How to open a print service department
Our interlocutor today is a young girl Bersheva Lucia from the small town of Akhtubinsk in the Astrakhan region. She opened her own print services department with an investment of only 15,000 rubles. How did she manage to do it?
Main points of the interview:
- Type of activity: provision of services to the population (photocopying, printing documents and photographs)
- Location of business: Russia, Akhtyubinsk
- Occupation before entrepreneurship: Kindergarten teacher
- Starting date of business activity: 2013
- Organizational and legal form of doing business: individual entrepreneur
- The amount of initial investment: 70 thousand rubles.
- Source of initial capital: own savings, gratuitous grant for starting a business
- The formula for success from Lucia Bershova: “It is important to set a clear goal: what exactly do you want to achieve, what do you want to do and why…”.
Hello Lucia! Tell our readers about what kind of business you are in?
Hello! I have my own department of printing services "Print Font" in the city of Akhtubinsk, Astrakhan region. We provide services such as text copying, typing and printing, firmware and so on. We also print photos.
When did you open this department?
A little over half a year ago.
What did you do before you became an entrepreneur?
I was a kindergarten teacher.
Lucy, what was the impetus for you personally to start your own business?
After graduating and returning to my native Akhtubinsk, I began to look for a job. She got a job as a kindergarten teacher. At first I liked everything, but then, you know, the question of wages became acute - it was very low. One day I was walking home from work and thought - why not change my life? Then I made a firm decision - to open my own business. The dream of a business was a long time ago, but at that moment I firmly decided to realize it.
Why did you open the printing department?
It's just that I myself was a student quite recently and often turned to the services of such departments. I myself and my fellow students made copies of entire books, and typing even “flew a pretty penny”. I roughly figured out how much you can earn on this, and decided to open such a department. Then, it seemed to me that there was nothing particularly difficult in this ...
My decision was also confirmed by the fact that the condition for receiving a subsidy from the state (for which I opened my department) was the provision of services. That is, for example, I could not open a store or trade anything at all.
Who are your main customers and how many are there?
There are enough clients. Basically, these are students of the university, which is located not far from us. Another of the main visitors are servicemen who hand over documents to their communal maintenance department (it is located next to us). There are also a lot of older people. In general, I chose the location of my department so that the traffic was high.
What difficulties did you have to go through when opening the department?
I would not say that there were special difficulties - they helped me a lot with the paperwork at the labor exchange. I received my main funds there. Probably, the search for the necessary equipment for the department can be attributed to the difficulties. At that time, I didn’t understand it well - for me it was a completely new field of knowledge in which I made mistakes.
Let's talk about the financial side of the business. How much money do you need to have to open such a department?
Of course, the more money you have, the better! Here, a lot depends on the premises - for some reason, rent in our small town is more expensive than in the capital of the region - Astrakhan, or even in Volgograd, a millionaire! In my case, the starting capital amounted to about 70 thousand rubles.
Where did you find the necessary funds?
As I said, I received the main amount in the form of a subsidy from the employment service. It amounted to 58,800 rubles. The rest I borrowed from my parents. This is not a business that needs millions, so I didn’t even think about a bank loan!
How long did it take to get government funding? Was it easy to get it?
To receive a subsidy, you need to write and defend a business plan. A week and a half after his defense, the money was already in my account. So my answer is yes, it was easy to get and didn't have to wait too long!
What taxes do you pay?
I see a lot of technology in your department. Who is involved in its maintenance, purchase of consumables - you yourself or someone else?
The purchase of consumables is on me, and the maintenance of equipment is carried out by a specialized service center. If you need something - just call the master on the phone.
Is it expensive to maintain such equipment?
No. For six months of work, nothing has ever broken and no special expensive maintenance was required either.
Did you know that there are vending machines that allow visitors to make copies on their own? Would you put one like this?
Yes, I heard about it. In my department, I would not put this - too expensive and complex equipment. Who will serve her in our small town? Yes, and this device would not have unloaded an employee in my department in the slightest - she would have been pulled every now and then. “Girl, explain how to put the document! And what is it? And how to use it? The people in our city are not very enlightened in such know-how.
Are there regulatory audits? How often do they run?
There have never been any checks.
If you take the monthly budget for maintaining a business, what is the largest expense item?
Rent! As I said, in our town it is for some reason very large. In second place is the purchase of consumables.
Do you have competitors in the city and how do you attract customers?
There are a lot of competitors! The difference of our department is in our convenient location. We are closest to the main client - students. I also attract people by making our services a little cheaper than in other similar departments. Of course, someone who needs to copy five sheets will not go to another department because it is cheaper there, but if we are talking about a hundred sheets (and this happens!) - a person will come to us 100%.
If you could now return to the time when you just started, what mistakes would you like not to repeat?
Mistakes in the acquisition of equipment. Not knowing it well enough, I purchased a printer that was very expensive to maintain. I just had to give it away and buy a new, more economical one.
If you go back in time, I would better understand the specifics of this business. Before starting, I would consult more with knowledgeable people.
What do you think is the most important thing in business? Why do some people succeed and others don't?
In my opinion, the most important thing is to be well versed in the business you want to open. Then there won't be many mistakes! You also need to study the market.
What advice would you give to those who want to start their own business?
First of all, you need to set a clear goal for yourself: what exactly do you want to achieve, what do you want to do and why. Then you need to do everything to implement the plan. You also need to believe in success and dream big, even if not everything works out.
