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Business plan for growing potatoes. How to start a potato business

Business on agriculture can be very profitable, but it needs to be approached wisely. Beginning entrepreneurs very rarely pay attention to the cultivation and sale of potatoes. Although this product is very common and is always in great demand, the business itself requires a lot of time, effort and financial costs.

Advantages and disadvantages of the potato business

Growing potatoes as a business has special advantages that play an important role in starting this business.

The profitability of the business is very high and amounts to 160%, since the product is in great demand, especially in major cities where there are no land plots or they are very small in size.

To conduct business, special equipment is used for growing potatoes and for cultivating the land. Just a few small tractors will suffice here.

But there are also difficulties here, that is, the amount of the crop directly depends on the quality of the planting material, as well as weather conditions and the degree of protection against pests.

Do not forget that the soil where potatoes are planted needs rest and regular fertilizers, and tractors need fuel and lubricants. But profitability very quickly covers all costs.

And you can start a potato business in a small area, even from an area of 3 acres you can harvest about 250-300 kg of crop. In addition, the cultivation of the product does not require special knowledge.

The disadvantages include low price when selling potatoes and the fact that it can be grown only in the warm season.

How to grow potatoes

Before you start doing business, you should study the plan for growing the product, since the future harvest directly depends on proper planting and care.

The potato is one of the most weather and climate-prone vegetables. It can be grown in two ways. The first is early-ripening varieties that are planted in greenhouses and go on sale in early spring, and the second is open ground and it goes to sale in the fall.

The first method is more cost-effective, but it also requires high costs for the arrangement of greenhouses. But the second method is less expensive and ideal for beginners with a small initial capital.

Potato culture is early and it takes about 4 months from planting to harvest. The cultivation technology is very simple and includes only a few basic steps:

preparing seeds for planting;
site preparation and planting;
hilling and fertilizer;
pest control;
cleaning and storage;
packaging and sale.

Seed potatoes, which are purchased, must have all the required documents confirming the variety and high resistance to diseases, as well as productivity. The material for planting must meet strict requirements, the size of the tubers is about 3-5 cm in diameter. When planting tubers of different varieties, it is not recommended to mix.

The vegetation of such plants should be at least 100%, and the yield should be stable and very high. If the reproduction of the product does not reach the 2nd degree, then it is not advisable to use it on seeds.

Seed preparation is carried out in the autumn, potatoes are sorted out. Only healthy tubers remain on the seeds, which do not have spots and sores, and are not damaged in any way. After careful selection, they are greened, for this they are laid out in the light, for about 3 weeks. But direct rays are forbidden to them, only diffused light.

After landscaping, the seeds are stored in a warehouse for storage at a temperature of about +3 degrees and a humidity of at least 80%.

After storage, 30 days before planting, the seeds are taken out and transferred to a warm and bright place for germination. The sprout of potatoes ready for planting should be 1 cm. If large tubers come across, they are carefully divided into 2 parts, leaving sprouts on both halves, there should be about 4 of them. So that the cut tubers do not begin to rot, it is recommended to treat the slices with wood resin.

But when it happens industrial cultivation potatoes, then it is not manually sorted out, the whole process is fully automated.

The timing of planting depends entirely on weather conditions, that is, in the south, potatoes can be planted in March, in the middle lane at the beginning of May, and in the north only at the beginning of summer. The temperature of the finished soil should be more than 12 degrees.

Soil preparation is carried out in advance, for this, in small areas, digging is carried out with shovels, and in large areas, the soil is plowed with a tractor. During preparation, the soil is loosened, as a result, the plant will have enough air and moisture.

Planting material is carried out in rows with a distance of at least 1 meter. Such a distance is required for the full development of bushes and easy processing and harvesting with the help of special equipment.

During work milling units, at this distance the roots will not be damaged. If you save on distance, then even with manual cultivation, the roots can be damaged and the vegetation process will slow down significantly.

Tubers are planted to a depth of about 8 cm, and a ridge about 10 cm high is formed on top. According to the standard, 30 bushes should be planted per square meter.

14 days after planting, all weeds are removed from the site, and the sprouts pass the first hill, and an additional height of the ridges is created by another 10 cm. The soil on the ridge is only soft and loose, since new tubers will form in it.

If there is no rain, then watering is carried out 2 times in seven days. If there is a severe drought, then watering is carried out every day. If the weather is cloudy and the humidity is high outside, then it is advisable to reduce the amount of watering.

