The rhythm of modern life has recently become even more rapid than it was some five years ago. Then you could afford to take a break at work, have a bite to eat, discuss some insignificant things with colleagues, talk about sports and other topics that have nothing to do with direct work. But now the situation is such that each such break directly affects the final profit, because in the business world every minute is worth its weight in gold. This has led to the fact that any person, one way or another employed in this area, is trying to minimize the time of eating, drinking various drinks, coffee, paying for mobile communications, etc.
For such people, special machines were provided that provide various services and products. Without spending a large number time to wait in lines, you can buy chocolate bars, pay for communication and even shine your shoes. This type of business is called vending - implying the sale of goods or services through special automated systems.

vending business

Any commercial enterprise assumes the presence of some original idea, by implementing which, you can get a ready-made business. The vending business is no exception. At first glance, it is very simple: you just need to purchase a machine, put it in some outlet and wait for the profit to come. But such a position smacks a little of amateurism, although there is a certain grain in it. Indeed, the main thing in this business is a vending machine, but another point is no less important - thinking through a strategy, determining the relevance of a particular machine in your city, thinking over their locations and much more.

In general, there are many variety of such machines that provide various goods and services. Here are just a few of them:

Having decided on a particular service or product that your machine should provide, you need to develop a clear business plan. The region of residence is of great importance in this business, because in small towns the profitability of such a business can be very low. In addition, you need to take into account the taxation of the vending business. In other words, your work is just beginning to buy a machine, because without taking into account the subtleties and nuances, you are unlikely to achieve the desired result.

Features of running a vending business

On initial stage, when you have not yet purchased a vending machine, you need to clearly understand what kind of audience you will be targeting. For example, the presence was originally aimed at student youth, who did not have much time between lectures so that they could sit quietly in a cafe, ordering lunch and a cup of tea or coffee. It was very convenient for them to take a glass of drink from the machine and go about their business. So this question very important when calculating all options.

Having decided on the clientele, it is necessary to choose a place for the vending machine. It is clear that your profit will directly depend on the success of such a choice, because in a place where there is a low turnover of people, there is simply no point in installing any vending machine. Universities, large shopping centers, airports, train stations, etc. are considered preferable.

As for the staff, in the first couple you can do it yourself. But the specifics of this business involve the occurrence of various equipment breakdowns, which you are unlikely to be able to eliminate without having the necessary technical knowledge. Therefore, it is advisable to hire an experienced technician who could monitor the condition of the machines, making diagnostics in time.

Advantages and disadvantages of vending business

Many refer to the vending business as a kind of alternative to an idle existence, when you can buy a machine and just drive around, taking profits. This attitude is hardly justified, because vending is exactly the same business as other types of entrepreneurial activity.

For a better understanding, you need to describe the main pros and cons of this type of business, so that at least some understanding of this phenomenon appears.

Advantages

• This is a fairly new direction for Russia, so there are a lot of free positions in this business that can be mastered.
• If you wish, you can quickly and easily sell your business to another person.
• Ease of business expansion. There is no need to rebuild new areas, develop territories or something like that - you just need to buy a new device and put it in a crowded place.
• Ease of paperwork. You do not need to obtain a license or any special permits for your activities, because it is enough, and also pay taxes.
• Quick response to customer demand. Machines can be converted to any product that is popular with customers.
• No complex business system. In order to start a vending business, you do not need special knowledge in economics and other business environments.

Approximate profit

It is quite obvious that the profit in this business segment will directly depend on the patency of people in the place where the shoe shine machine will be located. As practice shows, up to 80 people per day per device.

The average price for cleaning is about 15 rubles, which gives at least one thousand rubles a day of net income. It is clear that days are different, and this figure , respectively,may be lower or higher.

Profitability and payback

Due to the fact that there are not very many such devices, like the same coffee ones, payback can be achieved quite quickly by installing the device in the right place. In addition, a small cost for one cleaning session will not scare away a potential client, and may even encourage them to use this service. Yes, and human curiosity can play a role at the sight of an unfamiliar and unusual thing.

On average, according to experts, one shoe polisher pays for itself in about six months. There are of course different circumstances, but in any case, given term cannot be more than one year. These are fairly common figures for any entrepreneurial activity where profit is only a matter of time.

Conclusion

The development of the vending business in our country is proceeding at a fairly high pace. It is unlikely that you will surprise anyone with coffee machines, but in the case of shoe shine machines, this can happen. This segment is still very poorly developed in our country, so you can successfully break into this niche, becoming a kind of discoverer of such a business in your region.

