packaging has not yet been sold, there is a high probability that this brand will not be popular.

The risks in the dumpling production business are small. This mainly concerns the purchase of cheap or defective equipment, which directly affects the quality of dumplings. Before purchasing equipment, you need to read reviews online and also make sure you have a certificate of conformity from the manufacturer.

Dumpling production technology

Main stages:

1. Preparation of ingredients - defrosting meat, peeling and slicing onions, sifting flour, disinfecting eggs, diluting saline solution.
2. Kneading the dough - the procedure is carried out on the basis of an agreed upon recipe.
3. Minced meat - the ingredients are passed through a meat grinder and then mixed for 20 minutes in a special machine with the addition of water and spices. At small production and manual sculpting, the procedure is carried out by hand.
4. Forming - minced meat and dough are placed in a special device, which produces ready-made dumplings at the output.
5. Freezing – products are placed in the freezer no later than 20 minutes after preparation.
6. Packing and packaging – frozen products are packaged by weight and packaged using a special device. The package must indicate the production date, expiration date and shift number.

Help: packaging material costs a lot of money, so a businessman must decide for himself whether he needs a stylish package or a transparent version with a label inside is enough. Often the second solution is more successful, because the product is clearly visible, and the very fact of such packaging inspires more confidence than “machine compaction”.

How to open a dumpling shop step by step

First of all, you need to take care of registration entrepreneurial activity, otherwise the business will be illegal. Next, the entrepreneur will need equipment, premises, formulation development and hiring staff.

Registration of production

For a small or medium-sized workshop, it is enough to open an individual entrepreneur - visit the tax office at the place of registration, submit an application with a passport and TIN, wait for a decision. The state duty is 800 rubles.

In the future, when the business gains large-scale momentum, you can close the individual entrepreneur and establish an LLC. The sequence of actions is exactly this, and not a transition from the status of an entrepreneur to a legal entity, which is impossible by law.

Recipe development

Everyone knows the recipe for dumplings - dough, minced meat and spices. Why then is the product of one manufacturer tastier than another; some dumplings retain their shape, while others fall apart at the initial stage of cooking. The answer lies in the recipe.

To create tasty and high-quality dumplings, you will need the services of a technologist who will calculate the exact proportions of ingredients and also “work magic” on the taste. It would not be superfluous to try to launch the unique taste of dumplings through additional food additives (allowed by law) or the introduction of new ingredients.

For the average consumer the best option There will be a taste of home, which is much easier to obtain than it seems. It is enough to follow standard proportions and use quality products without trying to save money. The price of dumplings in stores is initially inflated due to a large staff, packaging and delivery from other regions. For a mini-workshop within the city, these factors do not play a role, so you can maintain high quality at an affordable cost.

Workshop premises: SES requirements

The building is best rented. Location does not matter if it provides sanitary zone settlement.

SES requirements:

• availability of water supply and sewerage;
• ventilation equipment and natural air movement indoors;
• washable wall and floor cladding;
• sufficient lighting of the work area, the presence of lamp shades;
• utility room for employees;
• at least one bathroom;
• stock.

In addition to the SES, the premises are checked by the fire inspectorate for compliance with safety standards. In particular, this applies to electrical wiring, required quantity fire extinguishers and fire evacuation plan.

Purchase of equipment

To produce dumplings you will need:

1. Meat grinder.
2. Dough mixer.
3. Device for mixing minced meat.
4. Apparatus for making dumplings.
5. Fridge.
6. Freezer.
7. Packaging machine.
8. Kitchen tools.

In addition to everything, you will need to purchase cleaning products with disinfectant properties.

Staff

Minimum staff:

• technologist – 1 person;
• worker – 6 people;
• driver – 1 person;
• loader – 2 people;
• accountant – 1 person;
• sales representative – 1 person.

Assortment compilation

At the start of production, 3 different positions of dumplings are enough price category. After a couple of months, as soon as the state of affairs can be assessed, product expansion is recommended:

• dumplings with various fillings;
• spring rolls;
• cutlets;
• meatballs.