Potatoes are very fond of fertilizers; for this, horse or cow manure is required before planting in the ground.

When the bushes begin to bloom, they must be treated with remedies for the Colorado potato beetle and prevented from possible late blight. Treatment of plants from pests should be carried out about 5 times per season, but with strict adherence to the requirements of the treatment intervals from the manufacturer.

Harvesting is carried out in autumn after the full maturation of the tubers. This will significantly increase the shelf life and all beneficial features product. For storage, special rooms are used in which the required temperature and humidity are maintained.

How to organize a business

In order for the potato growing business to become profitable, you should not only learn the technology of growing the product, but also take care of the paperwork.

If you plan to grow a product on your own personal plot, then no paperwork is required. But here there will be difficulties with the sale of products, it will be possible to sell only independently.

If you plan to conduct a large business, then you need to register with the tax service as individual entrepreneur. For this, the OKVED form A. 01,13,21 and the ESHN taxation system are selected, that is, as an agricultural entrepreneur.

When registering a business on potatoes, it should be noted that major buyers And retail chains prefer to work with individual entrepreneurs, rather than with private small businesses.

Selling Features

The potato business will have high income if you find permanent outlets. This is done by monitoring the market. You can start offering products to large retail chains.

You can also sell on the market, especially if the sale is carried out at the time of raising the price of potatoes. In this case, you can find wholesale buyers.

But it is worth remembering that the goods must be only of high quality without damage and with the correct shelf life.

A potato growing business can bring high yields. When planting one ton of seeds per hectare, you can harvest about 20 tons of crops. And you can get a high income for such a volume only if you have a permanent point of sale.

Financial investment in business

A business plan for growing potatoes requires certain costs. Financial investments will be required for:

purchase of seeds;
purchase of fertilizers and pesticides;
rent or purchase of equipment for growing potatoes;
purchase of packaging for potatoes;
warehouse lease;
wages if workers are hired.

But if you follow the entire cultivation technology, then all these costs will quickly be covered. Increasing profits can only be done by putting effort into marketing.

Costs are reduced if you have your own warehouse, or a place for its construction, as well as your own agricultural machinery.

Profits in the potato business

Potato business requires initial calculations of costs and approximate profit.

The costs include the registration of a business, the purchase of equipment, seeds and everything necessary for growing.

It is also worth indicating the salary of the worker, the cost of renting a stall, the amount of tax deductions and transportation costs.

Calculations are being made, that is, about 350 thousand were spent on creating a business, and the total amount of the crop was 16 tons. After the goods have been sorted out and removed about 2 tons of marriage, then 14 tons are spent on sale.

That is, when selling potatoes at a price of 50 rubles per kilogram, the total income will be 700,000 rubles. Net profit in this case is 350 thousand.

The potato business, although it has high costs and a large investment of effort and labor, with the right approach, it brings a high income for a short time, since cultivation is carried out in just one season.

One of the most profitable niches business is the cultivation and sale of potatoes. Today it is difficult to imagine the diet of most Russians without this root crop, so such an agricultural crop will always be in great consumer demand. Growing potatoes is a promising and long-term activity, moreover, there are no problems with the sale of products. To successfully develop in this direction, an entrepreneur needs to competently organize his own business.

First, it is recommended to analyze the situation on the market, determine the profitability of activities, as well as calculate the amount of investments and possible income. To date, farmers cannot fully satisfy the needs of buyers, so growing potatoes for sale is very profitable. Despite the large number of manufacturers, the business is not afraid of competition and is highly profitable.

Is it profitable to grow potatoes for sale?

What is useful to know for a novice entrepreneur who decides to grow potatoes for sale? This type activity is highly profitable, besides, today they apply modern technologies, allowing you to grow root crops in greenhouses all year round and collect several crops per season. The business of growing and selling potatoes has its positive and negative sides. The pluses should include:

the possibility of growing root crops even on a small plot of land;
fast return on investment;
high consumer demand for potatoes, regardless of seasonality;
the possibility of combining business with other activities;
relative ease of care.

If a person has a garden, he can also grow potatoes and earn decent money from it. For this kind home business no need to pay taxes. Fertilizers are inexpensive, and there are many people in the countryside who want to earn money (it doesn’t hurt to hire them to weed the land and care for potatoes). The costs will be negligible.