A shoe dry cleaning studio is a less expensive project than regular dry cleaning. At the same time, the capacity of the shoe dry-cleaning market is huge. The market is an unplowed field and, with proper investment, the funds spent on opening a dry-cleaning shoe. come back quickly and very efficiently.

The shoe shine studio is a profitable business. Using the example of the Two Brothers studio, which specializes in dry-cleaning shoes, you can see that the business model of a shoe-cleaning studio works great not only in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other million-plus cities, but also in the provinces.

Headquartered in Yaroslavl, dry-cleaning shoe “Two Brothers” successfully sells its franchise in various cities of Russia. Yaroslavl, Ivanovo, Kostroma. Not the richest cities.

There is an opinion that the shoe-shine service will be in demand "in Moscow, where shoes are expensive, but here no one will hand them over."

Look at the number of shoe-shine studios and change your mind.

A great example is Kazbek Friev from Krasnodar. In 2016, he started an ironing service and really wanted to open his own dry cleaners. And I advised him to look in the direction of dry-cleaning shoes. Kazbek figured out the technology of cleaning and began to work and gain experience and fill his hand. Today, Kazbek receives shoes in boxes from different cities of Russia. Cleans and restores various products and shares his work in in social networks.

Why are dry cleaning studios popular?

The reason for the popularity of shoe-shine studios is fashion. The main volume of products entering the cleaning is sneakers and sneakers in various variations. Here you can find the legendary sneakers Nike, Adidas Original, Converse, designer Prada, Louis Vuitton, Lacoste and other variety of stylish, practical and informal shoes.

Often there are combinations of incongruous - natural and synthetic fibers, polymer fabrics and leather. All this is enhanced by the sole and the hidden part of the shoe. Not every pair of shoes can be tidied up at home.

Shoes are a little more complicated than clothes, and the manufacturers of laundry detergents that clean all kinds of dirt have not yet got to shoes.

Although already selected. You can find in sports stores and stores selling branded shoes, "specialized and professional cleaners" for shoe care. So shoe dry cleaners have already experienced the delights of cleaning products that have been cleaned. folk ways and household items.

What are shoe cleaning studios?

Depending on which products prevail and what the dry-cleaning studio is focused on, the main options can be distinguished:

Dry cleaning of sneakers (sneaker cleaning, sneaker cleaning)

Do not confuse with the name of a chocolate bar. Sneaker is a common name for shoes sports style. This includes sports sneakers, and running shoes, and shoes for the gym, and sneakers.

an example of the most common shoe model, called the word "sneaker" (sneaker)

Such shoes are often produced from combined materials and some models of sneakers can be safely washed in washing machine. Leather goods and combined products are cleaned by hand.

When it comes to washing, the main thing here is not to overdo it with the temperature, otherwise the sole may peel off during washing.

Dry cleaning of sneakers is focused on the younger generation and most often the main task is to revive your favorite sneakers and return them to their presentation.

Dry cleaning sneakers not only provides cleaning services, but also restores colors and whitens the soles.

More often than not, the sneaker dry cleaning business model involves the sale of specialized sneaker care products.

If you type something like “sneaker cleaner” into Google search engine, then the search results will consist of Angelus, (https://angelusdirect.com), Jason Markk (https://jasonmarkk.com), RESHOEVN8R (https:/ /uk.reshoevn8r.com), Sneakerser (https://www.sneakerser.com) and other drug manufacturers for home cleaning sneakers.

This is what they do in Russia - they buy any drug from the listed or not listed manufacturers, stuff their hand on it. At best, they order their own stickers for bottles and tubes and sell them in their studios.

I will write the pros and cons of this model in the next article.

Cleaning formal shoes

Formal shoes - the entire range of classic men's and women's shoes. Shoes of all names and variations in leather, nubuck and suede. Here, operations from the restoration of shoes are more common - applying liquid leather, leveling creases on leather shoes, painting, repainting, restoration of lacquer coating.

Such studios are well linked with the English word polisher - shoe polishing.

This includes cleaning shoes from chemicals, specific contaminants, removing the effects of water exposure to shoes, surface restoration and minor repairs.

All operations are carried out using professional tools shoe care kits, which can also be offered as shoe care kits.

