How to open a butcher shop: steps, instructions, tips, profitability

Let's talk about how to open a meat pavilion. Everyone understands that no matter what the economic situation is, people will always buy food. Therefore, a business based on food is always a stable source of income.

The meat industry in this case is no exception. Even the financial crisis, although it affects food in a certain way, is not as noticeable as, for example, the building materials market. In this article we will try to answer the question of how to start a meat business. This article is mainly intended for those who want to open a meat store with minimal investment.

Basic moments

A butcher shop is a small wholesale or retail trade enterprise. Products can be of various types: raw meat, various sausages, semi-finished products, etc. According to statistics, such a business is approximately 30% profitable. Ideally, before getting down to business, it is better to talk with those who have encountered such a task and already know from their own experience what it takes to open a meat business. This will protect you from the mistakes that most beginners make.

When drawing up a business plan for a store, there are many nuances that you should pay attention to. It is important to choose the right location for your meat department, since competition in this type of trade is very high.

Also, since meat is a perishable product, it is necessary to correctly calculate the volume of product supply. Remember that in the beginning, when you do not yet have a large flow of customers, it is better to buy less product and then order more than not have time to sell it out before the sales period ends.

You also need to take into account seasonal differences in meat consumption. During the summer, especially when it's hot, people tend to choose to eat other foods, so sales may drop slightly. You need to properly prepare for this moment - reduce the purchase of products, make various discounts on goods, change the assortment, etc. Let's then try to talk in more detail about how to start a meat business and what points you should pay attention to.

Where to get meat from

Finding a reliable supplier of fresh meat is one of the components of successful trading. In order not to make mistakes, you need to talk with buyers, sellers and listen to their feedback. It doesn’t hurt to personally communicate with suppliers, ask about delivery conditions, prices and discounts.

Where to look for meat suppliers:

• farms;
• at large processing enterprises;
• in villages;
• through the Internet.

Ideally, the supplier will be located near the store. This way you can save on transportation and keep prices at the same level.

When agreeing on cooperation, it is important to discuss and document the following nuances:

• procurement costs for different types of meat products;
• what is the maximum volume that can be delivered;
• animal age – 1.5-2 years;
• confirmation of veterinary checks of product quality;
• frequency of deliveries and number of carcasses.

When purchasing meat, remember that you do not need to take a large amount of meat at once. If you fail to sell it quickly, it will become weathered and look unappetizing.

How to start a meat business with a small initial capital

The minimum amount required to open a small department is from 60,000 to 100,000 rubles. About 40% will be spent on purchasing the first batch of products. And the remaining funds will be spent on renting space, purchasing equipment, wages to employees, utilities, etc.

In this case, you will open a small department in a larger store. Experts recommend starting with exactly these volumes, and then expanding the size of the business as experience increases.

Rent

To open a butcher shop where there will be no end to customers, you need to choose the right location for the establishment. When choosing a room, make sure that there is good pedestrian traffic. On a weekday, traffic should be at least 2,000 people, of which 2-3% are future buyers.

If a store opens in a residential area, it is good if there is no retail outlet with similar specifics nearby. You can save money on interior decoration; an elegant interior is not necessary for a butcher shop. The main thing is that the room is clean and bright.

The only thing you don’t need to save on is lighting. In dim light it looks unattractive. The same applies to the store sign; how many people will notice the butcher shop depends on its attractiveness.

The store area does not have to be large. This is not practical in terms of the amount of rent. For a beginning entrepreneur, 30-40 sq.m. is enough. m. The cost of renting such premises will be different in different cities and varies within -0 rubles.

Documents required to open a butcher shop

In order to start your activity, you need to register an individual entrepreneur and LLC. To do this, you will need to collect a standard set of documents required to open a commercial enterprise selling food products.

For several years now, there has been no licensing for food trade. Therefore, to sell meat you do not need to obtain any additional license; there are also no sanitary and epidemiological stations. A sanitary and epidemiological certificate from Rospotrebnadzor is required to be obtained only if you are going to open the production of meat products.

