A business card is an affordable and effective form of advertising. It is difficult to meet a business person who would not have this small and beautiful card. Since the production of such printing products does not require much investment and time, the business of making and printing business cards looks tempting. Especially during an economic downturn, when any quick payback ideas are worth their weight in gold. But no matter how simple it is to run this type of business, before opening own production, you need to familiarize yourself with some of the nuances. They will be covered in this article.

Benefits of a business card business

Well-established production of business cards can become successful business in terms of popularity among customers and profitability. And this is not surprising, if we take into account the advantages of this type of activity.

1. Simplicity technological process. Indeed, to start you do not need to own any specific professional knowledge. After spending a couple of hours studying production techniques, you can open your own company without involving professionals.
2. Business card printing equipment is cheap. In addition, it is easy to choose the right technique, because it is offered in a wide range.
3. The cost of making business cards is much less than their final price. Sometimes the margin can be 200% or even more.
4. Small equipment dimensions and low maintenance requirements commercial activities allow you to start the process at home without the need for a specialized production premises.

Consider good example how a simple idea can turn into highly profitable business in just a few weeks.

Stages of opening the production of business cards

Search and rent office space

As already noted, this item is optional, especially at the initial stage of work. But if you are thinking about expanding your business and attracting solid clients, it makes sense to open an office. The premises can be of any type - from a small office in the business center to a small "corner" in a shopping mall. Size does not matter, the main thing is the good location of the object so that it is in full view of many of your potential customers every day. Such a room is also suitable for the service "urgent production of business cards."

Formation of the assortment

To get things going from the first days of work, you need to provide your customers with as many services as possible. Potential customers can be offered all kinds of business cards. They include corporate cards (containing data on the service and the company), business cards (with information emphasizing the business benefits of cooperation), personal, family. Regardless of the type of business cards ordered by the client, different approaches must be taken. The materials for making cards deserve special attention. The most common are cardboard and paper. Plastic business cards are more expensive to make, so you should prepare for the fact that a smaller percentage of people will order them.

The key point and important competitive advantage your company may be offered to create an original design. After all, every entrepreneur wants to stand out from his competitors, and a business card made with a unique approach will allow him to realize the idea in the best possible way. But such production is costly: you will either have to understand the design yourself, or use the services of a professional in this field. It is important to decide on the type of printing business cards. After all, there are several of them, and each has its positive and negative sides.

1. Offset printing business cards. This is a special technology, within the framework of which it is supposed to carry out the transfer of ink from the form to the material by means of a special offset cylinder. The first machines of this form appeared in 1905. Obvious advantages are excellent quality, the ability to use any paper, the manufacture of large print runs and low cost. However, the process requires pre-press processing and serious preparation.
2. Digital printing of business cards. This is a type of printing that is used with special digital equipment that prints from an electronic file. The method involves direct application of paints. The advantages include small resources and high printing speed. The downside is high rate printing costs and lower quality compared to offset products.
3. Laser printing of business cards. This is a technological process consisting of applying and fixing an image. An obvious plus is the high speed and accuracy of printing, good level durability. The disadvantages include radiation during the operation of the printer, high power consumption, high cost, demanding paper for printing.

You can also offer your customers the printing of double-sided business cards, because every entrepreneur wants all the information about him and his company to fit on this small card.

Study of production technology

This process consists of several stages, which are easy to perform and do not take much time.

1. Preparing a layout in accordance with the wishes of the client, designing a business card.
2. Coordination of the result with the customer: if the customer is satisfied with everything, the resulting blanks are subject to printing.
3. Cutting the resulting sheet into individual elements of the required format.
4. Packing received business cards.

Purchase of materials and equipment

After that, you need to buy equipment for making business cards. The following items of equipment will be required for work:

• a powerful personal computer costing from 30,000 rubles: it makes sense to purchase it only for the office when it comes to home production, you can use the computer that you have;
• professional printing device (printer) at a price of 20,000 rubles;
• scanner - over 5,000 rubles;
• cutter for business cards - 15,000 rubles;
• coating machine - 10,000 rubles.

