Business ideas - cullet collection point. New business ideas

This article is dedicated to those who want to get into stained glass, but don’t know where to start. I have seven years of experience in manufacturing different types stained glass windows and the sale of consumables for them, as well as the developments of my colleagues with whom I communicate. This article is solely my opinion; here you will not find excerpts or paragraphs from similar materials on the Internet. Like any personal opinion, this article is subjective, but I am sure it will help those who are really interested in stained glass. I tried to collect and describe all aspects of stained glass manufacturing in one place and do it as briefly as possible. However, in the end the article turned out to be long, so please be patient. Bonus - after reading this article, you will receive all the necessary information about full cycle manufacturing stained glass from start to finish and you will significantly reduce the number of gaps in this area. I also hope that not only beginners, but also experienced stained glass artists will get acquainted with this article and will certainly be able to supplement it, and perhaps argue about something. I am ready to answer everyone’s questions and am following the comments. So, let’s go.

The main thing is to decide at the start what you want to get in the end. Will this be your main profession, or just an opportunity? additional income, or maybe just a hobby for the soul? This decision will determine further actions. Of course, you can start as a hobby, and then develop and take it seriously, no one will forbid you! Moreover, I personally know people who did just that. But it’s definitely worth thinking about this, and based on this, decide how much money and time you are willing to spend on mastering stained glass. For those who are considering this direction as a potential business, I want to say right away that it will not be easy. Competition is growing every year, the customer is becoming more enlightened and demanding (which is of course a plus rather than a minus), demand is not stable, the problem of personnel is extremely relevant here, high risks defects and damage to the product and many many other difficulties. But!!! If this is really interesting to you, you see the demand and you can do it - go for it! It is very difficult, almost impossible, to collect a portfolio of orders for the year ahead only after you have decided to become a stained glass artist. Although, I succeeded, maybe you will be lucky too. Another option is also possible, I know a person who, after completing a Tiffany course, purchased tools, glass and other materials for more than $15,000, and then sat practically without work for 2 years, but these are extremes. In another article I will go into more detail about the aspects of stained glass as a business.

Secondly, you need to understand what kind of stained glass windows you want to make. Those who want something simpler to start with can choose film (also called applique or applied English) stained glass windows. If you are ready to be completely puzzled, then start right away with Tiffany technology, or profile (classical) stained glass, these are “real” stained glass windows. You can also do glass sintering - fusing, but for this you need at least a tiny, but special oven. If you make furniture and want to expand the range of products offered, lacquered stained glass windows may be suitable for you, with the automatic application of a polymer stained glass contour on the glass using a special machine and further manual filling with multi-colored varnishes.

The third stage is the theoretical basis. Read as much information as possible about stained glass, the history of its appearance, development over time, look at photographs of antique stained glass, study the portfolio of good stained glass workshops. This will help you understand how interesting the direction is to you and whether it’s worth digging further. If the ardor has not yet cooled down, we move on to studying practical exercises. There are now a lot of video lessons on the Internet, as well as text instructions with photographs detailing each stage of stained glass creation. There are also several books devoted to this topic. In every discussion in our VKontakte group dedicated to different technologies I will post links to materials that seemed to me the most successful and useful. Having sifted through a couple of books, re-read several articles and watched dozens of videos, you can already count yourself among the novice stained glass artists, congratulations!)) If you have not done this yet, I will briefly describe the possible technologies.

Film stained glass. The essence of the technology is simple. Colored films are applied to ordinary transparent glass (you can also use unusual and opaque glass, the main thing is that one side of the glass is flat) according to the sketch. To understand where and what color to apply, a template is used, which is usually printed on paper and lies under glass, or can be temporarily drawn on back side glass Films can be either monochromatic or have different color effects (shimmering, mixing colors), and also have different textures (frost pattern, frosted glass, sandblasted glass, etc.). The seams between the films are closed with self-adhesive stained glass tape. It can have different widths (3, 3.5, 4.5 mm or more) and coating color. This stained glass window can also be combined with glass drops, decals, glass elements with beveled edges (also called bevels, bevels, from the English word bevels), which are glued to the glass using special glue.

