Undoubtedly, Hardware business is one of the best small business ideas to start in India. But, the first step is to find out if starting a small business like this is a good match for you or not.
Although a good performing hardware store makes an average net profit of 10% on its daily sales, 80% of those who venture into this business close their shop in less than 2 years due to losses and cash-flow problems. Additionally, the hardware store has cut-throat competition for the reason that there are minimal barriers to entry. But at the same time, when looked at the given past, and recent past trends, the future for this business looks very rewarding and profitable if done right.
# Here are a few steps that guarantee success when you’re determined to open your own Hardware Store.
1. Know what other hardware stores in India sell & make hardware items
✔ Make a hardware shop material list in India that is commonly sold in the surroundings. This type of store typically sells hardware items like hand and power tools, building materials, fasteners, keys, locks, hinges, chains, electrical supplies, plumbing supplies, cleaning products, housewares, utensils, paint and much more.
✔ Markdown those hardware materials you can manage to sell profitably if you set up such a hardware business.
2. Understand the market before committing your money on the hardware store
✔ Hardware business may be one of the best business to start in India. But, do learn about competitors that are already on the market. Come up with a hardware shop business plan.
✔ The first step in dealing with competition is to avoid it in the first place.
✔ Secondly, decide on your budget. How much money are you willing to spend to enter the market?
✔Remember, never test the depth of the river with both the feet. Know your investment limit on the hardware store item list and never cross it.
3. Learn about the day-to-day activities of a hardware store owner
In reality, any business requires a hands-on approach. Get to know
✔ How does your typical customer look like?
✔ What is your survival & growth potential in the market?
✔ What are the approximate upfront and initial operation costs to bare?
✔ Any legal considerations, and more!
4. Identify places with ready (and growing) market potential.
✔ Firstly, locate the area with lesser competition for your store & reasonable demand for hardware items.
✔ Secondly, you need to aware of the latest trends and ruling prices of the industry.
5. Get flexible by accepting payments through different modes
Some customers deal with credits and some pay instantly by cash. It’s important to offer customers a variety of ways to pay you as some customers are comfortable with credit terms in order to do business with you. If you’re strick on your payment terms, you might piss them off.
6. Advertise your hardware store locally well
Hardware stores mostly expect local clients. Therefore, advertising for this type of store can be done one of several ways, including billboards, Yellow Page ads, flyers, and email marketing to an existing customer list.
7. Invest in fast-moving products
Because this business is quite capital heavy– you may have to invest mostly in fast-moving products to be on the safer side. These are Cement, Steel bars and rods, Nails, White cement, Door hinges, Roofing nails, Flooring tiles, Welding rods, Plumbing material.
8. Play with the prizes
✔ Offer discounts on basic products such as cement, steel bars, and iron-sheets and recover the hardware business profit margin in india through minor products such as door locks, hinges, sandpaper, and trowels.
✔ Never make the mistake of overcharging customers on commonly used commodities like cement and steel bars. They will certainly not end up dealing with you and alert their connection too.
9. Encouraging convenient shopping
Allow your trusted clients to place orders via phone, free delivering to the construction site and allowing them to pay you later in the evening. When customers are satisfied, they return back, they may start recommending your business to their connections too. This is very likely to happen.
10. Provide a one-stop-shop for your clients
✔ Have all the items in hardware shop that your customers needed. Make sure that they don’t have to go shop for anything else in any of your competitors’ shops.
✔ Talk to your suppliers so that they avail of any items that may be on-demand but are missing from your shop as quickly as possible.
11. Manage the Inventory well
Vyapar Advice
Never make the mistake of sitting in your hardware shop the entire day waiting for people to walk in. With the kind of competition that’s there nowadays, you are better off getting the word out there yourself.
✔ You can hire a salesman to be going around areas with new upcoming construction sites.
✔ Stock tracking using Inventory Management software like Vyapar helps you control possible theft by your employees; which has often been cited as one of the biggest challenges in running such type of businesses.
Manage everything digitally so that you have time for other important things.
But trust me, “Quality” is the best Hardware Business plan after all.
# How to Use Vyapar for Your Hardware Business In Simple Steps?
Are you running a Hardware Business & looking for the best Hardware Billing Software?
No worries!
Here you can easily keep your Hardware Business at your fingertips with the Best Hardware Billing Software. Also, Download it for free on mobile and desktop now.
