The rhythm of modern life has recently become even more impetuous than it was some five years ago. Then you could afford to take a break at work, have a snack, 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 every such break directly affects the bottom line, 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, tries 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 lot of time waiting in lines, you can buy chocolate bars, pay for communications, and even clean your shoes. This type of business is called vending, meaning the sale of a product or service through special automated systems.
Vending business
Any commercial enterprise presupposes 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 buy an automatic machine, put it in a retail outlet and wait for the arrival of profit. But this position smacks of amateurishness a little, although there is a certain grain in it. Indeed, the main thing in this business is a vending machine, but no less important is another moment - thinking through a strategy, determining the relevance of one or another apparatus in your city, thinking over their locations and much more.
In general, now there are many varieties of such machinesthat 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 settlements the profitability of such a business can be very low. In addition, you need to consider the taxation of the vending business. In other words, your work is just beginning to buy an automatic machine, because without taking into account the subtleties and nuances, you are unlikely to achieve the desired result.
Features of running a vending business
At the initial stage, when you have not yet purchased a vending machine, you need to clearly understand which audience you will be targeting. For example, the availability was initially aimed at student youth who did not have a lot of 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 vending machine and then go about their business. So this question is very important when calculating all the 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 little turnover of people, there is simply no point in installing any kind of trading apparatus. Universities, large shopping centers, airports, train stations, etc. are considered preferred.
As for the staff, you can do it yourself in the first couples. But the specifics of this business presupposes the occurrence of various equipment breakdowns, which you are unlikely to be able to eliminate without the necessary technical knowledge. Therefore, it is advisable to hire an experienced technician who could monitor the state of the machines, making diagnostics on time.
Advantages and disadvantages of the vending business
Many people regard the vending business as a kind of alternative to an idle existence, when you can buy a machine and just drive, taking profit. 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.
Benefits
- This is a fairly new direction for Russia, so there are a lot of vacant 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.
- Simplicity in document flow. You do not need to obtain a license or any special permits for your activities, because it is enough to pay taxes as well.
- Fast response to customer demand. The machines can be converted for any product that is popular with customers.
- Lack of a complex business system. In order to start a vending business, you do not need special knowledge in economics and other business environments.
Estimated profit
It is quite obvious that the profit in this business segment will directly depend on the traffic of people in the place where the shoe shine machine will be located. As practice shows, there are up to 80 people per one apparatus per day.
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 the days are different, and this figure , respectively,may be lower or higher.
Profitability and return on investment
Due to the fact that there are not so many similar devices as there are coffee ones, the payback can be achieved quite quickly by installing the device in the right place. In addition, the low cost for one cleaning session will not scare off a potential client, and may even push them to use this service. And human curiosity can play a role in the sight of an unfamiliar and unusual thing.
On average, according to experts, one shoe cleaner pays for itself in about six months. There are of course different circumstances, but in any case, this period cannot be more than one year. These are pretty common numbers for any business where profits are just a matter of time.
Conclusion
The development of the vending business in our country is proceeding at a fairly high rate. You can hardly surprise anyone with coffee machines, but in the case of shoe shine machines, this can work. This segment is still very poorly developed in our country, so you can successfully wedge yourself into this niche, becoming a kind of opener of such a business in your region.
A shoe dry cleaning studio is a less expensive project than a regular dry cleaning. At the same time, the capacity of the market for shoe cleaning services is huge. The market is not a plowed field and, with a wise investment, the funds spent on the opening of dry cleaning shoes. will return quickly and very efficiently.
A shoe shine studio is a lucrative business. On the example of the studio "Two Brothers", specializing in dry cleaning shoes, you can see that the business model of the studio for cleaning shoes works great not only in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities with a population of over one million, but also in the provinces.
The headquarters of Dva Brata, a shoe dry cleaner, is based in Yaroslavl and successfully sells its franchise to different cities of Russia. Yaroslavl, Ivanovo, Kostroma. Not the richest cities.
There is an opinion that the shoe shine service will be in demand “there in Moscow, where shoes are expensive, and no one here will take them back”.
Look at the number of shoe shine studios and change your point of view.
An excellent example is Kazbek Friev from Krasnodar. In 2016, he began to provide an ironing service and really wanted to open his own dry cleaner. 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 on social networks.
Why are dry cleaning studios popular?
The reason for the popularity of shoe shine studios is fashion. The main volume of products received for cleaning is sneakers and sneakers in various variations. Here are the legendary sneakers Nike, Adidas Original, Converse, and designer Prada, Louis Vuitton, Lacoste and other variety of stylish, practical and informal shoes.