Each type of product requires the purchase additional equipment, so expenses should be taken into account based on the profit of the enterprise.

Search for product sales channels, advertising

The marketing campaign for the introduction of a new type of dumplings involves, at most, launching a video on local television. The effect of such advertising will be up to 30%, but this is necessary so that people at least learn about the brand and pay attention to it in the store.

Other marketing moves are practically ineffective, because the consumer is more focused on the cost and appearance of the product.

The sales representative is responsible for searching for sales channels. If at the initial stage the employee is singular, then you can share responsibilities with an entrepreneur who will deal with contracts for supplies to supermarkets, and the TP will deal with the introduction of products into the retail pavilions of the city, and then the region.

Financial calculations

The dumpling business is considered a rather expensive undertaking, but despite this, the markup on products reaches 50% or more. Using the example of a small mini-workshop, calculations will be made for opening the production of dumplings.

Investments in the project

Spending at the start (in rubles):

• premises rental – 50,000;
• repair work and bringing the premises to the standards of regulatory organizations - 100,000;
• purchase of equipment – ​​700,000;
• purchase of products – 100,000.

Result: 950,000 rubles.

Current expenses

Monthly expenses (in rubles):

• employee salaries – 360,000;
• transport and fuel maintenance – 80,000;
• utilities - 20,000;
• additional expenses – 30,000.

Result: 490,000 rubles.

Income and profit calculation

The profitability of a business directly depends on the volume of products sold. Modern dumpling machines produce from 50 to 250 kg of product per hour, but this does not mean that there will be demand for such a volume.

As an example, we will consider an inexpensive device with a productivity of 60 kg per hour of goods. 300 kg of dumplings are produced per shift. Per month – 9,000 kg.

The market value of a kilogram pack of dumplings is 130 rubles. Gross income – 1,170,000 rubles.

Net profit – 1,170,000 minus 490,000.

Result: 680,000 rubles.

Evaluating the efficiency of dumplings

It is unrealistic to achieve such a profit in the first month, because it is typical for production with established distribution channels. This will take 2–3 months, during which production will earn no more than 20–30% of the calculated amount.

With high-quality and affordable products, supply volumes increase, so payback occurs closer to 6–8 months with a sharp increase in net profit.

The dumpling business is widespread throughout the country. Upon careful observation, you will notice that the brands that existed 10 years ago have not gone away, but at the same time, “newcomers” are successfully conquering this niche. This means only one thing - there is demand, and, accordingly, there is also profit from production. A competent business plan and high-quality products are the key to the success of an enterprise producing dumplings and frozen semi-finished products.

Anything is possible: how an IT recruiter, disillusioned with life in the capital, launched a dumpling production in Bryansk

The biography of Ella Vetlugina is rich in sharp turns. Here she is making progress at school - Olympiads, music, gymnastics - and suddenly she puts off her studies at the university and goes to work as a laboratory assistant at the Department of Social Physiology of Chelny State University. So she enters the journalism department - and a year later she is transferred to “anti-crisis management”. Gives up journalism and becomes a recruiter in the IT field. Receives the post of HR Director in international company- and after three months he goes nowhere because he’s bored. Finally, after the capital, offices, IT and HR - suddenly Bryansk, a dumpling shop, its own business. What will happen next?

30 years old, owner of the company. Born in Chelyabinsk, studied at SUSU (journalism, crisis management). After moving to Moscow, she worked in IT recruiting. In 2015, she moved to Bryansk, where in September she opened the production of hand-made dumplings. Since September 2016 he has lived in St. Petersburg. Raises a daughter.

Here's a new twist

“As a child, I didn’t want to do business,” says Ella, “although my dad was a classic entrepreneur of the 90s, a strong “buy and sell” entrepreneur. Alas, that experience does not work well in the current realities - my father recently closed his butcher shop in Chelyabinsk, unable to withstand competition with chains. In high school, I also resold some cosmetics and lingerie, but it could hardly be called a business, I just earned pocket money. I also washed cars.”