This is a basic list of things that should be present in your "workshop". The most difficult thing is to choose and buy a printer for printing business cards, since the ability of the device to perform the task assigned to it largely depends on its quality. To ensure that customers are always satisfied with the cards they receive, it is recommended to immediately acquire a reliable device. Prices are for new devices, if you do not have enough Money to buy in a store, you can turn to used printers. But do not be led by sellers offering suspicious low prices, otherwise you run the risk of buying an overly "worn out" unit. It can be concluded that the overall minimum amount the cost of opening printing services will amount to 80,000 rubles, not taking into account the opening of an office.

As a material, you will regularly need paper for printing business cards on a printer (as well as cardboard or plastic), paint. About 10,000 rubles a month will be spent on this raw material.

All about the financial side of the issue

Practice shows that if you foresee the details before opening a business and competently approach the organization of work, you can reach a net profit very soon. So, the amount of capital investments is 80,000 rubles. We repeat that we are talking about such a type of activity as making business cards at home, that is, without renting a room and hiring employees. Surely, you also have a personal computer, then you can avoid buying it. In this case, the amount of initial investment will be even less - 50,000 rubles. To them you can add insignificant advertising costs, amounting to 5,000 rubles. Total - 55,000 rubles.

And now - more about the revenue side.

1. The cost of the simplest paper business card, made according to the template, is from 10-20 rubles apiece.
2. If monthly income will be at first 25,000 rubles, then the profit will be equal to the amount equal to income minus expenses.
3. And the total cost will be 15,000 rubles (advertising and paper).
4. Net profit per month: 25,000 - 15,000 = 10,000 rubles.
5. The payback period of investments is calculated as the amount of the initial investment divided by the monthly profit: 55,000 / 10,000 = 5.5 months.

That is, by paying the price of equipment and opening your own production business cards, you can count on the fact that after 5.5 months (rounded up - after six months) your investment will pay off.

Where can you find clients?

So, running such a business is extremely simple, but the main question remains: where to look for customers? In fact, it is unlikely that it will be possible to attract large sharks of entrepreneurship, because corporations, as a rule, cope with such tasks on their own. Therefore, among the categories of your customers are individual entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized businesses, individuals and professionals. narrow specialties– accountants, lawyers, designers, notaries. According to this audience, there are several places to submit ads:

• submission of texts to newspapers;
• advertising on the Internet;
• distribution of leaflets.

For a home business, the most powerful tool is to maintain a page in social network.

So, we examined what this type of entrepreneurship is and noted that when rational organization activities can achieve good results.

Nowadays, a business card is one of the easiest ways to convey information about the goods or services provided. Moreover, this is an excellent impetus for the implementation of an excellent business idea and further good earnings. The fact is that today a business card is the most necessary and integral element of any business and information transfer. For this reason, business card making is considered one of the most flawless options to start with the smallest investment. Consider this very promising business idea in more detail.

business card business

Each business card has its own individual design. Its design can show the direction of the field of activity of the whole company or a single specialist. Mandatory elements on a business card are the name of the company or the name, surname, patronymic of the person who performs specific types of work. The business card also contains various contact information: phone number, company website address, Email or fax.

Equipment for the production of business cards

To implement the idea requires equipment. The list includes a color inkjet printer, a computer, a paper cutter (a guillotine if you need to cut a lot of business cards) and a laminator. With these things you can print and cut the right amount of your product.

Consumables are also important (here it is printer ink and sheets of paper or cardboard of different densities). Clients, however, as well as orders, are different. Someone wants to buy the most inexpensive business cards that can be printed on ordinary thin paper, others require cardboard laminated business cards. You must be prepared for all the subtleties of the work. You will also need stocks of special film for lamination.

Where to get money to start own business? This is the problem faced by 95% of new entrepreneurs! In the article, we have revealed the most relevant ways of obtaining start-up capital for an entrepreneur. We also recommend that you carefully study the results of our experiment in exchange earnings:

Making business cards at home

At home, work with software. For this you will need different programs that work with graphics. With their help, you will need to create the initial design layouts for future business cards. As a rule, Corel Draw, Adobe Illustrator, and less often Adobe PhotoShop are used to design business cards. However, it may very well be that only one Photoshop will decide great amount tasks and problems. It is worth noting that the presented software packages are expensive, their price is about $ 1,000. In savings, you can use completely free unofficial counterparts that can be found on the Internet.

