Mobile Laundry - Brilliant Business Model

Mobile Laundry, most of Indians are not familiar with this term, because they either wash at their home or give it to dhobis (washerman). When you consider developed countries, they have launders where more than 10 washing machine are available. Customers take their clothes and wash them there. Detergent, water etc etc are available in shop, charging per wash depends on the owner. Charges are either per wash or per kg based, which varies from location to location.

What is "Mobile Laundry"

Erecting 10 washing machines and providing this service is a proven business in many countries, but considering India, it is not very famous. Keeping in mind the small/medium scale budget, renting a shop is not advisable at initial  stages, until you are monetary wise strong enough to wait for 1 year to get your returns back. Mobile Laundry model is a movable container which can hold space for 2 washing machines, a water tank, a dryer, waster water collector, ironing table. This model can be customized to any format based on ones creativity. One sample model which we can think of will look like this.

How it works?

We need to take care of quite a big list of things listed below. 

Branded / Non-branded

Light color / Dark Color

Color fading - Yes / No

Detergent to be used - Expensive / Regular

Scented After Wash - Yes / No

Pressing - Yes / No

Once we have sorted this out, tag the clothes with billno and hand over the bill to customer with 24 Hour delivery promise. Added value would be to message them once clothes are ready.

Whom to target ?

You have to target the busy people having very less time for washing. Start promoting this concept by printing pamphlets, flyers, advertisement in local daily's or weekly's. Bachelors, Students, Working people, restaurants can be best target.

Initial Investment

Initially you can start with low capacity washing machine around 7 - 10 Kg capacity, and once you start getting more customers, purchase a commercial heavy duty washing machine. Per kg would be approximately 4 shirts, and assuming you charge Rs.50 per kg, one time full wash would be around Rs.500, out of which detergent + water + electricity + labor + rent would be Rs.300 maximum. ROI is clearly 65% which keeps increasing as you build good returning customers.

Start Fountain Soda Business

Earlier I discussed about options of starting Sugarcane business, its investment and running cost, its profit percentage. In this post, I have discussed in detail about starting a flavored soda business. This is also a standalone machine which requires very small space. Soda machine varies in different sizes and we can order based on the size of our shop.

Floor Size: Soda machine is kiosk form business, so this can be placed in walkway of malls or to a side of big super market or placed outside a crowded commercial spot. Based on space available we can order different size of soda machine. The more the size, the more number of flavors available in the machine, a normal small size machine will be 23"x33"x36", for 4 flavors to a maximum of 66"x32"x32" for 20 flavors.

Machine Price: This machine costs from Rs.1 Lakh to Rs.2 Lakh based on the number of flavors requested. When you purchase or make a deal, you should also get details of how many CO2 cylinders are provided along with this machine. Minimum 2 CO2 cylinders are required, one for use and one for refill, this is to avoid business shutdown because of CO2 shortage.

Power Consumption of the machine is around 900-1000watts, so 1unit of electricity is used for operating machine for an hour, which can produce around 500 cups of Soda, assuming 10 seconds for one cup.

500 Cups of Soda contains (250ml per cup): 250*500 = 125000 ml (125 Liters) of Soda

Material	Cost / 500 Cups
Mineral Water (Rs.25/20Liters can)	Rs:160.00
Paper Cup (Rs.0.40/cup)	Rs: 200.00
Flavours (Rs:100/Liter and 1gm/cup)	Rs:50.00
CO2 (1.2gm/cup @ Rs.100/kg)	Rs.600.00
Power Consumption (Rs: 10/unit)	Rs:10.00
Total	Rs:1020.00
Total (per cup)	Rs:2.00
Labor + Rent + Miscellaneous charges (per cup)	Rs:0.50

So for a cup of soda, real working cost is Rs.2.50 per cup, and based on the shop location, it can be sold for Rs.5 or Rs.7 or Rs.10 even, which is 100% - 300% profit. Let me know if you find this post useful.

Fruit Candy - Small Scale Business Idea

Fruit Candy in India are not very popular, when the big brand players rule the market with their expensive advertisements. Fruit Candies are also called crystallized candies, produced by merging fruits in sugar syrup or honey. When they are submerged fruit absorbs the sweetness and can stay eatable for months, when stored in cold place.

1. Prepare sugar syrup (Honey can be healthy alternative) in two concentration, thin and thick. 
2. Use dry fuits like dry jack or dry fig or dates or dry grapes or amla etc, cut them in to medium pieces
3. Soak them in thin sugar syrup for a week, so the fruit absorbs the sweetness
4. Cover the sweet soaked fruit with the thick concentration of sugar syrup.
5. Leave them to dry to give candy look.