Growing potatoes is not only able to bring all year round profit, but also allows you to save on fertilizers, since the tops are used to form humus on the site. If you install greenhouses on the ground, you can harvest 3 crops in 1 year. Investments usually pay off after 4 months from the beginning of the first planting.

This business is not without flaws, and every entrepreneur who is interested in profitable business should know about them. First of all, there is a great dependence of the quality of the crop on weather conditions. If there is intense heat in the region, the plants need to be protected with irrigation systems. Potatoes have a lot of enemies among insects. To combat them, various chemicals are successfully used today, which allow saving the crop. Therefore, these disadvantages should be considered rather as additional precautions.

To understand how profitable it is to grow potatoes for sale yourself, let's give a simple example. Let's say a businessman rented (or owns) 30 acres of land. From every 100 sq. m, you can collect about 280 kg of potatoes, and from the entire area - 8.4 thousand kg. If you sell it in bulk at a price of 20 rubles, you can get revenue of 168 thousand rubles.

To cultivate the land, you will need to buy a walk-behind tractor (mini-tractor) with a body, as well as a hiller, a mounted plow and a device for digging up root crops. Still need to purchase fertilizer for the site. Investments for these purposes will amount to about 80 thousand rubles. The benefits of this type of activity are obvious. If you install greenhouses and grow plants all year round, profits will increase significantly.

Potato growing technology

There are many different ways to grow potatoes, allowing you to get a fairly good harvest. Let us dwell on the Dutch method, since it does not require large expenses and allows plants to develop in natural conditions (without the use of greenhouses).

A feature of this technology is the minimum mechanical processing of the land and the potato itself. The method involves the use of ground aeration, which provides effective ventilation of soil layers by mixing them with atmospheric air. To implement it, the soil is first loosened, after which the planting material is placed in the formed earthen ridges, while it is necessary to ensure that the distance between the planting rows is large enough.

Growing potatoes according to this method makes it possible to collect up to 1.8-2 kg of root crops from one bush, while the potato itself can be stored for a long time under certain conditions. When selecting planting material, pay attention to the tubers: each of them should have about 5-6 eyes in order to get a good harvest.

Immediately before planting, root crops should be warmed up in spacious, bright areas. Then they are placed in the ground until sprouts form, while the material should be in a room where it is recommended to maintain 6-8 ° heat. Ready seedlings must be sent for further growth in natural conditions in well-warmed soil.

Up to 600 potato bushes are allowed to be planted on one hundred square meters of land, while it is better to arrange them in such a way as to provide good lighting. The beds are formed from north to south with an interval between rows of up to 0.75 m. As for watering potatoes, this should be done no more than 3 times over the entire period of the crop's life. The first is carried out when sprouts appear, then before flowering begins, and after it ends.

Important: to protect potatoes from the Colorado potato beetle and other pests, it is recommended to treat the tops with pesticides even before the onset of the flowering period.

Growing potatoes as a business

Consider the main stages of business development.

Land Acquisition

An important step in organizing a potato growing business is the acquisition of land. On average, one hundred square meters will have to pay 5 thousand rubles, and about 0.25-0.3 hectares will be required for planting. Thus, minimum investment for the purchase will amount to 75 thousand rubles.

A person can organize a small one, in which case his income will be small, but you won’t have to spend money on a purchase land plot. As for the lease of land, its cost can reach several thousand rubles per hundred square meters, so it is more expedient to invest in your own land. Before buying a plot, you should consult with a lawyer who will inform you about all the intricacies of land registration and assist in filling out the documents.

Business registration

To get started entrepreneurial activity, a businessman needs to contact the Federal Tax Service at the place of residence and register a peasant farm or individual entrepreneur. Often such a business is organized simultaneously by several partners. In this case, to register an enterprise, it is worth submitting an appropriate contract indicating the contact details of each of the co-owners of the business. In addition, the contract should specify the rights and obligations of each of the partners, as well as the procedure for exiting the business of each of them. If necessary, you can find out from a specialist in the department of the Federal Tax Service how to do it right and agree on the frequency of payment.

When registering a company, you must specify OKVED codes. For growing potatoes, you can choose:

01.1 - "Growing annual crops";
01.13 - "Growing vegetables, root crops, gourds and tubers, mushrooms and truffles";
01.13.1 - "Growing vegetables";
01.13.12 - "Cultivation of protected ground vegetables".

New entrepreneurs who want to make money on growing and do not know which form of taxation is better to choose. For this type of activity, the best option would be to pay a single agricultural tax, the rate of which is only 6%.