The manufacturing process itself is quite simple to describe. A business card layout is developed, then it is printed on a printer (it should be noted that up to 10 standard format business cards can easily fit on a standard A4 sheet), after the printed business cards are cut and each of them is laminated (if the client wishes lamination). Then, for convenience, they are packaged in a small box for easy portability. Business cards can easily pass into the hands of the customer.

Business development

In the event that you are a creative person and have non-standard thinking, it will be very easy for you in this business area. The fact is that non-standard business cards deserve special attention. Such "works of art" participate in competitions and become known throughout the world. For example, business cards of one of the largest carriers are easily folded into a box shape, the entire necessary information you can find out about the company itself by “unpacking” such a box. The grill bar designed all its business cards in the form of small pieces of sausage. His business cards not only attract attention, but also bring him a good income.

With a large flow of customers, a good business idea will pay off all costs in a couple of weeks. In the future, you can safely take on large orders by renting an office, as well as hiring workers. In addition to business cards, you can produce calendars with company logos, flyers and much more. The range, growth rate and success of your company depend solely on your mood and perseverance!

During economic crisis especially current trends businesses become those ideas that start to "work" quickly and do not require large investments from the entrepreneur. And for those who are interested in organizing a simple, but at the same time highly profitable business, you should pay attention to, namely, the production of business cards. All that is required here from the entrepreneur is to find a passage place for his office, purchase inexpensive equipment for printing business cards and think over advertising. Business cards - certain information (name, address, phone number) about the customer, presented on one or another medium, more often - on paper or cardboard. It would seem that there is nothing simpler than a business card. But today the demand for these printing products is quite high. And they are used not only as a kind of business attribute, but also as souvenirs. An extensive target audience - these are the main prerequisites for organizing your own business for the development and printing of business cards.

Our business valuation:

Starting investments - from 50,000 rubles.

Market saturation is average.

The complexity of starting a business is 4/10.

Making and printing business cards as a business with a competent approach will be successful, which is not at all surprising, given the following advantages:

• Production technology finished products is simple and does not require specific knowledge from the entrepreneur. Having understood the issue, you can establish the process even without the involvement of third-party specialists.
• Equipment for the production of business cards is widely available and inexpensive.
• The final cost of finished business cards significantly exceeds their cost.
• Low investment in business allows you to start making business cards at home. And this option is very common today, since you can find customers remotely - using the Internet, for example.

The main difficulty that many aspiring entrepreneurs will surely face is the need to promote a business. At first, it will be difficult to find customers, which means you will have to spend money on advertising your services. And in this article we wrote about.

Despite the simplicity of the business, the production of business cards will require certain labor costs from the entrepreneur. What should be taken into account by newcomers who decide to offer business card printing services to the public?

Renting an office space

If we talk about a full-fledged office, then at the first stages of organizing a business, you should think about renting the “right” premises. There are a lot of options here, from a small office in a business center to a shopping pavilion in a large hypermarket.

It is great if the entrepreneur will work in the same place for a long time. So you can work on memorization - customers will know where to go if necessary for the products they need.

And since the printer for printing business cards and other equipment do not take up much space, the main rule when choosing a room is not even its area, but its traffic. At first, the entrepreneur is unlikely to have a large number of regular customers, and therefore, it would be nice to place an office where there are always constant crowds of people. In this case, absolutely everyone, just passing by, will be able to order an urgent production of business cards.

We form the range and list of services

To even minimum investment paid off as soon as possible, it is important to offer customers the full range of services. This also applies to home businesses. Whatever the wishes of the customer, contacting the company, he must get exactly what he planned.

What types of business cards can be offered to potential customers?

• business (card with service data),
• corporate (card with official data and information about the company),
• personal (card with personal data),
• family (cards on the occasion of a certain event with the data of the husband and wife).