This candy is healthy with honey and dry fruits. This is a new area not much explored in India, if properly marketed, this can be advertised with medicinal values, and can open new segment of candy business. Good Luck.

Start Sugarcane business - Business Idea

Initially it might sound very small, but clear and well planned Sugarcane business is a major profit earning business in India. Let us first look into the requirements for this business

SPACE

• Small Level - 3 x 3 sqft space, it can be either a table also
• Medium Level - 5 x 5 sqft space
• Max Level - 10 x 10 sqft space

EQUIPMENT

Manual: Fully manual requires man drilled gear based grinding machine. This requires hard effort to rotate the wheel on its side to extract the juice. Operating cost is very less, no electricity, no fuel, requires very less maintenance of lubrication at times. Machine looks as in the left side.

Automatic: This is advance version of manual, this is operated by either electric motor or diesel engine to rotate the gear wheel, which reduces the hard effort of rotating, Using Diesel engine is the most popularly used in all the places, because of its low initial investment on engine.

Recent years this engine has advanced its level in hygiene and healthier aspects, people are concentrating more on flavors, cleanliness, but as this goes high, the initial investment also goes up. An automatic gear operated machine costs Rs.60,000, another version of the machine, is with instant chiller, has a pipe with 10C, so when juice pass through that pipe, gets chilled immediately, which cost Rs.1,20,000.

This seems to be a huge investment, but when properly planned and worked out can be recovered in 3 months time.

Sample Estimation of Sugarcane Juice:

1.Cost of sugarcane Rs.4/- per Kg.  One Kg will give 600ml of Juice.
2.Labour cost will be Rs.150/- per day for cleaning the sugar cane and running the crusher.
3.Disposable cup Varies from 60 Paise to 90 Paise. – Good quality at bulk rate will be 0.65 pasie
4.Lime and Ginger 25 Paisa.
5.Power charges will be two unit per 200 glass of juice (200 X 250ml glass = 50 Litters of juice)
6.Interest on cost of crusher – 18% interest on Investment – Hence per day Rs.23/- only.
7.Rent for the place. Rs 2000/- per month approximate – Hence per day Rs.80/- approximate.
8.Maintenance cost is Rs.200/- per month approximate. (320 Gear oil 0.5 Litter and 100 grams of grease)
9.Depreciation: At 20% per annum – Hence per day Rs.27/- only

Fixed Expenses: PER DAY
Interest –          Rs.23/-
Rent             -   Rs.80/-
Depreciation:     Rs.27/-
Power Charges – Rs20/-
Wages              Rs.150/-
Others.              Rs. 15/-
                      ----------
Total              Rs.315/- per day for sale of 100 Glass Juice = Per glass Rs. 3.00 approximate.
                    -----------
Cost of Sugarcane                                         Rs. 1.80
Disposable cup                                              Rs. 0.65
Lemon/Zinger/(Pepper/Masala powder etc     Rs. 0.25
Rent/Labor etc                                              Rs. 3.15
                                                                ______________
              Total Cost of Juice per Glass           Rs.5.85
                                                               ______________
Average Selling Price of Sugarcane juice of 250ml glass each will be Rs.10.00 approximate per glass to any level depending on the area and nature of service and ambience provided.

Real Life Entrepreneur

Now coming to the main section of the article, a real life entrepreneur, Cane-o-la, a banglore based sugarcane juice organisation, which focuses on selling varied flavors of sugarcane juice in a hygiene way, they have grown to en extent, which you will know when you understand their company turnover is 4 Crores, sounds surprising isn't it, but truth. Go through their website http://cane-o-la.com/, to learn more about them.

Contact me at bsathish78@gmail.com for further help and guidance, I have few research papers on starting this business, including business partners, loan arrangement etc.

You may also be interested in Fountain Soda Business

Begin Dipped and Molded Candle Making Business

The candle making business demand is still very much valuable in several places around the globe. Candle making is an ancient technique with significant uses, which still makes it a promising business venture.