Selection of premises

A businessman should take care of the proper storage of the crop, so you need to find the appropriate storage facilities equipped with:

ventilation;
lighting;
heating system.

Storage areas must be dry, free of moisture and mold. Root crops should be dried before being placed in storage, and also sorted so that there are no rotten tubers among the crop. Illiquid potatoes can be handed over to farms specializing in other livestock, which will accept them as feed for a small price. As for the cost of renting storage facilities, it varies between 30-40 thousand rubles for 1 month.

Purchase of equipment

For the operation of a farm for growing potatoes, it is necessary to purchase the appropriate equipment. If you have to use a large amount of planting material, you should buy a potato planter. This machine allows you to perform large amounts of work in a short time and greatly simplifies the work of people.

In addition, it is desirable to acquire special harvesters for harvesting root crops. They allow you to automate harvesting, moreover, such equipment practically does not damage potato tubers. You can’t do without a potato digger on the field. Such a machine is needed for sampling root crops from the ground. You will also need a line for sorting the harvested crop on the farm, and it can also be used for onions. It allows you to easily select vegetables by size, for which the design provides for the possibility of installing gratings with the appropriate fractions.

IN without fail a small tractor will be required, with the help of which weeding work will be carried out, as well as the transportation of the crop. The minimum set of equipment for farming will be:

tractor with trailer - 250 thousand rubles;
automated line for sorting root crops - 200 thousand rubles;
potato digger - 150 thousand rubles;
harvester - 300 thousand rubles;
potato planter - 70 thousand rubles.

Total - the cost of purchasing equipment will amount to 970 thousand rubles. Most entrepreneurs do not have the opportunity to invest such an amount of money to buy the necessary equipment for the economy. For this reason, equipment can be rented or leased before harvesting.

Purchase of planting material

Another item in the cost item will be the purchase of seed and organic fertilizers, which are necessary for the full growth of the crop. About 30 thousand rubles will have to be allocated for chemicals before sowing root crops. How to correctly calculate the number of seedlings required for sowing the land? Based on practice, about 20 kg of seed (tubers) will be required per 1 weave of land. Thus, for 0.3 ha, you need to provide 20 * 30 = 600 kg of root crops. The wholesale price for the purchase of potatoes is on average 20 rubles per 1 kg, so 12 thousand rubles will have to be spent to purchase seed. Taking into account fertilizers, the costs will cost 42 thousand rubles.

Formation of a team of workers

What kind of employees to attract to work in a potato farm? To do this, it does not hurt to invite machine operators - specialists who will service the equipment and work on the land. Also, you can not do without handymen for weeding, watering and sorting root crops.

In addition, you will need an auto mechanic who will repair the equipment. In the summer, guards should be involved to control the order on the field. An example staffing might look like this:

handyman (2 people) - 16 thousand rubles;
machine operator (2 people) - 24 thousand rubles;
enterprise manager - 20 thousand rubles;
auto mechanic - 15 thousand rubles;
security guard (2 people) - 20 thousand rubles;
accounting (payment for outsourcing) - 5 thousand rubles.

In total, monthly expenses for the salaries of employees will amount to 100 thousand rubles. At first, the owner of the business can keep records of the warehouse economy, which will reduce the costs of remuneration of the relevant specialist.

Business plan for growing potatoes

Before starting implementation commercial project, an entrepreneur needs to develop a detailed business plan for growing potatoes. It allows you to determine the amount of initial costs for a start, evaluate the prospects and calculate the possible profit.

In addition, the businessman must know the amount of monthly expenses that are mandatory in the course of work. Calculate the amount of investment to start the enterprise, which includes the following components:

purchase of land - 75 thousand rubles;
purchase of equipment - 970 thousand rubles;
planting material and fertilizers - 42 thousand rubles;
business registration - 15 thousand rubles;
purchase of fuel and lubricants - 10 thousand rubles;
warehouse rental - 30 thousand rubles.

Thus, the amount of initial investments is 1.142 million rubles. Running a root crop business involves monthly costs, which include:

rent of premises - 30 thousand rubles;
payment for utilities - 25 thousand rubles;
tax deductions - 20 thousand rubles;
staff salary - 100 thousand rubles;
equipment depreciation - 15 thousand rubles;
purchase of fuel and lubricants - 10 thousand rubles;
other expenses - 10 thousand rubles.

