Did you do know you can start a small business selling edible beans and their derivatives?
With a couple of thousand dollars or sometimes it needs only a couple of hundreds, you can start your own business at home. Okay, there are food regulations in every country, you are right, but continue reading.
Every manufacturer and producer has their own certificates and approvals in their country, what you can do here, is when you make the purchase from your supplier, ask for approval to use their own certificates. (PUT IT IN WRITING)
We solved this issue. Now, let’s go to the steps.
Step 1: The Product
In the edible bean section, you have many varieties and different forms, like powdered (Flour) or dry. (Leave the canned beans on a side because it will cost a lot to do your own label)
Some of the powdered beans can be used as flour alternatives. You can find consumers especially Vegans, using it to make bread, crackers, cookies, and many different dishes.
The dry beans are used for normal cooking recipes, like stews, salads, FALAFEL, I saw someone who makes milk out of white beans.
Now you know the different usage, choose one of the products which you can sell online or in your local area.
After you have done your research and business plan (always make a business plan, believe me, it’s important), you can find the products either online or in the wholesale and distribution center market in your country. Usually, they come in 25 kg bags, so you can start with 1 bag or with 500 kgs it depends on your budget.
Don’t forget, search for organic beans.
Step 2: The Packaging
Go online and look for Doypak Packaging, it is the best option for keeping the product clean, safe, and increasing the shelf life. You can find it in the market, they come in different sizes from 100 grams to 2–3 kgs and you can use stickers for the labels.
Designing your own label became easy nowadays using online platforms for graphic design like Canva. When I first started my business, I used to do all my graphic designs on Canva, it has everything you need as a beginner, and it can give you excellent modern results.
After you designed your label, go to any print shop, or even if you have your own printer, you can purchase Tanex Labels (I think they are famous around the world), those labels are configured into Microsoft Word with ready templates to put in your design.
Now your product is ready to be published online. I’m not going to talk about how you can set or start your E-commerce website or your Amazon shop because you can find lots of articles and videos on that subject.
Read Here: How To Start an eCommerce Business From Scratch
Step 3: Calculations
Let’s say you purchased 1 25 kg bag of organic dry kidney beans for $33.80 (this price is just an example, and it’s the local price of the Turkish Market). Divide it by 25 (to get the 1 kg price) then by 10 (to get the 100 grams price), the price of 100 grams is $0.135, packaging and labels cost approximately $0.15, the total cost will be $0.285 per 100 grams of organic dry kidney beans. As I searched online, the 453 grams of organic kidney beans are sold between $8 to $13 (of course you must check your local market and e-commerce platforms that offer services in your country or city). You can sell it easily between $2 to $3 which you will have great margins.
25 kg of organic dry kidney beans plus packaging and labels will cost you around $71.25 and sells for $625 on average. (Still need to deduct other expenses and fees)
Why 100 grams, not 1 kg? Since people are starting to make their own food watching what is in their meal, non-family consumers left outside of the formula, traders usually pack dry beans from 500 grams to 3 kg bags, for non-family consumers to buy the 500 grams it will stay in the kitchen cabinet for a long time, believe me, I tried it, so why not target those demographics providing them with small packs enough for 2 to 4 meals instead of 100 or more meals.
PS: This is just an idea you can use as your target clients.
I think if you put your mind to it and have the right discipline, you can start now your own small trading business at home and becoming bigger and bigger in time. All it needs is discipline, patients, and determination.
Remember always do thorough research, brainstorm, sleep on it, and then decide the right thing for you. TAKE YOUR TIME.