Combinations of the incongruous are often found - 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 difficult than clothes, and the manufacturers of washing powders who clean all kinds of dirt have not yet reached the shoes.
Although they are already being selected. You can find in sports stores and shops selling branded shoes, "specialized and professional cleaning products" for shoe care. So shoe dryers have already experienced the delights of cleaning products that have been cleaned using folk methods and household products.
What are the shoe dry cleaning studios?
Depending on which products prevail and what the shoe dry cleaning studio is focused on, the main options can be distinguished:
Dry cleaning of sneakers (sneaker cleaning, sneaker cleaning)
Not to be confused with the name of the chocolate bar. Sneaker is a generic name for athletic-style shoes. This includes athletic shoes, running shoes, gym shoes, and trainers.
an example of the most common shoe model called the "sneaker"
These shoes are often made from combined materials and some models of sneakers can be safely washed in the washing machine. Leather and combined products are cleaned by hand.
When it comes to washing, the main thing here is not to overdo it with temperature, otherwise the sole may come 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.
The sneaker dry cleaner not only provides cleaning services, but also restores colors and whitens the soles.
More often than not, the shoe dry cleaning business model involves the sale of specialized sneaker care products.
If you type something like "sneaker cleaner" into a 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 manufacturers of home cleaning products for sneakers.
They do the same in Russia - they buy some drug from the listed or not listed manufacturers, stuff their hand on it. At best, they order their own bottle and tube stickers 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 - application of liquid leather, leveling of creases on leather shoes, painting, repainting, restoration of varnish.
Such studios are well connected with the English word polisher - shoe polishing.
This includes cleaning shoes from reagents, specific contaminants, eliminating the effects of water on shoes, surface restoration and minor repairs.
All operations are carried out using professional shoe care products, which can also be offered as shoe care kits.
UGG and Timberland dry cleaning
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 water cleaning for UGG for a long time and the results are very, very good. After water cleaning, ugg boots are dried in a special way and then the pile is lifted with brushes.
Also, UGG is cleaned by hand - they remove salt stains and dirt, dry and nap. It all depends on the conditions and capabilities of the shoe cleaning 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.
Timberland yellow boots are also frequent guests of dry cleaners. The nubuck surface of the boots quickly ceases to withstand anti-icing agents. Here and traces of grime, specific stains. Cleaning Timberland boots at home is not an easy task.
Most often, a shoe shine studio combines a specialization. Although in some cases, narrowly focused specialization depends on the market and if there is demand and demand, you can do what the soul lies more for and what is more often brought to cleaning.
Where can I find shoe cleaning technology?
Each type of shoe needs its own technology. The peculiarities of the materials to be combined and the contaminants affect which shoe cleaning technology is used in a particular case.
There is no getting away from the basic principles of cleaning technology. Alkaline stain remover, acidic neutralization and softening. How and in what way you will do this is a question for the technologist. For a start, 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 types of shoe cleaning and care technologies?
The use of household products and folk methods
Specialized shoe cleaners sold in shoe stores
Professional products and preparations for shoe cleaning
Technology for restoring the color of suede products
Restoration technology for leather goods
Material on shoe cleaning technology will be posted on this post constantly and as it prepares. You can subscribe to new blog posts to be alerted when this information appears here. For the impatient, there is one with which you can ask your questions about shoe cleaning technology and the opening of a shoe cleaning studio.
Ready-made shoe shine solutions
Talking about shoe shine, one cannot ignore ready-made solutions from Europe and Asia. Off-the-shelf shoe dry cleaning solutions come from automotive dry cleaning. Washing vacuum cleaners, steam guns and foam generators are all familiar to those who work with automotive dry cleaning or upholstered dry cleaning.
Revitapoint shoe cleaning and restoration technology
ScarpaVapor Bieffe Farinelli shoe cleaning technology
Tune in for a long reading and stay on top of the publication on how to open a shoe cleaning studio and you will find out the answers to the questions:
How much does it cost to open a dry cleaning shoe?
The amount of investment required to open a dry cleaning of shoes depends on the concept of the studio and on the chosen technology used for cleaning shoes.
The concept "take 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 then use, necessary for the most difficult and special cases.
This also includes interior decoration and renovation, custom stone countertops and LCD screens wherever possible.
Such a studio will cost from 800 thousand to 1.2 million rubles.
As needed concept
For this, a plan for the development of the enterprise is outlined, based on what is already in demand among customers and what is best done.