Total - regular costs amount to 216 thousand rubles. Now let's calculate the possible profit of the enterprise. It is realistic to collect 280 kg of potatoes from one hundred square meters of land, the total yield will be 8.4 tons. Let half a ton of potatoes be unsuitable for sale. Thus, 7900 kg of root crops are obtained, which can be sold.

If you sell the harvest in bulk at a price of 20 rubles per 1 kg, total amount income will be 158 thousand rubles. When selling washed and dried root crops in small wholesale lots and retail, you can make a profit of about 40 rubles per 1 kg, which will bring 316 thousand rubles. Net profit from the sale of one crop will amount to 100 thousand rubles.

This amount can be increased many times if you organize year-round growing potatoes in greenhouses. In the future, it will not hurt to scale the business, which will lead to a significant increase in income. For example, average farms own land plots with an area of 2 hectares. This allows you to harvest more than 50 tons of crops at a time.

FAQ

Consider frequently asked questions on the topic.

What is the demand for potatoes today?

Potato is one of the most important food products, the demand for which does not depend on the season. As practice shows, the profit from the sale of root crops in winter can almost double. In addition to ordinary consumers, potatoes are purchased in large quantities manufacturing firms. For example, potatoes are used to make starch and alcohol on an industrial scale. Recently, this product has been used for the production of chips. In addition, the main buyers of potatoes are wholesalers, large retail chains and supermarkets.

Where to look for potato marketing channels?

Entrepreneurs who want, for example, initially focus on the huge consumer demand for such a product. Potatoes do not need advertising, and they will be bought in any quantities. Consider several effective ways to sell the crop:

Sale on the collective farm markets. This option is able to bring good profit, however, it should be understood that it requires an investment of a large amount of time. This task should be entrusted to one of the family members or involve implementers. It is profitable to sell potatoes from mid-autumn to early May, when this product is in great demand (despite high prices).
Delivery of potatoes for sale. A fairly promising option, since it allows you to gain a decent amount of money. To do this, it is worth finding several sellers who have their own outlets and offer them profitable terms cooperation.
Harvest wholesale. An entrepreneur can hand over large quantities of potatoes to wholesale buyers, as well as to purveyors. They offer a low price for the goods, but if you need money for all the products at once, this is the best option. It is most often resorted to by large farms that can offer buyers large quantities of goods.
Direct sales of potatoes to retail chains and stores. This option is considered the most profitable. The entrepreneur can arrange the supply of potatoes to stores at an agreed price. in great demand buyers use washed and packaged products.

Important: if it is planned to grow potatoes in large volumes, it makes sense to find buyers for the products in advance. Wholesalers and manufacturers should agree on the terms on which they will cooperate. This will allow you to grow potatoes and not worry about finding distribution channels.

What documents need to be issued for potatoes?

According to the requirements of the TR of the Customs Union, potatoes must undergo a mandatory quality assessment. For this reason, manufacturers will have to have the appropriate documentation. You can get it from an accredited organization that provides product certification services. Such a body must have the right to conduct a quality assessment food products, as well as issue relevant documents that are approved Russian legislation. If you plan to store potatoes, especially with the use of heating systems, a businessman will need to get permits for conducting business activities in state fire supervision and sanitary and epidemiological stations.

Is it possible to build a business on the resale of potatoes?

Consider the idea of a business selling potatoes, associated with its implementation by the type of market dealers. Its essence lies in the fact that you need to place ads in the sleeping areas of the city for the sale of products, receive orders from customers and breed goods at the specified addresses. It should be immediately noted that the minimum order must be at least 30 kg (the volume of one mesh). To start making money, you do not need to register an enterprise at the initial stages, spend money on rent office space or buying a vehicle.

Earnings from the sale of one grid is about 200 rubles. Renting a truck costs about 300 rubles per hour. In order to make a profit and not work at a loss, you should manage to deliver more than 3 nets of potatoes to customers during this time. Item must be purchased in advance wholesale markets or in supermarkets. To do this, it is enough to have only a few thousand rubles. start-up capital. Relatively quickly, you can reach a stable income of up to 10 thousand rubles a day, which will require daily investments in the purchase of goods of about 25 thousand. Businessmen who have already built up their client base receive up to 20 calls per hour. It is easy to calculate the possible profit per day. The best option will be the delivery of potatoes simultaneously to courtyards with multi-storey buildings, where this service is most popular.