I. Materials:
Paraffin wax granules (P75.00/kg.)
Polyethylene wax* (P180.00/kg.)
Crystal wax (P192.00/kg.)
Gel wax (P270.00/kg.)
Dyes (P60.00/pk.)
Separator (petroleum jelly, cooking oil, liquid soap, etc.) Nylon wick (P36.00/pk.)
Bamboo sticks (P30.00/bundle)
Scent (P85.00 to P360.00/bottle)


II. General Procedure
1. Prepare the waxes. For every Kg of paraffin wax, add 100 grams of polyethylene wax and 30 to 50 grams of crystal wax. If the paraffin wax is in a slab form, break it first into small pieces.
2. Heat the wax in a container other than the dipping tube. The safest way is to use a double boiler. If without a double boiler, heat the wax slowly in a pouring pot or saucepan.
3. Wax is completely melted if the liquid is clear and the bottom of the container is seen. DO NOT BURN WAX (indicated by smoky fumes and brown coloration).
4. Remove from heat source and transfer contents into another container either in dipping tube or metal cup with spout. Add dye and scent (optional). The wax is now ready for dipping and/or molding.


A. DIPPED CANDLES (Oldest and simplest way of making candles)
1. Cut wick(s) into several inches longer than the desired candle length.
2. If you wish to dip several candles at the same time, tie the wicks 2 to 3 inches apart on a rod or a hoop.
3. Dip the wick into the melted wax. Withdraw the wick and pull on the other end to make it taut. Dip the wick again after the first layer of wax hardens. 4. Continue dipping the candles until it reaches the desired thickness. Allow each layer of wax to cool and harden after every dipping.
5. To make the bottoms of the dipped candles flat and smooth, heat a metal spatula over a gas flame or electric burner. Rub the candle bottoms against hot metal surface, melting away until the bottoms are flat.


B. MOLDED CANDLES (Molders can be purchased, made or found).
1. Prepare mold to release candle by applying the inside of the molder with a thin layer of separator.
2. Prepare the wick. The size of the wick depends on the size of the candle. The wick is usually placed in the mold before the wax is poured. However, certain candles require that the wick be inserted after the candle is made. This is done by piercing a wick hole in the candle with a hot ice pick.
3. Hold mold in a slanting position. Pour hot wax from pot to metal cup with spout, then, from cup slowly into the mold.
4. Cool mold by placing it in a pail with cold water. Hold down with a heavy object.
5. After cooling, notice that portion about the wick recedes. Puncture and pour wax into the cavity until filled.
6. Cool the mold again. After the wax has set, remove mold from water. Pull wick gently to release the candle. Trim excess wick.


SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
1. Always have a fire extinguisher within reach.
2. Never use water to extinguish a wax fire. Liquid wax behaves much the same way as oil, and therefore needs to be treated like an oil fire.
3. NEVER LEAVE MELTING WAX UNATTENDED.
4. Constantly monitor the temperature of the wax. If wax reaches the flash point, then the vapors produced are extremely flammable. The flash point of wax is typically above 300° F. Never let wax exceed 250° F.
5. Always use a double boiler. A double boiler helps distribute heat and prevents dangerous temperatures. Never melt wax directly on your stove.
6. Use an electric heat source if possible. If, by accident, the wax reaches the flash point, vapors may find a flame and become ignited on an electric heat source. Any open flame such as that found on a gas stove, will ignite wax vapors.
7. Always use a thermometer to monitor the wax temperatures. Put it on your list of things to get before you start making candles.


III. Business Registration Requirements

B-22, Industrial Estate, Guindy, Chennai-600032
Tel: 22501451 Fax: 22500860
Email: tfsc@tanstiafnf.com

YourStory.In - Where Entrepreneurs meet

Wow, that's the word I should use, for describing my feelings, when I found the website YourStory.in. How could such a website can be thought of, when everyone else thinks of starting some or the way innovation business, Shradha Sharma thought of starting a website, which will be a bank of stories about entrepreneurs and their new ventures.

The difficulties she faced were partly of her own making. She decided not to chase entrepreneurs who have made it big, but only those on the fringes. And then, she wanted to open the web pages for start-ups in social, rural and environment sectors, not just those in the technology sector. And, worst of all, she decided not to charge the fledgling entrepreneurs.

YourStory.in started around 2years back is now having 47,000 registered members and three lakh readers. She recieved the Villgro Journalist of the Year 2010 Award and a NASSCOM award recently. Every day, Shradha has at least seven to eight stories that have to be translated, cleaned, rewritten and readied for publication.

YourStory.in not only contain stories about entrepreneurs, but also has sections to exchange business ideas, discuss on forums, postings of experts and lot more. She has also partnered with Microsoft BizSpark, CNBC TV18 Young Turks.

Great effort by Shardha Sharma on YourStory.in. Am sure all young Entrepreneurs are benefited by this website.

Indian Entrepreneurs in US

Out of the public listed companies in USA 1/4th of the ventures are started in the past 15 years founded by immigrant entrepreneurs, according to American Made Magazine.

