Trading vegetables and fruits is a fairly common business. With the right approach to business, a vegetable stall can bring good income. There is an average level of competition in this market segment.
When thinking about how to open a vegetable stall, calculate future expenses. The amount of investment may vary depending on the size of the locality. To open a vegetable stall in the regional center you will need approximately 500 thousand rubles. This amount includes the following expenses:
To start, you can buy used counters and slides. Partial refusal of hired labor will help you save money. Take on the responsibilities of a buyer or seller. Additional staff can be recruited after the promotion of the outlet. This way you will get to know the market from the inside, study your competitors, and feel all the nuances of your own business.
Select the form of doing business: individual entrepreneur or LLC. An individual entrepreneur opens faster; maintaining documentation does not require special knowledge. Fines for violations for individual entrepreneurs are less than for LLCs. But there is also greater responsibility: in case of failure, you will be personally responsible for all debts and fines of your enterprise. Opening an LLC is a more expensive and time-consuming process. You will need an accountant to keep records. However, the presence of an authorized capital in an LLC guarantees the inviolability of your personal savings. In the event of bankruptcy, funds from the authorized capital will be spent to satisfy the claims of creditors.
After registering your business activity, you will have to obtain permission to open a retail outlet. The easiest way would be to open a stall in the market. If you want to set up a kiosk near a stop or metro station, you will have to obtain permission from the building and architectural department. You will also need opinions from inspection commissions of sanitary, fire, and trade services. Be prepared for all sorts of bureaucratic tricks. Study the laws so that representatives of various structures do not take you by surprise.
Before opening a vegetable stall, draw up a business plan. Calculate how many visitors per day you will need to serve in order for your expenses to pay off. Then go outside, stand near the future retail outlet and count the people passing by. If the number of passers-by significantly exceeds the number of your potential buyers, feel free to open a stall in this place.
Options for placing a retail outlet:
Don't forget about transport links. Vegetables will need to be delivered to the kiosk somehow, right? It will be good if you manage to rent a warehouse located near the kiosk. In this case, you can purchase vegetables in large quantities and deliver them to the kiosk as needed. We are talking about shelf-stable vegetables. Perishable fruits will have to be purchased in small quantities. Conditions for storing products with a short shelf life can only be provided within the walls of special warehouse complexes.
Build a kiosk according to a good architectural design. No matter how much you want to save money, don’t discount your point of sale design.
The design can be ordered from freelancers. It’s very inexpensive, sometimes you can get it for just 500 rubles. It is best to use a specialized platform, for example, “I will perform”, where the process of interaction with performers will be simple and safe.
Modern buyers are accustomed to large counters, glass display cases, and good lighting. The purchasing process should be comfortable. Take care of the asphalt near the kiosk, equip a low stand for bags, and customer interest in your outlet will grow before your eyes.
Minimum equipment:
Try to find good suppliers. Make every effort to do this. Of course, you won’t be able to separate the “wheat from the chaff” right away. Therefore, purchase goods in small quantities. Over time, you will understand which partner is better to deal with. The ideal option is one permanent supplier who fully supplies your business with its products.
The following factors are important:
Your main competitors will be points in markets and vegetable departments of supermarkets. Therefore, you must offer something different from the competition. Your vegetable stall will differ from a market outlet in terms of service and tidiness. The main advantage over supermarkets is the domestic origin of the products.
Offer your customers local tomatoes, cucumbers, apples, and pears. Find a dealer who specializes in the supply of berries and fruits from the southern regions. Complete the assortment with out-of-season bananas, oranges, and lemons. Add some exotic fruits. Offer your customers dried fruits, herbs, and juices. Place a small freezer with frozen fruit in your stall.
Is it worth opening a vegetable stall if you cannot personally control the process? No, it's not worth it. Vegetables and fruits are a business that you need to constantly keep in your hands. Once again, we strongly recommend saving on staff. Occupy at least one of the positions at your company. If you don’t want to trade, hire a seller and supply the goods yourself.
