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Vital Information:
Start-up Investment:
Low - $2000 (advertising costs)
High - $20,000 (includes a van)
Break-even time
Two week to one year
Estimate of Annual Revenue and Profit:
Revenue $15,000 - $1 million (solo at low end,
with employees at high end)
Profit (Pre-tax ) $12,000 - $500,000
Food for Thought (and Profit)
In this age of two-income families, it is a rarity to find
a woman who has time to manage both her career and
her home with the finesse that she would like.
As the number of frozen meals and fast food restaurants
multiply, families are becoming increasingly dependent
on them.
Consequently, people are consuming substantial
amounts of "empty calories". The result?
... obesity. Another? Children with behavioral
problems.
On the flip side, people are becoming more aware of
the value of "whole foods" as opposed to prepackaged.
Not only families with busy parents use "Personal
Grocery Shoppers, but executives use them also.
With technology advancing as rapidly as it is... executives
are increasingly required to produce more projects given the
same amount of time. They simply don't have the time to
go to the grocery store and carefully choose healthy foods.
Don't forget about the elderly and those with physical
challenges. Many Senior's as well as others who are
physically challenged require "Grocery Shopping" services.
Also, consider Adult Family Homes and Foster Homes.
Often, it is difficult for care providers to schedule in time
to grocery shop.
I've learned that with both Adult Family Homes as well as
with Foster Homes, that the care provider's are required to
have a liscenced person remain with clients in the event that
the care provider needs to leave the home...Obviously, a
hidden cost.
Keep in mind that there are NUMEROUS Adult Family Homes
and Foster Homes that are run by couples as well as singles.
Contrary to popular thought, most of these homes are small
operations.
You can contract with Foster Homes and Adult Family Homes
and do the shopping for them.
How can you Cash in on
the Grocery Business?
Grocery shopping is one of the newest and potentially
lucrative services now being offered to the American
consumer. Why not capitalize on this ever increasing
industry?
Who, What, Where...
There are many different types of grocery-shopping
services popping up all over the country. Some are
attached to large supermarket chains; a division of
the parent company or someone leasing space as a
concession.
At the other end of the spectrum are homemakers,
singles, and college students who Earn a living
by doing the grocery shopping for others.
Benefits To Owning A Home Based Grocery Business
· A Home Based Grocery Business allows for a
flexable work schedule.
· Can be performed...even if you have young
children.
· Opportunity to meet people
· Low start up
· Low overhead
· Simple
· Lucrative
No matter what form the service takes, the
opportunities can be mind-boggling. Even the
single enterprising shopper can make a good
living for the next dozen years or so... until
supermarket chains catch on...
Once more supermarkets catch on, it may be
possible to present your existing service to the
supermarket chain as an established service.
By contracting your services with a grocery store
chain, you can cash in. Of course, at that point,
it's likely that you will have employees doing the
shopping for you.
Since there are so few grocery shopping companies
around, you will have to decide for yourself what the
market will be when setting your prices.
You will probably want to break down your prices to reflect
the dollar amount of the order, the distance for delivery and
whether you can handle several orders at the same time.
(For example: $10 for a $50 order within a 5 mile radius).
Keep in mind, the bottom line in this business is volume.
The more orders you can fill at one time and the fewer miles
you have to travel, the more lucrative your business
will be.
About Start-Up Costs
All you really need to start a shopping service is
customers. You can use word of mouth advertising
to start, if money is seriously tight.
Investing in flyers and peppering the
neighborhoods you choose may be the place to
start.
Note: Whenever I make flyers, I make them
the size of a business card. This way, I get more
advertisement for my buck AND people hang on
to a card size flyer longer.
... Just make a template in your work processor that
contains 3 rectangles across and 4 down. PERFECT.
You can design an eye-catching flyer and
print several thousand copies.
Note: At your local Office Depot, you'll receive a HUGE
discount when you have 500 sheets run at one time.
I don't recommend using your printer at home. The cost
of ink is...NUTS.
Choosing Customers for your Shopping Business
You will want to target your potential area carefully.
Look for affluent neighborhoods where both spouses are
working, neighborhoods populated by executives, Computer
programmers....Foster/Adult care Homes.
Note: Get your hands on a Cole's Directory.
Often, you'll find them in your local Library. You can also
lease them directly from Cole's. Anyhow, within the Cole's
Directory, you can look up addresses within it. The Beauty
is that Cole's lists the average income for the particular
neighborhood.
Advertising
You can either hire kids to hand deliver the flyers in
the specified neighborhoods or utilize bulk mail to
send your flyers to a particular zip code.
