Vocation: entrepreneur. How a guy at 20 made millions selling vegetables

Krasnodar is located on the banks of the Kuban River not far from two warm seas - the Black and Azov, it is also called the southern capital of Russia. It is a major industrial, cultural and tourist center, home to more than 1 million people, although it is not considered a city of one million according to official census data.

The city's high economic potential attracts large foreign investments and also creates good conditions for the development of small and medium-sized businesses. The most dynamically developing industries are the machine-building and instrument-making industries. Krasnodar is a leader in the volume of construction and commissioning of housing and in this direction is almost on the same position as Moscow and St. Petersburg.

A few ideas: what kind of business to open in Krasnodar

One of the most successful areas of business will be the production of mineral water and its bottling, since the city is rich in mineral and thermal springs.
Fish restaurant. In a city located near two seas, there is always plenty of fish and seafood. Therefore, it makes sense to open a corresponding restaurant. Such establishments are considered exotic, and seafood products are in great demand, as they are endowed with a large amount of minerals and vitamins.

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We recommend opening a restaurant near fishing points. This way you will ensure constant availability of fresh product. If you are interested in this idea, you must understand that such a business will require large investments. You will need to make an original and appropriate interior, hire experienced specialists. Business profitability can reach 200%.

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Company for the production and installation of plastic windows. A highly profitable and promising type of business, the opening of which will require special knowledge and an amount of about 3 million rubles. This niche is not empty today. However, there is a certain demand from the population. If there is good advertising and excellent quality of services, the business will pay for itself in 1-2 years.
Law Firm. In a locality where a huge number of small and medium-sized businesses are actively developing, for which it is not always profitable to maintain their own legal department, opening such a company would be a very good idea, especially if it also provides notary services.

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There is quite a lot of competition in this area, but there is also a lot of demand, since almost any person needs high-quality legal advice from time to time. To achieve success, you will need: professional and experienced employees, cases won in court, a positive image of the company, good advertising. Profitability is high due to the high cost of services and stable demand.

Ballet school. Both children and adults want to learn to dance beautifully, so it definitely makes sense to help them with this. This type of business is suitable for creative people, and the implementation of the idea does not require too much investment. To begin with, it is enough to rent a small room, renovate and equip it. With successful development of business, you can open a whole network of schools.

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In the field of small business, investing money in the service sector, catering establishments, cargo and passenger transportation, and hotels has become very popular among entrepreneurs.
If you don’t have your own ideas on where to invest money, then you can always turn to franchises of large well-known companies, which are guaranteed to allow you to receive income in a short time. The main advantage of this approach is that you will immediately be given detailed guidance on exactly how to organize a business, how to design it, how to attract customers and what kind of staff to hire.

If you don't have a lot of savings to invest, start small. It is best to focus on tourists and their needs - entertainment, food, organizing leisure time and excursions, purchasing essentials, etc.

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Buying a ready-made business with an existing network of clients and a certain system is a rather risky investment option. But creating a business from scratch is very problematic, since you will need to look for a new or poorly occupied niche, actively fight with competitors, enter into agreements with suppliers, and gain trust in the market.

In the case of a ready-made company, these are already completed stages; the main effort is directed towards developing the business. But there are a number of advantages:

Ready business plan and state registration. Starting your own business from scratch requires going through a number of difficulties. In addition, it will take a lot of time to find your own idea.
Availability of an office, staff, concluded agreements with partners and suppliers. All this saves the new owner from a number of hassles.

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Compiled client base. A certain reputation has already been formed among consumers.
Having a positive credit history. This makes it possible to attract new investments and loans.
Certain types of work already have a state license. Obtaining this document from scratch is a long and expensive process.

Of course, there are also disadvantages. It is unlikely that anyone is trying to sell a good and already established business that is developing actively and successfully. Much more often, owners want to part with unprofitable enterprises.

When there is a change in management, business reputation takes a hit. Mass layoffs of workers cannot be ruled out.

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There are cases when the buyer finds out that the company is on the “black list” only after its purchase, and this hinders further successful development.

To prevent this from happening, you should carefully study all documents. It is advisable to invite a lawyer. It is necessary to find out why the business is being sold, what the atmosphere and mood of the staff are.

