Personal experience: how I started the production of honey products in the village

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

How to build a successful business outside the city, enlist the support of people from all over the world and develop infrastructure where it has never been.

Guzel Sanzhapova organized the production of honey in the village to help her father find the meaning of life again, and as a result, she found her own great goal and riveted the views of the whole world to the settlement of Maly Turysh. We talked with the founder of the company and figured out how to tear the villagers from the garden and attract them to production, and then develop not only the brand, but also the infrastructure that will make people feel happy.

Finding a goal and helping a father

I graduated from the Faculty of World Politics at Moscow State University and did not even think that I would do business. After university, I worked in my specialty for almost a year, and then got a job in a large IT corporation in Moscow. Quite quickly, I found myself at a crossroads and began to think about what I really wanted: to develop in a large company or to do something of my own.

By the age of 25 I was already tormented by the thought: "Why am I at all?" Life went on according to a standard schedule: five days in the office, and on Friday you can go to the bar with friends. At a certain moment, you realize that all this is meaningless. You are just a cog in the system that someone else will replace tomorrow. In the end, it turns out that after you there is nothing left.

In parallel with my work in an IT company, I made bow ties, which brought in enough money to occasionally go on vacation and not think that tomorrow the refrigerator would be empty. However, I still felt that there was no value in these accessories. After long reflections on my own destiny, I quit a large corporation, continued to deal with butterflies and went to visit my father in Maly Turysh.

In Moscow, everything was fine with me: I earned money and could send money to my dad. But in the village I was faced with real despair: I saw that people live behind fences and do not communicate, and my father, at 50, was already shuffling his feet. It became clear that real support needed not only to send funds to the family, but to do something together.

Honey and communication with locals

Dad had a business in Yekaterinburg - a store with clothes that he brought from Istanbul. Even then, I noticed that things were going to decline, because large chains came to the city, which sharply reduced interest in small points. In addition, my father was engaged in an apiary of 40 families - that's quite a lot. True, even here it did not work out. Nine months of uninterrupted caring for the bees did not pay off, because dad simply did not have time to sell honey. I was upset and thought about how to help my loved one find the meaning of life again.

Two tons of honey were stored at home, but selling it in its usual form is unprofitable: the revenue at best will amount to 200,000 rubles. If you count nine months of work of a beekeeper at a rate of 100 rubles, it becomes clear that you are in the red. Moreover, the apiary is constantly being built, so additional funds are required. In order to recoup the invested effort and money, I decided to make something different from a familiar product. It turned out that in Canada, honey has been whipped for a hundred years, and in order to get rid of excess sweetness, which I have not liked since childhood, you can add berries.

The equipment from Germany cost 300,000 rubles, but in addition, it was necessary to enlist the support of the residents of Maly Turysh.

It seems that you will build a production facility and everyone will come running to work, but this is not so. Entrepreneurs are not trusted in Russian villages.

There is a widespread stereotype: if you sell something for sale, then you are doing it badly. Moreover, people are accustomed to living off the farm and grandmother's pension. They do not understand that part of the garden can be sacrificed to earn a little more.

Building trust and helping sponsors

At first, only four grandmothers collaborated with us and agreed to pick berries. We didn’t deceive anyone and did pay money, so word of mouth worked for our benefit. Residents began to understand that there were not dealers nearby, but a real manufacturer who was trying to make the product they needed in cities. Gradually people came to us, and I realized that a common cause unites much stronger than an idea with a position "for" or "against".

At first, the costs went only to banks, labels and salaries for grandmothers. We did a lot ourselves, because the village is full of craftsmen. I also got support through crowdfunding - collective funding. People volunteer to help with money to support the project, and in return they receive something. We have always offered to purchase products that are not yet in the store's assortment: first we sent cream honey, and then herbal teas, honey mousses, caramels and cosmetics.

The money people give for a product is not entirely spent on the project. The cost of the lot, in addition to profit, includes the costs of creating and delivering the purchased goods. As a result, we not only collect the required amount, but also test how interesting our products are to the audience.

For the first time, we collected berries for dryers, and the Moscow magazine "Bolshoi Gorod", which no longer exists now, wrote about us. Media support helped a lot, and we received three times more than we had planned: 450,000 rubles instead of 150,000. Then we announced a fee for the construction of the first and second parts of the production hall, and for the fourth time - for a large factory. True, at the last moment they refused to build it, so as not to turn the village into a village. We decided that the premises should be small - about 150 square meters.

