Starting an Eco Friendly and Reusable Shopping Bag Manufacturing Business

Monday, November 24, 2014

Starting an Eco Friendly and Reusable Shopping Bag Manufacturing Business

Reusable Shopping Bag Manufacturing | Small Business Ideas

A reusable shopping bag, sometimes called bag for life, is a type of shopping bag which can be reused many times: this is an alternative of single use paper or plastic bags. It is often made from fabric such as canvas, woven synthetic fibers, or a thick plastic that is more durable than disposable plastic bags, allowing multiple use.

Reusable shopping bags are a kind of carrier bag, which are available for sale in supermarkets and apparel shops. Reusable shopping bags require more energy to produce than common plastic shopping bags. One reusable bag requires the same amount of energy as an estimated 28 traditional plastic shopping bags or eight paper bags. "If used once per week, four or five reusable bags will replace 520 plastic bags a year" according to Nick Sterling, research director at Natural Capitalism Solutions. Because of the encouragement of reusable shopping bags by governments and supermarkets, reusable shopping bags have become one of the new fashion trends. The apparel industry also contributed to make it popular to have fashionable reusable shopping bags instead of disposable plastic bags.

If you want to start an eco friendly bag business, you will have to begin with a business plan. Going green is a great idea these days because it is important to save the environment.

You can maintain a business online and locally so that you can have a wider customer base.

Starting Your Own Eco Friendly Bags Manufacturing Business

Many people are ‘going green’ these days. Because of this trend, it can be a great idea to start an eco friendly bags business. If you are going to start this kind of business, you will need to put your creativity to work. There are many materials that you can use like vinyl records, old newspapers, sterling silver, glass, etc. You can create your own line of reusable bags. Your eco friendly bags can come in different designs and you can start in your very own home. If you opt for a home-based business, you will need advertising materials like flyers and business cards. Aside from that, you will also need a website, domain name, sewing machine, and some raw materials.

Carving the niche of the business can be hard at first but if your eco friendly bags are well-loved by your target market, you’re sure to succeed in this kind of business. Each bag should contain a logo or label of your business. You will need to pick a domain name that your customers can instantly recall. After the purchase, you can now find a web host. There are now eco-friendly web hosts that use renewable or alternative energy. You can use the internet to find potential web hosts.

The Eco Friendly Bags Business Website

Create a user-friendly website with a shopping cart. All your bags should have photos which need to be posted on the site complete with the details and pricing. With the shopping cart, your customers can easily shop for their needs. Aside from your website, you also need to focus on the marketing methods that you will use locally. You will also be catering to local customers so you need to display some items in your home office. Try to develop a product catalog for your clients so that you don’t need to take out all the bags when a customer trying to shop.

You may need to hire extra help to make sure that you have enough product inventories. Always think of new ways to make the bags look unique and new. With additional employees, you also need additional sewing machines. Compile all your designs so that you can easily innovate. If you want, you can also sell bags to eBay and other online stores aside from your business site. With proper advertising methods, you will be able to sell your eco friendly bags. Work out your business plan so that you will have a guide once you start managing the business.

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Easy Tips and Ideas to Start Business

Although anyone can start a business, many people fail because of a bad product or improper research. If you want to start your own business, you can improve your chances for success before you even begin. In order to make your business successful, start strong and make sure that your idea will hold out for the long haul.

Have a Good Product

Ensure that you plan to sell something useful. Although you may think that your product is important or special, that doesn't mean the general public will agree. Ask friends, family and strangers what they think of your product. If they don't seem that interested, ask them why. With their suggestions, you can either improve the product or scrap the idea completely. According to Brad Sugars of Entrepreneur magazine, most small businesses fail because they sold a product that didn't have an adequate market. This also applies to small businesses that provide a service. A lawn-care business might be useful for part of the year in a northern state, but it is in-demand year-round in the south. Consider whether people will actually want to use your service and get constructive advice from those not afraid to give their opinion.

Research Local Businesses

Research local companies before starting up your own business. This will not only give you an idea of the amount of competition you will have, but it will also help you price your product or service. If you're looking to start a wedding photography business, you may find during your research that the market is over-saturated in your area. If not over-saturated, you should contact each business and ask them for a price list. Alter your prices so you can stay competitive with the competition in town. Researching similar local businesses will also help you decide where to locate your business location. Try not to start up a store or office close to another business of your type. If your small business is located away from similar business types, this will cause locals to choose you over businesses that are farther away from where they live.

Get Professional Advice

You may know someone who has started their own successful business. Ask him for advice and listen to his stories of how he started his company. You may gain useful advice on the good and bad ways to start a business. Local entrepreneurs can also introduce you to local product providers or advertisers that you may not have met without their help. Accept any advice with open arms, especially if the advice is coming from someone successful in the area.

How to Calculate Business Start Up Costs

Starting a business in no easy endeavor. It takes a great deal of research, perseverance and hard work. While sweat equity will make your small business more successful, you will most likely need real capital to get the business started. Before you start raising capital and/or investing your own funds, the first thing you need to do is determine the total start-up costs.

Step 1

Determine your costs of sales. For most small businesses this means inventory, the cost of raw materials, manufacturing equipment, shipping, packaging, and warehousing. However, not all businesses sell products. In this case, the cost of sales is primarily the direct labor involved in making the sale. For example, to open a small shoe business entails purchasing enough inventory ($10,000) to stock the store.

Step 2

Determine professional fees. Planning your business structure, i.e., limited liability corporation or general partnership, means hiring an attorney. There may also be the need to pay an attorney for help with establishing trademarks, copyrights, and patents. In this scenario, that puts total professional fees at an estimated $20,000.

Step 3

Determine technology costs. Technology can greatly reduce the cost of labor for small business if used effectively. Most small businesses require computers, printers, cell phones, website development, Internet access, software applications, information security, data storage, and outsourced information technology (IT) consulting. If the cost of technology is $10,000 to start, add an additional $5,000 a year for maintenance (hint: maintenance is not included in start-up costs).

Step 4

Determine administrative costs. This varies with business types and may include items such as business insurance, office supplies, product packaging, parking, rent, express shipping, desks, chairs, fax machines, phones, or anything else necessary to operate the business daily. A good estimate for start-up administrative costs would be $5,000 for the first six months.

Step 5

Determine initial sales and marketing costs. Now that you have your product, you need to let folks know about it. Sales and marketing costs generally include marketing materials for presentations, printing stationery, business cards, advertising, trade show events, and public relations. These initial sales and marketing costs can add up to $3,000.

Step 6

Determine the wages and benefits needed to secure a staff. This includes employee salaries, benefits, workers compensation, and payroll taxes. Let's put the cost of wages and benefits estimated at $20,000 for the first three months of business.

Step 7

Add all costs associated with starting the business for a total. Be sure to only include business start-up costs that will be incurred in the first three to six months of operations. For this example, the calculation is: $10,000 + $20,000 + $10,000 + $5,000 + $3,000 + $20,000 = $68,000.

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Monday, November 24, 2014