[creative420]

About two months back I sought help from you fellow BHPians regarding my friend in Bhopal (starting from this post: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifti...ml#post2676228). I thank all of you who came forward with your ideas.

Good news is he has started something on his own. It's not a very profitable business to start out with, but there isn't a scope for suffering a huge loss. He's got into Flour and Masala business.

Thanks once again!

[Parthasarathig]

Originally Posted by creative420

Good news is he has started something on his own. It's not a very profitable business to start out with, but there isn't a scope for suffering a huge loss. He's got into Flour and Masala business.

Thanks once again!

I was reading your posts in the sectio.. Why not also suggest him to open a xerox shop in front of schools or well known tuition centres? From the school he can have a monthly contract for a definite number of xeroxes unless the school is upmarket and has its own machines. Also an phonebooth. Near my college theres a xerox shop. The guy in 2 years has bought 4xerox machines, one computer, one color laser printer, tv, internet and has hired 5 helping hands for the jobs. Earlier it was him and his wife only. Now hes got 2 kids also and in school. So its working out for him well.
Even in my school days I had seen xerox centres with 5 to 6 machines near tuition centres who had tie ups with the teachers. Minimum of 2 to 3000 per month from each teacher. But this was Delhi. In Bhopal it maybe a bit less.

Opening internet cafes also lucrative these days. He can do the xerox and the internet thing together side by side.

But even a bit of side income is good and is only going to ease his worries. And try to stay away from share markets in this stage. Now he has got to build up his net worth rather than lose money. Share markets are a bit risky. And he needs to be a bit educated regarding market knowledge to take full advantage of trading.

Hope this helps. Im no professor of economics but its just my two cents.

Best of luck to your friend in his ventures
Cheers

[creative420]

Originally Posted by Parthasarathig

I was reading your posts in the sectio.. Why not also suggest him to open a xerox shop in front of schools or well known tuition centres? From the school he can have a monthly contract for a definite number of xeroxes unless the school is upmarket and has its own machines. Also an phonebooth. Near my college theres a xerox shop. The guy in 2 years has bought 4xerox machines, one computer, one color laser printer, tv, internet and has hired 5 helping hands for the jobs. Earlier it was him and his wife only. Now hes got 2 kids also and in school. So its working out for him well.
Even in my school days I had seen xerox centres with 5 to 6 machines near tuition centres who had tie ups with the teachers. Minimum of 2 to 3000 per month from each teacher. But this was Delhi. In Bhopal it maybe a bit less.

Opening internet cafes also lucrative these days. He can do the xerox and the internet thing together side by side.

But even a bit of side income is good and is only going to ease his worries. And try to stay away from share markets in this stage. Now he has got to build up his net worth rather than lose money. Share markets are a bit risky. And he needs to be a bit educated regarding market knowledge to take full advantage of trading.

Hope this helps. Im no professor of economics but its just my two cents.

Best of luck to your friend in his ventures
Cheers

So sorry for replying this late. In fact I feel pathetic for not checking this thread for such a long time. And million thanks for your suggestion. Here's an update of what's been going on in his life:

Now the flour bit of his business didn't do too well because of some subsidy in wheat prices in MP, but the masalas are picking up. Since I belong to the dirty world of advertising, I helped him with complete branding for masalas- only in term of packaging though.

One other friend in Bhopal has this Cyber-cafe/Xerox/Lamination/etc business and well, you do need a fair bit of funding for it. And it ties you down to sitting in one place. Now with this masala thing, he's doing rounds of the markets. Meeting up people. Getting insights. Which I believe brings in more opportunities. So it's a good thing. In fact, only 2 days back I was talking to him and he has something cooking up which is not risky at all for Bhopal market. Will update again

[giri1.8]

Nice thread ! I was desperately searching for some ways to spend my time usefully but couldn't find proper link to implement my ideas.Since I wont find time for part time jobs I have dumped my ideas.Would be great if we can share more ideas for part time jobs in this thread.

[ritz3645]

Greetings everyone,

For a long time I wanted to start something of my own, but on a shoestring budget. What I found now is a C&F of an established Oil Company.
Saw they seeking C&F for Nashik at Website. I emailed them and was promptly telecalled by the Area Manager Mr. Arun. I may be meeting him this month. I do not have space, and will only provide them a BG, and he is aware of it. The main product is Sunflower oil. Basically they import vegetable oil, brand it and supply to local market. Their two product are renowned, Dheepam & Gold Winner Sunflower oil. Initially I will start it as a home storage and one driver for delivery. Any inputs will be appreciated, especially where not to loose money.
Company website http://kaleesuwari.com/cf-agents.html

Another Idea I have is of importing bike tires from China and supply it to local market. Car tyre prices have been hit by Chinese Imports, and it's the bike tire market waiting for it. I met a Chinese manufacturer on Alibaba.com and $3-$5 tire cost + $3 shipping each via container shipping was his quote.