Starting a business from scratch carries an even greater degree of risk, especially if you have no experience at all. The world of business involves many pitfalls, which is very difficult for a novice entrepreneur who has no experience in attracting investments and drawing up a business plan. It’s worth taking risks only if you have an amazing and original business idea, and you probably know how to implement it.

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First you need to competently draw up a business plan. To do this, you should first analyze the situation in a certain area, clarify the situation in a certain area, clarify the level of competition in the chosen niche, estimate the size of future costs for renting premises, purchasing raw materials, equipment, hiring staff, etc.

We recommend choosing a niche that has a minimum of competitors, since it is very difficult for a beginner to cope with professionals. If you don’t have enough money to open a business, then it’s better to refuse bank loans (and there are plenty of offers today, details here). Credit and financial institutions themselves are reluctant to allocate funds for new projects and offer increased interest rates.

Owning your own business from scratch is one of the main ways to invest for several reasons:

The opportunity to do your own interesting business, which can become not just a hobby, but also a source of permanent, stable and decent income.

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Attracting investors and partners.
A chance to realize yourself, test your strength, and conquer the world of finance.

Idea

The idea with which my partners and I came out to defend the project was this: most people love fruits and vegetables, but the quality of the products in stores is not the best. We decided to offer an alternative. We purchase the freshest products from vegetable markets, quickly pack them and deliver them directly to our clients’ tables. They came up with a delicious name for the project – “Vitaminity”. To begin with, we decided to launch subscriptions: pay for a month or a year, and during this time, delicious tomatoes, crispy cucumbers and fragrant oranges are delivered to you once a week. The amount to start the business was 40 thousand rubles.

Investing in real estate in Krasnodar

This is a great way to increase your savings. Quite recently, one of the Russian banks conducted a study, the purpose of which was to find out where residents of our country would spend a large amount of money. It turned out that the majority preferred investing in housing.

Today, the most profitable way to buy an apartment in Krasnodar for the purpose of investing your own funds is to purchase it at the construction stage, that is, even before the house is put into operation. This is much more profitable than buying housing on the secondary market and then renting it out.

At the moment, in all Russian cities, as well as in Krasnodar, the cost of housing per year increases by 25% or more, which indicates good income for the investor. In addition, you can always sell the property and return the money spent.

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How it all started

My entrepreneurial story began in November 2014, when I and other students of the Captains of Russia program presented our business projects to the public.
At that time I was 20 years old. Quite a young age for a new entrepreneur. Why did I decide not just to get a higher education, but to start my own business? My parents and relatives were not entrepreneurs. There was no example of a successful businessman before me. But it always seemed to me that people who do business are more active, independent and can find a way out of any situation. In my head, I had an image of an entrepreneur as an extremely positive person who does a little more every day than everyone else.

Of course, starting my first business was very exciting. But I gathered my will into a fist and decided that even at a young age you need to be able to cope with difficulties. The path of an entrepreneur is a great opportunity for this!

What other investment options are there?

Bank deposit. The most popular way of investing (we review the best programs here). Among the disadvantages is low profitability, which sometimes does not even cover inflation. However, for many, reliability becomes the determining factor.

Deposits in the amount of up to 1.4 million are insured by the state, that is, if a financial institution goes bankrupt or loses its license, you will be able to get your funds back. Read more about state deposit insurance at this link. You can safely invest in Sberbank, VTB 24, Rosselkhozbank, Gazprombank, Alfa-Bank.

Among the advantages of deposits are reliability, the ability to pre-predict and calculate future income, and stable profits. The obvious disadvantage is low earnings due to low rates in banks.

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Precious metals. Also a reliable investment option. Among the disadvantages: the ability to buy a fake, low profitability, long investment period. Such an investment makes sense for a period of 5 years or more. You can open a compulsory medical insurance, under which the conditions are much more favorable, but in the event of a bank bankruptcy, you will not receive the metal and risk losing all your savings.
Famous franchises. A type of purchasing an existing business is franchising. A franchise is the right to open a business under an already popular brand. The buyer receives detailed and step-by-step instructions: how to open a business, decorate the premises, train staff, how to work in order to be guaranteed to make a profit.

