Business Plan

Hi Everybody

I have a business plan. In united states there are lot of food products available - right from cheese to juices u have varieties. For pita breads there are readymade pita pockets available. For spring rolls u have rice papers. U name them it is available in the store. But in India we dont have options like this. In a city like chennai for example take nilgiris they always have only 2 cheeses like cheddar and mozarella.

Now that internet facility is available at every house and people browse recipes, they try out each day with new ingredients. So it is high time we stack up all those in our pantry too.

My suggestion is anybody of you from united states can approach your friends or relatives who are already in retail or wholesale business in food products or even not necessary they can start one new.

All u have to do is buy from wholesale / retail and export to in India for distribution or they can start food store themselves.

This is one of my business idea.

Thank You

jay

Hi,
Hmm...
Wouldn't it be cheaper to make these items in India? I think it would be more expensive to export food items from US to India.
Let's open this topic for discussion. I think its very interesting.
Anjali

hi Anjali

You are absolutely right Anjali. To begin manufacturing we need some volumes which unfortunately it is not there right now. So to start with we do have to source out these goods from the present manufacturers and then later on when there is decent volume we can think about manufacturing .

We have to just identify the products. Import a wide variety but in less quantity and test the market.


jay.

Originally Posted by AnjaliD

Hi,
Hmm...
Wouldn't it be cheaper to make these items in India? I think it would be more expensive to export food items from US to India.
Let's open this topic for discussion. I think its very interesting.
Anjali

Do you really want to take this seriously?
If yes, then we can start the research. I can give you very good input from the US side. I have been here in US for a long time now and have pretty good knowledge abt the market here and what' new, etc.
I can also find out the details abt exporting to India from here.

But then someone needs to research the market in India. Like, what could be a good product to try, which city, etc. Looks like we do have ladies from Bangalore, Chennai,etc. So I am sure other ladies might be able to give some good input here.

What do you say? Shall we start the research ??
(This is exciting )

Cheers,
Anjali

Hi

The research can be done. I can find out what products that has to be really imported. But after that we have to market the products and go for distribution. I would prefer a marketing company to do it rather than me doing it. Distribution i think can be handled by me. My area of operation would be chennai and coimbatore only.

But this requires some efforts and an initial investment. But all this it takes lot of time. What is your idea about it? Let me know

jay

Originally Posted by AnjaliD

Do you really want to take this seriously?

If yes, then we can start the research. I can give you very good input from the US side. I have been here in US for a long time now and have pretty good knowledge abt the market here and what' new, etc.
I can also find out the details abt exporting to India from here.

But then someone needs to research the market in India. Like, what could be a good product to try, which city, etc. Looks like we do have ladies from Bangalore, Chennai,etc. So I am sure other ladies might be able to give some good input here.

What do you say? Shall we start the research ??
(This is exciting )

Cheers,
Anjali

Dear Jaynash,
You are right that in USA everything is available while in India, we have not many stores from where we can procure these things.
Its one thing but the other thing is that you are asking to import these things from USA.
Here, I would say, its not going to work (sorry for being staight forward).
There are so many reasons.
I don't know whether you are aware of any of the rules for importing things to India. The price of the things will become at least 4-5 times of USA if you count all the expenses from preparation to preservation and transportation to India.
Another reason is that most of the Indians are not very fond of trying out things at home and are mainly cost consious, they can't spare 500-800 rupees to buy 200 gm of some fancy cheese.
About USA market, people are getting enough money and the cost of food is really cheap in the sense that anybody can afford anything available in the supermarket.
You can't think of having chicken/mutton/paneer in you everyday meal with varieties of icecream/juices/cakes in india but here its going to cost you not more than 500-600 dollars per month (while your income is 2500-3500 at least) if you have all these everyday.
Also, in USA most of the house has two income and three-four persons to live on that while in India mostly 5-6 people depends on a singlt income (here I am giving the example of a typical indian home, exceptions are always there).
So, trying out things in india is literally difficult and I could not think anything positive abt importing things to India.
Rather I think if you are really very much interested, you can try out some food based business in india where man power and raw material is cheap. See the market for these fancy items and then expand your business. Then you can think of importing certain things to India, not from USA but from countries whose currency value is less than India taking care of your profit.
Regards.

Originally Posted by jaynash

Hi

The research can be done. I can find out what products that has to be really imported. But after that we have to market the products and go for distribution. I would prefer a marketing company to do it rather than me doing it. Distribution i think can be handled by me. My area of operation would be chennai and coimbatore only.

