How to start a business making wooden toys

Assortment of toys

It is only at first glance that it seems that toys carved from wood are boring and uninteresting. But if you approach the matter with enthusiasm and creativity, you can come up with original models that will interest the most capricious young buyer.

Our business assessment:

Starting investment – ​​450,000 rubles.

Market saturation is average.

The difficulty of starting a business is 9/10.

So, what toys can be made from wood?

1. Transport (car, tractor, etc.).
2. A railway with wooden rails and a train (sounds strange, but such sets are very popular today).
3. Educational toys made of wood (for the little ones - pyramids, and for older children - puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, construction sets).

With your own hands

If you know how to make simple toys with your own hands right at home, or you have a small workshop, then you can register an individual entrepreneur and start selling your work.
You can start with friends and acquaintances who will pass on information about your mini-business through word of mouth. Making wooden toys with your own hands often takes a lot of time, but the finished product can safely be called hand-made, a proud and fashionable word for today. Such products will be eagerly purchased by those who want their children to have everything unique. Also, such a business makes it possible to make some specific toys to order, because a real craftsman can cut even Smeshariki or Transformers out of wood.

Universal woodworking machine Enkor Corvette-320

Large production

If your goal is a real mini factory for the production of wooden toys, then you will need:

1. Production room. It would be good if it had several rooms (shops) in which various technological processes would take place: wood processing, painting, assembly, etc.
2. Machines for the production of wooden toys (at least milling, drilling, grinding, facing) and other tools (planes, chisels, hacksaws, etc.).
3. Equipment and consumables for painting work. It will be impossible to skimp on the quality of paints and varnishes, because... products are intended for children.
4. Package. The tree will be better off in plastic than in a cardboard box. Although the latter is more environmentally friendly.

Staff

The production and sale of wooden toys is not only about equipment and materials, but also about personnel. There must be a division of labor, i.e. It is undesirable for one person to be both a sawing master and an artist at the same time.

To produce higher quality and more diverse products, you can purchase special computer programs, which will make it easier to develop original toy models. The technology for producing wooden toys itself is no different. The process involves cutting out the parts, painting them and assembling them. But no matter how simple the process is, you cannot do it without specialists. At the initial stage, one person for each workshop is enough. Subsequently, the business can be expanded and attract additional employees.

Financial component of business

Business profitability depends on factors such as:

1. Product quality.
2. Price.
3. Relevance and features of the assortment.

The consumer, coming to the store, should be interested in the purchase and remain satisfied. This is the simplest law of success.

Cost of opening and maintaining

Ideally, if it is possible to set up production at home. Let's say a hired craftsman makes products according to sketches, which are then delivered to the place of sale. This will save about 20,000 rubles on renting production premises.

Other costs will be:

1. For rent of retail space (50,000 rubles monthly).
2. For tables, shelves for products and raw materials for their production (100,000 rubles).
3. For employee salaries (60,000 rubles).
4. For other expenses - paperwork and so on (20,000 rubles).

Total initial cost items: 170,000 rubles; monthly: 140,000 rubles.

Amount of future income

With an average check of 500 rubles and approximately 15 customers per day:

1. For a month, the income from the sale will be 500 * 15 * 30 = 225,000 rubles.
2. Minus wages, rent of premises and cost of raw materials: 225,000 – 60,000 – 30,000 – 50,000 = 85,000 rubles.
3. Net income will be 72,250 rubles (after paying 15% tax).

Payback period

The preliminary calculation once again confirms the relevance of opening a business for the production and sale of children's toys. By properly managing finances and properly building a marketing system, you can recoup all expenses within 3-8 months.

The following will have a great effect on increasing income, and with it accelerating payback:

• advertising in the media;
• discount coupons;
• flyers;
• interesting promotions (pre-holiday discounts, birthday gifts, master classes, etc.).

Having decided to start making children's toys, not paying attention to the fullness of the market, you need to act persistently, be original in your products, offer a quality product at a decent price and have fun, giving joy to children.

Potential competitors

The production of children's wooden toys as a business in Russia attracted the interest of many enterprising people who opened the following companies:

• "MDI" - World of Wooden Toys (manufactured in China).
• "Tomik" (Tomsk).
• "Vintik and Shpuntik" (manufactured in China).
• "Buratino" (made in China).
• “Krasnokamsk toy” (Perm).

