Supermarkets, when launched during the ’20s, changed the complete purchasing style of people.
Instead of going to different markets and different shops, supermarkets made themselves a place for an all-in-one solution. Soon this idea turned out to be a hit and grasped the Indian ground. Today the supermarket culture has reached even the tier-2 & tier-3 cities that have less population.
A lot of industrial personalities are investing in supermarket franchises. You, as a business owner, can also start your supermarket franchise in very quick steps.
However, we understand that not many people have the right step-by-step guide to launch a supermarket franchise in India.
For this, you must launch a company ASAP. This company can work in any domain from clothing to jewelry, depending on your expertise, market analysis, and your interest.
As we are continually witnessing the growth of supermarket trends in India, this article is to help you gain the right strategy to start & grow your franchise.
Things to Consider Before Launching a Supermarket:
Before you launch your franchise, you need to prepare for the coming tough days. Planning & execution first take place in the mind and then in the real world.
- Make a solid business for your franchise. As there are different franchise business models, you may one extremely profitable for you economically & mentally.
- Prepare early for the first 6 six months of finances. Business can go odd and you may need to invest to survive in the market. In any case, you can look out for Bank loans for business.
- Apply SWOT analysis techniques to find loopholes in your business model. Fill the gaps as early as possible and grow.
- Search for a classy location where you can attract people’s attention. People should easily find you when they need you. Also, it should have all amenities for visitors’ comfort.
The 10 steps strategy to start a supermarket franchise in India
1. Market Research
The first very step for starting your best supermarket franchise in India is to research the market thoroughly. It is to analyze the requirements of your chosen location.
Search for what the market misses, what the buying persona of people staying around is, and how much the annual money circulation is in that market. Most importantly, think about what you can help the market with.
Your franchise business should be balanced between your interest and the needs of the market. You have a bunch of franchise business options that you can start including clothing, jewelry, and grocery. You can choose any one of them as per the requirement of the market.
Hereby note that when the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, grocery was one of the three industries open during that time. It is one industry that can’t be shut down at any time for any reason.
2. Choosing a Franchise
Choosing the right franchise makes your failure or success. When you buy a franchise store, you not only buy the product/service of that franchise but their brand image, business model, their service qualities, and their work culture.
Several factors affect your business beyond the papers. Here are some of them listed below as your checklist.
- Brand Image.
- Fee & Royalties
- Support System
- Location.
- Products & Services.
- Inventory Management.
- Marketing Support.
- Legal Help.
Before starting a franchise, make sure all these listed factors are inspected well. Lack one of them and you will lose your mass customer base easily.
3. Securing Financing
Establishing a supermarket will never be within budget. It is a huge project that will surely drain your wealth. However, you must understand that not making a financial plan for your business can lead to system failure before even establishing your business.
You can issue a loan from any reputable bank or any individual financial institution offering loans for businesses. The ideal deal would be a small business loan for long-term debt. This will let you enjoy the early years of business without the heavy burden of a bank’s financial statements.
The second financial factor for you is managing the profits. This is the main goal of any business- to make profits and scale the business.
Typical grocery franchises keep 5%-20% of the profit margin on their products. If you own a different franchise, check your industry’s profit margin and set up yours accordingly.
Banks and other financial institutions check your personal credit history and business skills before issuing any loan to you for any business.
4. Selecting a Location
Having a website will surely help your business to boost in many ways. However, this must not be the reason to ignore a prime location for your supermarket. Being a physical asset for your business, you must find a prime location for your franchise where people can find you easily and have all sorts of amenities nearby.
Locating your franchise at such a prime place will help you attract the crowd, make your brand, and interact with the city more.
5. Legal Documentation
Legal Documentation gives your business immunity against any unwanted situation and helps you through several stages of business including getting the raw materials, issuing receipts & checks, making professional deals, and taxation.
Government is there to help you in growing your business as the best supermarket franchise in India only if you have the right documents with you. Permissions, licenses, certificates, and many other documents are needed for establishing a franchise business.
The number & nature of such documents can vary from business to business.
Search for a franchise business that promises to help you gather all your legal documents needed. The company will then share half of your load and will help you land the exact right documents needed to run your business smoothly.
6. Store Layout Design
If you’re going to build your franchise company from scratch, you will need to design its layout. Note that it won’t be similar to keeping products in a store. A store is a very small space and you need to fit a lot of products there.
Well, that’s not the case with the Supermarket franchise. You have to design it in such a way it can trigger the visitors on a psychological level to explore and buy more items. You will need professional help to do such designs.
On the contrary, if you buy a franchise, the company will guide you to replicate their designs & layout to propagate the same vibes all the places.
7. Staff Hiring & Training
Your staff is a crucial asset to your business. They handle all your customers and entertain them with the right information about the products available there.
Almost everything from sales to management depends upon them. As they are the representative of your franchise, they must be equipped with all tools to counter any kind of intellectual questions.
But you can’t expect them to be experts in what you sell. They need detailed training about your company profile, mission & vision, nature of business, prior achievement & history, and most importantly products and services you offer to your customers.
Make sure to equip them with systematic training that would turn them into reliable assets for your company.
8. Inventory Management
A good store always keeps the items their customers want. And this is not luck by any chance. Behind all this works strong management.
The management looks after all behind-the-scenes processes essential to the store. You will need to manage the sources of your products from manufacturers or wholesalers. Also, find a responsible and competitive source who has a diverse section of items for your store.
Several processes go on simultaneously in a franchise store. This means you manually can’t handle everything at the store. Especially tracking the inventory is a difficult task.
Here comes the professional business management software to help you deal with an inventory.
9. Store Launch & Marketing
Finally, when it comes to your launch day, you can’t risk it. After all, launching a store is not at all about the ribbon-cutting ceremony. It is about entertaining your very first customers with some unique and if not, valuable to their lives.
You can also entertain them with some artists at your store. Another important motive is to create a community buzz at your store on the very first day. So be warm to them, let them enjoy themselves, and be interactive with them.
Let’s come to the marketing part of the store. Remember that marketing is there to enhance your strength while establishing your company as one of the best supermarket franchises in India. It’s not a magic trick to fool people by promising what you can’t deliver.
The most fundamental formula of marketing is this – ‘Do Care’. Be truthful in all your marketing campaigns. Though you must go a little creative with a bucket of ideas to reach out to people and convince them to visit your store.
Conclusion
Launching the next best supermarket franchise in India is not only about choosing a store. It has many layers that must be fulfilled correctly by the management.
Though each one of the points that we have discussed in this article holds equal importance we suggest you focus greatly on the marketing & training of your manpower. This will give you an edge towards being the best supermarket franchise in India.
So far we have discussed all the essential steps to start a supermarket franchise. All these steps will work no matter what industry you are in but it works exactly similar, especially in the FMCG sector.
And as you can see that the process is pretty lengthy and sometimes quite complicated, thus, it is always good to have someone to support and guide you. And this is where the franchisor becomes important. Choosing a good franchisor is the best decision that one can make in a franchise business.
We have talked a bit about choosing the right franchisor as well, and if you want are looking for a great supermarket franchisor then we will suggest you go and check out 7 Heven once. I
t is the fastest-growing supermarket franchise chain in India.
