By Bimbola Oyesola
Few days from now, schools will be re-opening from the long vacation and students are returning to schools with virtually new items, from books, school uniforms, sandals and bags. For a discerning entrepreneurs some good cash can actually be raked in this season, especially from the production and supply of school bags. School bag making business is a lucrative idea that can be operated from home.
Investment for school bag making Business is indeed a long term business. It is a necessary item for every school and college students and nowadays it is also used by office people and travellers because of its reasonable price and strength. With the help of the school bag making machine, the production procedure has become very easy and production cost also reduced which gives a great boost to this business.
Why invest in school bag production
•Making school bag can be done as home based business. Hence it saves entrepreneurs cost on accommodation.
•There is huge demand all of the year round.
•There is little risk involved in this business.
With a population of over 180 million, the count of students in every states and towns is very high. Naturally, the demand for school bags both in urban and rural areas is high and also continues to grow every year. Even some state governors have taken it up as part of their manifestos to provide books, school bags and some essentials for the students as part of the efforts to improve the standard of education in their domain.
Earlier there were very few types of material available for the making of schools bags and they were usually made manually. But nowadays, with the introduction of semi automatic heavy duty sewing machine, the bag manufacturing process becomes very easy and also requires very less labour.
Also, most of the schools, especially the private schools provide school bags to the students. So as an owner of the school bag making business, you can have a contract with any of the educational institute like schools or colleges to supply bags to them.
Taking a contract ensures a definite sale of a bulk amount of manufactured bag in every year and helps in getting a free flow of cash to the business. Over that, there are many private companies which provide bags to the employees. So along with educational institutes, private companies also provide a great opportunity of a great market to the business.
Below however are steps essentials to start the School Bag Making Business.
Research:
Every business needs a thorough research of the same. You need to find out about the various aspects of the business in details. Find out the supplier of raw materials, manufacturing process along with the required infrastructure and capital investment. Also, know the different pros and cons of the business so that you can plan in advance to tackle the same.
Business plan:
A business plan is a key to the success of a business idea. It contains the detailed information about the steps and plans about how to run the business in a profitable manner and how to grow the same.
Registration
This is very important, but has now been demstifyied with the government policy on the ease of doing business. An Entreprenuer can easily register a business with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) within 48 hours. While considering registration, give an attractive brand name for your product and formalise all registration procedures with other authorized bodies.
Fund
While researching about the business, you will calculate the total costs of the project that you need to invest for starting this business. Finance can be arranged from banks as a loan. With the introduction of the new government policies, you can get financial assistance from banks without much collateral deposits. You just need to submit a well-crafted business plan.
Location
You can start the school bag making business at your home only if you have the required empty space. It will save a lot of cost you will have incurred taking a different place for rent or lease. A business from home can also be beneficial as you can take help from the family members also.
Required machinery and equipment
Industrial sewing machine and tape braiding machine are the prime requirement for the production of school bags. The other equipment is working tables, scissors, hammers etc.
Raw Materials
In order to fulfill the changing demands of the customers, a variety of fabrics like nylon, polyethylene or canvas are used to make school bags of different designs. Yarns and other consumables such as chains, stickers, buck lace, eye lace, ribbons, and buttons are also required.
Production process
At first, bag fabric is mainly cut into three pieces i.e. front, back with top flap, and gusset. The front section is attached with a patch pocket for keeping small articles. Next, all the pieces are stitched in machine with a minimum 10 mm wide piping at the pocket, top edges and the sides. Two buckles with straps are provided with the bag. It is neatly finished after fixing stickers, chain, buck lace etc.
Qualification
Making school bag may not necessarily need any special qualification, but all the same you will need to hire some experience hands to drive the production.
Promotion
Marketing and promotion are the steps which will decide the quick success of your business. Take extensive steps to promote the business so that every possible client and customer of the school bag knows about your business. These steps can include both online and offline. You can supply to the online shop according to their demand. You can as well create your own website and sell online.
Meanwhile there are many materials available now in the market which provides a great scope to manufacture a high-quality product. Maintain the quality of the product and provide the product in the market at a reasonable rates and success will be easy to achieve.
You can also make use of such animation figures, like spiderman, batsman, superman, which the children are found of to design the bags.This makes it looks attractive and definitely will give you the required edge. Customer satisfaction, however should be the watchword, it is all you need to get succed in this line of business.