Before starting your own production of wooden toys from scratch, look at the range of products of the listed companies and take note of some ideas. You can settle on a specific type of wooden toys, making this your specialty. Or produce a wide variety of products for children of all ages.

Documents required for registration of activities

According to Russian legislation, all children's products, without exception, that are sold through stores or markets are required to undergo special certification. This is necessary so that the consumer is completely confident in their quality and safety. In addition, you should also obtain a hygiene certificate. This document is usually issued by the SES service. In those laboratories that issue certificates, employees check the environmental friendliness of products, i.e. the materials from which it was made, and its quality. All products must comply with all norms and requirements that establish state quality standards. To be able to determine the age of the child for whom this or that toy is intended, all products undergo a special examination in a psychological center.

Some of the highest requirements apply to products intended for children under three years of age. These toys must be made from safe and environmentally friendly materials. Among other things, the model of the toy itself must be made in such a way that the child cannot get injured while playing with it. The necessary certificates for these products will need to be obtained for each batch received. It will also be necessary to prepare technical specifications and quality certificates for the materials used in toys.

Types of wooden toys

The production of wooden toys in Russia is one of the most profitable activities in the crisis year of 2020. Regardless of the difficult economic situation in the country, parents will not save their money on quality toys for their children. It is for this reason that this business will flourish and develop in any difficult economic conditions.

Among the large range of children's products presented, you can always find a toy that will be your baby's favorite. Some of the most common types of such products are all kinds of cubes, nesting dolls, cars, pyramids, etc. In addition, many manufacturers of these products offer their consumers various miniature trinkets, which, as a rule, are suitable for any age category. But various mobile toys, or products equipped with all kinds of electronic elements, have a very complex design feature. The versatility of these products has a huge positive impact on a child’s development. For example, children under three years old play with various construction sets with great pleasure. For school-age children, you can purchase construction sets consisting of smaller elements.

Premises and equipment

In order to install special machine equipment for the production of wooden toys, it is necessary to find a room with a large area. This business is perfect for those who are interested in starting a toy production in a private home. For more convenient and practical production of toys, the existing premises will need to be divided into several separate zones. Worth highlighting:

• area for preparation and processing of wood;
• separate room for painting products;
• an area for assembling all toy parts;
• warehouse for storing finished products.

Before you buy the necessary equipment for making toys from wood, you first need to decide on the total volume of products produced. To perform work in a small workshop you will need:

• Electric planer;
• Grinding machine;
• Screwdriver Set;
• Drill;
• Screwdriver.

In order to produce very high-quality wooden toys, you will need to buy special computer software - various programs with the help of which you will develop all kinds of exclusive models. Since the basic technology for making toys from wood is very simple, at the initial stage of production you can do most of the work yourself. And only after your business takes off and begins to gain momentum, you will need to hire designers and artists.

Raw materials

In this article we talk about how to start making wooden toys. In this matter, it is worth drawing up a competent business plan and taking into account some nuances. As a rule, you need to purchase the necessary raw materials from different suppliers. The wood that has gone through the drying process is not very cheap. Based on this, in order to save on its purchase, you need to enter into an agreement with woodworking enterprises or furniture factories that will supply waste from their production to your workshop.

Toy production technology

It is quite difficult to make a miniature wooden toy yourself. The smaller the product itself, the more difficult the technological process itself will be. In many foreign countries around the world, robotics are used to produce such models. Our Russian toy manufacturers are very far from this type of manufacturing. For this reason, many of them use standard woodworking machines in their production. They can also be used for the manufacture of complex products. But finding professionals in this matter is very problematic. Therefore, the majority of large enterprises produce toys of standard shapes.

But artisanal workshops often try to work out every detail in the model very carefully and with special care, giving it the most complex and intricate shapes. The result of this work is quite unique and exclusive products.

Marketing methods

Finished products can be sold in different ways. The first option: sell in bulk to toy stores. It’s simple, but often wooden toys on display are overshadowed by soft “singing” cats or colorful transformers. Therefore, there is a second option: open your own small store based on production. It can be located near the workshop.

Third option: online store. To do this, you just need to develop a website and fill it with content containing information about toys and their photographs. Developing an online store is another plus of 50 thousand rubles towards the initial capital.

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Market analysis

After carefully studying the Russian market, we can conclude that there is definitely no shortage of toys here. The stores offer products from a wide variety of manufacturers, forts and themes. However, excellent quality cannot be guaranteed. Today, a huge amount of goods brought from China and Türkiye are sold.