Experienced entrepreneurs advise personally handling deliveries. Some wholesalers offer goods with delivery. This option is not suitable for you. Having personally arrived at the wholesale warehouse, you can choose the product to your liking. In addition, delivery costs are often included in the price of the product. And they don’t just lay it down, but greatly increase it.
It will be good if at first you can personally control the trading process. The issue of control becomes especially relevant when the business goes beyond the family. Trading loves counting. No one will give you guarantees of the honesty of the hired seller. Therefore, try to be present at the point as often as possible. From time to time, trade on your own, replacing the seller at the stall. You may learn a lot about your employee from talkative customers.
Conduct re-registration periodically. Don’t skimp on your salary, otherwise no amount of inventory will help you. A person who earns little will still steal from you or “borrow” money from the cash register until payday. The optimal remuneration option is rate and percentage. This form of payment encourages the seller to work.
The minimum markup on your product will be 30%, the maximum – about 250%. When setting the price, do not forget that vegetables and fruits tend to spoil. According to experts, about 10–20% of produce spoils at a vegetable stall. This product can be sold at a 50-60% discount before it becomes obsolete. Finally, spoiled products will have to be thrown away. It is estimated that the payback period for a stall ranges from 2 to 6 months, depending on the season. In winter, fruits and vegetables are in high demand, so investments pay off faster. After promotion, the business will bring in about 50–100 thousand rubles monthly.
December 18, 2018
I would like to present to you my case study of a remote business in the wholesale supply of fruits and vegetables. We are talking about other people's vegetables and fruits, as you understand. And we will act as an intermediary between the seller and the buyer. Everything that will be discussed below has been tested by me personally in practice.
To make it easier, I will describe the entire scheme of our business for the sale (resale in our case) of vegetables and fruits using potatoes as an example. There is a fairly stable demand for potatoes in Russia; they are a mass product and quite inexpensive.
The intermediary agency business in the wholesale sales of fruits and vegetables is much simpler than the classic business in the same products, which requires tens and sometimes hundreds of millions of personal investments. Therefore, in order to earn an average of one hundred thousand rubles in this business, it is enough to know general information and the scheme of work in this area.
To make it as clear and clear as possible, I’ll tell you using the example of potatoes, the product I chose. You can see how much the population of our country alone consumes this product annually: in 2017, 29.6 million tons of potatoes were harvested in farms of all categories and this amount is growing from year to year.
So, let's begin.
All potatoes are divided into 2 types:
By variety - 3-5 main varieties are usually grown in each region. Therefore, you do not have to study a large amount of information.
Each supplier is interested in selling their harvest as quickly as possible. Therefore, they are very willing to cooperate.
Contacts of the owners of Farms can be found on the websites of the Min. Agriculture in almost any area in which you live. Or we are looking for all organizations upon request - peasant farms (peasant farms) and organizations with similar meaning in the name.
It’s worth calling in the morning, and if you don’t meet the owner of the company, then immediately ask for his mobile phone number, which they will gladly give you.
It’s better, of course, to arrange a meeting by phone and discuss everything in person, but most often the fields are located somewhere in the region and without a personal car it will be a little problematic to get there.
If you don’t have a car, but have the opportunity to ask someone, spend a day and get to know the owners personally, it’s better not to waste this opportunity. This will be your advantage. If this is not possible, then you can discuss everything over the phone.
Negotiations may take 10-15 minutes, and this is normal - business owners are accustomed to such calls and usually react positively. The task is to find out such important parameters, How:
After this, be sure to ask for photographs of the product. The client always asks for photos, downloading others from the Internet - I don’t recommend it, because... the client is most often not the first year in this business and upon arrival can easily understand that he was deceived, which will cause negativity.
After discussing all the potato parameters, it is worth warning the owner about the size of your markup.
In potatoes it ranges from 50 kopecks to 2 rubles on average (as of 2018).