Ella was going to become a journalist. From the 11th grade I interned in the Chelyabinsk press. By her second year of journalism, she realized that they weren’t teaching her anything new at the faculty, and, continuing to work in the media, she transferred to “crisis management.” Studying here was carried out by correspondence, so the young student found herself in the company of older, as it seemed to her, classmates - mostly entrepreneurs and top managers. In a strange and alien environment, Ella was lost. The first foray into the entrepreneurial path ended in melancholy.

“I wanted to study management, and we were taught basic economics,” explains Ella. - I wanted to write investigations, but they offered me PR. When they didn’t take my text about arms trafficking in the Chelyabinsk region, I just took the train and left for Moscow. I had a laptop, a cat, an air rifle given by my dad, and 1.5 thousand rubles. Over time, this set has changed - now I also have a daughter and a car, but the rifle was stolen.”

In the capital, Ella did not have success with journalism - the vacancies came across one more sadly than the other, it all ended with an offer to write horoscopes

“I then staged a ritual farewell to journalism,” our heroine recalls, “I asked that all my texts be deleted online, and I burned newspapers with publications. Now, as an HR specialist, I understand that I was meddling in the wrong place, but there was no one to tell me.”

From journalists, Ella became a secretary, and from there - a legal assistant. Most of her friends worked in the IT field, that’s what happened in Chelyabinsk. She even got a few jobs at large company, looking for programmers. “At some point, the company called and invited me to pick up the money. I don’t understand, what money? They say: you are entitled to a commission for recruiting. I was then given an amount equal to four secretary salaries. I thought about it and switched to searching for employees for IT companies.”

Over the course of several years, Ella went from a freelance recruiter to an HR director in an international company. Despite the fact that the field seemed interesting to the girl, from time to time she wanted to do something of her own, different, useful. So, while working for a system integrator, Ella proposed to the management to open a corporate university - to earn money by training narrow IT specialists not only for her company, but also for the foreign market. The management “blurred” the idea, then 26-year-old Ella became an HR director in her hearts. And three months later she dropped everything and left for Bryansk.

From Moscow - to Bryansk

Ella came to Bryansk for personal reasons; she didn’t know anything specific about the city or the region. But even at the entrance I decided that I would open my own business here.

“I wanted to do something definitely useful. Not a recruitment agency, not a website, not trainings. And something that a person really needs - I thought about sewing and furniture. It turned out that the Bryansk region has a good environment, tasty products, and, moreover, cheap labor. The city is not that poor, but there is simply little money in it, and prices and wages are low.

I decided to grow champignons. Firstly, it’s simple - and I didn’t understand anything about agronomy. Secondly, they are in very high demand. But champignons are ammonia, work in gas masks. Production will have to be moved out of the city - that means going to the countryside, driving people there. It’s long and expensive.”

“And so I sat, as usual, making dumplings for myself from delicious Bryansk meat, and suddenly I began to count the cost of minced meat and dough. This, I think, is what we need!”

According to the entrepreneur, the market for hand-made dumplings in capital cities is absolutely empty. Such products can only be found in markets and restaurants. Grocery chains sell semi-finished products produced by machine, and this is a radically different product.

Lyrical digression No. 1:
difference between store-bought and home-made dumplings

“The difference between manually and automatically made dumplings is very big. This does not mean that all the dumplings in the store are made from bad raw materials. Eat good brands, in which there is really real meat, there are no veins and cartilage - as far as this is generally possible in mass production. Real eggs are put into the dough, and here and there there is even a glimpse of non-gray flour. But despite all this, the modeling remains automatic.

And in order for the dumpling to come out as a dumpling, and not as a cutlet in the dough, the minced meat must be a bit runny - then there will be broth inside. When molding by machine, this will not work; dumplings with liquid minced meat simply do not stick together - 90% of them will be defective. There is no machine that can replace hands.

