Business ideas from scratch

Administrator "over a year ago

About 6 months ago I launched my first business, the essence of which was to create leather goods with my own hands.

Training

Attachments: tools, materials

To get started, a rather small amount was needed - about 10,000 rubles, but for me finding this money was a problem, I had to borrow some of the money from friends.

First of all, I bought ART-TANNER flat waxed thread in the following colors: red and brown. One spool of thread for 25 meters costs 100 rubles, for 2 it turns out 200 rubles. Then it was necessary to take needles for the skin, a set of 16 needles - at a discount of 70 rubles. For an even seam, you just need a set of Micron punches for 1100 rubles. Almost any leather product requires buttons, holniten, so I also purchased the necessary accessories and a press for installation, it cost 3,000 rubles. All of the above was purchased from the Leonardo hobby hypermarket.

Next, it was necessary to buy chemicals, without which the goods would simply not be presentable. I bought a finish cream and a primer for the edge in the Vkontakte group "Kenda Farben St. Petersburg" and a week later I already had the package. All chemistry together with delivery cost 800 rubles.

For comfortable working with leather, you need a good office knife with replaceable blades, iron rulers for 20 and 50 centimeters and a cutting mat.

Now on to the most important thing - the choice of skin. Of course, at the initial stage, I bought the cheapest leather - it was a saddle cloth 2. mm thick at 9 rubles per 1 square decimeter (900 rubles per 1 square meter) and CRAST 1. mm thick at 14 rubles per 1 square decimeter (1400 rubles per 1 square meter) on the site "store-warehouse-leather of the Russian Federation". Later, when the first buyers began to appear and, accordingly, money from the sale of products, other necessary equipment and leather of a higher quality were purchased.

First sales

The first items I made were small wallets, cardholders and bracelets. I took all the patterns and ideas from the Internet, especially the training videos from the Salty dog ​​company helped.

At first, the company did not even have a name, but there were already buyers, and all thanks to word of mouth, I made products to friends, they, in turn, told their friends, etc. Later, it became necessary to create a Vkontakte and Instagram group. At the same time, the name was invented and advertising was purchased from some Instagram bloggers, the number of buyers naturally increased, and with them the price of goods. The level of my skill became higher and more and more complex products appeared in the catalog of goods in the group, for example: various bags, hats, clutches.

High-quality leather is highly prized and used in various spheres of production, from tailoring to the creation of interior items. Therefore, a business idea for the manufacture of leather can become a profitable business with a competent approach to business.

Where can I find suppliers?

Leather is a natural material produced from the skins of domestic or wild animals using specialized equipment. Leather production consists in the stage-by-stage production of various types of leather from raw materials - raw animal skins.

Sheep, goat, pig, and cow skins are used to make the material. Based on this, we can say that its suppliers are large farms for raising cattle and other domestic animals.

In addition to Russian farms, raw skins of domestic animals can be delivered from Germany and Switzerland, and skins of wild animals from Australia, America, New Zealand.

If the delivery of the skins does not take much time and their fast processing is provided, then the usual freezing occurs. In other cases, with a long delivery time, the delivery of salted skins takes place. The purchase of raw materials will require spending up to 200,000 rubles.

Leather classification

The most basic is the classification of leathers by the type of raw materials used. In accordance with the criterion, the following types are distinguished:

• Skins of cows, calves. They are resilient and durable.
• Goat raw materials. Strong, soft and thin, with a nice measure, waterproof and elastic.
• Raw pork. It has a peculiar structure and volumetric subcutaneous tissue. Due to the fact that collagen fibers are thin, and there is a lot of fatty deposits in the material, pork skin is not particularly strong.
• Horse skin is divided into two types: foal, skin of milk foals, foal-foal, skin of foals on plant food.

Leather is also subdivided depending on the purpose:

• shoe ;
• haberdashery ;
• furniture;
• clothing;
• automobile ;
• lining;
• saddlery.

High mechanical performance requirements are imposed on shoe material. Organoleptic requirements are imposed on the appearance of clothing.

Therefore, finding a stylish trouser belt takes some effort. As a result, the production of leather belts becomes an interesting and profitable business. Let's take a look at the intricacies of this business.

Enterprise Features

Many craftsmen started their business with one-off orders, carried out at home. But if you decide to enter production facilities, then you will need to find a room for a full-fledged workshop. In it, you will install the equipment necessary for the technological process. Here you will also place a convenient cutting table, place racks for workpieces and material, accessories.

At first, a separate room in an apartment, a converted garage will do. You can rent a small room, then you will have where to place a corner for receiving customers and discussing orders with them.