Staff

Store employees are a key part of the trade. Whether the client wants to come again depends on the friendliness and politeness of the seller. Therefore, personnel selection must be carried out with special care. The main employee of a butcher shop is the butcher. The income of an entrepreneur depends on his skills and knowledge. Experts note that if you cut it incorrectly, you can lose up to 25 kg of meat.

An entrepreneur often seeks to hire an experienced specialist. As a last resort, a promising candidate can be trained in the necessary skills. A butcher can also serve as a salesperson. Some entrepreneurs take on the function of selling meat themselves. Accounting can be handled by a “coming” accountant.

How many employees should there be to open a butcher shop?

• butcher with salary (average value) - 23,000 rubles.
• seller – 18,000 rub.
• accountant – 4000 rub.
• room cleaner – 11,000 rub.

How to choose a premises for selling meat

First of all, when choosing a premises for selling meat, you need to pay attention to the fact that it is located conveniently for people. When choosing a location, you should be guided by the most important rule - to locate the store where there is more traffic and less competition. In this case, you will be able to ensure greater sales.

As mentioned above, it is better to start such a business from a small meat department in a store. To begin with, a very small area is enough - 6-10 square meters. m. There are two ways to rent such a place. You can enter into an agreement to start joint activities with a store or rent space for trading using the usual method. Depending on the location of the store, the cost of paying for the space in it will also vary. The minimum amount will be 10,500-10,800 rubles per month.

Finding a good location and premises

Every entrepreneur who wants to open a meat shop must understand that this is a highly competitive business area. Among the competitors of the new company are various store formats (from supermarkets to hypermarkets), other shops, restaurants and cafes, as well as markets.

Based on this, it is advisable to locate the establishment in a place where there will be a fairly large traffic flow and not such a high level of competition. Opening on the territory of a market or supermarket is a fairly economical option. However, the best option is to launch a retail outlet in a separate room .

In this case, it is advisable to take into account the following recommendations:

• The room must have an area of ​​at least 20 square meters .
• The presence of three conventional zones - trading, a room for cutting and preparing semi-finished products, as well as an area for cutting and deboning carcasses. The height of fences between zones must be at least 2 meters.
• Availability of water taps and a working sewer system.
• Availability of exhaust mechanical ventilation.
• Use a specialized finish (galvanizing is the most suitable option).
• Availability of storage space for products (must be allocated separately).
• It is desirable to have a room for staff.
• The area for garbage and food waste should be located at a distance of 25-30 meters from the place where trade takes place.

You can watch an interesting story about the meat business in the following video:

Purchase of goods

When purchasing products, it is important to carefully choose a meat supplier. In the meat business, product quality plays one of the main roles, since this is the most important indicator for buyers. If the meat is of poor quality, people will quickly stop buying it, and your sales will inevitably decline.

Nowadays, the production of meat products is carried out by a large number of different companies. Therefore, try to focus on suppliers who have already proven themselves in this market.

Always check that the meat is branded and pay attention to the certificate. Remember that all responsibility for low-quality products will otherwise lie with you, which will affect your reputation.

When trading begins, you should not chase a very large assortment and volume of goods. About 20 types of products will be enough. In order to try to make your point stand out a little from competitors, you can add a small amount of rarer products, such as rabbit or turkey meat.

As mentioned above, in the summer season the demand for meat decreases, so you can add a few other products to the assortment, such as bread, dairy products, cheeses, etc.

Formation of assortment: what can be sold

The two main formats are the sale of either a single type of meat or its various types .
The latter category is usually preferable because it attracts more customers. If an entrepreneur focuses on selling only one type, he must carefully choose to ensure sufficient demand. In order to form your own assortment, it is advisable to study the products of competitors. Particular attention should be paid to pricing policy. Among the most popular types of products the following groups can be distinguished:

• Chicken meat (primarily fillet and legs).
• Turkey (fillet and thighs).
• Mutton.
• Beef.
• Dietary meats (in particular, rabbit).
• Veal.
• Pork (including lard and ribs).