Then we decided to build a community center in Maly Turysh. We collected 1,600,000 rubles for its foundation, of which 600,000 were brought by the Chaif group. People bought tickets for the concert, which took place right in our village, and knew that all funds would go to construction. Right now, we are raising money for 3,000 planks to produce the timber from which the community center will be built.

The net profit from crowdfunding is on average only 30% of the collected amount, because part of the funds goes to commissions, taxes, production of lots purchased by sponsors and their delivery. However, we see this opportunity as a way to talk about the project, attract attention and change the infrastructure in the village. Of course, the main income comes from the sale of products through the online store, corporate clients and retail chains, but crowdfunding helps to find new loyal customers. For their contribution to our business, people receive goods for which they will most likely return in the future.

Responsibilities and career development

The formation of the state took two years. When we built the production and invited the residents of Maly Turysh to work with us, we faced a problem: not everyone is ready to do something constantly, because they do not want to fit into the schedule and come to work every day. At first, only one woman responded - Galia. The rest began to think about our proposal at the moment when she bought a washing machine - in the village this is a great achievement. Now the production employs 12 people, and berries, herbs and other raw materials are harvested not only by grandmothers, but by people of all ages. Last year there were 230 of them.

For the workshops to work, communications are needed, so the male population is mainly engaged in maintenance and delivery of products from the warehouse to the Moscow office, from where the goods go to pick-up points and to their homes. In addition, some of the kits are sold in wooden boxes, which the villagers also make themselves. There is no clear division of responsibilities in production: we are raising universal specialists, who are assisted by three managers. They understand exactly what tables and accounting are, therefore they are responsible for the ingredients, containers and compliance with the plan.

I noticed that vertical growth does not work in the countryside, which seems promising in Moscow. The opportunity to become a production director is not motivating enough. I discovered an interesting thing: women are kindled to learn something new. For them, new skills and knowledge are the same career growth. They want to understand that they can do a lot of things: sew, bake gingerbread, make cosmetics, candy, tea.

Manufacturing process

To get creamy honey, we pump out the contents from the combs, pour them into mixers and beat for about four days to a creamy consistency. Then we pack the berries into jars and fill them with honey. The story is the same with mousse, only berries and spices are mixed with honey. For herbal tea, people collect herbs and berries, and then we load them into large tumble dryers. The last step is to mix the contents and pack them in packages.

Make-up is a separate topic, because for me it is more difficult than everything else. The production involves oils, herbal pomace and wax. The products are great, but I have a rather poor understanding of how they are created. My friend Anastasia Gulyavina helped us with the launch, because she really understands all the nuances. Now we make cosmetics according to special technical charts that Nastya has prepared for us. These are instructions for personnel that regulate the production process.

The assortment has expanded from cream honey to jams, caramel and cosmetics for a reason. I immediately understood that when manufacturing from raw materials, there are only two options for developing a business. The first is relevant for entrepreneurs who buy all the ingredients from suppliers: over time, they simply increase the number of grains and berries in order to get more bars, for example. In our case, everything is more complicated, since we try to adapt to what people bring, and besides, we have limited resources. There was a bad strawberry harvest this year, so we didn't manage to make a lot of jam. We have to proceed from what nature throws up, so it is better to grow the assortment in breadth. It must be interchangeable and raw material independent.

The second reason why we have increased the number of products is our people's sponsors. We understand that people who once bought cream honey want to buy something new next time to support us. Every year we launch a new line of production because the village has a lot of resources. And it’s more fun to work that way. Ideally, we want to expand the assortment to a full-fledged retail store with a wide selection, where you can come for gifts and amenities.

Sales and delivery

In order for the products to reach the end consumer, a truck is sent from Maly Turysh to Yekaterinburg. This is the most difficult stage of logistics, because no one serves it: delivery to the nearest large city lies on our shoulders. Then the goods are sent to the Moscow office outside the Moscow Ring Road, and after that - to any of the 150 pick-up points or directly to the client's house. We understand that few in bad weather will want to go for the parcel on foot, so we entered into contracts with courier services and organized delivery for 300 rubles.

In addition to sales through the online store, we place some of our products in the VkusVill retail network. Previously, we could be found in small eco-shops, but large companies have pushed them out of the market. However, there is also a corporate segment: the production of branded gifts for large organizations and agencies.

