Recently, so-called artificial stone has been increasingly used in construction, which replaces natural stone not only in terms of the beauty of patterns, but also in terms of resistance to weathering.
The advantage of artificial stone is the ability to form any texture and obtain the desired shade, which is so important when using finishing materials.
Artificial stone is widely used in the decoration of external elements of buildings, as well as in the interior decoration of bathrooms, in the production of sinks, countertops. The organization of the production of artificial stone, according to its technology, is not particularly difficult. That is why the creation of a business based on the production of artificial stone is promising, attracting the attention of many start-up entrepreneurs.
Creating your own business on the basis of such production must begin with the most important moment — market research and identifying the level of demand for finished products.
The main consumers of artificial stone are construction companies , owners of private houses and summer cottages, teams for the repair of apartments, residential premises and office buildings. Since artificial stone is cheaper than natural, people’s desire to use such stone in finishing work is understandable.
However, the high profitability of artificial stone production also creates a fairly high level of competition.
Therefore, it is necessary to determine in advance the market demand for this new material, as well as to identify distribution channels for future products. As a rule, the production volume of a small enterprise is approximately 20-50 square meters of artificial stone per day. When there is more demand, it is easy to increase production volumes simply by investing additional funds.
In terms of technology, the production of artificial stone requires a limited amount of equipment:
- concrete mixer,
- shaker.
The presence of water is critical in production, therefore, when choosing a room, it is necessary to provide for the presence of water supply. The premises can be located in any part of the city. Its area should be at least 50-60 square meters, and part of this area must be allocated for warehouses of finished products and raw materials.
Production technology
The technological process uses white cement, sand, dyes, plasticizers. The essence of production is to prepare the mass, load it into special molds, and process the molds on a vibrating table to release air from the mixture.
Very important in the production of artificial stone is the use of high-quality molds.
The elasticity of the molds must be sufficient so that they can be reused and the finished product can be easily removed. Finished forms usually have a different texture, which can be offered by the customer to choose from. Such molds can withstand up to 1500 castings, but are not cheap. In principle, you can make molds yourself, but the quality of the products produced and the durability of the molds in this case will be much lower.
It should be noted that there is a technology without the use of a vibrating table, but in this case it will be necessary to use more expensive raw materials, in particular, modified gypsum.
The initial cost of an artificial stone business can range from $550,000 to $700,000, excluding the cost of refurbishing and equipping the premises. When planning the cost of purchasing equipment, it is necessary to take into account the cost of acquiring elastic forms, which should be sufficient for organizing production.
In planning current costs, it is necessary to take into account the costs of repairing equipment and its ongoing maintenance. Vibrating tables usually begin to break down after the first year of use, so the ongoing cost of repairing them can be significant. It is also necessary to plan the purchase of elastic forms to replace the failed ones. The current costs will also need to include the cost of purchasing raw materials, paying for electricity, water, utilities and transport services.
As a sales channel, an artificial stone business can use both various construction stores , as well as the execution of work on direct orders from the population and corporate clients.
The ratio of costs for raw materials and income from sales of finished products is so high that it allows you to ensure the profitability of the business is much higher than 100%.
The cost of creating the production of artificial stone, if there are sufficient sales volumes, usually pays off within just a few months.
But still, for a quick profit, you should use a good business plan , which can be ordered on our website.