It’s better to sell at least 20 tons – that’s one truck. That is, earnings will be from 10 to 40,000 rubles. from one truck. I do not recommend trading with a smaller volume.
You can sign an agency agreement with the owner, but most often a verbal agreement is enough. You take your money either in cash after the transaction, or the owner transfers it to a debit card.
I don’t see the point in describing a lot here, since finding a client with competitive prices and acceptable product quality is not difficult.
Platforms such as AgroServer and Avito work best. Again, you need to publish good photos and a full description of the benefits of the product and working with you. It is very important!
Let's talk about how much you can earn by reselling vegetables.
Now about the main thing. Personally, I earned 80-120 thousand rubles in a seasonal month (season September - December) that year. Remotely.
People who have the opportunity to attend transactions and carry out large orders through their company as intermediaries earn up to 10 million rubles. per season. And most often they then acquire their own storage facilities and sell from there.
But we are discussing remote earnings, so you should count on an amount from 50,000 to 200,000 rubles per month. I and the guys I know who work according to this scheme have this kind of income. Of course, there is no ceiling on earnings as such. Everything, as always, depends on you.
Selling vegetables and fruits is a business characterized by constant demand for goods and high profitability. Even during a crisis, people find money for food, trying not to skimp on vitamins. In addition, opening such a business is much easier than opening a whole one.
When opening even a small point selling vegetables and fruits, you will need documentation:
First, decide whether you will open a fruit and vegetable store or just a small one, maybe even a tent. The range of goods will depend on this. The main thing is to offer customers the most popular products.
If space or equipment allows, a vegetable business should have the widest possible range. In addition, the assortment depends on whether you will sell imported vegetables and fruits, as well as on seasonality:
Learn a little information about different products and varieties so that you can advise customers, as well as know storage rules, harvest times, during which you can purchase goods at a low cost.
Necessary premises
Experts report that selling fruit as a business is more profitable if you have several small retail outlets (up to 5 pieces). You can supplement them with a wholesale warehouse. Although there will still be less hassle with opening a store.
Choose a location in places where there is a constant flow of people, but it does not have to be a bazaar. Room area – up to 60 sq.m., of which about 20 sq.m. m. allocate for storage (temperature in summer - up to 8 ° C, in winter - not lower than 0 ° C), utility room. At first, you can use a regular, cool garage. If you are not yet sure whether you will be able to conduct this business, opt for a tent (20 sq.m. is enough)
To open a stall with vegetables and fruits, you will need a vehicle to deliver the products.
Equipment
One of the advantages of this business is an inexpensive trade tent.
Perhaps the most expensive purchase will be a car, without which it is impossible to run a fruit and vegetables business. At the initial stage, the same gazelle can be a point of sale at the bazaar, and after saving money, buy a tent, and then a store. Perhaps you will even open a subsidiary, for example.
When implementing a vegetable business plan, pay special attention to personnel selection:
We recommend purchasing from 2-3 suppliers. If sales are good, you will have to purchase goods for at least 10,000 rubles. in a day. Select the product carefully, it should always be fresh. Look for suppliers in the nearest villages: the goods will be fresh at a much lower cost than in wholesalers (markets, bases), but be sure to ask for documents to check the products.
Still, you will have to deal with wholesalers - buy exotic fruits and vegetables from them. Don't forget to draw up a sales contract.
Long-term cooperation with suppliers is the key to a successful business. This indicates acceptable quality and prices, and also eliminates the delay of goods.
The risks include:
The fruit business is an excellent direction in the field of healthy nutrition, which has more and more adherents every year.
Include financial calculations in your business plan.
Small retail outlet:
The starting investment is about 100,000 rubles.
Costs for a small store:
Business payback is 6 months.
Video: How to properly store fruits and vegetables
The fresh meat business is always on top. Meat is an essential product; besides, there are a lot of people who like to savor fresh meat. Profitability – 30%.
