Working for an “uncle”, everyone at least once in his life had the idea to open his own business. If you want to have your own business, albeit small, you can take a closer look at the opening of a private smokehouse. Smoking for sale is profitable for those who live in a private house, have access to direct suppliers of raw materials, or are engaged in domestic animal husbandry. It is not necessary to open a large workshop for smoking meat and fish; it can be a small private enterprise where products can be produced without hiring hired forces.
With proper business management, a small smokehouse will allow you to gain enough experience to expand production and become a competitor to larger manufacturers. Such a business is considered highly profitable, convenient in that at first it does not require large investments and can be located in your home. A garage, a small outbuilding or even one room is enough for this.
Recently, those who want to open their own smokehouse are increasing every day, but even taking into account the high competition, it is a profitable business. In addition to a monthly stable income that will allow you to support your family, there will always be home-cooked meat delicacies on your table every day. This is what attracts many, but as in any business, it has its own nuances and subtleties.
If you are a pro in this matter, you can safely go to the market with your products. Newbies can start by renting a smokehouse. While you won't be able to make a lot, it will be good practice. Set a symbolic hourly wage, your relatives, colleagues, neighbors can become clients.
Hot or cold smoking: which is more profitable
The smoking process involves heat treatment with hot smoke, while the product changes its taste and is stored for much longer. Depending on the temperature regime, hot or cold smoking is distinguished. The name speaks for itself. With hot smoking, the temperature inside the smokehouse ranges from 55 to 120 degrees, depending on the product, and with cold smoking, the temperature does not exceed 35 degrees.
This is not the only difference, the cold method will have to smoke for several days, and the hot method is enough for several hours. In this case, the difference in shelf life must be taken into account. The shelf life of hot smoked products is from 1 to 3 weeks, cold smoked products are several times longer. There is a buyer for any smoked delicacy, however, hot smoking technology is considered easier. Since it has a short shelf life, it is better to smoke in small batches and preferably on order.
First steps towards success
Any business undertaking should start with the collection of information, i.e. market analysis. From the very beginning, you can ignore the large manufacturers, since they are not the main competitors. And small entrepreneurs who are engaged in similar activities are sure to be found. Having carefully studied the prices and assortment, one can draw conclusions which smoked meats are in demand. Buying a trial batch will help you identify possible flaws in your opponent's products. Try to avoid them.
Every step needs to be carefully considered for a business to be successful. When you want hopes not to be replaced by quick disappointment, they make up a semblance of a business plan. Let it be just a small family business, planning will allow you to estimate the approximate costs and compare them with future income in order to understand how beneficial it will be in your case.
Opening a smokehouse includes several stages:
- work room equipment;
- purchase of the necessary equipment;
- registration of individual entrepreneurs and registration of permits;
- purchase of raw materials;
- assortment development;
- production and sale of products.
At first, while your business is in the stage of a kind of testing, you can do without registration, selling products on the market yourself or to your friends. When you are ready to go to the next level, you will need to formalize as a private entrepreneur. This will make it possible to supply smoked meats to retail outlets and cafes.
When you are ready to expand your production to the size of a smokehouse, you can start looking for a suitable facility. It is quite troublesome, time consuming and expensive to build a new building. The smoking workshop can be located in the building of the former canteen; in Soviet times there were quite a few of them. If there is a former canteen in your area that is empty, feel free to negotiate with the owner.
Workplace equipment
It will be difficult to organize your own business in an apartment, but if there is an empty garage, its area will be enough to accommodate one or two electric smokehouses there. If you live in a private house, then you can easily organize production at home. Modern smoking systems are easy to install and do not differ in bulky dimensions, for example, in a room with an area of about 40 sq. M. can accommodate four smoking installations. From the very beginning, one mini-smokehouse will be enough.
Modern installations run on gas, wood and electricity. Smokehouses most suitable for small production volumes are powered by electricity. First of all, you need to take care that the electrical wiring is not worn out and corresponds to the power that the mini-smoker consumes. Additional communications are not required, you just need to equip the working room with a good ventilation system. In addition to the smoking installation itself, you will need a freezer for storing raw materials and finished products, a cutting table, scales, brine containers.
To reduce the cost of related equipment, you can try to find a refrigerator and other used equipment. On the contrary, you should not save on buying a smokehouse, it is better to take completely new equipment, you can from a domestic manufacturer.
Choosing a smokehouse: basic nuances
On sale there are smokehouses that run on gas, electricity and coal. At the same time, the external design is not very different, but for mini-production, electric smokehouses are the most suitable, as the most economical and easy to install. Their capacity can vary from 5 to 100 kg. It is necessary to select installations made of stainless steel, of the middle price segment, with a tab from 50 to 100 kg. The maximum service life of such installations is 15 years.
The most suitable for the production of smoked products at home are combined installations with an automatic smoke generator. Their advantage is that both hot and cold smoking are available. Thanks to the built-in generator, the chips needed to produce smoke are automatically replaced. To obtain smoke, ready-made briquettes with pressed shavings are used. Thus, the smokehouse can work up to 8 hours. The price of such an installation, depending on the manufacturer, can reach 150,00 rubles.
You can save on buying a smokehouse by contacting craftsmen. In this case, of course, there is a great risk of getting a low-quality product. If you are confident in the abilities and skills of the master, it is possible to get the necessary materials and drawings, you can take a chance. Thus, you will not only significantly save on the purchase, but in the future you can contact this person if you need to replace one or another part.