Yes, you can set the dough to any thickness on the machine, but it will not be the same as it was rolled by hand - homogeneous, without lumps or holes. We tested the dough sheeter for several days and abandoned it. Suitable for a mass product, not for a premium one.

50% of the quality characteristics of a dumpling depend on the dough. People usually ask: what kind of meat is there? And at least one would think: what kind of dough is there? Because if the dough is gray, it means the flour is rotten, sour. The dough should be slightly yellowish, this indicates the presence of eggs in it.

But the reputation of dumplings is especially spoiled by the cheap segment of store-bought products. There are “horns and hooves”: by-products, sinews, soy protein, egg powder, melange, flour from the year before last, preservatives. These dumplings can be stored for years. But they have a cheap cost.

If classic dumplings cost less than 300 rubles per kilogram, I have doubts about their naturalness. This is the minimum cost that related industries can afford in their stores. As a rule, butcher shops have passable dumplings at a fairly low price. This is a local production: so that the meat does not go to waste, it is ground, made into dumplings - and frozen. And in chain stores I have never seen hand-made sculptures.”

Through Bryansk - to Moscow

According to initial calculations, the pure raw material cost was about 110 rubles per kilo of classic dumplings; the real cost was one and a half times more. “And so I sculpt and think: if this product is thrown onto the Moscow market, it will probably be in demand among wealthy residents of the capital. Despite the fact that the price will be quite human.”

Ella didn’t think about any home delivery at that time. She was going to sell dumplings wholesale - to stores, preferably large ones. It was planned to stand out in the market precisely through hand-sculpting. The main message: we make a high quality product.

“I turned to entrepreneur friends who were close to grocery chains and asked to connect me with stores that were ready to buy such goods,” says Ella. - One network agreed to try it. I quickly opened an LLC, and while we were waiting for the contract, I launched production. The strategy was this: we go to the Bryansk stores of this chain, increase turnover, make capital and go to Kaluga, then follow the same pattern. But the network started having problems, the contract was first postponed, and then forgotten about it.”

“If I started all over again, I would still start this story. The question is that what I set out to do is not at all what happened.”

Home delivery has appeared in the range of services out of desperation. Ella has already rented a workshop, bought freezers, stainless steel tables, knives, rolling pins, and an electric meat grinder. Bryansk prices for labor, raw materials and rent allowed us to start at 100 thousand rubles. On average, renting a workshop costs an entrepreneur about 10 times less than in the Moscow region.

Ella was waiting for a contract from the store - and did not look for other buyers, concentrating on production. The business owner made the first 70 kg of dumplings with her own hands, testing raw materials and testing the technology.

“I looked at what flour and what meat was better. I calculated how much raw material was needed per kilogram, how much could be put together in an hour, etc. I mixed a bunch of dough, tried different eggs, different ratios. It just seems - sculpt and sculpt. But if you are making a premium product, be prepared to take into account a lot of nuances.

For example, I spent a long time trying to make the dough stronger - then we could make it thinner. Thick dough in store-bought dumplings is made not because they spare meat, but so that the dumpling does not fall apart during cooking. We eventually figured out how to make a tight dough, and in our dumplings it is thin. True, due to this, the time for rolling has doubled, and this is money.”

The second person in the team was the administrator with a wide range of responsibilities - from organizing the supply of flour and meat to recruiting employees. Ella took two modellers on board next. At the peak season - the winter of 2015-2016 there were six of them, and the total number of employees in the company was nine.

Over the course of the year, the staff has contracted and expanded more than once. Today the company employs two molders, one of whom is a chef. The position of administrator has been abolished. Courier drivers, accountants, and website technical support have been outsourced. Ella herself manages the production remotely - in September she moved to St. Petersburg to establish sales here.

However, we are somewhat ahead of the curve.

Home delivery

“We sat and waited for the contract. I had some business in Moscow, and I wrote on Facebook that I had launched a startup, I was making dumplings, and I could bring them. The people responded - in the end I brought a whole truckload of goods to Moscow. Word of mouth began to work, orders came from friends of friends. I thought: while we are waiting for wholesale, we can make money on this. We made an order form on Google, Facebook group"- recalls the entrepreneur.