It is also possible to sell exotic varieties of meat. However, it is difficult for them to find suppliers and consumers. Therefore, this idea should be left for expanding the assortment after the promotion of the store. The optimal number of assortment items is 30-45, subject to a markup of 25-35% .

In some cases, it is advisable to additionally sell secondary products - sausages, frankfurters, etc. - in Russia they are consistently in demand due to the wide selection and relatively low price.

If you are interested in how to open your own pastry shop from scratch, read this material. Detailed information on how to open a shawarma point is provided here.

Butcher shop staff

For a small department, it is quite possible to get by with two salespeople with a shift schedule and one butcher who will work five days a week. You take care of all the accounting, but at the initial stage there is nothing particularly difficult about it. The supplier unloads the goods, so you do not need to hire a loader.

In order for the client to like the meat, it is necessary to chop the product correctly. This issue also has a number of certain subtleties, so the butcher must have experience. If you chop the meat incorrectly, you will end up with areas with a high content of bones or, conversely, fat, and the buyer will refuse such a piece, or the price for it will have to be greatly reduced, thereby losing part of the income.

Mini-review of the meat products market

It’s hard to imagine a menu without meat products, let alone a festive table! Therefore, the demand for meat products has always been, is and will be. True, it is not always high: during Lent or during a crisis, the demand for sausage falls.

If you look at the current Russian meat market, you will notice that the majority of companies operate in the middle and economy segment. These are sausages, inexpensive (available) sausage, meat. It’s difficult to stand out from the crowd here - the products are practically no different. There are varieties of sausage that are repeated from brand to brand: “Moskovskaya”, “Posolskaya”, “Konyachnaya”. Meat branding in this segment is also monotonous: the same colors predominate, the names of individual brands are not remembered (or are remembered only if the product is really tasty and fresh).

Equipment

To fully equip the store you will need to purchase:

• cutting deck – 5000
• axes and weighing hook – 4500
• meat grinder – 18000
• cooling display cases (2 pcs.) – 100,000
• refrigerator - 70000
• freezer – 25000
• electronic scales – 5000
• racks and counter – 5000
• cutting boards, knives, meat trays and others – 3000

Total amount: 235,500 rubles.

When choosing racks, you should give preference to metal ones; they are more durable. Regarding display cases, you need to pay attention to the following parameters:

• opt for display cases with a built-in cooling effect, this will significantly save space in the refrigerator;
• Meat looks more attractive in display cases with curved glass;
• think about the dimensions in advance; the amount of electricity consumed depends on the size;
• give preference to display cases with red lighting; with such lighting, products look more presentable.

"Meat. Cheese. Wine"

M. Bronnaya, 21/13, building 2

Source: press service

The shop on Patriki sells meat, cheese and wine, but deli counters do not play a key role here. The creators of the establishment came up with a new format, called it more than meat and relied on restaurant-quality dishes in the ambiance of a grocery store. Everything is prepared from the shop’s products: fresh and canned vegetables, meats of all kinds, cheeses, delicacies and homemade sauces.

Natalya Shishova, co-owner of the shop-wine bar “Meat. Cheese. Wine"

“First of all, we are a local store. We help out like a neighbor: with salt, sausages, fresh meat, ready-made meals for the holidays or even recipes. In our store, almost any product can be tried on site, taken away, or we can prepare it. Secondly, we have a special love for meat. Almost everything in our shop is homemade: sausages, pates, dumplings, semi-finished chicken and duck products, stuffed peppers, sausages. We operate equipment for dry-aged steaks. You can also find premium and alternative steaks in our showcase.”

Profitability

The efficiency indicator in the meat business varies between 8 and 14%, given that the average check in a store will be 750 rubles, and the number of customers will grow every month.

Consolidated financial plan to open a turnkey butcher shop:

1. Individual entrepreneur registration – 800
2. Rent – ​​30,000
3. Equipment – ​​235,500
4. Marketing and advertising – 40,000
5. Purchase of meat – 200,000

Total: 506,300 rubles will be the initial investment.

