Paper plate business plan & How to start paper plate business

Paper plate making business is making a splash with its massive gross margin. If you want to remain ahead of the pack (competitors), go through this article to get a fair idea about this business.

In a gathering of hundred people at your place, would you think it to be economical to use your China crockery and what about the after party cleansing of those dishes? Okay, just take it a little further. Imagine a child headed to nosh on chips and there resonated the sound of cracklings of dishes one after the other. Terribly horrifying, it might give you a tiny heart attack.

You may think of some better option that’s when paper plates comes in handy. Thank your stars that a man like Martin Keyes exist in the history, who realized  the need for disposable plates and he is the forerunner of Keyes Fibre Company, a paper plate making business, thought of the trouble way ahead of time in 1904 to relieve you off the daily life gig. The invention of paper plate business attained skyrocketed success in its nascent stage only but sadly because of quagmire fire and earthquake that asunder the people of San Francisco in 1906. Afterwards, many paper plate making business ramped the market, making high quality plates at cheaper rates. Rest is history and the repercussions of it are evidently visible, securing a place in every household kitchen. The demand and need for paper plates is undoubtedly pertinent for smooth functioning of any event be it a house party, birthdays, anniversaries, picnics, small get together, roadside stalls, mobile food vendors, school canteen, hospital canteen, in educational institutes, fast food corners, etc. Paper plates have ubiquitous presence in every food related business. They are easy and light to hold and are easy to dispose off. You no longer have to worry for doing dishes after the party ends. Demand for it, is backed by cheap prices that make it economical.

The demand for paper plates is partly attributed to the laws formulated by the governments’ worldwide that put the ban on manufacturing and using of plastic plates, bags, etc, owing to the role of non-biodegradable characteristic of plastic in deteriorating environmental health. International and domestic authorities (government) being responsible advocators of environmental issues, favors eco-friendly products and paper plates does satisfy this criteria. The gradual dying out of plastic plates, revitalize the demand for paper plates in the market. It has contributed in bringing down the food borne diseases. The proliferated demand for paper plate has given pump to paper making business. Also, the paper plate business profit margin is huge that attract more aspiring entrepreneurs to take it up as a financially stable business prospect. You can make lakhs of money from paper making business.

Does it sound alluring? It surely is. Pull up your socks and be ready to jump into the league.

I’ll try to give you fair idea to ace the field of paper plate business.

Paper plate business plan

Firstly, chalk out paper plate business plan. You already know that paper plate business is already a well established and well developed business with many competitors in the market. You need to understand the market, it’s plus points, negatives and strategic tactics. Know what are the prerequisite qualities needed to do this business, in short get the hack of it. If you facing trouble in formulating paper plate business plan then don’t rely on guesswork, hire a consultant or expert in this field who will help you out in articulating difficult aspects of paper plate making business and in troubleshooting your problems. Draw out the plan depending upon your business goals. Well developed helps you organize resources. Proper paper plate business plan will act as a guiding light that will give you sense of direction.

How to start paper plate business?

Fresher in the industry? Don’t know how to start paper plate business? No problem. Let’s get started.

Getting a legal permit to operate your paper plate business should be your primary concern. Make your business a legal entity. It could be partnership firm or sole proprietorship or any other business type.

Give a name to your firm and get it trademark registered.

Get the trading license from the local municipal authorities and certificate from pollution control board to operate.

Register your firm under Udyog Aadhar as micro small and medium enterprise.

To avail benefits of government schemes, you can also apply for SSI registration. It is voluntary in nature

Mandatory registration under GST

If you are employing more than 10 workers then PF registration is important and if you are employing more than 20 workers than ESI registration is important.

After all the legalities, now comes the operational part.

To begin a paper plate making business, you need a physical space to set up your manufacturing unit. The location should be determined keeping the following aspects in mind.

Your manufacturing unit should fall under the industrial zone; this will involve low investment in acquiring the land, gives you economies of scale, economies of agglomeration, etc.

Proper space is needed so that you can install your machinery and raw material. Also the warehousing and storage requirements are fed upon.

There should be easy Availability of raw material. So that in case of emergency, the business operation doesn’t stand at halt. You will require paper rolls, printed paper and packaging material.

Procure machinery at affordable rates. Conduct market research; select the supplier that is offering machinery at reasonable rates with additional benefits such as maintenance and repair service, installation service, etc.

Road Connectivity is important because a remotely located unit will cost massive transportation charges in procuring raw material and supplying finished product in the market and are time consuming. This can hinder your business growth.

Set up your paper plate business plant in close proximity to the marketplace so that you can easily make your product available. The overhead transportation cost is reduced.

Proper supply of electricity and water to run your machinery and manufacturing process.

Easy labor availability. Dearth of labor can bring your business operation to a complete standstill. There is no doubt that machines have made the task much easier but you need workers to operate that machinery.

The plot where you have set up your unit, it should be legally permissible plot of land, so that you are not followed by trail of legalities. That makes the business operations cumbersome.

Formulate paper plate business project report.

Preparing paper plate business project report is of utmost importance. It gives you a fair idea about the viability of the business venture that you want to start. Its economic worthiness, practicality of project implementation, scheduling feasibility, budget, resources, possibilities of running it successfully, legal procedure involved, environmental laws, marketing, tax obligations, etc, are all carefully examined. You should prepare paper plate business project report before operating as a paper plate making business. It will act as a shock absorber when you know forthcoming issues and you are well equipped with tracking those problems beforehand.

Important points while running a paper plate business

The production capacity – If you are employing a fully automated single hydraulic system machine costing around Rs. 65,000 (approx) ,it has the production capacity of 3,000 pieces per hour and if you operating it for 10 hours then it will give you 30,000 pieces. In case of double cylinder paper plate hydraulic machine, you can get up to 2,00, 000 pieces in a day if it is operating for 10 hours, this machines cost around 1,10,000 (approx). Consider machines that fulfill your demand and falls under your budget.

Quality of the product- Deliver only high quality product, this will earn you client’s trust and good market share in the long run. A low quality product might save your money at first but it will lose your clients forever. Never compromise on quality.

Variation- Paper plate comes in different size and shapes. Depending upon the market demand, produce that product. Otherwise it would be foolish of you to give variety that has no demand base. It will only incur you losses.

Marketing

Targeting of potential buyers is must. You can’t improve your sales without addressing potential buyers. It is important to foster a long lasting relationship cemented upon trust and credibility. This enlarged the market share and hence profit. Develop marketing strategies to Increase your sales so that there is optimal utilization of resources and machinery which might remain under-utilized in the dearth of demand.

Set up strong relation with distributors which helps in facilitating in cob webbing network with potential customers. It helps you establish your presence in the retail stores, convenience store, wholesalers, etc. Device strategies to boost the sales, for attracting initial sales you can price your product at lower rates. Also engage in online advertising on your official website.

Once you get the rhythm of paper plate business, the profits are not far from you. It won’t be an exaggeration to say that paper plate business profit margin is 4 times the original investment. Let’s say you are investing Rs.1 lakh then you will be able to make sales around of Rs.4 lakhs. The paper plate business profit margin is of 3 lakhs. You can increase these profits when you reap the benefits of economies of scales, work efficiency and optimum utilization of resources.