For example, a friend of mine decided to open a sneaker dry cleaner. He collected everything he could from his friends and acquaintances and for two weeks cleaned his sneakers and stuffed his hand. For cleaning, he used various means and methods and got along 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.
It was enough to get started and make money for everything else. The next step in its development was the ugg cleaning.
If you correctly approach the selection, do not buy unnecessary equipment, opening a shoe 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 pour 2 million rubles into the opening of a shoe-cleaning studio and bear the burden of the project's payback.
What do you need for dry cleaning shoes?
Clients are needed for dry cleaning shoes. Until the opening of the studio, you need traffic of customers who will wait for your opening and provide work from the opening.
Start taking shoes for cleaning while repairs are in progress, equipment is supplied and technology is being debugged. All you need to get started is the desire to work.
A friend of mine took sneakers for three months on an island in the supermarket and took them to the garage, where he washed them in an activator washing machine. He dried wet sneakers with a heat gun. The whole action was.
He developed his own shoe cleaning technology step by step. Then he bought himself a foam generator, an airbrush, a steam generator and some other equipment, but from circulating money.
How to train staff to work with shoes?
To teach cleaning masters, you need to understand the basic principles of dirt removal, the mechanics of the transfer of dirt, washing and cleaning chemistry, and materials science. There is no specialized literature, as well as training centers on the technology of dry cleaning of shoes. You can download the book "Dry cleaning technology" on my website. The tutorial is also useful for dry cleaning shoes. He quickly fell in love with the owners of automobile dry cleaners and cleaning companies.
Shoe dry cleaning technology training
There is Elena, a shoe dry cleaner who has dedicated 5 years of her life out of more than 20 years of experience in dry cleaning to set up the technology for dry cleaning of 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 dyeing shoes"
How much will a shoe shine studio pay off?
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, it is worthwhile to urgently determine the cause.
A good result for a shoe shine studio is 8 months. Here everything depends on how much was spent. The investment of 750,000 rubles came back after 8 months of hard work and a lot of work.
The model of a shoe cleaning studio with an island in a shopping center and production in a garage paid off in a month and steadily makes a profit - about 70,000 rubles in the hands of the owner.
How much shoes do you need to shine for a studio to be profitable?
Opening a textbook on economics, reading about profitability, and don't understand how much you need to shine your shoes per day to make a studio profitable? Then collect in one column all 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 a figure from the payback period that you set for yourself.
Oh, well this is very difficult aaaaa. Count on how much you need to clean your shoes.
Then take it for granted that you need to take and clean 20 pairs of shoes a day. For a shoe shine business to be a business and not a self-employment, you need to clean 20 pairs of shoes every day.
You, as the owner of a shoe cleaning studio, have a simple and understandable task - to provide a flow of 20 pairs of shoes every day to your studio.
Just take that number and go for it!
Where to get clients for shoe shine?
To provide yourself with good traffic from clients - work with those who already have this traffic.
It is done like this. Come to the dry cleaner, where people donate their clothes and agree with the dry cleaner that they take shoes for you to clean. You give her your price list and a discount from that price list. You can give more freedom and work with it at your own price list, and the dry cleaner will sell the service at its 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 and 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 their K coefficient varies from 1.2 to 5.
Do you understand? If someone sells better than you, then let him sell, but buy from you.
Here is how you agree and how it will be convenient for you.
Advantages of working according to your own price list:
You can talk openly about partnerships and thus advertise yourself further.
True, there is also a minus - the first time clients will hand over their shoes to a partner dry cleaner, and the second time they will take things to you. The dry cleaner is unlikely to be happy about this ...
You can use your own promotional materials when working with partners on your own price list. Train the receptionist on how to work according to your standards, how to do upsells, and so on. Thus, you practice your skills in scripting and shaping a business process. This will make your life easier when you want to sell a franchise.
But there is also a minus here - it is not a fact that the dry-cleaner's administration will want to do as you advise.
In addition to dry cleaning, there are also shoe stores. You come up with a way to get the store interested, advertise your shoe cleaning studio and the store becomes your partner.
It is worth looking at the shoe workshops - people carry shoes there, so take them warm and offer your services. How to negotiate with a shoe shop - the heart will tell.
Clients from the street
Clients "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 clients 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 your customer base and transfer it online. Send mailings, conduct surveys, praise yourself, and share complimentary reviews. This will be very helpful.
Learn to work with a sales funnel and think about how to turn a funnel into a sales tunnel.
What chemicals to use for cleaning shoes?
Information about the preparations used for dry cleaning shoes will appear here shortly. Stay tuned.