The more profitable the franchise, the more expensive it is. In addition to the costs of purchasing and implementing instructions, you need to pay a fee for using someone else's brand.

An undeniable advantage is that there is no need to spend money on promotion from scratch. The well-known brand is already attracting buyers. That is, profit is guaranteed. An excellent solution for businessmen from a big city, where you can easily find premises for rent with high traffic and a constant influx of clients.

Provided you strictly follow the instructions and successfully develop, you can expect the business to pay off very quickly.

Antiques (antiques, paintings, coins). Such items are always in price. Disadvantages: long-term investment, the need to have special knowledge in the field of antiques so as not to overpay. Profit depends only on you: you can find a rarity for cheap, and then sell it for much more
Education. The main thing is to choose the right direction so that knowledge brings money in the future.
Stock. If they rise in price, then you can sell them for more. Depending on the chosen company, dividends may be provided, that is, payment of part of the profit to shareholders. Cons: shares may fall in price, the company may go bankrupt. The result is a loss of investor savings. Often shares are purchased through a broker, which entails additional risks, since he may turn out to be unscrupulous.
Mutual funds. Similar to bank deposits, but in this case the investor invests in a fund of a management company, whose employees contribute money to various assets (real estate, shares, etc.). Profitability may be higher than from deposits, but the profit depends on the selected fund. It is better to give preference to large and proven companies.
Trust management (PAMM accounts) Managers successfully trade on Forex and transfer a percentage of profits to investors. Read more about investing in Forex here.
Bonds are government securities issued to attract funds from the population. This document gives the right to a refund of the purchase price and to receive additional profit in the form of a percentage of the price of the paper. Bonds according to the method of issuance and the possibility of generating income are short-, medium- and long-term.

Such securities are in demand during a crisis, when the state seeks to attract funds from the population to compensate for the budget deficit. As soon as the economic situation improves, the money is returned to the owners with reduced interest. Bonds can be distributed to consumers through trading at auctions, and the Ministry of Finance acts as the issuer.

The advantage of this investment method is a guaranteed return of funds and income. Among the disadvantages is small profit. It is important to note that the purchase of bonds assumes that the funds are transferred under external management.

Playing on Forex or stock exchange. This is an international market for trading currencies and other assets. Profit is generated as a result of the purchase and sale of assets at various rates. Pros: accessibility (any user on the Internet can install a special program and start trading), low cost of entry into the financial market (from 100 USD or for bonuses), detailed training in the public domain, the opportunity to make huge profits.

There are many more disadvantages! It is impossible to predict what fluctuations in exchange rates there will be, a fairly long training period of up to several months or even years, and the risk of getting absolutely all your money in a matter of minutes. Forex should be treated like a lottery and not a real way to invest and make a profit.

Investment in microfinance organizations. Their interest rate is much higher than in banks. Investment is made according to the following scheme: a person deposits money into a microfinance company, it issues it to consumers in the form of loans, and the investor receives income. This is similar to a regular deposit, but with some differences: no state insurance, the need to pay 13% tax, a decent amount of investment, high profitability with a rate of up to 60% per annum.
Internet resources. Income from advertising, affiliate program services.
Cryptocurrencies. Cons: There is no guarantee that the rate will rise.
Art. Investing in paintings by promising artists.
Publics on social networks. The main thing is to choose a topic that is popular with a wide audience in order to gain a large number of subscribers. Profit from advertising or resale of the group.

Things got going

In order for the business to grow, it was necessary to constantly look for new clients. Here's what we did:

When delivering the kit to the customer, our manager asked if the customer could recommend “fruits and vegetables at home” to his neighbors or friends. If yes, then our representative always had an extra bag of products with him so that a potential buyer could evaluate its quality.
We were working on the idea of a call center so that we could call Moscow companies and offer tastings in their offices. Tasty? Like? Then we suggest you place your order on a regular basis.
There was a third way. After the end of the working day, each member of our team took two bags of fruit with them to independently find a new sales channel.

This is how our business developed. The monthly profit approached the mark of 1 million rubles. The prices we set were competitive with what was offered in good chain stores. The client base was growing.