In addition, you will have to resolve the issue of selling your products. Of course, you can continue to work on individual orders, but it is much more efficient to simultaneously launch the sale of products either through your own outlets or through intermediaries. Small boutiques and shops are happy to accept quality accessories for sale. By the way, visitors to these very points in the future can become your loyal fans who want to get a model made according to an exclusive sketch.

Opening the production of leather belts

Before starting your own workshop, register as an individual entrepreneur. At the same time, select the appropriate taxation system and register with the tax office. Thus, you will avoid possible claims from the inspection authorities.

Looking for suppliers

Making leather yourself is not an option. Also, do not purchase materials on the "where and how you have to" principle. To keep your belt production from being idle, get regular suppliers. This is not difficult to do. When choosing, pay attention to the reputation of the company, to the quality of its raw materials, to how clearly it adheres to the delivery time. It is better to immediately discuss cooperation with firms that supply leather, accessories, and blanks.

Please note that the leather is sold by suppliers not in sheets, but in skins. And how much a decimeter of skin costs depends largely on its type. Pork, goat, veal cost 10 or 50 rubles per decimeter. But more exotic species are much more expensive, where prices start from one hundred rubles.

Quality material

A lot depends on the feedstock, its characteristics, appearance. Even if the belt looks flawless on the outside, the cheap material will have a negative impact on the wear.

Leather raw materials of good workmanship are always highly valued and are used in various industries, from sewing clothes, making accessories and shoes, to creating interior items. Leather processing is one of the oldest skills of mankind, but now it has become technologically advanced and complex, and the quality of products is perfect.

Leather production can be a profitable business with the right approach. The article discusses various aspects of the leather business: from processing technology to organizational and legal norms and product sales.

Leather technology + Video

The main stages of work at a tannery can be described as follows:

• preparation ;
• tanning ;
• finishing.

The skins are supplied to the production in dry form, since the raw materials were previously impregnated with salt (preserved). This is the process required to keep the hide from deteriorating along the way.

At the factory, the first thing they do is soak - that is, the soaking process. For this, the hard salted skins are placed in soaking-ash drums. Salt is gradually washed out of them, which filled all the pores.

The wet skins are then sent to the conveyor. It is worth saying that the workers on the first conveyor perform a difficult and unpleasant, but very important work on the initial preparation - hair removal, removal of the remaining subcutaneous fat from the inner layer. The skins are slippery, difficult to hold, and you need to quickly handle them with a sharp knife. There is an unpleasant suffocating smell in the workshop.

The next stage: the raw materials are loaded with special devices and transferred to the tanning shop. This stage, already related to processing, is also important - a special chemical composition removes microorganisms from the skin. As a result, a standard technological material is obtained, in which all processes inherent in living organisms are terminated. From this material, leather of different shades and qualities will subsequently be obtained.

In the meantime, all the material looks the same. Since the leather has been chrome-treated, it takes on a bluish tint and is called wet-blue. By the way, earlier, when the treatment was carried out using organic compounds, the skin turned out to be white or yellowish.

In large workshops, processed leather is dried, and then goes to the table for workers, armed with a special planer unit. There, additional processing takes place: the leather is exfoliated with a planer and sorted according to quality.

Beautiful leather products are always popular. Of course, there are tons of factory-made accessories out there. But their design and quality can never be compared to handmade products. Potential buyers are not even confused by their very high price. After all, having at your disposal a stylish thing made of genuine leather is prestigious and fashionable.

Where to start?

Before purchasing materials and equipment, you should first decide what exactly you would like to make. Most leatherworkers are self-taught. They mastered all the subtleties of the business by trial and error.

Videos on Youtube and master classes can also provide assistance in mastering the craft. You can ask your colleagues about certain intricacies of the case on specialized forums. They usually share them without intent. Experience in doing any other type of business can be of great help.

Starting a business should be done with simple, uncomplicated accessories. For example, with the manufacture of leather belts. There is not much work with them, but they are in demand constantly. This approach will allow you to fill your hand and develop your own author's style. Later it will be possible to start making more expensive exclusive items.

Where can I find suppliers?

You can get the necessary leather raw materials in different ways. Usually, craftsmen do not deal directly with dressing, they acquire already dressed leather. The most favorable prices are offered by special tanneries. But they, as a rule, sell the skin only in large batches. That is an insurmountable obstacle at the initial stages of business development.

Also, in almost any large city there are specialized shops where you can buy not only leather, but all the necessary accessories. Leatherworkers living far from the regional centers can use the services of online stores.

If you plan to make small souvenirs and accessories, then you should try to negotiate with small ateliers on the purchase of scraps. Indeed, they sometimes go to marriage with whole skins, on the surface of which a very small flaw is found. Another channel for the supply of leather raw materials is second-hand goods. They sell a lot of leather goods for a ridiculous price.

What equipment is required?