Production of conference bags
By Tope Babatope
|
Start up cost: N100,000 – N300000
Estimated earning: 100% to 150% profit margins
Advertising: Personal contact, word of mouth, complimentary cards, display in show glass .
Why it’s a good business :
There is no workshop, seminar or conference that is held without takeaway bags for participants or facilitators. Conference bags are meant for packaging conference materials or seminar papers. Such bags come in different designs. Some bags are in sizes of file jackets, some may be in form of flat bags while some a times are as big as travelling bags. However the design a times depends on the taste, level or category of people handling the programme and those that the conference is meant for. These bags do not only come in leather form, there are some made with “aso oke”, adire”, woven mat, or woven carpet. Once a person has the skill, he or she can build with any fine materials.
Taken into cognizance the number of conference bags.
Skill Necessary:
A two year training is needed, must be patient, neat and hard working.
Staff Requirement: The person starting the business with one or two people can do a good job. No academic qualification is required before one can do well in the business.
Equipment / Materials Needed:
Locally woven mat, transparent leather, animal leather, synthetic leather, handle, key, thread, gum,needle, velvet, screw driver, scissors, sewing machine , industrial machine.
Start Up:
Before jumping into the business one must have decided first, after, one needs a little training from a reputable bag making outfit. Speaking with Business Start up, a business man in Akure explained that for a person to learn the business it would take between one and two years. The source said the person must have the basic education and about N15000 to N20000 as signing fee.
The person starting the business must at least have a sum of about N100,000. Out of this sum, about N60,000 for an industrial machine or N20,000to N30,000 for a domestic sewing machine. When one uses the domestic machine it can as well do a good job like the industrial one, using industrial gadgets.
Other things needed include a good strategic shop , if one cannot afford this in view of cost of rentage, one can still operate from his or her residential apartment. One will need equipment or materials such as local woven mat, transparent leather, empty paper carton (cardboard or paper container) animal leather, synthetic leather, handle, key, thread, gum, needle, velvet, screw driver ,scissors, tape rule, tables and benches.
It is important to note that the purchasing power depends on the number of bags one wants to do.
Our source said bag making is not a job for one person, that it’s not always well handled by one person. Usually it’s good when the job is divided, for one person to make a bag can take one hour.
Business Start up learnt that to do a good job one must get the sample of the job the customer who wants to do the conference bags . According to the source one cannot produce the bag off hand, there is always need to get a sample to meet the customers taste.
Bottom Line Advice:
Our source explained that it normally takes more time to sew bags than sewing clothes. “It’s a very interesting job and good for those who are hard working. It is not a job you can rush at. It demands that one should be patient, be a neat person and must have interest in the job. Bag making is not a job for one person, it’s faster when two or three people do it”.