Ultimately, we dream of opening the Maly Turysh space in the center of Moscow, where you can come to drink coffee, purchase products and listen to our story. I don’t know how long it will take, because first we need to develop retail sales. When more than 100 orders pass through the site every day, at least 50 people ask the question: "Do they really exist?" It is these people who will go for pickup in our space.

Infrastructure in the village

None of the competitors have the same history as ours. Most entrepreneurs start businesses to make money, but I just wanted to help my dad and make sure that every day I do is good for people. It seems to me that this is the most important value.

When I started organizing production, I immediately dreamed of not just giving people jobs, but taking care of them.

I learned what the villagers lack, and over time, a playground, a public area, a gazebo, and a drinking water well appeared in Maly Turysh. At the same time, it would be wrong to say that the changes were due to the brand. They happened because people united around an idea - without the support of residents, nothing would have happened.

Now we are building a community center - this is the crown of the infrastructure, because there is a school and a kindergarten in the neighboring village. I hope that we will be able to put a bakery inside, because fresh bread comes in a small shop only once a week. In addition, I plan to arrange for doctors, masseurs, and hairdressers to come to us. Our company store will also be located here, which will combine the functions of a rural one. Sometimes people need to buy sugar, and it is quite expensive to go to the city for it.

My main goal is to organize educational courses for aspiring entrepreneurs. I want to show the residents of Maly Turysh that business is not as difficult as many say. I dream that in the next five years we will have at least three businessmen who will start earning money on their own. And besides that, we will make courses in botany and astronomy for city dwellers. The stars in the village are much better visible.

Already now we are regularly visited by foreign guests: Australians, Indians, Germans. They all want to see a real Russian village. Our people really walk in galoshes, and cows walk along the roads. Many people love this charm. I think that with the emergence of a community center, the flow of tourists will only grow.

Costs and Benefits

Last year, the turnover of our business amounted to 16,500,000 rubles, to which another 1,600,000 was added thanks to crowdfunding. The net profit in our case is about 30%. We will reinvest it in the development of the village and production. I can’t imagine that tomorrow I would go and buy myself a Mercedes, because I don’t have such a task.

The main costs are spent on wages, production and site maintenance, logistics, taxes, office rent in Moscow. Everything that we earn now goes to the construction of a public center, because its cost is 18,000,000 rubles. This is more than our annual turnover in 2018, and I'm not talking about profit at all.

That is why we have a dozen partners who help us to do a big and important business. At the same time, the community center will have nothing to do with NGOs that are constantly looking for money. He will pay for himself on his own and at the same time change the life around.

Plans for the future

A couple of years after the community center opens, I will see if I can go to the next village. I believe that our model can be replicated, and in the near future it will become clear how to do this. I think there are only four simple steps for real village life:

• Create jobs.
• Take care of people and build infrastructure.
• Make connections, because in the village it is important to understand that you are part of the global world. The residents of Maly Turysh know that they are wildly popular in Germany. They realize that the whole country is looking after us. The feeling of being lost is gone.
• Teach to plan. This is the foundation for the future of entrepreneurship, which I am going to lay as soon as we open the community center.

Errors and insights

The main mistake entrepreneurs make when growing something from scratch is the desire to think in small categories. We are not sure about the future, so we are afraid to plan and want to minimize risks. We built the first workshop on 50 squares, and then we realized that it was too small. I hope that the community center has not gone wrong - it will occupy 800 square meters.

We face failures all the time, but we go further. The entrepreneurial path is made up of mistakes and miscalculations. The only question is how you work with them. For us, it's just the next step - a paid experience.

Life hacking from Guzel Sanzhapova

• Think about the history of the product and the project as a whole. It is very important for people to understand who and how produces the goods they buy.
• Test ideas right away. Young people in Moscow often write business plans, look for investments, and only then start to saw the first product. You need to implement the idea of shit and sticks, and then immediately supply it to the market in order to understand who needs it. You can wait six months and release a thing that no one needs, which could be relevant if it came out on time.
• Don't be afraid to talk to the client about values. It is necessary to clearly understand what need people have unmet. In fact, the business sticks a plaster to the place that hurts a person. Now I understand that we lack real communication, natural products, a sense of responsibility and a shoulder next to me. All this needs to be communicated. At the outset, the audience may think the dialogue about values is populism, but your business exists precisely to prove otherwise. Show by your own example that you are not just balaboling, but really doing.