In the hardware business you will get thousands of products with different categories. Maintaining a huge number of items with different types and categories is a time taking task. In such a situation it is difficult to find the inventory on time, know about low stock, maintain the expenses, keep record of salary, be aware about Party balances, get business reports when required and GST calculations. If all these are at your fingertips then Business accounting becomes a simple task for a business owner. You can do all this in just a click for your Hardware Business by using the Vyapar. Learn How to Manage hardware business in Vyapar?
# How To Create your Company ?
Go to the left menu > at the top left corner click on “My Company” > add your company details Like
- Add your company LOGO
- Company name
- Company description
- Contact details
- Email ID
To Add “More Information” & add additional information Like
- Business address
- Business type
- State
- GSTIN number (optional)
- Business category
- Company/business authorised Signature.
# How to maintain the Parties and their balance ?
Go to the left menu > Click on “Parties” > Add your party > Add party details.
Add party details along with the three types of GST registration.
You can also create a party group.
Left menu > Settings > party > Enable party Group.
# How to Import Parties ?
Vyapar has one more easy way to add Parties In bulk.
Go to the left menu > Utilities > Import parties
Please download the excel file in any local storage and re-open it & enter all party details and then click the “save” button.
Now reopen the Vyapar app & get back to utilities > Import parties > “Click here to browse” > Import parties with zero error > Click on OK
Now all the parties have been “Updated Successfully”. The parties will be listed as given below
You will get the party balance in front of each party and if you have added party contact details then you can send the payment reminder to your parties through SMS, WhatsApp Message.
Payment reminders help to collect the overdue payments from the customers by informing them earlier with friendly reminders. It will also help you to maintain the business relations better and save time.
It allows to import your parties from your phone contacts and google contacts.
# How to Add Items ?
Any business needs to manage stock inventory and getting the items that have maximum number of sales and provide more business profit. Also, finding out the items that have provided a minimum number of sales and profit will be a difficult task. By using the Vyapar app you can manage all the things very easily..
There are two types of stock management.
- Items without batch details
- Items with batch details
Also in every business, we have items with different categories. If you want to manage the items with the category.
(please go to the left menu > Settings > Items > Enable item category )
Please list out the item category you have. Like here we are showing some examples-
- Threaded fasteners
- Paints and paintbrushes
- Locks
- Hammers, drills, and drill bits
- Furniture locks
- Cement work tools
- Pipes and elbows
- Scales, measurements, and threads
- Hardware miscellaneous tools
- Sink and bathroom taps
To create the category please go to the left menu >Click on “Items” > Click on the category at the top > Add the item categories.
Please create the Item with different item categories. We have created demo categories as shown below
1. How to enter Items Without Batch Details?
To create the item, please go to the left menu > Items > Click on “add your first product” and please enter all item details as shown below > Click on “Save” button
Add the item images while creating the new items itself. Those images will directly reflect in your product catalogue. We will discuss this after creating items.
Here we added some demo items along with that we have created item category as shown below. You are able to visible item details such as their sale price, purchase price, stock value, stock quantity & particular item transactions for quick access.
After adding all items with their particular categories. You will get the below view in the item category.
In the category section if you click on any particular item category then you are able to see the stock and stock value of each items belongs to that category. There is a one more benefit of creating item category, that is whatever the item category you will create the same categories will reflect in product catalogue. This will make better user interface in the “My Online Store”.
# How to Import Items without Batch details?
Vyapar given one more option to add the number of items in the bulk (which means you can easily update all the items at a single time ).
To import the items through excel, follow these steps-
Go to the left menu > Utilities > Import items
Here you can directly import the items from the current item library or you can download excel template and enter items manually.
Download the excel template
Save excel template in the local folder
Reopen the downloaded excel file from local folder > Add all item details > Save excel file
Open Vyapar application > Utilities > Import items > Click on “click here to browse”
Select excel file that has updated data
Import all no error Items > .“Import __ valid items”. and then click on “OK”
Now, all the products have been Imported Successfully.
1. How to Add Items With Batch Details?
Before adding the items we need to enable the additional field by following below steps-
Please go to the left menu > Settings > Items > on the right side you will get Additional Field. Please select the required fields.
Here you can get the idea of which color items are selling more and which one is least and which items expire soon. This is very helpful to make sales efficiently and maintain the Inventory without struggle.