Dry cleaning UGG and Timberland

Cozy felt boots from Australia called UGG are rapidly gaining popularity in Russia. And every owner of these boots knows the problem of cleaning UGG.

There are several ways to clean UGG, the easiest of which is. Dry cleaners have been doing UGG wet cleaning for a long time and the results are very, very good. After wet cleaning, the ugg boots are dried in a special way and then the pile is lifted with the help of brushes.

UGG is also cleaned by hand - salt stains and dirt are removed, dried and piled. It all depends on the conditions and capabilities of the shoe-shine studio. There is a water cleaning machine and drying equipment - great. And if not, then the way out of the situation can be the simplest and most effective. For example, like this.

Yellow Timberland boots are also frequent dry cleaners. The nubuck surface of the boots quickly ceases to resist de-icing reagents. Here are traces of ingrained dirt, specific stains. Cleaning Timberland boots at home is not an easy task.

Most often, a shoe-shine studio combines specializations. Although in some cases, a narrowly focused specialization depends on the market, and if there is demand and demand, you can do what you have more soul for and what is more often brought in for cleaning.

Where can I find shoe polishing technology?

Each type of footwear needs its own technology. Features of the combined materials and pollution affect which shoe cleaning technology to use in a particular case.

There is no escape from the basic principles of cleaning technology. Alkaline stain remover, acid neutralization and softening. How and in what way you will do this is a question for the technologist. For starters, you should refer to the textbook. In the textbook, you can find food for thought about your future technology. And our technologist can provide you with training and advice on various shoe cleaning technologies.

What are the technologies for cleaning and caring for shoes?

The use of household products and folk methods

Specialized shoe polish products sold in shoe stores

Professional products and preparations for cleaning shoes

Technology for restoring the color of suede products

Technology for the restoration of leather goods

Material on the technology of shoe cleaning will be posted in this entry constantly and as it is prepared. You can subscribe to new blog posts to be notified when this information is posted here. For the impatient, there is, with which you can ask your questions about shoe cleaning technology and opening a shoe cleaning studio.

Turnkey Shoe Cleaning Solutions

When it comes to shoe cleaning, one cannot ignore ready-made solutions from Europe and Asia. Ready-made shoe cleaning solutions come from car dry cleaning. Vacuum cleaners, steam guns and foam generators are all familiar to those who work with car dry cleaning or dry cleaning of upholstered furniture.

Revitapoint shoe cleaning and restoration technology

ScarpaVapor Shoe Shine Technology Bieffe Farinelli

Tune in for a long read and stay on the wave of the publication on how to open a dry-cleaning studio and you will find out the answers to the questions:

How much does it cost to open a shoe cleaner?

The amount of investment required to open a dry cleaning shoe depends on the concept of the studio and the chosen technology used for cleaning shoes.

The concept of "taking all the best and at once"

You can immediately buy equipment, such as Revitapoint, purchase auxiliary equipment and a huge amount of consumables that no one will use later, necessary for the most complex and special cases.

This also includes interior decoration and repairs, client desks made of artificial stone and LCD screens wherever possible.

Such a studio will cost from 800 thousand to 1.2 million rubles.

As-needed concept

To do this, a plan for the development of the enterprise is outlined, based on what is already in demand among customers and what can be done best.

For example, my friend decided to open a sneaker dry cleaner. He collected everything he could from his friends and acquaintances and for two weeks he cleaned his sneakers and stuffed his hand. For cleaning, he used various means and methods and managed with a minimum set of any equipment. In two weeks, he got his hands on sneakers and came to the conclusion what equipment he needed in order to facilitate the process. He taught this technology to his first master - showed, explained and passed on his knowledge to him.

That was enough to get started and make money for everything else. The next stage of its development was the cleaning of ugg.

If you correctly approach the issue of selection and do not buy unnecessary equipment, opening a shoe dry cleaning studio will cost 150-200 thousand rubles. With this money you will buy racks, furniture, equipment and supplies and will be able to start working and earn money in order to buy additional equipment.

You can immediately swell 2 million rubles into the opening of a dry-cleaning studio and hang on yourself the burden of paying off the project.

What do you need to dry-clean shoes?

Shoe cleaners need customers. Until the opening of the studio, you need traffic of clients who will be waiting for your opening and provide work from the opening.

Start taking shoes for cleaning while repairs are underway, equipment is being supplied and technology is being fine-tuned. All you need to get started is the desire to work.