The current market capitalization of these firms exceeds $500 billion, and they employ more than 220,000 people in the U.S. and 400,000 internationally. Immigrants have had the greatest impact in the fields of IT, life sciences, and particularly in the high-tech manufacturing sector, where 40% of publicly traded, venture-backed firms operating in the U.S. today were founded by immigrants.

Indian immigrants typically come from middle-class families, and they tend to be college graduates, many with particular expertise in science, engineering, or technology. They come to the United States to get graduate degrees and they are under a lot of pressure to see if they can take care of their parents and families back home.

The wealth in India is still controlled by a small percentage of the people in the country, so even if their parents are educated people, they may work in low-paying, civil service jobs. There is no way it is possible to break the entrenched social system and the cultural barriers over there. When an immigrant reaches US and sees that so many opportunities exist, he becomes quite ambitious.

The Indus Entrepreneurs is a networking association originally started by Indian entrepreneurs and engineers in Silicon Valley in 1992. The focus is on business development, support, providing education for future entrepreneurs, and giving back to the community.

It really has helped create energy, synergy, and a social system for Asian Indian immigrants and other entrepreneurs. They have 10,000 members in nine countries now, including England, South Africa, and Israel, and they're going beyond technology into other industries.

Start Juice Shop

If you are looking for an idea on what business you can start easily, a juice bar is one idea you can seriously consider. With more and more people becoming health conscious, a juice business is timely. Today, the popular obsession with dropping pounds and losing inches certainly feeds into the health food trends that fuel juice bar popularity. But the health food industry has also benefited from another recent concept, that of organics.

Every herb has its faithfuls who claim for it almost magical qualities. Mint has its after-dinner fame as a breath freshener and a digestive aid; ginseng is one of the latest in a long line of alleged energy boosters and anti-aging supplements; garlic is supposed to aid the immune system; ginger has been said to possess aphrodisiac properties.

Each fruit and vegetable, too, has accrued its own collection of anecdotes and testimonials. What child hasn’t been told that carrots will help him see in the dark, or that an apple a day will keep the doctor away? Who hasn’t heard that Popeye is strong to the finish because he eats his spinach?

In modern times, speed and efficiency are joint rulers of an ever more fast-paced world. For a person on the go, a tall cup of mixed juices spiked with nutritive powders is the ideal meal. Like coffee and soda, it can be consumed in the car without taking one’s other hand off the steering wheel and endangering one's self and others.

But unlike those beverages, juice is part of a balanced breakfast. It could be said, tongue in cheek, to balance even better than breakfast, since unlike a plate of toast and scrambled eggs it can be sealed up with a lid and straw and enjoyed safe from spills. And with all the supplements available at your local juice bar, that tall cup of fruit and vegetable squeezings can be a balanced breakfast.

For entrepreneurs who put health above anything else, starting a juice bar is probably one of the fastest and the most lucrative businesses out there. It can be added to an existing business or simply started independently.

Juice Business Structure

You can start a juice business entirely on your own. It would help if you have an experience about juice preparation from working in a juice bar, but this is not necessary. You can also buy an existing business, or get a franchise. Franchising will cost a little bit more, though. If you have an existing food business, you can incorporate a juice business into it.

Juice Bar Menu

You don’t have to be a nutritionist or obtain a degree related to health to know that fruits and vegetables are good for the body. You can sell a variety of juices from apples, carrots, oranges, bananas, celery, melons and other fruits and vegetables. You can purchase juice wholesale from fruits and vegetable juice manufacturers or distributor or you can do the juicing onsite. You can even do both at the same time. Get juices wholesale. You can add vitamins and health supplements, for example, those that are known for their immunity boosting or antioxidizing effects. You can sell juices in several cup sizes starting at a price of Rs.10.

Juice Bar Location

You can open at any place that is frequented by people such as tourist attractions, a kiosk in a mall, office building, airport, hotels, schools, beach areas, public markets, health clubs, and fitness clubs. Vending from a cart is another option you can take.

Juice Bar Startup Cost and Profit

Your startup cost will depend on how much you are spending for equipment (juicers and coolers), rent, advertising and getting the necessary license and permit. Your profit will depend on your total sales minus the cost of your ingredients and overhead. It could be several times your capital after awhile when you’ve mastered the operation. Adding other items such as sandwiches in your menu can help boost profit.

Start Coffee Shop

Coffee shop is one of the most popular business ideas, young entrepreneurs adopt. In the recent 10year period, there has been many foriegn vendors have established their presence in India. A coffee shop is not just coffee, but a variety of food and beverages, which is a quick snac for customers.