The company’s website appeared only in November 2016. Before this, a form was enough, but it was impossible to attach online payments to it, and the range had grown so much that it needed to be shown in all its glory.

“Online payment is our insurance. When it didn’t exist yet, customers paid small orders in cash to the courier. Each time it was a risk - if the buyer refuses, the dumplings can be thrown away - the freezer bag has a certain operating time. By the way, this happened - and it’s good that the next client simply took more. Now we work only on prepayment.”

When it became clear that the promised contract with the store would not happen, Ella tried to break into other chains. Economy format stores disappeared immediately. But even those that position themselves as premium asked for an astronomical discount: “And I already offered them a product with almost no profit, just to get on the counter. But it didn’t work out. As a result, I decided not to waste time shopping anymore. Since then, home delivery has become the main principle of sales."

Delivery times to Moscow range from three to eight days; the car goes to St. Petersburg once a month.

Assortment as a marketing tool

Initially, the company relied on only “classic” dumplings with minced pork and beef. But when it became clear that there would be no stores, and that we would have to work directly with the end consumer, it was logical to give him a choice. The second item in the assortment was the “Men’s” dumplings.

“My man suggested making them,” Ella recalls, “he said: “Make big dumplings so that the man can eat them and feel good.” This is the same classic, only three times larger. And then the buyers got involved and started offering: I want it with cottage cheese, I want it with fish. I introduced Dagestan kurze - a rare product for our area. There is a different sculpting, pure lamb, whey, and its own set of seasonings. The calculation was also that Muslims would respond to the Kurz. Well, off we go. Dumplings, manti, cutlets, rolls, kupaty, dolma, stuffed vegetables, fish dumplings, berry dumplings, with squid, cuttlefish ink, etc.”

“We came up with vegetable dumplings especially for fasting people. Unfortunately, they were overcooked - after all, the dough is without eggs. The problem was solved thanks to a vegan client - experienced in these matters, he told us the secret ingredient.”

Today, the “Pelmeshki” assortment includes 94 products, including 56 types of dumplings themselves. All products are made in one workshop by the same craftswomen.

During the year, only one item was withdrawn from sale - dumplings with cheese and olives. No one ever ordered them. For other exotic species, buyers are found from time to time. The next contenders for elimination are pink dumplings for children: the beet broth that is added to the dough is boiled down.

“I don’t focus on my taste at all. I love dumplings with meat, but I don’t understand dumplings with sorrel. But people order, it’s delicious for them, so we’ll do it.”

Every new product is marketing ploy, a reason to talk about a new product, remind you of yourself on social networks, and interest a potential buyer. The company does not incur any costs or risks, since it does not hold inventory. Raw materials are bought to order - that’s how much they pay, that’s how much they sculpt. Made, frozen, sent for delivery.

“Of course, you won’t be able to work with wholesalers like that,” agrees Ella. “But our business is scaling quickly. If necessary, we will make half a ton of dumplings in 10 days: three days to gather molders and buy additional freezers, and a week for production.”

Between Miratorg and farmers

Volume for a business like Pelmeshka is a lifeline; it allows you to significantly reduce the share of non-product costs, which amount to slightly less than half of the total cost. We are talking about salaries, logistics, communications, workshop rental, etc.

More than half of the costs come from the cost of raw materials: meat, flour, eggs, cheese, cottage cheese, seasonings and other ingredients. Modest turnover does not allow the company to purchase raw materials at wholesale prices, which greatly affects the cost.

“In the premium segment, product quality is the number one factor. We cannot afford gray flour, the dough from which will crack. We cannot use powdered eggs - only selected eggs."

The company buys pork and beef from Miratorg - the main capacities of the agro-industrial holding are based in the Bryansk region. Flour - Chelyabinsk manufacturer "Makfa" (Ella Vetlugina's grandfather worked at this factory). The remaining products - lamb, chicken, turkey, eggs - are supplied by local farms.