In our country there are many lovers of gardening and vegetable gardens. Every year they become more and more picky, so provide them with a wide selection of seeds.
is a retail outlet with minimal investment and great potential. A small range of products can provide a stable income.
Vegetables and fruits are classified as food products: those products that are easy to sell. The advantages of selling vegetables and fruits as a business are constant demand. The product is valued by consumers. However, it is perishable and requires competent supply and procurement management.
What you will learn about:A fruit and vegetable store is one of the subtypes of grocery stores. The profit of a vegetable business will depend on how the entrepreneur manages sales and understands the needs of customers. The business features are similar to traditional grocery retailing.
In large cities, there is fierce competition in this area. Whether a business takes off or fails depends on suppliers, the ability to provide competent logistics, and get regular customers. That is, on how the entrepreneur wins a place in the sun from his competitors.
However, if the starting stage is completed without significant losses, then a small vegetable tent can be expanded into a grocery store. A business plan for the sale of fruits and vegetables involves expansion.
An entrepreneur, in order to experience all the pros and cons of this field of activity, can start by organizing a vegetable stall. Consumers value products from such retail outlets, since stalls, tents, and kiosks with fruits and vegetables offer higher quality fresh products compared to large stores.
Important! The owner of a vegetable stall needs to establish relationships with farmers in order to directly purchase goods from them.
The supply chain from local manufacturers will allow us to offer the best product at a price that is acceptable to the consumer, since there is no need to pay for intermediary markups. Also, interaction with farmers allows you to deliver fresh goods faster than it would be through a distributor.
This will be a marketing advantage over regular grocery stores that offer average prices for average quality products.
Selling vegetables and fruits as a business from a car is optimal if the entrepreneur himself is a producer and has neighbors who grow a large amount of plant products.
Delivery trade is possible at food fairs in large cities, at markets in small towns, and also in the form of a truck shop in villages.
The advantage of selling vegetables from a machine is that you do not need to pay for rent. However, there are also costs - logistics and time. Sales will be unstable - with distribution trade it is difficult to form a large customer base.
When doing delivery sales, it is important to find a place where customers can go themselves and also park their cars. If space allows, it is necessary to install several pillars and temporary signs.
As for equipment, distribution trade requires only a small table where samples of goods will be laid out. However, a refrigeration unit inside the car will be able to increase the possible assortment: add eggs, mushrooms, milk and other farm products to vegetables and fruits.
The classic option is a permanent store location in an area with stable pedestrian traffic or near high-rise residential buildings.
A business plan for selling fruits and vegetables may involve opening a small premises, from 15 square meters, if it is possible to display some of the goods on the street.
The store needs a warehouse. A larger store requires an expanded assortment (due to related products from farmers) and the presence of refrigeration equipment for storing it.
The commodity accounting program Business.Ru Retail will help you maintain full-fledged warehouse accounting. Control the assortment, analyze sales, carry out inventory, capitalization, write-off and movement of goods between stores.
Experts suggest dividing goods into permanent and seasonal in a business plan for the sale of vegetables and fruits.
In particular, regular sales products include the following fresh vegetables:
There is a large range of seasonal vegetables that are grown in large quantities only in open ground. The price of such vegetables is low only in season. They do not last long, so in winter they are brought to warehouses from abroad. Due to high prices, demand for imported vegetables is unstable. These products include:
Such vegetables should be sold in season or in case of low prices from the supplier. Note that pumpkin and turnips are shelf-stable products. They lie in a cool warehouse for several months.
Product name |
Product storage conditions |
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Storage temperatureC° |
Relative humidity, % |
Acceptable storage period |
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Apricot, plum |
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Oranges |
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Oranges are yellow |
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Unripe oranges |
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Bananas, pineapples (ripe) |
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Grape |
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Cherry |
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Salted mushrooms |
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Sauerkraut |
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Potato |
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Roots |
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Onion and garlic |
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Tangerines |
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Cucumbers, pickled tomatoes |
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Winter apples |
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Summer/autumn apples |
The same division exists for fruits and berries. Constant demand is recorded for bananas and apples. In some regions - pears.