A friend of mine took sneakers for three months on an island in a supermarket and took them to the garage, where he washed them in an activator washing machine. He dried his wet sneakers with a heat gun. There was a whole action.

He developed his own shoe-shine technology step by step. Then he bought himself a foam generator, an airbrush, a steam generator and some other equipment, but from working capital.

How to train staff to work with shoes?

To teach cleaners you need to understand the basic principles of soil removal, the mechanics of soil transition, the chemistry of washing and cleaning, understand in materials science. There is no specialized literature, as well as training centers on the technology of dry-cleaning shoes. You can download the Dry Cleaning Technology book from my website. The textbook is also useful for dry-cleaning shoes. He quickly fell in love with the owners of car dry cleaners and cleaning companies.

Training in shoe cleaning technology

There is Elena, a shoe dry cleaner who has dedicated 5 years of her life out of more than 20 years of dry cleaning experience to setting up the dry cleaning technology for shoes, bags and accessories in a large chain dry cleaner in Moscow, and she is ready to work with you.

There is a course "Training in dry cleaning and shoe dyeing"

How much will a shoe shine studio pay for?

The answer to this question lies in the investments made in the project. When about 1.5 million rubles are invested in a studio, such a studio pays off in about 11-14 months. If more, then something is wrong here and it's time to see a doctor urgently to determine the cause.

A good result for a shoe-shine studio is 8 months. It all comes down to how much was spent. The investment of 750,000 rubles returned after 8 months of hard work and a lot of work.

The model of a shoe-shine studio with an island in a shopping center and production in a garage paid off in a month and is consistently profitable - about 70,000 rubles in the hands of the owner.

How many shoes do you need to shine for the studio to be profitable?

Opening a textbook on economics, reading about profitability and not understanding how many shoes you need to clean a day in order for the studio to be profitable? Then collect in one column all the costs for the month (and do not forget your salary as a manager) and divide by 30 days.

Capital costs must also be taken into account and taken into account. In the calculation, use the figure from the payback period that you set for yourself.

Oh wow, this is very complicated. Calculate how many shoes you need to clean.

Then take it as an axiom that you need to take and clean 20 pairs of shoes per day. For a shoe shine business to be a business and not self-employed, you need to clean 20 pairs of shoes every day.

You, as the owner of a shoe-shine studio, have a simple and understandable task - to ensure the flow of 20 pairs of shoes every day to your studio.

Just take this number and go!

Where to take clients to shine shoes?

To provide yourself with good traffic from clients, work with those who already have this traffic.
It is done like this. Go to a dry cleaner where people donate clothes and make an appointment with the dry cleaner to take your shoes for cleaning. You give her your price list and a discount off that price list. You can give more freedom and work with her at your own price list, and the dry cleaner will sell the service at their own prices.

A friend of mine cleans baby car seats and strollers for about 30 dry cleaners in Moscow. He is always provided with orders and works calmly, knowing that he already has bread for bread. And he earns on butter with caviar by selling his service on his own.

And here is an interesting case. He sells the service to dry cleaners for X-Y% rubles, dry cleaners sell this service for X rubles. Largely. And some dry cleaners sell this service for X*K rubles. And this coefficient K varies from 1.2 to 5.

Do you understand? If someone sells better than you, then let him sell, but buy from you.

Here's how to agree and how you feel comfortable.

Advantages of working on your own price list:
You can talk openly about partnerships and thereby additionally advertise yourself.
True, there is a minus here - the first time customers will hand over their shoes to a partner dry cleaner, and the second time they will carry things to you. Dry cleaning is unlikely to be happy with this ...
You can use your own promotional materials when you work with partners on your own price list. You teach the receptionist how to work to your standards, how to make upsells, and so on. Thus, you work out your scripting and business process formation skills. This will make life easier for you when you want to franchise.

But there is a minus here too - it’s not a fact that the dry cleaning administration wants to do it the way you advise it.

In addition to dry cleaning, there are also shoe stores. You come up with a way to get the store interested in advertising your shoe shine studio and the store becomes your partner.
The shoe shops are also worth a look - people bring shoes there, so take them warm and offer your services. How to negotiate with a shoe workshop - tell the heart.

Clients from the street

Customers "from the street" should not be dismissed either. If the studio is located in a place with high traffic and there is a clear sign about what you are doing here, then customers from the street will go. Then it's a matter of technology - not to lose customers and be able to work with them at all stages of your relationship.

