10 Steps to start an Organic Food Store in India

• Posted on Jun 9, 2021
• |
• By Shrotriyo S

In the recent pandemic struck world, where everyone is being cautious about the food products they consume than ever before. The scope of opening an organic food store  and turning it into a successful business venture is higher than ever. There are a lot of factors that that has triggered this change in the society, here are 10 reasons why you should open an organic food store in 2021.

Also read Why you should start an Organic Food Store in India in 2021?

If you intend to set-up an organic food store, the following will steps will guide you through it.

1. LICENSES AND PERMITS

Just like every other business, opening an organic food store requires you to guarantee basic quality with licenses and permits. The organic food business is governed by the Section 22 of the  Food Safety and Security Authority in India (FSSI). Under which your business should be certified, licensed and labelled with unique name. It can be a sole proprietorship, LLP or a private limited company. The other required certificate is the Indian Organic Certificate  which certifies the products sold in your store are produced following the national standards for organic products.

2. LOCATION OF THE STORE

A good location is always plays a significant role in the success or failure of the store. A good location does not always guarantee success but a bad location most definitely causes failure. Finding a good location in a city maybe difficult. There are various factors you must consider before you look for a location for your organic food store

• Nearby competitors, if there are no competitors around your store then it would help your food store to sell without competition and comparison by the customers.
• Visibility and affordability , normally such departmental stores run better in developing areas

These are some of the points you should keep in mind while looking for a location for your organic food store.

3. STAFFING

Staffing is the managerial decision which makes the difference between two stores dealing in similar  items. A good effective staff could mean the difference between failure and success. Moreover, an effective staff which can upsell and guide clients to have an overall better experience is essential for any new business. This would mean customer satisfaction and them recommending your store to more people  which is always a positive for a new business. Keep in mind your staff should include cashiers, book keepers and others sales associates. An effective staff could spell success for your organic food store.

4. SETTING UP OF PRICES

Once your organic food store is set-up, setting up prices is a Setting up appropriate prices for your products can be tricky but is an essential step in your business. If the products are priced to be very low then the sale volume will be high but that might not cover your fixed and variable costs. On the other hand if the price is too high then the price sensitive  customers would be driven away. Fixing prices is an essential step to make sure you cover your cost and reach the break-even point to survive and slowly makes profit. In your organic store, price the commonly sold items to be lower than the uncommon ones so that the losses incurred by selling at a lower price can be covered by the other items sold at a higher price.

5. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

A pleasant customer experience, customer recommendation could mean the difference between your store’s success and  failure. A pleasant customer experience includes a lot of things.  Reasonable prices with a trained staff can make all the difference. Staff training is a significant part of your marketing strategy. You must educate your staff on organic and natural food products so that your customers feel your efforts are genuine. Pleasant customer experience is an effective way to market your organic food store.

6. UPFRONT INVESTMENT

The average investment for opening an organic food store is around 10 lakhs. This amount includes deposit for the rent, the salaries and bonuses for your staff and operating costs for maintaining inventory. The investment amount to start an organic food store maybe higher than any other similar business venture. If your business does not earn profits  this could be a financial burden, try to estimate and curb unnecessary costs.

7. OFFLINE ADVERTISEMENT

Offline advertisement is a more effective way of advertising in such ventures. You can advertise your organic food store offline in the following ways:

• Local promotion by word of mouth.
• Focusing advertisement in organic food to get customers who are interested
• Newspaper advertisement
• Flyers , prints and discount coupons
• Advertise the benefits of organic food and why people should switch to organic.

These are some of the ways offline advertisement for your organic food store can work.

8. ONLINE ADVERTISEMENT

This is a very important step and this could be a more effective way of marketing. The first step to advertise online s to build an online presence. It is essential that your business have a website and o presence on other social media platform. Secondly, you must mark your store on google maps and make sure the marking is accurate. This would make your store more accessible. Once this is done, use facebook  and other social media to create targeted ads to reach interested customers. Post pandemic world is dependent on online marketing and advertisement, this could prove effective for your organic food store.

9. SUPPLEMENT INCOME

Apart from marketing and selling to walk in customers, try to cater to other  customers by selling online as well. The best way to do so is through your website, or other online websites pertaining to groceries. This could help you in supplementing you income. You could also set up an delivery mechanisms for online order and supplement your income from the organic food store.

10. TRACK AND MANAGE INVENT0RY

Firstly, keep tabs of things that sell quickly and are common items. You can use  accounting soft-wares and applications to track, manage and maintain inventory. Managing inventory well plays a significant role in successfully running your organic food store.

With the shift of people to organic food products, with efficient management, marketing and a well trained staff you can do well in this industry and plough huge profits.

• Posted on Jun 9, 2021
• |
• By Shrotriyo S
• |
• 0 Comments