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Choosing to start your own organic food store is a wise decision I would say!
With growing awareness on healthy living, organic farming & grocery chains carrying organic store food products, are coming up everywhere. With the Indian organic food market anticipated to grow over 25% in the next 3 years, there is huge scope for venturing into the small business of organic food & organic farming.
Here are a few things to keep in mind if you’re planning to start an organic store:
1. Licenses and Permits
As with small scale business plan, there are certain legalities and formalities which must be fulfilled to make your organic store legally acceptable. In particular, there are nationally set organic standards that must be met to qualify under the organic food store category.
- Become familiar with these rules and have your organic store officially certified as organic by the Organic Trade Association.
- Apply for any in-state required licenses and food permit from the health department.
- File for an employer identification number, or EIN, via the IRS website.
- Select one of the main operating structures for your small organic food business plan, such as a corporation, limited liability company, partnership or sole proprietorship.
- Open a bank account under the name of your organic store.
- Use the business ATM card to make your organic store purchases. This is to establish credit for your small scale business for accountability.
2. Store Location
The location plays a huge role in its success. Even though the market for organic food is everywhere, it is important to know that everyone may not be a potential buyer.
Although a great location may not guarantee success, a bad location will almost always guarantee failure.
- A location with a reasonable degree of security, access to public transport. Also, adequate parking is recommended.
- Also, look out for the competitors in the area. Lesser the competition, easier is the sales.
- The best location combines visibility, affordability and lease terms you can live with. In particular, a departmental store is more successful in newly developed areas.
- Rent for a place can be as small as Rs 10,000 to Rs 10 lac depending upon the city, location and size of the departmental store. Well, it shouldn’t be more than 4% of sales on the safer side.
3. Hiring Employees
To run a store, you will need to hire employees —everyone from sales associates to cashiers to bookkeepers.
- Of course, you can run most of the official “behind the scenes” business yourself if you so desire. But, you will need at least minimal help attending to your customers.
4. Customer Experience
Undoubtedly, a pleasant in-store customer experience increases the chances of return customers. This can be achieved by educating your staff well on natural and organic food products.
- Staff training is a key part of your marketing strategy. Your people are talking about your products in your store every day.
- Educate your staff on organics and naturals to make your efforts feel authentic to your customers.
5. Upfront investment
Get ready for initial start-up costs.
- Organic goods tend to be more expensive than non-organic goods.
- Stocking your shelves the first time is a costly process than you realize.
6. Set reasonable selling prices
Given the high-cost price of organic goods, it is very obvious to expect the price of goods to cost more than the price of goods in a non-organic store. In spite of which, if the demand for your goods is too much for your customers’ ears, they will buy from someone else.
- Fix prices by looking at the prices set by other nearby organic food stores.
- If no other organic stores exist nearby, then know how much profit a non-organic store makes on each item it sells. Now, roughly base your pricing on that.
- Setting your prices too low may put you at loss.
- Pricing too high may turn off price-sensitive customers.
You may have to shift prices back and forward until you find the optimal pricing points for your organic food products.
7. Advertise your organic store OFFLINE!
Think about how you want to advertise your organic food products and natural products.
- Word of mouth, local advertising and promotion are ways to drive traffic to your store.
- Particularly, focus your advertising efforts on drawing in people who are interested in buying organic products.
- Advertise in print. Place an ad in the newspaper, distribute flyers around town.
- If possible, consider passing around a limited number of coupons to draw potential customers into the store.
- In fact, you can dedicate a flyer or brochure to your natural and organic products.
- Tell your customers about the naturals and organics in your store, the benefits of eating organic vegetables and where they can find them.
- Explain why your store is selling naturals and organic. Include the benefits of organic products versus non-organic products.
8. Advertise ONLINE!
It is important to realize that, consumers of this generation have huge buying potential. They are increasingly relying on the Internet for information.
- Firstly, utilize your store’s website and social media platforms to market your organic and natural food products.
- Secondly, mark your store on Google Maps.
- Alongside, use Social media like Facebook to reach the growing online consumer population.
9. Track and manage your organic store well
Starting any business is the easiest part. Running it successfully efficient is the big deal.
- Firstly, know how to track down inventory that you sell in your store. Start using inventory management App that gets the done effortlessly.
- Managing small business in India single-handedly or with a bunch of people without any confusion is today’s biggest challenge. Consider a business accounting software like Vyapar to help you run business, manage inventory and ease up accounting stuff. Most of the businessman out there use GST accounting software like Vyapar to ease up their life.
As a matter of fact, organic foods is one of the few categories that fall into the high-scale, high-margin opportunity bracket. As consumer consciousness of natural, and healthy foods is on the rise, they are willing to pay for organic foods. With health becoming a priority, MRP has taken a backseat when buying organic. On the whole, with better spending power and with growing awareness, these products are not just becoming popular but are finding a sure place in the buying baskets. In this article you have learned the complete organic food business plan and now, you can easily start your business and fulfill all your dreams.
Frequently Asked questions(FAQs’)
# What are the basic requirements for setting up an organic food store?
These are some of the requirements for setting up an organic food store:
• Licenses and various permits are needed to certify your food store.
• The exact location of your store is essential.
• The staff hired must be courteous and knowledgeable to assist customers.
• Upfront investment is required to set up a business.
• Product prices should be kept affordable keeping in mind the customer feedback.
• Advertise your organic store through various mediums online and offline.
• Easily track and manage your organic store with accounting software.
# Which are the most sought after organic foods in India?
Today the business of organic food stores is growing rapidly. As people are becoming health conscious, they prefer to buy a variety of organic food items such as fruits, vegetables, pulses, cereals, honey and dairy products,etc.
# Is it mandatory to get the Organic Food certified?
Certificates are essential for organic food to ensure that the production & handling of products are in accordance with specified organic standards as stated by law. Certification of products instils confidence in organic labeling and promotes fair marketing and competition in the market.
# How much does it cost to start an organic grocery store?
To start an organic products business in India, an initial investment of Rs 8 to 10 lakh is required. This includes your space rental, staff salaries, inventory management and monthly operating costs.
# Is organic food store business profitable in India?
Yes, the Organic food business is one of the highly profitable ventures in India. It has a high-profit margin and high-scale opportunity bracket compared to other businesses.
# How do I start an organic store?
To start an organic business in India, you need an official certification authorized by the Organic Trade Association. And then, you need to file the Employer Identification Number (EIN), then finalize your entity type. If your annual turnover is more than 20 lakhs per annum, then apply for GST registration.
# Is organic farming business profitable?
Yes, organic farming business is a profitable farming process in India. It offers a huge profit margin as compared to standard and normal market products.
# Why is organic food more expensive?
Organic food production and supply is limited and demand is touch the sky
• Labor costs are high
• Organic food’s post-harvest management costs are high
• Marketing is difficult due to limited production volumes, thus increasing overall food rates.
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