In the summer, due to the large number of seasonal fruits and berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, apricots, plums, peaches, grapes), the consumer demand for citrus fruits (oranges, lemons, tangerines) decreases. However, in winter they can account for half of a store's daily revenue.
The demand for imported fruits and berries, such as mangoes, pineapples, avocados, kiwis, etc., is low but stable. Some fruit business plans are based on the sale of exotic fruits with promotion through social networks and an online store.
Range of related products:
A business plan for the sale of vegetables and fruits should include an analysis of possible places of purchase. The choice is influenced by the degree of exoticism of the product. Thus, it is profitable to purchase imported goods at wholesale centers. It is worth looking for a direct supplier only if the business expands to a large chain of stores.
To purchase vegetables and fruits of constant demand that grow in the same region, it is profitable to enter into a supply agreement with two to five farmers.
The selection of a supplier for each region of Russia differs in its specifics and pricing policy. If opportunities allow, you can study the situation in a neighboring region in order to make large purchases there (once every two weeks). However, in this case, the availability of a warehouse is important.
Market analysis when preparing a business plan for the sale of vegetables and fruits is needed to understand what external factors affect price and demand, as well as the structure of the market.
Despite the increase in the number of farms and the policy of import substitution in Russia, the import of vegetables and fruits continues to occupy a significant market share. The reason is climatic conditions.
In our country it is impossible to grow not only exotic fruits, but also citrus fruits in large quantities. We don’t even have enough farmers with greenhouses to simply provide the entire 150 million-strong state with tomatoes and cucumbers in January.
According to statistics, the key country that supplies vegetables to Russia is Belarus. It supplies potatoes, cabbage, and is a transit state for prohibited products from the European Union.
As market analysis showed, in 2017-2018. demand grew for those types of vegetables and fruits for which prices fell. Last year, prices for food products decreased due to the strengthening of the ruble. However, demand was adjusted by the fall in real incomes of Russians.
In the future, the price will be affected by:
A small positive effect on increasing demand is caused by:
The geographic location of the region also influences prices. For example, in the Far East and North-West region, prices for vegetables are high. This is due to low competition among farmers, climate and logistics.
The lowest prices are in the south of Russia and the Central Federal District. The majority of farms specializing in cultivation in open ground during the season and in greenhouses all year round are concentrated here.
Competitive analysis of a business selling vegetables and fruits is an important part of planning. Each region and city has its own competitors in this market. These include:
Competitive analysis should include a study of market concentration - the degree of dominance of a particular format in the market.
For example, a competitive analysis might start like this:
“In the city, in the immediate vicinity (2-3 km), there is a Sunday farmers’ market, three convenience stores, one federal chain supermarket, two vegetable stalls. There is also a store selling exotic fruits in the city.”
For example, if there are many competitors and they mainly offer farm vegetables, then it is necessary to draw up a business plan for a fruit store. Offer favorable prices for bananas, apples, and seasonal berries. Related products will be dried fruits and nuts.
A fruit store can offer the following services:
In this case, the audience of the fruit shop will not be pensioners, but young people leading an active life and vegans.
A business plan for a vegetable store can also have several formats. You can focus on a varied assortment, low prices, and loyalty to customers with low purchasing power (a system of discounts for pensioners, large families).
You can maintain full inventory records in your store, control the assortment, analyze profits and forecast sales by connecting the inventory system Business.Ru.
The advantages of business are constant demand and the possibility of minimal investment, allowing you to open a vegetable stall and make a profit. In Russia, consumption of fruits and vegetables per capita has recently remained stable.
The average price for vegetables has increased, and a segment of those customers has emerged who need premium fresh vegetables and exotic fruits.
The last point is especially important to consider when drawing up a business plan for selling vegetables and fruits. In this business, hired personnel are needed: someone needs to bring, lay out the products, sort the goods that have already been on sale for several days, in order to prevent damage to the entire batch.