I've paid kids .05 cents per door. Neighborhood newspapers
and pennysavers are often an economical place to advertise.
You might want to speak with the management at the
supermarket you plan to utilize to see if you can post a
notice in the store on the bulletin board or pass out
brochures or flyers in the parking lot or at the door of
the sore.
But remember, referrals are a wonderful way to increase
business and costs nothing... So, it's important to behave
in a professional manner.
Continue to be warm and friendly but don't confuse this
with friendship development. In other words, don't make
it a habit to hang around too long after your job is done.
Keep it light, warm and professional. Don't become their
psychologist.
Once you've developed trust, ask for referrals. You can
design a referral program too.
Other than advertising costs, the only start-up cost you
will really need is a vehicle (a roomy station wagon or
van) that can accommodate your orders.
Other Considerations
If you don't have such a vehicle and money is tight, you
can explore the possibility of leasing one. If you lease an
automobile under your business name, you can write the
monthly payments off. Of course you don't have to concern
yourself with auto repair hassles...by leasing.
As business picks up, consider adding coolers to keep perishables
on ice so that you can lengthen your delivery route.
Another thought... turn your baseme or extra bedroom
into warehouse so you can stock high profit bulky
items like sodas or disposable diapers.
This way you can purchase in quantity from a wholesaler or food
warehouse, increasing your profits.
Designing your Grocery Shopping Business
Some shopping services ask their customers to place orders on a
regimented schedule; one each week or every ten days.
It's also common that customers are requested to check off their
items on a pre-printed shopping list. You can design the list so
that "Produce" is in one section, "Meats" in another, and so on.
This method guarantees a minimum number of orders per week
and allows for long range scheduling.
Other services are more flexible by allowing customers to "call
in" to order on as-needed basis. This method maybe harder to
schedule but could pull in more business because of increased
frequency or impulse buying.
Because it is not a very good idea to carry a lot of cash around
with you, it may be a good idea for your company to pay for
the order as you purchase them and then collect a check from
your customers upon delivery.
You will probably want to choose one particular supermarket in
which to do all your shopping. Not only do you become familiar
with the location of all the items you need, but you can become
familiar with the store's personnel. A friendly "hello" how are
you", may be the little boost you need to be able to get the best
cuts of beef from the butcher or the best produce from the
produce manager.
Time Is Money
If you are only shopping for prepackaged food, you can
really move through the supermarket, but if you have to
inspect produce, meats, or fish, the time you spend is
going to be greatly increased. So, charge accordingly.
You may also want to consider shopping in stores other
than supermarkets. Customers may want you to stop by
the liquor store, deli or carry-out.
You may wish to increase your fees for this additional
service or charge the same as you do for groceries.
It's up to you.
Note: if you base your pricing on the dollar volume for
the delivery, the more expensive price tags at those
specialty stores will make it worthwhile to make the extra
stops.
Organizational ability is the key to a successful grocery
shopping service. It is a challenge to keep orders straight
since you will probably be shopping for several accounts
at once.
With Experience, you will discover ways to make
this easier, but you may wish to use two carts and put
hand held baskets into the carts to create separations.
Note: the cashier must ring each order separately
in order to provide receipts for each of your clients.
Remember, in any service organization, you are selling
yourself, as much as you are selling your product.
Courtesy, punctually, and a big smile can take you a
long way down the road to success.
For additional information helpful in setting up your new
business, information about licenses, permits, the legal
structure of your business, taxes, insurance and much
more, continue to read our Ezine and visit our site at:
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If you decide that a Grocery Shopping Business is your
work from home choice, you'll need to create a Business
Plan to ensure that you approach your business methodically.
You can obtain more information a "fill in the blank" type of business
plan. It's a simple format to get you up and going, quickly.
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and require time and energy.
If you're willing to make a killing for your employer, why not invest into
your own future?
Why do I do this? Due to medical reasons, I have a special needs
child with severe medical problems, I was forced to stay home.
I have spent countless hours weeding through books, magazines
and the internet. I LOST a lot of MONEY. In fact, there were times
that I lost more money than I gained.
Why? Because I THOUGHT, like so many others, that all that was
required for a successful home based business was to buy into it.
WRONG.
Finally, 6 years ago, I operated a profitable mail order business.
I didn't become rich but I earned on average, $4,000/mo. working
part time, at home, with two children, one of whom requires a
tremendous amount of time.
Now, I'm sharing with you, what I've learned and what I am yet to learn.
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Shawn Price-Pierce
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