Tiffany stained glass. The technique of this stained glass window is named after Louis Comfort Tiffany, who was the first to propose the technology of joining stained glass fragments into one whole using copper foil. The technology originated in the 19th century and has undergone virtually no changes. The bottom line is that stained glass fragments are cut out according to a template from special stained glass 3-3.5 mm thick. after which each fragment is additionally ground on a grinding machine in order to match the template as accurately as possible. In this way, all fragments of the stained glass window are processed so that they can then be laid out on the template as a mosaic (or puzzle). After this, copper foil is applied to the end of the glass, the width slightly exceeding the thickness of the glass. After this, the stained glass window is laid out on a template and its fragments are soldered together, the seams of the finally soldered stained glass window are patinated, and the stained glass window is ready. Tiffany can also be combined with various decorative glass elements: decals, bevels, fusing elements, as well as glass painting.

Classic (profile) stained glass differs from Tiffany in the technology of fastening the glass together. For this, H-shaped profiles made of lead, brass, and zinc are used. This technology is well suited for stained glass windows with geometric sketches, mainly of straight lines; such stained glass windows with bevels are used as kitchen facades or for interior doors.

Glass sintering - fusing. A very interesting technique that can be used either independently or in combination with other techniques. In this technology, glass is bonded together using high-temperature processing (temperature of the order of 600-900 degrees Celsius). Transparent glass is used as a base, and then stained glass fragments cut from colored glass are laid out on it. Then the product is placed in a special oven, the program is set depending on the type of glass used, as well as the degree of sintering that they want to obtain - light, medium, full. After the cycle, which can take from 3 to 7 hours, the product cools down for some time and the stained glass window is ready. The technique allows you to create the most incredible things, but it is necessary to carry out a considerable number of test sinterings to obtain a consistently high-quality and predictable result. Also in the furnace, glass can flow into shape, which allows you to make dishes, watches, and interior items.

Stained glass made of polymer contours and varnishes, a relatively young technology. In this case, the contour of the stained glass window is applied to the glass or mirror using a special machine according to a template specified by the computer. After application, the outline hardens for several hours, and then the stained glass fragments are manually filled with colored varnishes.

In short, that's all. In the discussion section on technologies, in the near future I will describe each technology in detail, indicating all the pros and cons,

So, you have decided on the technology, studied the theoretical material and are ready to move on to practice. This is the fourth stage. If you have a lot of money and little time, then you can sign up for training courses with professional stained glass studios. If you live in a remote, small town this can be problematic. Otherwise, everything is real, the only question is the price. Look for stained glass workshops in your city, talk, maybe you can come to an agreement, I said maybe, because not everyone wants to let strangers in and share their work, even for money. Speaking of money. For example, in our country, training in film technology takes 1 full working day and costs 3,500 rubles. Training in the Tiffany technique takes from 5 to 10 days, depending on the skills of the student, as well as the degree of in-depth knowledge of the technology. This can be an initial course, or it can be an in-depth course with the production of 3D models (lampshades, lamps, interior items). Beginner course costs 15,000 rubles, the price for an in-depth course is calculated individually, we conducted such courses quite rarely. The convenience of this method is that in such courses they will tell you and show you every step in the process of making stained glass, and also add comments, share established techniques, tell you about all the subtleties and pitfalls (believe me, there are a lot of them). Of course, you can master all this yourself. It will just take more time, and the cost of your mistakes (time, damaged materials, nerves) can be comparable to the price of the courses. I am in no way advocating the need to study for money. I myself learned through trial and error both film technique and Tiffany and fusing and did not think it was right and did not have the opportunity to pay for it. But then? What suits one person may not suit another. So the choice here is entirely yours. If you decide to study, I recommend paying attention to the following factors when choosing a place to study:

The fame and reputation of the stained glass workshop than known topics better,

Availability of a high-quality portfolio of YOUR works (works specifically designed and made in this studio, and not photographs downloaded from the Internet), if the studio has been operating for a long time and has large number She usually has a large and varied portfolio of orders (there may be exceptions; for example, over 7 years of work, we shot in best case scenario 10% of their work did not immediately understand how important it was),

A clear training program will help you understand exactly what and in what time frame you will learn,

Find out who exactly will train you, it is much better if you are assigned to a specific master, who will be your curator for the entire course of training; it happens when the master’s student is “passed” to each other like a relay baton, which negatively affects the quality of training

What will you receive after the training - will it be a finished stained glass window (or several), a diploma on company letterhead indicating the training conducted, is a set of tools and materials included in the cost of training or is it possible to purchase it later,

When and in what amount do you need to pay for training? If you are asked to pay a 100% advance before you even arrive and start training, this may be suspicious.