Taking mass production as a basis, they do not focus on an individual approach. Therefore, Russian-made toys made from environmentally friendly materials will definitely be in demand. Especially with an individual approach to each client. A child always dreams of having something unique that others definitely don’t have. Of course, the price of such products will be appropriate, but you should not worry about the lack of buyers.

Initial Investment

You can’t get by with small expenses here, because there are a lot of cost items:

• rent (purchase) of large premises;
• hiring specialists;
• purchasing a computer program and training employees to work with it;
• rental (purchase) of equipment;
• purchase of consumables.

You won’t be able to buy equipment for the production of wooden toys cheaply. The machines must be new to avoid defects. Hooks, unevenness - all this threatens microtraumas for the child, which is unacceptable.

If we take an approximate amount, the starting capital will be 400-500 thousand rubles. If you draw up a competent business plan for the production of wooden toys and protect it properly, you can get a grand or just a loan from a bank. The payback for the project begins after the first batches are sold, because the price tag for wooden toys is usually quite high. It will be possible to fully “recoup” the invested funds in a year or a year and a half, depending on the success of the enterprise.

Expenses

If you have your own private home, you can make masterpieces in a garage or small workshop. Such a decision will allow you to save quite a large amount of money. If this is not possible, you will have to rent a room. Also spend money on other components:

• paperwork;
• rental of premises;
• purchase of raw materials;
• employee salaries.

Thus, the starting capital should be about 200,000 rubles. As for income, a lot depends on product promotion. The more potential clients there are, the greater the income will be. With the right approach to business, you can earn about 70,000 rubles from your business every month. in your arms. Thus, the production of toys in Russia is a very interesting idea and full payback can occur within six months.

If you have a good starting amount, you can buy toy production. Today, many well-known brands sell franchises. Such a solution will greatly simplify the entire process. If you don’t have your own money, then you should wonder how to find an investor.

Advantages of wooden toys

Many entrepreneurs, when choosing a direction in business, are driven not only by financial, but also by ethical considerations. They want to receive not only profit from the enterprise, but also moral satisfaction. Wooden toys for children are an ideal option in this case, because you create safe, natural products that bring joy.

You should immediately take into account that toys made of wood are products for a narrow circle of consumers. Parents whose children are used to playing modern Transformers and tablets will not buy a wooden train or car for their child. It will simply be pointless.

Your clients will be modern mothers who understand the benefits of wooden toys:

• environmentally friendly products;
• durability unlike plastic analogues;
• domestic production (today has a high reputation among Russians);
• unusual design, original models;
• a return to childhood, because modern parents mainly played with wooden cars and trains.

Practice shows that a love for wooden toys is instilled literally after one model falls into the hands of a child. Therefore, your efforts will not be in vain. Sooner or later, the attention of most children and parents will be riveted to wooden toys, and your enterprise will receive maximum fame and, consequently, profit.

What raw materials are used to produce plastic toys?

The main raw material for the production of plastic toys is environmentally friendly polypropylene. One of the largest factories, Nordplast, uses polypropylene in the production of 80% of its products, the remaining 20% ​​comes from polyethylene and polystyrene. Polypropylene is considered an inexpensive material that is produced both in our country and abroad.

Imported raw materials are more expensive than domestic ones, but they benefit from quality. Therefore, although imported polypropylene is used at Russian enterprises, it is only in limited quantities for the production of certain types of goods.

Since the products produced are intended for children, they are subject to increased requirements from regulatory authorities. All products must have a sanitary-epidemiological certificate. And in general, it is advisable to certify the production of plastic toys at an enterprise according to GOST R ISO 9001.

The mistake of many of our enterprises is that they do not bother producing interactive and unique toys. Our enterprises are trying to produce as many cheap and easy-to-manufacture products as possible - cars, buckets, sand sets. Design departments in many organizations simply do not exist, although their importance for the development of the company is difficult to overestimate. In this regard, we are far behind Europe, which firmly holds the market for high-quality and interactive plastic toys. At the same time, in recent years our companies have begun to gradually develop this segment and from time to time release interesting new products to the domestic market.

Today, slowly but surely, our plastic products market is being captured by manufacturers from Russia and the CIS. China is losing its position every year and over the past three years has lost 30% of its share in the Russian market. The interest of domestic consumers in cheap Chinese products is decreasing. The growth of the nation's income allows people to choose better and more interesting goods at affordable prices.