It remains only to summarize the criteria that need to be followed when purchasing equipment:
- chamber capacity;
- Type of fuel;
- material and its thickness;
- available smoking methods;
- installation site;
- the presence of a water seal;
- additional functions.
Registration of permits
At the very beginning, it is enough to be in a semi-legal position, you can produce products in small batches and sell them on the markets. Sooner or later this will not seem enough, so you will have to get the appropriate permissions. First of all, you need to register as an individual entrepreneur; when choosing a tax payment system, it is better to choose a simplified taxation system. First, the registration procedure takes place in a shorter time frame; secondly, individual entrepreneurs are exempt from some taxes.
Since the production is related to food, there must be permission from the SES, Rosprirodnadzor, Rostekhnadzor and the fire service. Require quality certificates for all supplied raw materials and make sure that the finished product also undergoes the appropriate inspection. This is necessary in order to be able to take products to supermarkets, restaurants or wholesalers.
Sales opportunities
The competition in this niche is high, therefore, in order to take its rightful place in it, your products must always be fresh and of high quality. In order for the products to be well demanded by the demand, it is necessary to adapt to the end consumer. Start with the smallest, hottest product and aim to expand; the more variety you have, the more opportunities to sell.
Do not expect to compete with large manufacturers from the very beginning, start with the smallest. Until the points of sale are established, it is better to do with the minimum volume of production. You will have to sell your products yourself, for example, you will have to take them out to the markets, arrange an offsite trade, and try to distribute some of your products via the Internet. To be known about you, place your ad on free message boards, additionally advertise your products on social networks. Emphasize that smoked meats are made from natural village meat, lard according to your individual recipes. Several regular customers will definitely appear, and they will do free advertising using word of mouth without knowing it.
Over time, in order to increase sales, you can open several outlets and hire dealers. The organization of retail outlets will require additional costs: rent of refrigerators, salaries for sellers. Over time, they will surely pay off, be sure to expand the points of sale. Not standing still is one of the laws of a successful business.
Over time, you can open a small shop on your personal site that sells your products. You will not only save on rent, but also reduce the cost of transporting finished products.
What is the approximate income and payback period of the business
There is no ready-made formula by which to calculate the estimated income. For clarity, the approximate profit can be calculated using the example of smoked mackerel, which is in good demand. The wholesale price of fresh mackerel fluctuates around 140 rubles per kg, finished products can be sold at a retail price of 300 rubles per kg. At the same time, weight loss must be taken into account, they will amount to 15-30%, depending on the temperature regime.
If you smoke fish at a temperature of 55-60 degrees, with 50 kg of fresh fish you get about 40 kg of smoked fish. The total amount from the sales of the entire batch is 12,000 rubles. From this amount, you will need to deduct 7,000 rubles spent on the purchase of raw materials. With hot smoking, a few hours are enough to get the finished product. This means that day-to-day production can be set up, subject to quick implementation. If you make a daily bookmark of 50 kg, 150,000 profit comes out per month. We deduct expenses from this amount: tax, rent of a trading place, payment for electricity, gasoline costs, and so on. The end result is about 100,000 in net profit. Similarly, you can calculate the profit from other types of smoked products.
If you work with such volumes, it turns out that the electrical installation will fully pay off in 2-3 months. In practice, it will take several months to reach such volumes. Thus, it turns out that after 6-8 months of reasonable business management, the costs will be fully paid off and the business will bring net income.
Pros and cons of a home smokehouse as a business
So that you can finally make the right decision, it only remains to summarize the advantages and disadvantages of this type of business. Among the obvious advantages are:
- Independence. You work for yourself, plan your work schedule as you like.
- Simplicity. To master smoking in a modern smoking installation, super-complicated skills and training are not required.
- Compactness. Modern smoking systems do not take up much space.
- Work at home. Manufacturing can be located in your home, which is very convenient.
- Fixed income. Considering that the average salary is approximately 35,000-45,000 rubles, income from a mini-smokehouse can be several times higher than the average monthly income.
- High profitability. In just six months, the costs will fully pay off.
- Expandability. You can always, if necessary, buy an additional electric smokehouse and thereby increase the volume of production.
However, there are clear drawbacks that can scare away. These include:
- Financial risks. Any business that requires even minimal financial investments can go bust. Be prepared for this and, if possible, calculate everything.
- Obtaining permits. To be able to sell large parties, it is necessary to legalize, which is associated with obtaining permits from government agencies.
- Time constraints. Each batch must be sold as quickly as possible. Good taste persists for the first three days. With each subsequent day, there is a natural shrinkage of products, and after two weeks it can be considered illiquid.
- Choosing a supplier. Through intermediaries, the raw materials will be too expensive, so you need to get out to a direct seller. In addition, the purchased meat, lard and fish must have mandatory quality certificates.
Always leave part of the profit for expanding the business, sooner or later you will have to think about it.
The population will have a constant demand for fresh tasty smoked hams, fish and chicken. A carefully thought-out assortment will be the key to your success, if you still want to open a mini-smokehouse at home and are ready to face difficulties, start developing a business plan, choosing a smokehouse and studying the range of competitors tomorrow. Think over all the risks, weigh the pros and cons and you can safely start mastering a new business!