Be sure to collect a client base and transfer it online. Send emails, take surveys, praise yourself, and talk about good reviews. It will be very helpful.
Learn how to work with a sales funnel and think about how to turn the funnel into a sales tunnel.

What chemicals should be used to clean shoes?

Information about preparations used for dry-cleaning shoes will appear here in the near future. Stay tuned.

What are the space requirements for a shoe shine studio?

Is it possible to open a dry-cleaner for shoes in a residential building?

There are no requirements for shoe-shine studios, as long as you don't write "shoe cleaning" on the sign. Can shoe repair shops be opened in residential buildings? Here you open it.

But as soon as you write that you have “dry cleaning of shoes” here, you can wait for delegations from Rospotrebnadzor sent to you by the residents of the house. Residents of apartment buildings love to complain about the neighborhood with small businesses.

Electrical Requirements

Dry cleaning of shoes does not imply any powerful installations or devices. A normal household 220 V network will provide your studio with light and energy.

For drying chambers or heat guns, it is better to provide separate lines and protective devices. Machine guns, ouzo - do it separately for guns and dryers.

Ventilation Requirements

The preparations used for dry cleaning have a pungent odor and contain toxic substances.

Therefore, to work with chemistry, it is necessary to provide hoods and the like of dyeing chambers, where it will be possible to work with paints.

Ideally, you need a separate ventilation that will work independently of the house ventilation. But this is an expensive pleasure.

Water supply and sewerage

For the operation of the enterprise, hot and cold water For household needs. A normal water system will do.

For drainage, 100 mm of sewage will be sufficient. The preparations used for cleaning shoes are disposed of as domestic waste, so there are no special requirements for sewage. The main thing is to get a document about drains.

How many meters do you need for a shoe shine studio?

The production part of the studio should ensure the comfortable work of the master, the placement of consumables, the storage of products coming in for cleaning. Clean and ready-to-dispense products can be stored in the client area - on racks and shelves.

It will be enough to allocate 10-15 square meters for the client area. It all depends on the configuration of the room and on the flight of fancy.

The production part of the shoe-shine studio requires about 30 square meters of space.

If there is no time to wait, and questions do not let you sleep, fill out the feedback form or write comments. Registration is not required for this.

An example of a business plan for opening a dry cleaners in a small town with a population of 120 thousand inhabitants.

Business Outlook

The crisis phenomena of the 1990s led to the fact that dry-cleaning enterprises under state care fell into disrepair: the equipment became obsolete, there was an outflow of qualified personnel, and the quality of the services provided sharply decreased.

Ultimately, the provision of dry cleaning services for products was practically discontinued. However, the demand for such services remains high. It is much cheaper for the consumer to restore the original appearance of the product with the help of dry cleaning than to buy a new thing.

Therefore, opening a dry cleaning company in modern conditions considered to be a very promising project.

How much money do you need to open a dry cleaners from scratch

According to the business plan, the opening of a small dry cleaner will require at least 3,220,000 rubles:

What taxation system to choose for the enterprise

The organizational form of the enterprise will be individual entrepreneurship. It is planned to use a single tax on imputed income (UTII) as a taxation system.

Under such a system, the tax would be fixed and would be paid quarterly. A license for such activities is not required.

Our dry cleaners will provide cleaning services for clothes from different materials and groups:

• suits,
• coat,
• dresses,
• textile,
• Leather Products,
• fur,
• carpet cleaning,
• as well as manual cleaning of shoes, bags and suede.

For the urgency of the order (within 24 hours), an additional payment will be charged - 50% of the price list.

Technology of dry cleaning services

1. Reception of products
2. Sorting products by type and degree of contamination
3. Removal of specific contaminants, stain removal
4. Cleaning products
5. Treatment with organic solvents
6. Impregnation of products
7. Wet heat treatment
8. Checking the quality of work

Marketing and Advertising

The first point of the marketing business plan is to determine the capacity of the dry cleaning services market. According to some data, the average resident of Russia uses dry cleaning services on average once every 2 years.

The size of the population of our city is 120 thousand inhabitants. Of these, the number of economically active people (potential customers) is 60 thousand people. By simple calculations we get: 60,000 people. / 730 days = 82. It turns out that about 82 people need dry cleaning services every day.

There are two organizations that provide dry cleaning services in our city. These are quite well-known and well-established organizations that have been operating in the market for such services for more than a year. However, the speed of customer service and the quality of their services is not so great.