And regardless of what type of business card the client orders, it is necessary to use a variety of methods and materials in the work. Paper and cardboard products will be more in demand, as they are distinguished by their low cost. But the production of plastic business cards is not so common, but it can bring more tangible income to an entrepreneur.

Lamination of finished products, the use of visual effects and decorations - all this will attract the attention of a potential audience.

The final cost of making business cards will increase significantly if you offer customers an individual design of a card - that is, not just copying the logo onto a medium and reprinting personal data, but creating a completely original design. But in this case, you will either have to master the basics of graphic design on your own, or hire a specialist in this field. And since laser printing of business cards is a simple matter, many entrepreneurs organize their business without hiring a staff, carrying out all the tasks on their own. It will be much more difficult for a beginner to work out the design of a card without using computer programs, but manually, with the subsequent transfer of the image to a specific medium. This is where artistic skills really come in handy. But such orders are well paid.

Learning how to make business cards

This line of business is especially attractive due to its simple technology. And the printing of double-sided business cards here differs little from the manufacture of ordinary cards.

The main stages of obtaining finished products can be described as follows:

• Layout making. Here, taking into account the wishes of the client and the data received from him (layout, information), a business card design is created.
• Coordination of the layout with the customer. If the client liked everything, the blanks are sent for printing.
• Printing of products.
• Cutting the sheet into separate cards of the approved format.

We purchase the necessary materials and equipment

After the location of the office is found, you can start purchasing everything you need for work.

What equipment will you need to buy for making business cards?

• PC with graphics programs installed on it (Corel Draw, Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe Illustrator) - from 30,000 rubles.
• Laser or inkjet professional printer - 20,000 rubles.
• Scanner - from 5000 rubles.
• Cutter - from 15,000 rubles.
• Laminating machine - from 10,000 rubles.

This is the main list of equipment that will be required to offer a full range of services to customers. And the main expenses here will fall on the printing press, since digital printing business cards will be the better, the more powerful unit will carry out the task. And in order not to cause negativity among customers due to poorly done work, it is better to immediately buy a good quality business card printer.

Laminating machine TIKO AL 3401

If for the purchase of everything necessary equipment is not enough, you can think about buying supported devices. But in order not to buy complete junk, it is better to test the devices before making a deal.

As for materials, the main raw material that will be used is paper for printing business cards on a printer of different density, color and format. For other types of products, cardboard, plastic and laminating film will be required. It is hardly worth buying a large stock of materials - it is easier to work on order, when a certain “semi-finished product” is ordered from a supplier for a specific client.

Business card cutter

We calculate the costs and possible profit

It has been proven in practice that offset printing of business cards, if the basic rules of doing business are taken into account, will begin to make a profit very soon.

Before moving on to calculating profits, let's imagine the costs that the entrepreneur will have to bear. And considering how much equipment and paper for printing business cards cost and how much money it will take to rent a small room, capital investments will amount to ≈90,000 rubles. But this is not the final figure, since with more expensive devices and with a staffed staff, much more money will be required - at least 300,000 rubles. But if we talk about home business with standard equipment and without a separate office, investments are minimal - no more than 50,000 rubles.

And in order for the price of equipment for making business cards to pay off as soon as possible, an entrepreneur should think about advertising campaign. And this is especially important if in a particular locality there is competition between similar firms.

What options are available here?

• Advertisements in newspapers, specialized magazines and the Internet.
• Billboards and .
• Flyers and leaflets.

When providing services at home, the situation is the same - customers will appear only when the entrepreneur declares himself. And here it is not necessary to invest heavily in marketing. In this case, personal pages in social networks will serve as excellent platforms for advertising. By the way, using them, you can also sell your services (like an online store).

As soon as advertising starts to "work", customers will begin to make a profit. It will be difficult to name a specific figure, since products can be different - in appearance, format, design. The simplest paper business card standard size costs starting from 80 rubles / piece. And a product made to order, using special technologies, costs much more - up to 500 rubles per piece. But no matter what cards are issued, the cost of production, taking into account all the costs of work, is at least 60% lower. And these are excellent indicators of profitability.