What are the room requirements for a shoe shine studio?
Is it possible to open a dry cleaning of shoes in a residential building?
There are no requirements for shoe shine studios, as long as you do not write "dry cleaning of shoes" on the sign. Can shoe repair shops be opened in residential buildings? So you open up.
But as soon as you write that you have a "dry cleaning of shoes" here, you can wait for a delegation 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 regular household 220V 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. Automatic machines, 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 for extracts and the like of dyeing chambers, where it will be possible to work with paints.
Ideally, a separate ventilation is needed that will work independently of the indoor ventilation. But this is an expensive pleasure.
Water supply and sewerage
The enterprise needs hot and cold water for domestic needs. A regular water supply system will do.
For drainage, 100 mm of sewage will be enough. The preparations used for cleaning shoes are disposed of as household waste, so there are no special requirements for sewage. The main thing is to get a document about stocks.
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 consumable products, the storage of products coming for cleaning. Products that are clean and ready for delivery can be stored in the customer area - on shelves 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 imagination.
The production part of a shoe shine studio requires about 30 square meters of floor space.
If you have no time to wait and questions keep you awake, fill out the feedback form or write comments. Registration is not required for this.
An example of a business plan for opening a dry cleaner in a small town with a population of 120 thousand inhabitants.
Business outlook
The crisis events of the 90s led to the fact that dry cleaning enterprises under state care fell into disrepair: the equipment was outdated, 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 previous appearance of the product using dry cleaning than to buy a new thing.
Therefore, the opening of an enterprise for the provision of dry cleaning services in modern conditions is considered a very promising project.
How much money does it take to open a dry cleaner from scratch
According to the calculations of the business plan, a minimum of 3,220,000 rubles will be required to open a small dry cleaner:
Which taxation system to choose for the company
The organizational form of the enterprise will be individual entrepreneurship. It is planned to use a single imputed income tax (UTII) as a taxation system.
Under such a system, the tax would be fixed and paid quarterly. A license is not required for this activity.
Our dry cleaner will provide cleaning services for clothes from different materials and groups:
- costumes,
- coat,
- dresses,
- textile,
- Leather Products,
- fur,
- dry cleaning of carpets,
- 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.
Dry cleaning service technology
- Acceptance of products
- Sorting products by type and degree of contamination
- Removal of specific dirt, stain removal
- Cleaning products
- Processing with organic solvents
- Impregnation of products
- Wet heat treatment
- Checking the quality of work
Marketing and advertising
The first point of a business marketing plan is to determine the capacity of the dry cleaning services market. According to some data, the average Russian resident 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. \u003d 82. It turns out that about 82 people need dry cleaning services every day.
There are two organizations providing dry cleaning services in our city. These are fairly well-known and well-established organizations that have been operating in the market for such services for several years. However, the speed of customer service and the quality of the services they provide are not so great.
We believe that the opening of our enterprise with modern high-quality equipment and trained personnel will attract the lion's share of customers. According to preliminary calculations, the average bill for the service will be 1050 rubles.
According to the most conservative estimates, an average of 12 customers will visit a dry cleaner every day (excluding the time for business promotion). On weekdays, the flow will be slightly higher than on weekends. This will make it possible to receive an average daily income of 12,600 rubles, respectively, a monthly income of 378,000 rubles.
Download a 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 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 have two collection points for clothes 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 \u200b\u200bthe 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:
- Dry cleaning machine Suprema LC 24.
- Universal steam dummy with built-in boiler.
- Spotting table.
- Professional ironing table.
- Vertical packing machine.
Dry cleaning staff
The following personnel will be employed: technologist, ironers (2 people), workers (2 people), administrator and driver. It is planned to outsource the services of an accountant. The permanent staff of the organization will include 6 people. The monthly payroll will be 96,000 rubles.
Calendar plan
Launching a project involves performing the following sequential actions:
- Search for funding sources for the project
- Registration of a business with a tax authority
- Searching for premises and concluding a lease agreement
- Renovation and design of premises
- Purchase and installation of professional equipment
- Certification, project approval with the state. bodies
- Employment of personnel
- Enterprise launch
//www.youtube.com/watch?v\u003dXfX3n3xSBhA
Business risks
Opening a dry cleaner is associated with the following risks:
- High level of competition in the market.
- High dependence on the favorable location of the enterprise.
- Lack of highly qualified personnel in this area.
- Long return on investment.