We believe that the opening of our enterprise with modern high-class equipment and trained personnel will attract the lion's share of customers. The average check of the service according to preliminary calculations will be 1050 rubles.

According to the most conservative estimates, an average of 12 clients will visit the dry-cleaner daily (excluding time for business promotion). On weekdays, the flow will be slightly higher than on weekends. This will allow you to receive an average daily income of 12,600 rubles, respectively, a monthly income of 378,000 rubles.

Download dry cleaning business plan, from our partners, with a quality guarantee.

Production plan

When choosing a room for dry cleaning, all the requirements of the SES will be met, including the distance from residential buildings, which must be at least 50 meters. The size of the leased premises will be 85 sq. m. with a monthly rent equal to 42,500 rubles (500 rubles / m2).

The issue of acceptance of products for cleaning will also be resolved. The city will operate two clothing collection points in the most densely populated areas. One will be located in the same building as the equipment, the second will be a separate room (15 sq. m.) in a residential area of ​​the city.

What equipment to choose for dry cleaning

At least 2,500,000 rubles will be spent on the purchase of professional equipment. The line will include:

• Suprema LC 24 dry cleaning machine.
• Paromaneken universal with built-in boiler.
• Spotting table.
• Professional ironing table.
• The packaging machine is vertical.

Dry cleaning staff

The staff will be employed: technologist, ironers (2 people), workers (2 people), administrator and driver. Accounting services are planned to be outsourced. The permanent staff of the organization will include 6 people. The monthly wage fund will be 96,000 rubles.

Calendar plan

Starting a project involves the following sequential steps:

1. Search for sources of project financing
2. Registration of a business with the tax authority
3. Search for premises and conclusion of a lease agreement
4. Repair and design of the premises
5. Purchase and installation of professional equipment
6. Certification, approval of the project with the state. authorities
7. Staff employment
8. Enterprise launch

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfX3n3xSBhA

Business risks

Opening a dry cleaner is associated with the following risks:

• High level of competition in the market.
• High dependence on the successful location of the enterprise.
• Lack of highly qualified personnel in this area.
• Long payback period.

Professional business plans on the topic:

• Dry cleaning business plan (36 sheets) - DOWNLOAD ⬇
• Tailoring studio business plan (32 sheets) - DOWNLOAD ⬇
• Cleaning company business plan (41 sheets) - DOWNLOAD ⬇

Financial plan

Let's proceed to the calculation of the main indicators of the economic efficiency of the business. Fixed monthly expenses:

• Rent - 42,500 rubles.
• Salary - 96,000 rubles.
• Insurance deductions - 28,800 rubles.
• Utility payments - 30,000 rubles.
• Consumables (powders, solvents, etc.) - 25,000 rubles.
• Taxes (UTII) - 6,000 rubles.
• Accounting - 8,000 rubles.
• Transportation costs - 10,000 rubles.
• Other expenses - 15,000 rubles.

Total - 261,300 rubles.

How much can you earn on dry cleaning services

The net profit of the organization according to the business plan will be 116,700 rubles per month. The profitability of dry cleaning is 44%. With such indicators, the project pays off in 30 - 35 months of work (taking into account the period for business promotion).

1. Privacy

3. Stages of project implementation

4. Characteristics of the object

5. Marketing plan

6. Technical and economic data of the equipment

7. Financial plan

8. Risk assessment

9. Financial and economic justification of investments

How economist Konstantin Degtyarev revived the service of manual shoe cleaning in Kyiv

Entrepreneur Konstantin Degtyarev knows from his own experience that there is no second chance to make a first impression. On one of the rainy December days, hurrying to a business meeting, Konstantin stepped into the mud. Appearance shoes and mood were spoiled. Degtyarev still believes that because of that unfortunate incident, the negotiations failed.

But he had an idea - to open a shoe-shine service in the capital. In large cities of Europe and the USA, you will not surprise anyone with such a service. Cleaners were not unusual in pre-revolutionary Kyiv either. The demand for their services was partly due to the climate: most of the year - snow and mud, summer months - dust. Since then, the climate has not changed much. But Konstantin was embarrassed by something else: Ukrainians had long ago lost the habit of such a service, which means that they would have to spend time and effort on winning potential customers. It took about three months, this time was spent on studying the market and drawing up a business plan. Konstantin claims that traditionally Africans were engaged in manual shoe cleaning, so he began to look for a black employee. And he found it - he was a native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo named Carlos, who, together with Konstantin, mastered all the wisdom new profession. At first, we trained on ourselves. “These sneakers are many years old, but you can’t tell, right? - Degtyarev is interested. “In the process of training, I put all the old shoes in order, I don’t buy new ones yet.”