Monthly expenses:

1. Rent – ​​30,000
2. Product cost – from 200,000
3. Salary and contributions – 71,000
4. Advertising – 3000
5. Other expenses – 15,000

In the first 4 months, the break-even indicator of trade is achieved, and gradually the store will bring in 75,000 rubles of net profit per month.

At this rate, investments will pay off within 18-22 months.

How to open a butcher shop - business plan

Like any business, opening a butcher shop must be done in a certain sequence in compliance with the rules for organizing grocery stores. Let's take a closer look at where to start a trading business and how to build it correctly.

Before you start purchasing everything you need for a butcher shop, you need to draw up a business plan.

It includes the following steps:

1. Supplier search.
2. Registration of individual entrepreneurship.
3. Organization of a point of sale.

The last paragraph consists of the following sections:

• rent or purchase of a building;
• purchase of equipment and inventory;
• hiring workers;
• delivery of the first batch of products.

An important point is the choice of premises for the business. For these purposes, we recommend the database of our partner Roomfi.ru.

Manufacturer's choice

Definitely, there is no point in purchasing everything necessary for a store and registering a business if the novice owner does not have a profitable supplier with whom a long-term relationship has been agreed.

When choosing a manufacturer, it is important to clarify:

1. What delivery times does it provide?
2. Is there a guarantee for the quality of the product and what are the conditions for return or compensation?
3. Do they have certificates and other legal documents?

You should not contact suppliers without a license and additional certificates for this type of activity.

Preparation of documents and registration with the tax authorities

Trading without registering an individual entrepreneur or LLC, as well as additional permitting papers, is illegal and can lead not only to the closure of the store, but also to a subsequent court hearing and the imposition of administrative fines.
Attention! The choice between an individual entrepreneur and an LLC when registering with the tax service depends on whether you plan to start on your own or will still attract founders.
As a rule, it is better to register such types of employment as an LLC. A butcher shop business plan can be based on the following types of taxation:

• simplified taxation system;
• patent form;
• single tax.

Together with the creation of an LLC, the entrepreneur will also need to prepare the following package of documents:

• certificate from Rospotrebnadzor confirming that the butcher shop meets the established criteria;
• permission from the veterinary service (after the imported meat has been examined);
• book of complaints and suggestions;
• permission to operate from the fire service;

Important! Every store employee must have a sanitary book. Without it, any work with food is strictly prohibited.

On average, collecting documents will take about 2 months, and you will have to pay at least 5,000 rubles.

Equipment and supplies for meat trade

This stage is one of the key ones, because the quality of the product is directly related to the correct transportation and storage of the product.

A meat business can fail if the store owner uses simple, low-quality refrigerators with a poor cooling system to store his products.

Attention! It is quite difficult to purchase all the necessary items at once, and therefore it is better to first start your business by selling ready-made meat products, the storage of which is not so demanding. For example, you can sell semi-finished products, sausages and sausages.

As for the building itself, containers are becoming increasingly popular among small entrepreneurs.

The main advantages are as follows:

• they are easily transported;
• they are quite sufficient to accommodate products;
• buying a container is much cheaper than a building (on average, containers cost 50,000 and more).

After the retail space has been purchased, you need to purchase equipment:

• refrigerator (about $500);
• cash register (from 12 to 20 thousand rubles);
• remote refrigerator (up to $900);

Additional attributes for the store:

• scales;
• devices for cutting meat (knives, axes, boards, etc.);
• meat grinder for making minced meat
• utensils for displaying and selling meat products;

Do not forget that a commercial building must be kept perfectly clean, and therefore the presence of special detergents and equipment is a must.

Product range

A profitable product for sale in large quantities should be purchased only after at least some customer base has appeared. It is not profitable to jam all the counters on the first day.

In the first days, buyers will be especially cautious about the new outlet and will not risk making large purchases.

As practice shows, at the very beginning you need to use a maximum of 40 types of items and at the same time you need to purchase them in a minimum quantity. Compared to many other products, meat is perishable and cannot be on the counter for more than 2 to 3 days.