That is why entrepreneurs try to involve the whole family in such a business, using the labor of children and relatives.
The sale of fruits and vegetables as a business is characterized by high competition. Therefore, it is necessary to use advertising tools:
The production plan for a fruit and vegetable store includes all stages of starting a business without taking into account registration costs.
A profitable place for sale will be a retail outlet in a residential area, surrounded by multi-storey buildings, with stable pedestrian traffic. However, a store can also operate successfully on a highway in a small town (at the intersection of traffic flows, not far from a stop).
Due to the fact that expensive repairs are not required, the premises can be either rented or owned.
Its size ranges from 10 to 40 square meters. It is important that the store has running water, sewerage, and that the building or pavilion is connected to electrical networks.
It was mentioned above where to look for suppliers when drawing up a business plan for a vegetable store.
The production plan involves the formation of a purchase schedule that will reduce time costs. Transportation of goods for such a retail outlet is one of the main financial costs.
Therefore, it is worth calculating the optimal purchasing option in terms of time and volume, so as not to visit the wholesaler more than twice a week. Proper storage of vegetables and fruits will also allow you to optimize transportation costs and reduce spoilage of goods.
With the help of the business accounting program Business.Ru Retail, you can analyze revenue and purchase goods based on sales dynamics. Conduct inventory, capitalization, write-off and transfer of surplus between stores. Calculate product profitability and forecast sales.
A vegetable store can be content with only shelves for displaying goods, a cashier’s table and one type of equipment - an online cash register with a scale connected to it.
Please note that stand-alone cash registers often do not have the ability to work with scales, so it is recommended to purchase a fiscal registrar. Please also note that the Business.Ru Retail program can work with both checkout and counter scales.
When expanding your business, you will need more expensive equipment: freezers, refrigerators, juicers for preparing freshly squeezed juices.
A table with calculations can be included in a business plan for selling vegetables and fruits.
Quantity, pcs |
Price |
total cost |
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Shelving |
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CCP with installation |
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Total |
The organizational stage of launching a vegetable store - all the issues associated with registering a business. Let's look at what documents are needed to trade vegetables and fruits.
Taxation can be chosen either according to the simplified tax system or as UTII. It all depends on the planned income of the business.
No special permits are required to trade vegetables and fruits. However, there must be papers that confirm the safety of the product.
For farm products - the conclusion of the state veterinary examination at the place of production of the product. If the assortment includes imported vegetables and fruits, then you must have papers confirming that they have passed phytosanitary control.
Stages |
1 month |
2 month |
3 month |
Market research |
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Competitor analysis |
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Finding a place to rent in a selected area |
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Writing a complete business plan for selling vegetables and fruits |
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Preparation of documents for registration of individual entrepreneurship |
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Tax registration |
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Registration of a lease agreement |
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Equipment selection |
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Purchasing equipment and arranging delivery |
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Cosmetic repairs, equipment installation |
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Selecting wholesalers or farmers for cooperation |
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Recruitment |
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Obtaining a work permit from firefighters and SES |
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Delivery of goods to the store |
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Opening |
The main staff is two salespeople working in 2/2 shifts or one salesperson who works 5 to 2 and is replaced by the store owner on weekends.
A driver, loader and cleaner are also required. To save costs, cleaning duties can be delegated to sellers.
Each salesperson has a salary part of his salary - from 15 to 25 thousand rubles and a bonus part, which is calculated as 5% of revenue.
The driver's salary is calculated based on his workload and the cost of transporting products.
A business plan for selling vegetables and fruits includes detailed calculations of payback.
In the tables below, we calculate the costs before opening a store with an area of 30 square meters selling vegetables and fruits when purchasing a truck as a property.
Monthly expenses with one seller and one driver/loader:
Daily revenue is about 15 thousand rubles. Monthly revenue is 450 thousand rubles. The initial investment will pay off in approximately 7 months.
How to open a store selling vegetables and fruits