Atelier Elleganca opened on March 15 in one of the capital's business centers. In addition to manual cleaning, it offers shoe repair services and sells cosmetics and shoe accessories. So far, the main income comes from repairs, but Degtyarev is sure that it is shoe shine that will feed him in the near future.

After. In addition to manual cleaning and repair services, Elleganca offers shoe care products.

Looking for a client
Konstantin needed $5,000 to open the service. The main expenses are the purchase of a chair for clients, a cabinet for care products, in fact, the products themselves, plus renting a room in the Leonardo business center. “Hand-shine shoes are offered in some hotels where foreign managers and businessmen often stay,” says Degtyarev. But the entrepreneur decided to open a service in a business center, where both foreigners and wealthy Ukrainians visit. To attract customers, at first he distributed leaflets and flyers, but this promotion channel did not justify itself. Over time, Konstantin came to the conclusion that it is much more effective to post information about the service on social networks, while simultaneously posting explanatory articles and videos on how to care for expensive shoes. Thus, he increases brand loyalty and teaches Ukrainians how to properly clean their shoes.

Services are not cheap: cleaning will cost the client from 20 to 80 UAH. depending on the complexity of the work. The most expensive is the combined cleaning, which can take a couple of days to complete. There are not many people who want to use this service yet, but they are. Degtyarev characterizes his consumers as advanced office workers who are interested in new products and communicate on social networks. Those are 60% of the total number of those who come to the studio. Among the clients are already seen company leaders and well-known public figures.

And yet, so far, people come to the atelier mainly to repair shoes, and not to clean them. Konstantin explains this with seasonality - the influx of customers will be in the cold months, from mid-September to May. “Today, an average of three people a day want to do cleaning,” says the owner of the service. “At the same time, there are seven or eight orders for repairs.” According to him, back in May it was the other way around.

Shoe subtleties
Of course, you can clean your shoes in Kyiv not only in the studio, but also in many hotels and business centers - with the help of special automatic cleanings. However, this method has drawbacks: the machine is not able to assess the condition of the product and select the right product, and may even spoil the product. Occasionally, real cleaners appear in the city.

For about a month, the cleaner worked in the men's hairdressing salon - barbershop Firm. "It was like this marketing ploy to maintain the overall image of the institution, - says the owner of the hairdressing salon Anton Maksakov. “However, customers who came to get their hair cut were sometimes annoyed, and we refused the service.” According to him, ten people used the purge in a month. At the same time, Maksakov does not rule out that shoe cleaning as a separate service may be in demand. The main thing, according to him, is to take into account seasonality and choose the right place. It must be a business or shopping center.

As for shoe repair, this market in Kyiv is almost saturated. Workshops can be conditionally divided into three groups: cheap (stalls on the streets and in the yards), establishments of the middle price category and elite ones. Opening a point of the middle price category can cost about 60 thousand UAH. Vladimir Kutsenko, the owner of the Kyiv workshop "At Chobotyah", notes that a significant part of this amount will have to be paid for renting premises, say, in a residential area on the first floor of a residential building. May need to be repaired. The purchase of equipment will cost 5000-6000 UAH. You can save on advertising, because the main customers of such a service are residents of nearby houses. Therefore, the main thing is to win the trust of local consumers. Despite the high competition in this segment, entrepreneurs themselves estimate the profitability of the business at 25%. According to Volodymyr Kutsenko, in the "good" months, the turnover of the institution is 12 thousand hryvnias.

But the owner of the Elleganca atelier expects to earn much more and relies on an exotic service - shoe shine, there is practically no competition in this segment. In the near future, Konstantin Degtyarev plans to open a point in the Gulliver shopping center and at least three more centers.

On the machine
How much does it cost to install a shoe shine machine

The average cost of a shoe polishing machine is $500–600
The average cost of a liter of shoe polish is $30
The cost of a set of brushes - $100–150
Service cost - 8–10 UAH

Feet fed
How much does shoe cleaning cost in Kyiv

Dry cleaning services - 300–500 UAH
Automatic cleaning - 10–15 UAH
Manual cleaning - 20–80 UAH

Irina Gamaly,Focus