In the Additional field, we have options for
- MRP
- Batch nO
- Expiry date
- Manufacturing date
- Model no.
- Size
You can also rename the above fields as per your requirement.
Now we will show some items having additional item fields, like different color sheets and paints, etc.
Please go to the left menu > Items > Add item/ Create your first product
Please add the details as shown below
Here click on Stock
Click on Batch & Enter all batch details
Please add the Item details as shown in the above figure. To add more rows click on the “Next Row” and add multiple types of item batches. After entering all the details please click on “Save”. Like this, you can create the items with additional details like batch no., color, size, MRP etc.
Click on item image and here you can add maximum of 5 item images. the same images will be reflected on “My Online Store”.
# How To Create My Online Store ?
My online store will help to enhance your business and will provide more number of customers from different locations. Which means online store providing free marketing for your business. Here you can easily create your product catalog and share with your customers. By using this product catalog link the end-user can see product price. they can also place the order form that catalogue and it will reflect in Vyapar app!! Follow these steps below to create your own “Online Store”
Go to the left menu > Click on My Online Store > Please select the items you want to show on the “My Online Store” > Click on “Create Online Store” button
Here is the short View of how your product catalog will look. You can share the store link to your clients by clicking on “Share Store Link” button
The below image will show how your online store is visible to the end-user. They can also check items with the categories that you have created. Even it helps the user interface to select the item by category.
Learn more about “MY ONLINE STORE”
# How to Make the Transaction ?
- Please go to the left menu > Click on “Sale” > Add your first “Sale Invoice”.
2. Please enter the below details
– Select the sale type at the top left corner weather its cash or credit
– Enter/Select the party
-Select the Items > Add tax details > Enter all required details > Click on “Save” button
If you have created items with additional item details you will get the pop-up while making the sale transaction. Select that particular item and then enter item details those are required and its quantity.
You can also do the invoicing with barcode scanning.
You can create purchase bill, purchase/sale order, estimation/Quotation, delivery challan, purchase/sale return, etc. with vyapar
# How to make “payment entry” for a “credit sale”?
Go to the left menu > Sales/Purchase > Payment-in/Payment-out > Party name > Received/Paid amount > Click on “Save” button.
You can link your old payments / advance payments with current transactions.
Enable it from Settings > Click on Transactions > Enable “Link payment to invoices”
# How to check the Reports ?
Go to the left Menu > Click on “Reports”
Most of the Hardware shops need the following reports for managing their business
Transaction Report
- Sale report (here you are able to see customized view on sale transactions)
- Purchase report (here you can check all your purchase entries on customized view)
- Daybook (check everyday transaction)
- All transaction report (check all transaction in customized view in single report)
- Profit and Loss (check business total Profit and loss on daily, monthly, quarterly, yearly)
- Bill wise Profit & Loss (Here you can check bill wise profit and loss on each sale invoices)
- Sale aging report (see status of payments and open credit notes)
- Cash flow (total cash transaction) Learn More about “CASHFLOW”
- Balance sheet
Get instant reports in the PDF formats and few reports in the excel and graphs to keep look of your Hardware Business activities.
Party related Report
- Party statement (view the all transactions of the particular party)
- All party report (check all party receivable and payable amounts, It will help collect the money from your customers)
- Party wise Profit and Loss (Here you can total profit earned on each party)
- Sale purchase by party group (check sale and purchase made to the particular group, like area wise, beat wise. so you can check all sale and purchase of that particular group. It will be helpful to take other business plans like free delivery or to open other branches, etc. )
GST Reports
- If you are registered under a regular scheme you will get these GSTR-1, GSTR-2, GSTR-3b, GSTR-9 reports in excel and pdf formats.
- If you are registered under composition scheme you have to select that from Settings > Taxes & GST > Enable “Composition Scheme” then only you will get these GSTR-3B, GSTR-4, GSTR-9A reports in excel and pdf formats.
Item/Stock Report
These are some reports that are most likely used/checked by all Hardware Shops.
- Stock summary (check current stock quantity and stock value and sale and purchase details )
- Low stock Details (check what are the items are about to low and make a purchase of it)
- Stock detail report (here you can check stock in and out)
Stock Summary Report
Low Stock Details
Stock Detail Report
Item Batch Report
If you have created the Items with additional batch details then you must need to see “Item Batch Report”. Here you will get the item report for it’s batch details.
Other reports those are related to check your inventory of your Hardware Business.
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