If you want to get to everything yourself, to carry out reconnaissance in force - go for it. You will succeed. Remember - you have already studied books, watched video tutorials, read articles.

Price! For many, this is the only determining factor, especially for beginners. And it is definitely important. Select two or three main items and compare prices from different suppliers, this will give you some insight. For our company I can say that we are not chasing excess profits, we want to offer our partners best prices. And we do this. If for some goods our price is initially not the most favorable, we will look for any opportunity to revise our offer and reduce it for you, but this is still a surprise, you will learn about it a little later!

Assortment. This factor is almost more important than the first, especially if you work in different techniques. Agree, it is very convenient to work with one supplier who can satisfy all your needs and supply everything you need. From us you can buy everything you may need in your work. Why collect from the world one by one? Availability is very wide range materials for Tiffany, fusing, film, polymer stained glass - this is one of our main advantages. In addition, we listen to our customers and are ready to adapt to their needs, work on the assortment, adding new popular items. And the most important thing is that we have most of the goods in stock! Sometimes it happens that something is still missing, which means we can deliver the goods to order at as soon as possible. However, work to order in lately happens less and less often, our large warehouse is our pride.

Consultations on the use of products. Beginning stained glass artists will especially appreciate this, but those who have already worked for some time will also find it useful. Since we not only sell, but also manufacture stained glass, we can evaluate our products from a practical point of view. Our managers regularly visit production sites, conduct introductory seminars with them, practical exercises, to obtain the most complete picture of the products sold. Of course, we cannot know everything, our clients often share their experience, teach us something new, this allows us to keep abreast of stained glass technologies and develop.

Geographical factor. It’s good when you can come and buy everything you need in your city. This is great, but!.., residents of a few large cities where suppliers of stained glass materials work can boast of this opportunity. And there are not many of them, due to the narrow sales market and the need for large material investments in goods in the warehouse (see item assortment). The luckiest ones are stained glass artists from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, and Novosibirsk. The rest either have to go for the goods themselves (which is not always possible, and is also very expensive) or they need to order materials remotely, delivering by transport companies. This is the choice of the majority. From this the following factor:

Delivery. When ordering remotely, by and large, it does not matter in which city the supplier is located, the delivery cost will differ, but only slightly. I recommend paying attention to the following - most suppliers are ready to sell you a product, but are not ready to help you organize its delivery. Their position is that we have collected everything, send a transport company to us and let them take it away. This is wrong, this is inflexible. Often, the cost of picking up cargo within a city is more expensive than transporting cargo from city to city. We are ready to deliver any order to the warehouses of the transport companies "Baikal-service" and "Kit" in Rostov-on-Don completely FREE OF CHARGE. Why these companies? Over the 7 years of our work, they have proven themselves with the best side in terms of territorial coverage of Russia and the number of branches, timing, quality of delivery and tariffs for services. In addition, these companies make it possible to insure fragile cargo upon shipment, so that if the cargo is damaged during transportation, you will receive the money spent back (the damaged goods remain with you and you may be able to use it at least partially). By the way, we insure stained glass at OUR EXPENSE.

Additional services. If for some reason they are not suitable for you transport companies"Baikal-Service" and "Kit", we are ready to make delivery to the warehouse of any carrier within Rostov-on-Don for minimum fee. Also, to send glass, we collect special boxes in which glass transportation is as safe as possible and damage can only occur if the box with glass is dropped (alas, this happens from time to time). The cost of our service for assembling a glass box is minimal; compare our prices for this service with other suppliers - you will be pleasantly surprised.

Discounts. These can be either one-time discounts for large orders, or permanent discounts for loyal customers. We are currently working on a combined discount system to make cooperation with us as profitable as possible.

So, in my opinion, based on the totality of factors in general and on each one separately, we are the best suppliers of stained glass materials. I will be very glad to hear your opinion on this matter, I am waiting for them in private messages, at email or in a special section of our group.

