Launching Your Notebook Manufacturing Business: A Quick Guide
7 min read
Since the first time we started reading and writing, we do not know how many times we need a notebook or copy in school, college, office, personal working diary, writing, accounting, and daily life. You will find notebooks ranging from ₹ 5 to ₹ 100 to ₹ 200 in the market. Nowadays even customized notebooks are available.
You can also get your photograph printed on the cover of the notebook. From branded notebooks to local manufacturing notebooks are available in the market and each has its customer base. So in this Article today, learn about the notebook or copy manufacturing business. Let’s get started. The number of students in our country is more than 20 crores and this is a huge population who need notebooks and copies in their student life. If we talk about the Indian stationery market, then it has been estimated that from 2018 to 2024, India’s stationery market will grow at a five percent rate every year. Apart from school, different types of notebooks are required for government and private office work. That’s why their requirement is not going to end.
Talk about starting the notebook manufacturing business, then The necessary license that you will need is the trade license. Registration office means the name of the company, details of management, and size of the business will have to be mentioned in it. Business Private Limited Company One Person Company Limited Loyalty Partnership or partnership. In the same context, you will have to get the company registered and if you do not understand all this, then on some support you will get the video of company registration.
Apart from this, you can also take the help of a CA, then your work will become easy. Get the registration done in the MSME Department of the Central Government and apply for Udyog Aadhaar. If the entrepreneurs get registered, they will also be able to apply for subsidies in government schemes. To run your company, you have to take a No Objection Certificate i.e. NOC from the State Pollution Control Board in your state that you are not polluting the environment and following the Pollution Control Board standards. After this, you will also get your trademark registered, so that no other company opens in your name or no one copies your copyrighted products. If it is necessary to pay tax for any business, then file ITR on time.
Talking about the period, it takes at least 4 to 5 months to set up notebook manufacturing. It is such that it will take a month to one and a half months to complete the license process. After that if you lack business capital then you will take a bank loan or find an investor. This too will take 2 to 3 months. After the loan is sanctioned, machinery and necessary tools will be taken, so even if everything is done very quickly, it will take 4 to 5 months.
Talking about investment, setting up a standard notebook manufacturing unit requires at least 40 to 50 lakh rupees. All the machines required for a fully functional unit are very expensive. The price of the machine will also depend on fully automatic or semi-automatic. After that, including registration, raw materials, salary of employees, branding, marketing, electricity, transportation, and other expenses, this much will be done.
After starting the business, the owner has to bear the expenses till it becomes stable and till the profit comes. So as a backup also you have to keep some capital in hand, because notebooks are made of paper and paper catches fire very quickly. So for safety, you must also keep a fire extinguisher in your unit and if possible, get insurance done so that you can recover in case of a fortunate accident. Talk about profit, then a notebook with 150 to 200 pages costs 80 to 100 rupees, which you can sell at a higher price of 30 to 40 rupees.
Talking about raw materials, the three most important things required for making notebooks are blank paper sheets, which will be available at Rs.60 to 70 per kg. Hard boards will be available at Rs 1 to 2 per piece and notebook covers will be available at Rs 3 to 5 per unit. For these, you have to search the market where you will get quality products cheaply. The price may be more or less depending on the quality of the product. Now if we know about the machine required for the unit, then to produce the notebook, you will need an offset printing machine, folding machine, stitching machine, and cutting machine. You will find all these machines at indiamart.com. But before dealing with any supplier, come and see the machine and take an expert with you. Do not make advance payments online. Order after seeing it with your own eyes and try to get the cost of delivery taken from the machine supplier. The best would be to find a manufacturer in your city or state and visit their unit. This will give you practical knowledge and you will reach the right machine raw material supplier. Will be able to reach You will need at least 50 kW of power in the unit to run all the machines.
Therefore, you will have to take a commercial electric connection and also have to make arrangements for power backup. Considering the area and space required for the unit, if the production is being done on a large scale you will need at least one thousand square feet of area, in which you will be able to make all kinds of notebooks used in school, college, and office. If the production capacity is less then work will be done with a 500 square feet area.
If you do not have a place, then the money spent on rent every month will add to your investment. Now let’s talk about how notebooks are made. The raw material that comes to the manufacturing unit is mostly blank sheets. First of all, lines and margins are printed on them by putting them in the offset printing machine. After printing, the sheet is folded with the folding machine. Folding machine work is a bit longer. An average-sized notebook is folded four times before cutting. After that, the folded sheets are sent for cutting. Where the sheet is cut according to the required size. Hardboard cutting is also done with this machine. After cutting and before packing, notebooks are stitched and glued to hardboard with glue. The finished notebooks are sent for repackaging. For packaging, notebooks or copies are sealed by sheeting them in a plastic sheet so that their corners do not tear, dust does not come, their newness remains intact and they do not get wet from water. By the way, after knowing this, marketing is also very important, because your business will progress only when you will market it well. If you want to establish the company as a brand, then you can go for media campaigns and advertising. Apart from this, you also have to keep your social media presence.
It is very important to connect wholesalers and retailers at the local level or in the state. Apart from this, you can target schools, colleges, offices, libraries, and shopkeepers in your area. Offer such prices to retailers and bookstalls who are already selling notebooks, at which they can see the benefit and keep your product in their stock. Apart from this, if you make premium products, then you can sell them online as well. If you are going online, get your website developed as well and keep all your products available on it. Keep complete company information, customer support, and business inquiry options on the website. Keep the website secure so that there is no cyber attack on it and your data is safe.
By the way, if there is a YouTuber or social media influencer around you, then you can also get them advertising your product. As far as employment is concerned, you will need at least 8 to 10 employees to run the manufacturing unit, in which you can appoint women to do mail and some light work to operate the machine. Their salary will depend on their work, experience, and skills. If you are hiring people at the local level, then employment will also increase and your reputation in society will also increase.
Talking about innovations, nowadays there is a lot of demand for customized things. So keep the facility of customized notebooks and copy delivery with you for a body anniversary or any occasion. With this you will be able to target schools, colleges, corporate offices, or individuals. Try to make the design, quality cover, and color of the product attractive. You will also benefit from this. As the business grows, you can also set up your printing unit to showcase your brand and trademark on the cover of the notebooks.