“At first I thought that we would cooperate exclusively with farmers, but not all farmers had tested meat. That’s why I buy pork and beef from Miratorgov – their meat is both tasty and proven. But, alas, they don’t do lamb,” says the owner of Pelmeshki.

The company buys seasonal goods - vegetables, mushrooms (for example, chanterelles) and berries - at farmers' markets as needed. But the truffles are from our partners, the Moscow store “Mushroom Place”. “We basically have nothing frozen, only fresh ingredients.”

The cheese in Bryansk dumplings is produced by the cheese factory of Oleg Sirota, a well-known apologist for import substitution. Ella was visiting him and brought 100 kg of Imeretian cheese from there. Following this, several new types of dumplings appeared in the assortment - with cheese and potatoes, with cheese and cottage cheese.

Ella selects suppliers herself. During the first year of Pelmeshka, she changed suppliers of turkey, chicken and cottage cheese: “We have a rule: two complaints from a client - and we stop cooperation with the supplier. It's tough, but otherwise we won't be able to maintain our reputation. Two clients complained of heartburn, so we started working with another poultry farmer. We initially used factory-made cottage cheese, produced by a local enterprise, but switched to farm-made cottage cheese. And the price for it immediately increased.”

Delivery is outsourced

The advantages of Bryansk are not limited to delicious meat and cheap labor force, it is also close to Moscow. The distance of 350 km allows us to deliver goods to the homes of customers in the capital.

“We tried to carry it ourselves,” says the entrepreneur, “we worked with a partner, but it turned out to be most convenient to use the YouDo service - there will always be someone who will do the task quickly and well. If he doesn’t, it will affect his rating.

Now we use the services of private drivers, dumplings are delivered in freezer bags. In the summer, it happened that the dumplings arrived a little melted, but this was not critical. We put extra batteries on St. Petersburg flights. For now, we have enough cars, but if we need to deliver half a ton, we’ll hire a refrigerator.”

At first, delivery applied to orders over 2 kg, but given that the client always pays for it (it costs 350 rubles), this restriction was lifted. You can order as much as you like.

A sundress works best

So far, the best month in sales for Pelmeshki was April 2016, it brought in 15% of annual revenue (turnover - 1.3 million rubles), about 400 kg of dumplings were sold to customers in a month. This was partly due to the rapid recruitment of a loyal audience - this was a active growth, partly due to seasonality.

In the summer, dumplings are rarely ordered - in May, diets, summer cottages, and vacations begin. Demand increases as customers return to their apartments. High season – autumn-winter. November 2016 was good. Although December and January are worse than last year - perhaps because prices have increased.

The initial investment in the business was recouped after two months of the workshop’s operation; the company ended the year in a small, but positive way

“I noticed that of all the promotion channels – and we tried different advertising – only personal recommendations work. The neighbor praised it - the neighbor bought it. A famous blogger wrote that he liked it - and customers came running to us. This phenomenon affects demand more than seasonality,” the entrepreneur assures.

The lion's share of Pelmeshki products is supplied to Moscow, about 10% to St. Petersburg. Bryansk as a market turned out to be unpromising. “We tried to supply our dumplings to local stores, but the directors simply took them home,” Ella recalls. - This is too expensive a product for the local market. Yes, there are rich people here, but to reach them, you need to invest heavily in advertising - these costs are impractical.”

Prices: can't be lower

“When I calculated the price, I started from the cost and a small profit. In fact, most of our clients don't even look at the price, unlike wholesalers. Any wholesaler wants a price 100% lower, but then I will work at a loss. Wholesalers are guided by the discount price of automatically molded dumplings - about 205 rubles per kilo. We must include raw materials, labor, delivery, and profit in them. This is unrealistic. In addition, over the year, meat has risen in price by 25%, and the price of flour has increased slightly. Transport costs have increased. And we raised prices."