Professional business plans on the topic:
- Dry cleaning business plan (36 sheets) - DOWNLOAD ⬇
- Business plan for tailoring atelier (32 sheets) - DOWNLOAD ⬇
- Cleaning company business plan (41 sheets) - DOWNLOAD ⬇
Financial plan
Let's move on to calculating the main indicators of business economic efficiency. Fixed monthly expenses:
- Rent - 42,500 rubles.
- Salary - 96,000 rubles.
- Insurance deductions - 28 800 rubles.
- Utility bills - 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
According to the business plan, the organization's net profit will be 116,700 rubles per month. The profitability of dry cleaning is 44%. With such indicators, the project pays for itself in 30 - 35 months of work (taking into account the period for the promotion of the business).
1. Confidentiality
3. Stages of project implementation
4. Characteristics of the object
5. Marketing plan
6. Technical and economic data of equipment
7. Financial plan
8. Risk assessment
9. Financial and economic justification of investments
How economist Konstantin Degtyarev revived the manual shoe shine service in Kiev
Entrepreneur Konstantin Degtyarev knows from his own experience that there is no second chance to make a first impression. One rainy December day, hurrying to a business meeting, Konstantin stepped into the mud. The appearance of the shoes and the mood were ruined. Degtyarev still believes that because of that unfortunate incident, the negotiations were 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 a novelty in pre-revolutionary Kiev either. The demand for their services was driven in part by the climate, with snow and mud for most of the year, dust in the summer months. Since then, the climate has not changed much. But Konstantin was embarrassed by something else: the Ukrainians had long ago lost the habit of such a service, which means that they will have to spend time and effort on winning potential customers. Thinking over the idea took about three months, this time was spent studying the market and drawing up a business plan. Konstantin claims that traditionally people from Africa 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 Constantine, mastered all the wisdom of a 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 trades in cosmetics and shoe accessories. So far, the main income comes from repairs, but Degtyarev is sure that it will be shoe cleaning that will feed him in the near future.
In pursuit. In addition to manual cleaning and repair services, Elleganca offers shoe care products
Looking for a client
To open the service, Konstantin needed $ 5000. The main expenses are the purchase of an armchair for clients, a cabinet for care products, in fact, the funds themselves, plus the rent of premises in the Leonardo business center. “Manual shoe shine is offered in some hotels, where foreign managers and businessmen often stay,” Degtyarev says. But the entrepreneur decided to open a service in a business center, which is visited by both foreigners and wealthy Ukrainians. To attract customers, he initially 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 take care of expensive shoes. Thus, he increases brand loyalty and teaches Ukrainians 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 60% of the total number of people who come to the studio. Among the clients have already been noticed company executives and famous public figures.
And yet, so far, people come to the atelier mainly to repair their shoes, not to clean them. Konstantin explains this by 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 to eight orders for repairs.” According to him, back in May it was the opposite.
Shoe subtleties
Of course, you can clean your shoes in Kiev not only in the atelier, but also in many hotels and business centers - with the help of special automatic cleaners. However, this method has drawbacks: the machine is not able to assess the condition of the product and choose the right tool and may even spoil the product. From time to time, real cleaners appear in the city.
For about a month I worked as a cleaner in a men's hairdressing salon - Firm barbershop. “It was such a marketing ploy to maintain the overall image of the establishment,” says the owner of the hairdresser Anton Maksakov. “However, the clients who came to get their hair were sometimes annoying, and we refused the service.” According to him, ten people used the cleaning in a month. At the same time, Maksakov does not exclude that shoe cleaning as a separate service may be in demand. The main thing, he said, is to take into account the seasonality and choose the right place. It should be a business or shopping center.
As for shoe repair, this market in Kiev is almost saturated. Workshops can be conditionally divided into three groups: cheap (stalls on the streets and in the yards), mid-price and elite establishments. The opening of a point of the middle price category can cost about UAH 60 thousand. Vladimir Kutsenko, the owner of the Kiev workshop "U Chobotyakh", 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. It may be necessary to make repairs. 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 “good” months the turnover of the institution is 12 thousand UAH.
But the owner of the Elleganca atelier expects to earn much more and relies on an exotic service - shoe shine, in this segment there is practically no competition. Konstantin Degtyarev's immediate plans include opening 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
Average cost of a shoe shine machine - $500–600
Average cost per liter of shoe polish - $30
The cost of a set of brushes - $100–150
Service cost - 8-10 UAH
Feet feed
How much does shoe shine cost in Kiev
Dry cleaning services - UAH 300-500
Automatic cleaning - 10-15 UAH
Manual cleaning - UAH 20–80
Irina Gamaliy,Focus