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In summary, we note that the potato growing business is very perspective view activities. Due to the high consumer demand, the popularity of these products will not decrease, so entrepreneurs can expand their activities and consistently earn decent money.

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December 18, 2018

I would like to present to you my case of remote business in the wholesale supply of fruits and vegetables. It's about other people's vegetables and fruits, as you know. And we will act as an intermediary between the seller and the buyer. Everything that will be discussed below is personally tested by me in practice.

To make it easier, I will describe the whole scheme of our business for the sale (resale in our case) of vegetables and fruits using the example of potatoes. There is a fairly stable demand for potatoes in Russia, this is a mass product and quite inexpensive.

Intermediary agency business on wholesale sales vegetables and fruits is much easier than the classic business on the same products, which requires tens, and sometimes hundreds of millions of investments of personal funds. Therefore, in order to earn an average of a hundred thousand rubles in this business, it is enough to know general information and scheme of work in this area.

To make it as clear and understandable as possible, I’ll tell you, using the example of potatoes, the product that I chose. You can see how much the population of our country alone consumes this product every year: in 2017, 29.6 million tons of potatoes were harvested in farms of all categories, and this number is growing year by year.

So, let's begin.

Types and varieties of potatoes

All potatoes are divided into 2 types:

Seminal.
Food.

By varieties - in each area, 3-5 main varieties are usually grown. Therefore, you do not have to study a large amount of information.

Supplier search

Each supplier is interested in selling his harvest as soon as possible. Therefore, they are very willing to cooperate.

Contact information for Farm Owners can be found on the Min. Agriculture almost any area in which you reside. Or we are looking for all organizations on request - KFH (Peasant Farming) and similar in meaning to the name of the organization.

Search for vegetable suppliers in Yandex

It’s worth calling in the morning and if you didn’t get to the owner of the enterprise, then immediately ask him mobile phone which they will gladly give you.

Negotiations with suppliers

It is better, of course, to arrange a meeting by phone and personally discuss everything live, but most often the fields are located somewhere in the region and without a personal car it will be a little problematic to get there.

If you do not have a car, but there is an opportunity to ask someone, spend a day and get to know the owners personally, it is better not to waste this opportunity. This will be to your advantage. If this is not possible, then everything can be discussed over the phone.

Negotiations on time can take 10-15 minutes, and this is normal - the owners of enterprises are used to such calls and usually react positively. The task is to find out important parameters, How:

grade;
caliber(size);
expected yield;
the workload of the economy;
package;
the presence of weights;
what is the most convenient way to get there, who meets;
cash / non-cash payment, whether they work under the contract.

After that, be sure to ask for product photos. The client always asks for photos, download others from the Internet - I do not advise, because. the client is most often not the first year in this business and upon arrival can easily understand that he was deceived, which will cause a negative.

Pricing (our markup on a product)

After discussing all the parameters of the potato, it is worth warning the owner about the size of your margin.

In potatoes, it is from 50 kopecks to 2 rubles on average (for 2018).

It is better to sell at least 20 tons - this is one truck. That is, earnings will be from 10 to 40,000 rubles. from one truck. I do not recommend trading with a smaller volume.

You can sign an agency agreement with the owner, but most often a verbal agreement is enough. You take your money either in cash after the transaction, or the owner transfers it to a debit card.

Sales channels, advertising

I don’t see the point in writing a lot here, since it’s not difficult to find a client with competitive prices and acceptable product quality.

Sites such as AgroServer and Avito work best. Again, publish good photos and a full description of the benefits of the product and work with you. It is very important!

Let's talk about how much you can earn on the resale of vegetables.

Now about the main thing. Personally, I earned 80-120 thousand rubles for the seasonal month (season September - December) that year. remotely.

People who have the opportunity to attend transactions and conduct large orders through their company as intermediaries earn up to 10 million rubles. for the season. And most often then they already acquire their storage facilities and sell from it.

But we are discussing remote earnings, so you should count on the amount from 50,000 to 200,000 rubles per month. I have such earnings and the guys I know who work according to this scheme. As such, there is no ceiling on earnings of course. Everything, as always, depends on you.

Pros and cons of a vegetable resale business

pros

Earnings on average 100,000 rubles. per month.
remote work.
You do not bear any responsibility.
A lot of customers (if you post well-written ads).

