How to start Optical Shop Business in India? [Plan, Investment, Profit Margin, license Process]
You must be aware of an optical shop, and at least a single shop is available in the markets. Since eyeglasses are commonly used by people, it is necessary to have an optical shop in the locality. When you visit any optical shop, you will notice that there are several types of frames and lenses to choose from. Due to environmental conditions and other factors, eyes problems are seen in people across ages from an early age. Moreover, kids start to become addictive to mobile phone and television from an early age which results in various problems pertaining to the eyesight. Owing from all these reasons, the optical business is growing these days slowly. Working for long hours in front of the computer or laptop and using the smartphone for most of the time will result in eye problems. In this way, it is coming increasingly important for people to use glasses due to cure eyesight problems. Therefore, the need for an optical shop has become necessary for the use of the common people.
What do you understand by optical shops?
It is seen that people are using glasses from an early age due to eyesight issues. In order to prevent the power from increasing, it is necessary to visit an ophthalmologist and the proper type of glasses. Be it an eyeglass, sun shadow, or a fashionable glass, customers can pick the one according to their needs from the market. One such market is available in almost all area for the help of the dwellers in the area. Some relevant knowledge about this business has been illustrated in the following part of the article.
What is the need of optical shops in the locality?
Whether it is an eyeglass or a fashionable sunglass, an optical shop is required to be set up in every market for the help of the common people. It is also seen that people are more interested in buying fashionable glasses other than buying eyeglasses and therefore, they look for such shops in the market. They can also order for the glasses from the online market where they can pick from a variety of option. In addition, they can also select from a wide range of colors available. According to business statistics, during 2016, the turnover of the sector is more than 5000 crores. This business is growing slowly and the growing awareness of the people is also taken care of. Other than this, due to increasing demand for fashionable glasses, the shops are making out ways so that they can supply the demand for the glasses adequately. With an increasing sense of fashion, people are looking out for more fashionable glasses and therefore, more optical brands are coming up these days. Therefore, the shops will play an important role in meeting the demands of common people.
What are the steps to start an optical shop in India?
Opening an optical store might sound to be a challenging task like other types of business. Before setting up the business, you have to make plans about the location that you wish to select for your business. Effective planning will help you to run the business smoothly rather than facing the problem and involving in a loss at the initial stage of the business. When planning to start this business, a good amount of rupees 8 lakhs or 12 lakhs is required. In addition to this, the entrepreneur has to go through several stages in order to ensure success in the business. Some steps in opening the business are elaborated further for the help of the entrepreneurs.
Get a good business plan
When starting the business, you must be aware of the fact that glasses are required by most of the customers whereas others use it for the sake of fashion. There are two sections of people, one who look for fashionable glasses and the other who have a compulsion for wearing the glasses. Depending on the need of the customers, the entrepreneurs have to decide on which type of shop they wish to open so that they will be able to grab the attention of the customers and therefore, they will be able to make a good profit throughout the year.
Also, they have to consider the fact whether any other optical shop is present in the locality or not. In such a case, it is better to think about changing the location where you wish to set up your shop. It will help you to get more customers throughout the year without hampering your market. Other than this, when planning for the business, the entrepreneur also has to consider factors such as choosing the right kind of products that will get more customers.
After choosing the items, it is important to set the proper price of the items so that they are neither expensive nor too cheap rate. The price should be set in such a way that the customers can easily afford the items and recommend others to check out the shop for the best items in the locality. The entrepreneur should have good business plans and set their goals much before they start the business. It will help them to reach their goals easily. Since the entrepreneur is required to set up the shop and buy some machinery required for the shop, they have to make plans accordingly. In addition to this, it is required to provide a space for the ophthalmologist who will be available in the shop for the power check of customers as needed.
Select for a good location for an optical shop
Choosing the right location is important and therefore selects the one which is in the middle of the city. In this way, it is easy for the customers to have access to the shop. Even if the shop is near the main road, it will be able to grab the attention of the customers easily. If the entrepreneur is paying a good amount on the rent of the shop, choosing the location rightly is also required. When setting up the shop in a rural area, the entrepreneur has to set up the prices low so people can easily avail the same. Moreover, if there is a number of optical shops in the area, then the shop may not be able to make an adequate profit. For the one who is an eye specialist, they can open the optical shop when going on with the practice.
Look for registration and license of a shop
Registration of the shop is important, though it is not yet considered mandatory for any kind of certification for opening the shop from the health department. In case the entrepreneur wishes to offer the facility of eye checkup in the shop, then it is important to appoint an ophthalmologist in the shop. Apart from this, the shopkeeper can register their business shop establishment act 1. In addition to this, they also need to inform the local municipality about the setting up of the optical shop. The entrepreneur also has to look after the tax registration and other expenses pertaining to proper licensing of the shop.
Decorate the interior of the shop
Even if there is no need to get it registered from the health department, this is a kind of business that is related to the health business. It is necessary to maintain cleanliness of the optical shop as people are going to come for an eye checkup. The entrepreneur can also take advice from an interior designer about how to decorate the shop in order to grab the attention of the customers. The displays in the shop should be attractive enough along with fine carpentry work. Besides, the entrepreneur should look for blue or red interior lights. The entrepreneur can also look on the internet to get some idea about how to decorate the optical shop and what lights will be best to highlight the interior of the shop.
Look at the management of the shop
The entrepreneur has to make enough seating arrangement in the shop so that when the patients are waiting for an eye checkup, they get enough space to wait in the optical shop. While decorating and make enough space in the optical shop, make sure that glasses are fitted on the wall of the shop.
Maintain good customer service unit
Optical shop is the one in which the eyesight is checked by doctors and glasses are provided to the customers. People will come up to check their eyes and get the glasses with accurate power fixed in it. Therefore, it is necessary to have a good customer’s service unit in the shop that will help the customers to get the right power. The customer service unit will also help the customers about how to check up their eyesight problems. The service provided by the customer care unit also determines the quality of your optical shop and based on this, you can expect to get a number of customers. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain good customer service unit.
Buy tools required for the shop wisely
Measuring the power of the optical lens is of utmost importance for any optical shop. Therefore, it is important that the shop should be well equipped with proper instruments such as lensometer and others. Both manually operated and automatic lensometer are available in the market. An expert individual should be appointed in the optical shop that will be responsible for checking the optical power. Other tools such as a trial box, slitlamp, refractometer, projector and other tools should be available in the optical. While purchasing the items, make sure that the entrepreneur should get high quality one. It will help to use the instruments for long in the optical shop. The shopkeeper can also plan to keep an automated sensor and other instruments in the shop to provide better eye checkup facilities to the customers.
Choose your products and brands properly
The supply of the products often depends on the locality in which the shop has been set up. In case the shop has been set up in an urban area, the entrepreneur has to buy high-quality frames and sunglasses because the customers are becoming brand conscious day by day. But when the shop has been set up in the middle of the city, both high quality and low priced items should be made available for the customers. Depending on the demand of the market, the entrepreneur has to make the things available in the shop.
Marketing is important
To run the business successfully, it is essential to opt for marketing otherwise it might be difficult for the shop to earn the required profit. Also, try to make the opening ceremony of the shop a bigger one by inviting some of the reputed personalities of the city. This will help to grab the attention of the people and they will be able to know about the existence of the shop. When the dwellers of the place come to know about the shop, a little marketing will be required to make the shop popular.
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