HOW TO START A SWEET SHOP AND BECOME PROFITABLE
India is a country of festivals and traditions. There are diverse rituals performed in these festivals and having sweets is a must as offering to the god. Sweets have a relevant significance in Indians’ lives and no festival or celebration is complete without them. The mithai, a sweet that comes in many varieties are considered sattvic as it is made of sugar, milk which is pure and can be eaten by all. Almost all the states in India have their special sweet and thanks to the migration of people from one state to another, the recipes are exchanged all over India and now almost all the varieties are available at a standard sweet shop and people with their creativity with design and flavors have made new exciting mouth-watering exotic flavored sweets and are the real deal and people are happy to pay for such delicacies. The sweet shop holds strong relevance in every Indian’s life. We have a lot of childhood memories associated with it and even when we visit a sweet shop, we get excited to try the new flavors.
The sweet industry is growing steadily every year with a growth rate in double figures and with the crowd that is around a sweet shop on every festival, it is very evident that the Sweetshop is a very profitable business.
Let’s have a look at how you can start a Sweetshop Business in India and make it profitable:
Create a Plan
Decide beforehand what kind of Sweetshop you want to open. Is it just a retail shop or you’ll have in-house sweet makers and will send your own produce. With that decide what will be your reach. If you want an offline store or an online store? If it is an offline store, does it have a sitting area, or is only available for pick-ups or you will also hand out deliveries. And if it is an online store, what storage area you are going to keep your goods in, and what will be your area of service.
Make a plan for what is going to be the size of your business at first. The growth will only follow if you thrive in the market and the sweet shop business needs investment and time as the goods which are sold are perishable and cannot be stored. One should always be ready for bad days and thus also take care of the amount that is produced on a daily basis.
Location
The location of your sweet shop business matters a lot. Try to keep your shop away from a place where there are already several stores available. Open a store in a densely populated area so even if there are competitors around, you will always have people buying from you. Buy or rent a space that is big enough to equip all your equipment required for making sweets and has storage space for your sweet items.
Permits and Licenses
Taking permission to open a sweet shop is of prime importance. To open any food-related store, you have to take many approvals from the government and undergo many tests to get a license to set up a sweet shop business. Firstly, you will have to take permission from the landlord (if your place is rented) about making the use of space commercially as you will be taxed on that according to commercial regulations. Then for setting up the sweet shop business you need to apply for around four-five licenses. This includes the GST registration, the FSSAI License, the Fire License, Local Municipal Corporation Health License, etc. Make sure you are ready with all the paperwork and to take multiple rounds of government offices, beforehand!
Get the Manpower
It is usually noticed that a Sweetshop Business is not just opened for profit. It is a big source of creative representation and skill show. If you are a retail sweet shop hire chefs and sweet makers who understand the art and do not compromise on quality and taste. The more variety you have, you more popular you will be. Along with that, have in-house staff that will carry out tasks like serving, billing, loading, shifting, etc. Once you have a store and you desire to build it bigger, have a trusted group of people who will help you on each level as this is not a task that can be handled alone.
Along with the in-house staff, if you are opening your horizon for delivery service, have delivery persons ready to go who can handle your sweets with care and reach the destination on time.
Build a team you can trust!
Equipment
It is a prerequisite. You cannot have a sweet shop business without having the proper equipment in which you will make your products. So, make a list of the equipment according to the items that you will be selling. Remember, this is not something that you can compromise on. From a big refrigeration unit to a simple mixer, all are of prime importance.
Decide the Menu
This always has a scope of improvement but decide on a basic menu that you are sure will make people happy. Keep the items from the menu always available and give your customer time to develop taste for your products.
Understand your customer
Focus on the needs of your customers. Follow the pattern of what are the products which are demanded by them the most and keep in mind the variety of products they would like to have. Keep the stocks up and the quality of your products intact. Provide them with the service they demand and listen to their queries and concerns. In the Sweetshop Business people don’t shy away from buying fancy products so go overboard if you are one who wants to sell them, make sure some prospects will be willing to buy them too, or else you’ll never be able to gain profit.
The gourmet business is very likely to expand in the coming years and that is why it is attracting a lot of people who see themselves doing business in the future. In a country like India with so many delicacies, everyone thinks of themselves as a connoisseur. It is hard to impress them but you know that once they are impressed, they will be your faithful customer. Sweetshop in India is mostly seen as dessert selling shops and is admired a lot so setting foot in the sweet shop business mostly yields a good profit. Keep the basic in mind and enjoy the process!