Minuses

The owner can throw. In search of good suppliers, I was scammed more than once. Here, as they say, natural selection occurs by screening.
It is desirable to be on the phone from 7:00 to 22:00. Customers call at any time and you should strive to answer all calls.
Telephone costs. Well, if desired, on Avito and agroserver (but not much). To earn 80-100 tr. I invested no more than 2 thousand rubles .. / month.
The transaction cycle varies from 1 day to 2-3 weeks. Depends on the buyer.

In Russia, as you know, potato- the second bread. The appearance of potatoes in Russia is associated with the activities of Peter I. However, potatoes became most widespread in Russia in the 19th century. Since then, potatoes can be considered one of the favorite crops of Russians. And if not everyone loves to grow potatoes, then everyone loves to eat them. Or almost everything.

If you do not want to grow potatoes for sale on your own, we connect to potato business as an intermediary.

The essence of the idea is very simple and uncomplicated - we buy potatoes during the harvest season (August-September), we sell them at the peak of the growth in the price of potatoes - from December to June.

In the autumn of 2014, the price per kilogram of potatoes at agricultural fairs was at the level of 12-14 rubles per kilogram (this is the selling price to a retail buyer). In the winter of 2014-2015, the store price of potatoes fluctuates between 30-40 rubles. The cost of washed potatoes reaches 60 rubles and more.

Despite the difference in prices of different regions, and the inflation rate at different times, you can roughly imagine the order of the numbers. We sell 3-7 times more expensive than we buy. Inflation is not terrible for this business.

Since there are no trifles here, you need to carefully consider all stages of the business - purchase, storage, marketing.

Purchase of potatoes

There are several options here - purchase at wholesale depots, purchase from the population, purchase at agricultural fairs, purchase from farms or collective farms.

Purchasing at a wholesale base - everything is simple here. We arrive, buy, receive copies of the necessary documents for products in order to further sell them to the end consumer. When purchasing products from the population, we submit advertisements in the media about the purchase of potatoes.

We consider the purchase of potatoes directly "in the field" to be the most promising "topic". The collective farm / farm does not spend money on packaging, sorting, transportation, storage of products, so purchasing products directly “on the garden” is the most profitable option. In this case, it remains to think over the potato drying system - raw potatoes cannot be stored for storage - this creates the prerequisites for the rapid occurrence of mold. There may also be problems with the documentation for the batch of potatoes (giving the right to retail sale) - the farm / collective farm by this moment may not have time to receive it from the relevant authorities.

It is good if you have your own freight transport. However, its absence is not an obstacle to doing this business. We go around the nearby collective farms, state farms, farms in the spring, and clarify under what conditions it is possible to purchase potatoes in the fall directly “from the garden”. Perhaps you will be offered your own transport to deliver products to your destination. In extreme cases, you can rent a car for required amount hours.

As one of the options, you can consider the issue of cooperation with a collective farm (another farm) - for example, the storage and sorting of potatoes is carried out by the collective farm, and you are engaged in the sale of the collective farm's products and have a certain percentage from this. However, the income in this case will be less than the "independent" business, but there is less hassle.

You should not buy potatoes in an area where a phytosanitary quarantine zone has been established - there will be problems with sales. Information about this can be obtained in advance in federal service for veterinary and sanitary supervision. In the same place, by the way, you can immediately consult with regard to obtaining the necessary documentation for the sale of potatoes - in the amount of information regarding this department, you are unlikely to be refused.

Potato storage

To implement this business, you will need storage (cellar, caisson). If you have your own garage with a caisson, this is an additional plus. Although in any case, most likely you will have to rent a room, since a lot of potatoes will not fit into a standard 2m * 2m caisson.

Before storing potatoes for storage, we immediately throw out the tubers containing signs of rot - otherwise very large losses are possible in the future.

It is also necessary to periodically sort the potatoes during storage to avoid rotting, since any rot is a loss for the business.

Potatoes should be stored in dry, cool, dark, ventilated stores at a temperature of + 2C + 4C at an air humidity of 85-95%. We lay pre-dried (for example, in the sun) tubers. Usually, the height of backfilling of tubers should not exceed 1-1.5 meters, but it all depends on the ventilation system. Some experts put leaves of some plants (mountain ash, elderberry, etc.) in potatoes - this helps to prevent rot.

Potatoes can be stored "in bulk", in wooden boxes or bags.

At proper organization storage, the percentage of culling of spoiled potatoes can be minimized.