Today, in retail sales, hand-made Bryansk dumplings cost from 649 rubles per kilo of “Tender” (with chicken) to 1,500 per kilo of “Truffle” ones. Classic dumplings are sold for 799 rubles per kg, “Siberian” - for 999 rubles. Manty - from 899 rubles per kg, chebureki and kupaty - from 699 rubles, dumplings - from 499 rubles.

At the current pace, there is not much that the enterprise can save on, except that ordinary freezers are used, and not for emergency freezing.

“We tried to cut costs, tried other flour, local producers - nothing worked. The molders asked to return the Chelyabinsk one,” says Ella. “They tried beating the onions with a blender to speed up the process. As a result, about 40 kg of dumplings were ruined. When you beat the onion in a blender or food processor, it produces juice and greatly softens the minced meat. To make it tasty, you have to cut the onions by hand - we still do that.”

Lyrical digression No. 2: about the reputation of dumplings

“As far as I understand, the market for hand-made dumplings turned out to be empty because it’s hard to make money on it. Manufacturers eventually turn a blind eye to quality and begin to cut costs, cutting costs. It’s easier for cheese makers, they have more investment, more advertising, and, surprisingly, their product is clearer.

The city audience is with great difficulty ready to try our product, because over the last ten years people have become accustomed to the idea that dumplings are an unhealthy food that is kept in the refrigerator just in case. Food that should not be fed to children. And we retrain the buyer, change his attitude towards dumplings. There are people in the capitals who have never eaten homemade dumplings, and this is a surprise for them.

It turns out that in order to accelerate demand, you need to change your attitude towards the product. This, I repeat, is expensive - advertising works very poorly here. But for those who have already tried it, this is a completely festive product - they order dumplings from us for events and birthdays.”

Sales markets

The first stores that began selling hand-made Bryansk dumplings were the Molochny Dvor chain - a significant event happened in July 2016. But after Ella raised the price following the meat producers, retailers stopped cooperating.

“According to the plan, another person was supposed to handle sales in the company, but it turned out that this is also my function. All contacts with restaurants, markets, shops go through me,” says the entrepreneur.

When it became clear that it would be difficult to enter the stores, Ella tried to take Moscow markets by storm. Since June 2016, Pelmeshki products have been sold at Petrovsky Bazaar. But I couldn’t go to the Danilovsky market - they make their own dumplings there.

Business centers did not live up to the entrepreneur’s expectations: for top managers, chefs make dumplings themselves, and catering services of lower ranks are not at all interested in such a product.

The cooperation with a Moscow restaurant that offered Bryansk dumplings on its menu could be called successful, but the restaurant closed. However, this experience has shown that restaurants are a potentially attractive category of partners, since they understand the cost of products self made. That is why, having moved to St. Petersburg, Ella first of all set her sights on getting to know the premium catering industry.

In addition, Ella likes St. Petersburg's appetites - residents of the northern capital, on average, order more per person than Muscovites. For example, the last shipment weighing about 70 kg was intended for nine customers. But the largest purchase - 21 kg of dumplings and semi-finished products - was made by a Muscovite.

Demand: from bachelors to those losing weight

The audience of “Pelmeshki” is divided into several categories, which are united only by wealth - not below average. The first category is family people over 30 who have many children. The second is bachelors. The third are businessmen who, in principle, love “everything good.” The fourth big category is girls who are preoccupied healthy eating. “Dietary” (beef, chicken), “Fitness” (turkey) and sugar-free berry dumplings have been specially introduced for them. By the way, the first two types are often taken by diabetics.

The most popular products in the “Pelmeshki” assortment are classic dumplings (pork and beef), Siberian (beef), dumplings with potatoes and mushrooms, Dagestan kurze (lamb), dumplings made from three types of meat, with red fish

“Everything else is for assortment. Usually a person takes 5 kg of “classics”, and one kilogram of some unusual ones to try. For example, dumplings with squid. Or with cuttlefish ink - they’ve only been ordered twice so far.”