The average coffee shop sells about 5,00,000 worth of coffee in a year. 52% of Indians drink coffee daily. 15% of Indians buy minimum a cup of coffee every day. 63% of Indians buy a cup of coffee occasionally – this number is increasing at the rate of 3-4% per year. It is better if you are expertise in coffee brewing, its best to start your own coffee shop otherwise you can opt for coffee shop franchise. Now the question "Choose Franchise or not" comes to mind, actually both have their own pros and cons.

A franchise offers many advantages like prebuilt advertising, promoting, procurement, reciepes, pricing, location, ambience etc. The master company promotes the product, inturn your shop benefits publicity, but you have to make a substantial financial investment in the startup, and pay an annual licensing fee for your coffee shop to use the franchise name and logos. The fee you pay varies from 6-11% of your revenues for advertising and royalty fees each year. When you opt for franchise, you are sure working on a proven concept, and benefit from experience of a successful business.

The average costs of opening a franchise coffee shop include 100,000 to 3000,000 in construction costs. Coffee shops which offer franchise and their rough estimates are

Barnie's Coffee Expansion Franchise	Restaurant and Cafe Shop	Rs. 10,00,000 - Rs. 25,00,000
BOOK CAFÉ Franchise	Restaurant and Cafe Shop	Rs. 25,00,000 to Rs. 50,00,000
Brewberrys hospitality pvt ltd Franchise	Brew Funs, Brew Smiles, Brew Coffee	Rs. 5,00,000 - Rs. 10,00,000
CAFE COFEE DAY FRANCHISE	Restaurant and Cafe Shop	Rs. 50,00,000 to Rs. 10 Million
CHICKING Franchise	Fast Food	Rs. 25,00,000 to Rs. 50,00,000
Chipmunk's Playland & Cafe Franchise	Entertainment and Leisure	Rs. 10,00,000 - Rs. 25,00,000
Chokhi Dhani Franchise	Entertainment and Leisure	Rs. 10,00,000 - Rs. 25,00,000
COFFEE DAY XPRESS Franchise	Restaurant and Cafe Shop	Rs. 50,00,000 to Rs. 10 Million
CONNAUGHT PLAZARESTAURANTS Franchise	Restaurant and Cafe Shop	Rs. 25,00,000 to Rs. 50,00,000
Crazy Noodles Franchise	Food and Beverage	Rs. 10,00,000 - Rs. 25,00,000
Crepeteria Franchise	Restaurant and Cafe Shop	Rs. 1,00,000 - Rs. 5,00,000
DIXY PANBAN CHICKEN Franchise	Fast Food	Rs. 10,00,000 - Rs. 25,00,000
Dosa Plaza Franchise	Fast Food	Rs. 10,00,000 - Rs. 25,00,000
Food Factory Express Franchise	Fast Food	Rs. 10,00,000 - Rs. 25,00,000
Go! Chaatzz Franchise	Food and Beverage	Rs. 5,00,000 - Rs. 10,00,000
Goli Vada Pav Franchise	Fast Food	Rs. 10,00,000 - Rs. 25,00,000
Kaati Zone	Restaurant and Cafe Shop	Rs. 10,00,000 - Rs. 25,00,000
KIC FOOD PRODUCTS Franchise	Fast Food	Rs. 25,00,000 to Rs. 50,00,000
KWALITY WALLS Franchise	Food and Beverage	Rs. 5,00,000 - Rs. 10,00,000
LITTLE ITALY Franchise	Food and Beverage	Rs. 25,00,000 to Rs. 50,00,000
Motimahal Delux Management Services Franchise	Restaurant and Cafe Shop	Rs. 25,00,000 to Rs. 50,00,000
Nescafe Franchise	Restaurant and Cafe Shop	Rs. 25,00,000 to Rs. 50,00,000
Papa John's Franchise	Restaurant and Cafe Shop	Rs. 25,00,000 to Rs. 50,00,000
Ruby Tuesday Franchise	Restaurant and Cafe Shop	Rs. 10 Million +
SAGAR RATNA Franchise	Restaurant and Cafe Shop	Rs. 10,00,000 - Rs. 25,00,000
YO CHINA (MOODS HOSPITALITY) Franchise	Restaurant and Cafe Shop	Rs. 10,00,000 - Rs. 25,00,000
YOKO SIZZLERS Franchise	Restaurant and Cafe Shop	Rs. 10,00,000 - Rs. 25,00,000