We do not recommend investing in

Online casino. Many programs are set up in such a way that at first the client is very lucky, then he wins less and less, and the amounts lost become larger and larger. Such casinos quickly close, and new ones appear in their place.
Sports betting. It is almost impossible to guess the result. It's like a lottery.
Online poker. Rare wins are followed by a series of failures.
Credit exchanges on the Internet. Investors are offered to give away their funds at decent interest rates. But there are no guarantees that the loan will be repaid on time or that a borrower can be found.

Crisis, crisis...

Everything was getting better, but... the ruble fell in the country. Purchasing vegetables and fruits has become significantly more expensive, and we were forced to raise prices for sets. Stores, on the contrary, have frozen their prices. During this period, Vitaminity lost 60% of its customers. What could save us? As an option, a flexible approach to each client.

We realized that a fixed set of products in our “fruit basket” was not a good idea. Initially, each customer received “everything equally.” What to do if a person and his family members do not like certain products? I decided to collect “custom sets”. We developed a questionnaire for each client, where a person could choose vegetables and fruits for a certain amount.

Another acute problem was the quality of the products that we brought from vegetable warehouses. The purchase lasts 3–4 hours, and it is unrealistic to review each box for the freshness of the products.

As a result, our revenue has dropped significantly. It became clear that the company needed to look for other sales channels.

Recommendations

Until you have experience, do not take loans, use only your own funds.
Don't invest with your last money.
Regularly save part of your salary to provide passive income.
Follow your investment plan.
Be especially careful with money you win or give away. They can leave as easily as they came.
Do your research carefully before investing in anything.
Check out a number of educational materials on the Internet.

There are several other options for investing money in Krasnodar, for example, a private art school, a recreation center, hotels - opening such a business will bring good profits to the owner.

If you want to find out where it’s better to invest your money to make money this year, then follow this link. If you are interested in deposits, then you can check out the best offers from banks here.

Implementation

The idea was implemented by a team of twenty people. Every day, early in the morning, our friendly team packed vegetables and fruits. The picture resembled a conveyor belt. Some people lay out bananas, others grapes. The products were carefully weighed, placed in small bags and placed in a large “fruit basket”. With each order, we left an invoice, which indicated the list of products and the cost of the set. A letter of gratitude to the buyer was also included there. We tried to prove to the client that Vitaminity is the highest quality products.

New opportunities

“What if we independently contact direct suppliers and import products without intermediaries, communicating with trade missions of other countries in Russia?”

I don’t remember who was the first to say these words, but they caught everyone’s attention. Boldly? Why not. I understood that in this case we would be talking about a real adult business, the so-called B2B, and large-scale contracts. This is not just a new direction of activity, but a different quality of the company. But for this it was necessary to enter the large procurement market. Money was needed. The team made a unanimous decision to apply to the Captains of Russia investment fund for a tranche. So we received 10 million rubles.

Vocation: Entrepreneur

People often ask me: “Did you really go to Ecuador to buy bananas?” Yes. One fall, we gathered in the office with the whole team and decided that we could further reduce the chain of intermediaries. Now we intended to go to direct manufacturers for purchases, rather than contact trade missions of countries.

Today we are engaged not only in trade, but also in the production of vegetables. To do this, we leased land in several regions of the Central Federal District.

Is it possible to start your own business at 20? Yes, it's possible. If you don’t perceive money in isolation from real events and significant things. Business people don't look at your age, they look at your confidence and willingness to take action. If you are ready to be responsible for what you promise, there will be no problems reaching an agreement. If a person sees that you have a core, contact will be established.

I believe that the main character traits of a true entrepreneur are stress resistance and will. We had a lot of mistakes and mistakes, but after them we got up and moved on. But they could have given up...

Alternative path

We began to consider other ways to earn money. Several main directions have been formulated.

The first is to engage in small wholesale trade.
The second is to organize the supply of vegetables and fruits to restaurants, hotels and cafes.

I decided to conduct “business intelligence”. One of our team members took a job at a large fruit company to understand how the world of suppliers works. I had to learn literally everything! After acquiring the necessary skills, we began collaborating with restaurants. They divided all of Moscow into sectors assigned to each employee. Each person made fifty calls a day. As a result, our “prey” was two restaurant chains, a country estate and two hotels. We agreed to supply them with fruits and vegetables. We were engaged in the restaurant and hotel business until mid-2020.