Great - you are on the sixth stage. You have already read, watched, seen everything. You have all the necessary materials and theoretical preparation. It's time to start creating. The question arises, where to actually get the sketches and how to process them. There may be several options. If you have drawing skills, then you can easily begin by drawing a simple stained glass window on a life-size piece of thick paper or cardboard; this will be your template. You also need a sketch - this is a scaled-down model of a stained glass window, painted in the color scheme you need, which you will use as a guide when choosing materials. I will tell you in more detail about making templates in the description of technologies, since templates for different types stained glass windows are different. I would like to dwell in more detail on the sketches. So, if you have the second option and you, like me, don’t know how to draw at all, but still want to make a stained glass window, you can resort to the help of a computer. Most work with the vector editor CorelDraw or its free analogue Inkscape. There are a lot of lessons on both CorelDraw and Inkscape on the Internet, so I do not consider these programs in detail. In terms of processing sketches of stained glass windows, I can say that CorelDraw will be convenient for working with rectilinear and symmetrical objects; working with curves is of course also possible, but it is somewhat difficult to implement. The second option is to use the GlassEye program. A license for GlassEeye Professional version (the functionality in Sandart is extremely meager) can be purchased for $295 on the developer’s website www.dfly.com. In my opinion, it is not worth the money, the program is crude and requires improvement, and the developers have not changed anything in it for many years and, apparently, do not intend to. On the Internet you can find programs for hacking both GlassEye and CorelDraw, this is where the moral aspect comes into play. Everyone decides for himself whether he is ready to use pirated programs or not. The advantages of GlassEye are the ability to fill fragments of a stained glass sketch with the colors and textures of stained glass from different manufacturers or RegaLead films (the glass does not always look realistic, the color of the glass being poured is often significantly different from the real one and it is easier to choose the appropriate shade from the color palette); ease of drawing curved lines in asymmetrical stained glass windows; the program calculates the quantity necessary materials(for glass or film, the percentage of defects is set); the ability to use stained glass sketches with ready-made sketch designs on various topics; the ability to export sketches to JPEG, DWG for sending it to the client or subsequent refinement in CorelDraw. Of the minuses: it is very difficult to work with symmetrical geometric objects; there may be problems with filling stained glass fragments. For ourselves, we decided that we initially make geometric stained glass windows in CorelDraw, and process stained glass windows with many curved lines in GlassEye.

An important point - I can’t tell you anything about drawing technique, rules of composition, color science and other artistic aspects of stained glass. I myself am not an artist and never have been; this side of the issue in our studio is dealt with by professionals with different experience and education. I can say that in our region this specialty is taught at the Novocherkassk SRSTU, and we periodically have students from this university in practice. So if you creative nature and you feel you have talents for drawing and painting - develop them; if not, hire an artist or use the following advice.

A good way to make a sketch without any special practical skills is to draw on a computer a photo or picture that you want to translate into stained glass. And then break it into fragments by drawing the main lines dividing the fragments of the picture with various color spots and objects.. In this way, you convert the original image into stained glass technique. It is very convenient to make sketches in this way when drawing “from scratch” is too difficult for you. A similar thing can be done in CorelDraw and GlassEye.

Perhaps that's all. Of course, many questions remain, only partially answered, we will continue in our next articles
Topics of new articles:

Stained glass as a business, how much money is needed to open a stained glass workshop, what products can be produced, business profitability and possible markets;

A detailed description of each technology, possible nuances during operation, pitfalls,

Suggest your topics, we will try to answer to the best of our ability.

Thanks to everyone who read to the end.

Postscript. Full or partial copying of the article is welcome, only indicating the details of our VKontakte group -

Household and industrial waste are not recycled. Broken glass is one of these types of waste; moreover, it is actually perpetual waste. The glass will remain where we left it, without breaking down for hundreds of years. If we were talking only about household glass waste, the problem would be less global, but there is also industrial waste of the same type. A fifth of all garbage in landfills is... That is why researchers are actively working on possibilities for glass recycling.

One of the leading areas for recycling broken glass is building mixtures. The glass is crushed and then added to concrete mixtures. Concrete with such a filling acquires new physical and mechanical properties, allowing it to withstand critical loads and exposure to aggressive environments. Another advantage of the technology is the cost-effectiveness of the processing process; the final material is not only effective in its characteristics, but also cheap. It makes industrial enterprises open glass and glass collection points on the territory. You can donate glass there in any volume and type. Moreover, receive a certain amount in accordance with the weight of the accepted waste.

Factories that process broken glass handle industrial volumes of cullet. Obviously, delivery of such a plan to the processor site is unlikely. That is why small companies engaged in the collection and accumulation of one or another type of secondary raw materials are beginning to actively develop for their subsequent sale to processing companies. Similar companies currently exist in most major cities, and their network is constantly expanding. Any type of glass can be delivered to the collection points of such companies - from glass containers to windows.