But this requires some efforts and an initial investment. But all this it takes lot of time. What is your idea about it? Let me know

jay

Hi jaynash,

Hope i am not butting in...butin a span of 2 years i had seen more of products from uae in spencers daily...and slowly the manufacturing of these products have also started. and there are more local products......

I think it would be more viable to look at all markets and the things that are available and then looks out at options.

please check out the supermarkets..these days most of the products are already available. you have to make a list of what is not available and what the people who have r2i from us/uk would like.
(My opinion is the one who wants those products will definitely buy it from the supermarket..irrespective of the cost..but what is that percentage.??)

And the market for those products..since you will have to put the cost of importing into the cost of the product....

There is tuff competition out there. and you can go in for distribution set up with an already existing one.

and if still not convinced...check out the food column.in the HINDU..these days there are lot of home based entrepreneurs who are already doing it.....

my 2 cents.....

Dear Meeta,

Hi. U have a very bad picture about India. It is not what u think. Today in India even a Housemaid gets paid minimum 2500/mnth. Lunch buffet per person at hotel starts at 600/person. Most of the restaurants in India are full even on weekdays. There are families who make desserts for parties out of Godiva chocolates. U take this Indus ladies site for example how many women have queries in recipes? Do u still say that people are hesitant to try out new recipes? Cost consious is definatly there, its there in every country. What we are talking abt is the per captia income of indians which has gone up considerably so does the disposable income.Umpteen number of shopping malls are coming up daily. Real estate is booming. It is cheaper to buy property in US than in India, but still theres a demand.

I know about importing. We are into logistics too. After saying that we very well know the working of Customs, duties etc..etc..We have a clients who import Consumer goods into India. And I know how well they are doing.We are also owners of a Fitness Club and we know how many people approach us for quality nutrition products.

So I dont think its a bad idea for anybody to look into importing food products. And come April'08 the Customs duties are going to go little more south too. And I would definatly will look into it.

Originally Posted by Meeta

Dear Jaynash,
You are right that in USA everything is available while in India, we have not many stores from where we can procure these things.
Its one thing but the other thing is that you are asking to import these things from USA.
Here, I would say, its not going to work (sorry for being staight forward).
There are so many reasons.
I don't know whether you are aware of any of the rules for importing things to India. The price of the things will become at least 4-5 times of USA if you count all the expenses from preparation to preservation and transportation to India.
Another reason is that most of the Indians are not very fond of trying out things at home and are mainly cost consious, they can't spare 500-800 rupees to buy 200 gm of some fancy cheese.
About USA market, people are getting enough money and the cost of food is really cheap in the sense that anybody can afford anything available in the supermarket.
You can't think of having chicken/mutton/paneer in you everyday meal with varieties of icecream/juices/cakes in india but here its going to cost you not more than 500-600 dollars per month (while your income is 2500-3500 at least) if you have all these everyday.
Also, in USA most of the house has two income and three-four persons to live on that while in India mostly 5-6 people depends on a singlt income (here I am giving the example of a typical indian home, exceptions are always there).
So, trying out things in india is literally difficult and I could not think anything positive abt importing things to India.
Rather I think if you are really very much interested, you can try out some food based business in india where man power and raw material is cheap. See the market for these fancy items and then expand your business. Then you can think of importing certain things to India, not from USA but from countries whose currency value is less than India taking care of your profit.
Regards.

I kind of agree with Jay abt Indians buying power. Indians are spending good money on good quality , new products. Just one trip to cities like Bangalore, B'bay will give you an idea of their spending power.

Actually, I do think that this business plan might work, if executed properly.
Jay is suggesting that the importing of goods should be done only till the market is tested and then the manufacturing can be done locally.

Indians (especially the younger generation) have a decent spending power now and I think that it should be tapped.
For example - how much do you think Pizza costs from Pizza Hut ?? I was amazed at the cost but people are buying pizza. Its new and it hip. Image is important.

I think this idea should work with good planning.
Anjali

Blondie joining in the discussion

How about food products that fits the indian tastes too but are not available due to not many people knowing ?? here i am thinking mexican and spanish.

Ex.
1. salsas (there are so many different kinds of salsas available in US market)
2. Sour creams
3. Bean dips
4. Corn chips
5. tortillas
6. sundried tomatos in olive oil
7.chipotle peppers

All the above products can be made locally with authentic mexican/spanish recipes and the spice levels can suit the local tastes. There a numerous spnish / mexican resipes that make use of the above products.

and to contain costs why not look at importing from south american countries (poor cousins of US) where one can get the very same products from the very same manufacturers but for much lesser cost (buy low & sell high)

this is a very interesting idea raised by jaynash. lets keep it going