But issue is tires need authorization interms of safety by GOI, and it is a solid expense where the authorizing agency may visit factory.

Armis tires by changemytire.com are manufactured in China and are it's brand.

[vinay kamath]

Parking Slot finder App

Traffic police finder App

Traffic Jam avoiding App

Car Pooling for school kids App

[Dieseltuned]

Any body here has idea about running a cycle biz. Cycles are pretty much a first vehicle for all the kids and i think it will be good business, if we can pick the right area and target the right people.

Any help in setting up a multi brand cycle business would be appreciated

Regards
Dieseltuned

[Nissan1180]

I am not sure if the bicycle segment is easy enough to get into today. With the arrival of store chains like Decathlon, a lot of people prefer seeing multiple brands and then deciding upon their choice.

In Singapore a new personal transport vehicle that is becoming popular is the electric self balancing scooter - it is very futuristic and the first time I saw it I thought it was out of a cartoon show (Jetsons). There are a couple of versions - one has a single wheel and the other is two wheeled. The balance is managed by a gyroscope. People use it here for commuting from their office to the nearest metro/ bus terminal. One charge lasts for around 20 kilometers.
My friend has one and it is very convenient. I am not posting any pictures here because it would not be ethical to upload downloaded pictures - you can google the term "self balancing electric scooter" to get the images of the different configurations.
I think these vehicles, if marketed properly and branded as a mature personal transport vehicle, will help a lot of people who do not have to travel very long distances. The sector is completely new, so you can have a first movers advantage. There are a couple of sellers on ebay but they are selling without any warranty or service support. Thanks.

[RaSing]

Hi Guys

I am in IT since last 10 years and as most of us think to start something of our own, i too am thinking of starting my own in some time. But of course the risk taking capacity is limited for now. I was thinking to procure paneer and some other dairy products from vendors, package and resell it under my own brand. I already have some experience on this as a close relative is into this. While i have big dreams for it but i fear the legal challenges of starting this business. Specially when people into this have told me that Food License people do not pass a sample and that big dairy products companies wont let you enter in the market by framing issues against you.Well to start with, this will not be a big scale but limited to some paneer counters in the market and some packed stuff on shelves in some shops. But, my aim would be definitely to make it bigger some day and have my own production at some point of time.

So, all experienced people from food industry/dairy , please help shed some light on this.
-Is this a profitable business ?
-The challenges that i should be prepared of specially the ones that i mentioned. Would you know if these seem to be true ?
-Legal requirements ?
-Any advice on how to start with.

Thanks in Advance

[Lalvaz]

Congratulations RaSing on thinking differently. I must say though that it’s the first time I’ve heard of an IT professional venturing into the paneer business. Wish you good luck in your new venture.

To answer your queries: Like all spheres involving babus, in fact more so in food safety, there is rampant corruption. You will have to pay bribes irrespective of how good your quality is. But it’s not a show stopper. As an entrepreneur, you have to learn to manage the environment and I’m sure you’ll figure out the tricks of the trade.

Potential for dairy business is tremendous and especially for value added products like paneer, cheese, ghee etc.

Go for it. I’m sure you will learn a lot. You are doing the wise thing by starting small and then seeing how things go.

All the very best.

[Warwithwheels]

Originally Posted by RaSing

-Is this a profitable business ?

You need to first identify the USP of your product. You should be able convince the customer why he should buy your Paneer instead of Paneer X, Paneer Y or Paneer Z in the market.

Remember it is a well informed, very competitive market out there. Gone are the days when people bought stuff with their eyes closed. Hence your product should be competitive in multiple fronts to convince them.

Once you address the above, the rest is all mere paperwork and you have plenty of people who can get the work done for you.

All the best!

[pganapathy]

There are companies that can help you. I looked at getting into coffee a while back. They will do packaging and deal with FSSAI requirements for you. However, it will not be cheap.

The most important thing is understanding if and where your market is. If you don't have that, it gets very difficult. Consider working on a local market first. Even an entire metro city is too big. Big towns are also possibly beyond what you might want to target initially. Be willing to start small and expand slowly.

[Dry Ice]

+1 to posts about market research first.

From what I have seen is people often have their favourites - Mother Dairy, Amul or the neighbourhood sweet shops. What is it that would attract people to your product?

If you plan to source it from someone, just package it and sell, it would mean the barrier of entry is really low. Anyone else can also replicate this model right? While it may work out upto a level but IMO this would limit your ability to scaleup operations.

[RaSing]

Thanks Everyone. Those suggestions would be valuable.

[beejay]

Does Strawberry have a potential to be consumed in cities?

It is a low shelf life product and lasts 3 days from plucking. I am planning to shift to aquaponic soon from bed and would like to know if super markets in South of India would be buyers?

Value added products are on pipe as an investor wants me to produce frosted, and chocolate coated berries.

The thing it, how easy or hard is to get into these supermarkets. I am from Coonoor, the Nilgiris.

Thanks in advance for your reply...