Important! First of all, the buyer focuses on freshness and only then the manufacturer, and therefore a crowded store with stale products is simply doomed to close.

Another marketing ploy could be the purchase of unique meat, for example, turkey or lamb. This will make the store stand out among many others and increase demand for it.

In total, you will need to spend from 15,000 to 30,000 rubles on purchasing products at the starting stage.

Working staff

Trading in a store without additional staff is quite difficult, and therefore it is better to expand your staff and hire 2 salespeople and an accountant. One working day costs on average 400 – 500 rubles. In some cases, managers take on the responsibilities of an accountant, it all depends on how much time you are willing to devote to this matter.

Do you need a large assortment?

The desire to initially please customers with an assortment is a plus, but not for the meat business. Meat stores are usually visited by residents living within a radius of 800 meters, so when choosing an assortment it is important to take their opinion into account. Neighborhoods with a predominantly elderly population will sell one type of meat, while younger neighborhoods will sell another.

Diagram of a cow carcass

A large assortment when opening a store can lead to direct losses due to the lack of demand for a number of meat items. The products will sit and spoil, and then they will need to be thrown away.

Therefore, it is necessary to select the meat assortment gradually, starting with popular positions. In the future, sellers, when communicating with buyers, should identify the preferences of visitors and adjust the types of products purchased. You can always expand the range, but initially you need to study the demand for certain types of meat.

Documentation

To open a butcher shop, the business must be registered. An individual entrepreneur is quite suitable for this. To register an individual entrepreneurship, you will need to pay a state fee of 800 rubles and submit the necessary package of documents. In 3 days, registration will be ready. For taxation, you can choose “simplified”, which provides for payments of 6% of income, or UTII, here the tax will depend on the area of ​​​​the premises.

The premises itself, like meat products, must comply with sanitary standards. A license is not needed to conduct this type of activity, but permission from the SES and fire inspection must be obtained. In practice, these documents are provided to tenants by property owners.

Premises requirements for fire inspectors:

• 2 exits;
• fire alarm;
• high-quality insulated wiring;
• absence of flammable materials in interior decoration;
• presence of a fire extinguisher.

For the SES, it is important to have a sanitary facility and a place for washing hands. The walls should be finished with materials that are easy to clean and handle.

Don't forget about good ventilation. Employees must work in uniform and gloves, and each of them must have a health certificate.

Permits (certificates from a veterinarian) for meat are provided by the supplier. A veterinary inspector will visit the store periodically. 30 days after the opening of a butcher shop, Rospotrebnadzor must be notified of the start of business activity. Do not forget that the store must be equipped with a “Customer Corner”, where anyone can leave a complaint, review or suggestion about the work of employees, as well as read the documentation.

You can't skimp on advertising

A butcher shop should not be devoid of advertising, but it is advisable to delay the official opening date. During the first days of work, it is necessary to test the interaction of personnel with suppliers and customers, and evaluate the performance of the equipment. And only after a positive assessment of the listed processes can you disseminate advertising information and attract customers.

Invitation to the opening of a butcher shop

If people come on the first day of a store’s opening and see a minimum of products, their imperfect display, and the fussiness of salespeople, then this negative impression will remain for a long time. Therefore, it is better to play it safe and plan the official opening of the store later than the actual one.

Given the limited territorial coverage of the customer base, butcher shop advertising is carried out in the following ways:

• outdoor advertising in entrances and at nearby stops;
• hanging discount flyers on door handles in adjacent high-rise buildings;
• distribution of leaflets by promoters at the approaches to the store or at the entrance of the nearest supermarket;
• placement of pillars and signs;

There is no need to neglect personal contact with the managers of nearby catering establishments, who can become regular small-scale wholesale customers. You can print a set of business cards for them.

Alternative advertising methods are either unnecessarily expensive or ineffective. The recommended time frame for the initial advertising campaign is 2-4 weeks. And you need to think about further actions after assessing the effectiveness of the first steps.