Selling potatoes

Here we divide buyers into wholesale buyers (shops, restaurants, cafes, canteens, schools, kindergartens), and into retail buyers. When selling to shops, kindergartens, etc. it is necessary to have all the documents for the potatoes sold, this is a prerequisite. In stores, products can be sold, or offered for sale on the terms of a commission agreement.

Retail buyers, as a rule, are not very interested in documents - they usually ask the question - “where are the potatoes from?”. The oral answer, as a rule, completely suits them. In principle, an ordinary consumer is more willing to buy potatoes without documents from a collective farm from his own or neighboring district of his region than potatoes from the other side of the world with documents in a store.

You can offer a discount to socially vulnerable segments of the population.

You can offer potatoes with delivery directly to the apartment, or to the cellar (caisson).

Very interesting option is the sale of washed potatoes. It is not necessary to wash the potatoes in advance, it is better to wash the potatoes immediately before the delivery of the goods to the client (at the request of the client, of course). Technically, we will not deeply consider the issue of washing - everyone can work it out on their own. Packing potatoes in containers of various sizes is also a plus - in bags of 3, 5, 10, 25 kilograms.

As a rule, if a client orders a batch of potatoes once, and the quality and price suit him completely, then in the future he becomes a regular customer.

And you need to love regular customers - periodically arrange promotions, provide discounts, etc. It is not considered bad manners to call and offer the product to a customer who purchased potatoes from you some time ago (you can offer a discount as a regular customer). Always a certain part of customers agrees to buy more. If the buyer refuses, you can clarify the reason - perhaps the client did not like the taste of potatoes. If this reason is indicated by the majority of customers, in this case, you will have to look for new suppliers.

What documents to issue for potatoes when selling it?

A declaration of conformity is issued for potatoes, it gives the right to sell potatoes on the territory of our country and the customs union. A declaration of conformity can only be issued for an organization or individual entrepreneur.

Submission of a declaration of conformity is carried out in accordance with the requirements of two current technical regulations Customs Union:

Technical regulation of the Customs Union TR TS 021/2011 "On food safety" (approved by the Decision of the Commission of the Customs Union dated December 9, 2011 No. 880).

Technical regulation of the Customs Union TR CU 022/2011 "Food products in terms of their labeling" (approved by the Decision of the Commission of the Customs Union of December 9, 2011 No. 881).

The applicant has the right, in addition to the declaration, to issue also a voluntary certificate for potatoes. This document is not a permit for the sale of products on the territory of Russia - it only confirms the compliance with the standards of the Russian Federation of those characteristics of potatoes that are not subject to mandatory verification during the declaration process. Therefore, a certificate for potatoes obtained on a voluntary basis contributes exclusively to increasing the competitiveness of this product.

In the process of reviewing documents, the necessary studies and examinations of a batch of potatoes are carried out.

There is also another document - for voluntary use. This is the national standard Russian Federation GOST R 51808-2013 (UNECE FFV-52:2010) "Ware potatoes. Specifications", modified in relation to the UNECE standard FFV-52:2010, concerning the marketing and commercial quality control of early and ware potatoes, with the date of entry into force on July 1, 2014, replacing GOST R 51808-2001. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with this document.

In Russia, legislators are very fond of frequently changing regulatory framework(the “priority” is land legislation, tax legislation and everything related to doing business), constantly complicating the conditions for doing small business. Since the information may become outdated at any time, the easiest way to do this is to contact the wholesale base, or the collective farm / farm for the purchase of a small batch of potatoes for resale. We ask for certified copies of documents for a batch of potatoes (it’s not a fact yet, by the way, that they will give you everything Required documents) in order to "sell potatoes in the store without problems with regulatory authorities." After that, we study the issued documents, contact the authorities that issued them, get the necessary advice to obtain documents for “our” batch of products.

Or you can contact specialized organizations of their city, engaged in similar services - the specialists of these firms will help you quickly and without bureaucratic delays to obtain all the necessary documents from government agencies.

Highly recommend to have on sale potato all necessary documents. It's not that hard to get them if you want. You still have time before the season, so you can easily find more detailed information on this issue and study the necessary documents.

This business can be run by registering as an individual entrepreneur, or by opening an LLC. There is a very good video on the topic of choosing between IP and LLC co. comparative analysis the main criteria, we recommend that you look. The video is located.

The food market is the future, so now it is better not to miss the chance to occupy your niche in this market.

More information on this idea for starting and running a business can be obtained.