It was the customers’ idea to expand the range towards semi-finished products - some asked for manti, others for kupat, and still others for chebureks. All these products could have been on sale earlier, but Ella waited until the fall to show the entire range on the new website with a “screwed-on” online payment.

Marketing comes with experience

“If I were starting a business now, I wouldn’t count on wholesale, I wouldn’t waste time on it. I would not delay the website and take marketing much more seriously - from labels to social networks. And, perhaps, I would find a partner who would do sales. Because there was a moment when the business took off, which we did not work to its full potential - we had to promote this moment, and then “it would have come by steam,” Ella is sure.

The packaging of Pelmeshki has changed several times over the past year. Initially, with an eye on stores, it was a plastic box with a sticker. However, it turned out that it cracked in the freezer. The box was replaced with durable freezer bags with a branded sticker. It turned out that the stickers in the freezer were peeling off. Then the stickers were replaced with a cardboard label with a hole, and they began to tie them to the bag with linen rope.

“Despite the fact that this is a premium product, it turned out to be unprofitable for us to make the packaging more expensive. This would make sense for supply to stores. But any box with a window will add 30 rubles to the cost. A private buyer will overpay them, but why? And the wholesaler will strangle himself for them - in wholesale people bargain for pennies!”

Pelmeshka lured new customers with partner discounts (for example, buyers of a fish store get a discount from Ella, and vice versa) and promotions (mushroom and berry dumplings as a gift). Everyone who brings a new client receives a kilogram of any dumplings as a gift with their next order. According to the entrepreneur, these events do not bring any visible results - this is not important for the audience. But the database of reviews is accumulating.

In the summer, Ella tried selling “dumpling passes” for a period of three months to a year. The longer the period, the higher the discount: 3 months - 5%, 6 months - 10%, 12 months - 15%. The price included delivery once a month.

Thus, the “On a Diet” set (3 kg per month) included three types of dumplings – “Dietary”, “Phyto” and “Summer”. A three-month supply (9 kg) cost 5,040 rubles, and an annual supply (36 kg) cost 18,480. There were also sets “Bachelor” (four types, 4 kg per month) and “Family” (four types, 5 kg per month). In absolute terms, the most expensive set was the family set - 60 kg per year for 34,800 rubles. It was an experiment - the offer was valid for several weeks. Two subscriptions were sold for 6 and 12 months. Most likely, the experiment will continue in 2017 - there are no subscriptions on the website yet.

Foggy future

“Frankly speaking, everything is not so rosy,” admits Ella. - If our client base does not organically grow exponentially or investments do not appear to increase it, then it will be difficult. We are at the stage when we need to reach new level, but there are no resources for this.”

To launch a large-scale advertising campaign, the company needs investment. For Ella, this is a sore point: “I don’t really want to let investors into the business. Because after some time the investor will say that we need to switch to automatic modeling and go online. This is a different idea, a different business. In this sense, I would prefer to take out a loan - it will be my responsibility and I will not have to report to anyone.”

“Later, when “Pelmeshka” becomes big enterprise“Perhaps we will have both an automatic machine and a budget line of dumplings, but not in the near future.”

A year ago, Ella tried to take out a regional loan to start a business under a government program at 7% per annum. With this money she was going to make the first batch for stores.

“They told me that if I want to take out a loan of 1.5 million rubles, I must own two apartments: if I don’t pay off, one will be taken away, but I will not be left without housing. Then I went to commercial banks, but the vast majority of them lend to already operating businesses - from a year and up. So this year I’ll go to banks again - maybe something will work out. By this time, you need to understand the advertising strategy so as not to waste money.”

In mid-2016, Ella decided to cut back on advertising budgets, focusing on free promotion on social networks - Facebook and LinkedIn. Activity on VKontakte, according to her, did not bring clients, nor did paid advertising in groups. “Only recommendations worked,” the entrepreneur repeats.

Promoting Instagram and Vkontakte is this year’s task. The company does not plan to expand its range in the near future. For complete happiness, all that remains is to introduce khinkali: “But you need to learn how to make them impeccably.”

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