You can check the availability and address of the nearest company of this profile in the administration of your district - collectors and processing enterprises, mainly private firms, but mandatory rule for them is passing state accreditation.

You can also contact a company that, if it does not itself collect household waste (for example, does not have permission for this type of activity), then in any case must contract a third-party company. Usually once or twice a month a truck arrives at the microdistrict and accepts glass from citizens. In order to save money, many housing departments and homeowners associations approach the situation differently: they install containers for collecting waste on their own territory. You can throw glass there at any time and without restrictions.

Home decoration has always been in demand. And even now, despite the crisis, interest in this craft has not dried up. The latest technologies have given glass designers new opportunities.

Today, artistic glass painting is done with special paints and when painted, the pattern remains more durable. The modern fashion for original, unique works has made glass painting popular. The decorative technique is individual in each case; if you use each one separately, you can create a unique masterpiece, one of a kind. Stained glass is considered the most expensive of glass paintings. This is not just an imaginary, artistic stained glass window, but a kind of glass painting. The design of the pattern can be varied, using the smallest details, which in conventional technology stained glass is almost impossible. Of course, the price for such an original work is quite high. A small vase made in this style will cost about 240 rubles. And painting a window 50 cm in size costs about 6,000 rubles. As a rule, there is no price list for designer works; here everything often depends on the quality of the work and the level of skill of the designer. For example, a wine glass with Greek ornaments on Arbat can be sold for 2,100 rubles, but in an elite design studio it will cost 3,600 rubles.

I want to tell you that hand-painted ceramic plates bring me the greatest financial profit. There is very good demand for them in Moscow now. I have been working with these products for a year now, and my interest in them does not fade. But as a creative person, I was very interested in stained glass windows.

ARTIST IN 72 HOURS.

Stained glass technology thanks to the latest technologies Today anyone can do it. To do this you need a little imagination and taste. And now you can apply your own designs to ceramic and glass products. But you can do it easier, buy ready-made stencils and use them to apply flowers, landscapes, animals. And now you can make entire sets. The price of stencils is from 150 to 450 rubles. Now there are even transfer copies of famous artists, adapted to stained glass technology, but of course they cost more, about 800 - 1200 rubles.

There are many forums on the Internet where many craftsmen prove that learning to draw on glass and ceramics is quite simple if you use detailed instructions. But any experienced master will tell you that you can’t do this without a good mentor and quality training. There are a variety of teaching methods available. As a rule, training takes two weekends of 12 hours each. You need to register for the Moscow Design Studio in advance, as there may not be any free places a week before the start of classes. The cost of training is 12,000 rubles.

In the design workshop on Arbat, anyone can receive daily two-hour courses. Every day, masters demonstrate to students glass painting techniques and the latest author’s technique. On vocational training painting glass and ceramics, here you will need two weeks. Prices for each training range from 750 to 1000 rubles, it all depends on the materials and level of the master. Here they teach how to paint ceramic tiles, make transparent paintings using stained glass techniques, and paint designs on porcelain dishes. Here you can be taught more than ten ways of decorating. But the most important conditions What remains for a student to learn is that he has his own taste.

A PASSION CAN BECOME A SOURCE OF EARNINGS.

According to experts, learning to paint stained glass windows is a very difficult task, even after original classes and independent exercises, but most likely this is a kind of fear of competition.

As professionals have said, it’s not enough to practice the technique yourself; you need to develop your own taste, look for individual ideas.

After your work turns from student crafts into original works, you will immediately have buyers. Many professionals believe that only people with good skills will be able to master glass painting. developed imagination. As a rule, most students become simply high-quality artisans.

After the crisis, consumer demand for designer items fell by half, but many designer works with practical applications are still in great demand.

One of my friends, having started painting glass, considered it more of a hobby - a pleasant pastime. I started painting glass at home. I sold it inexpensively at 180 - 200 rubles for a small vase or plate with a cup. Two years later, my own circle of buyers appeared, the business improved, I was able to rent a workshop, and already took my “hobby” very seriously. Now my monthly income ranges from 30,000 to 60,000 rubles.

The current studio providers are former course students working from home. For glass painting masters, stained glass workshops, furniture factories, bamboo workshops and interior design studios offer cooperation.

As for profit, at first, having sold your products, you can only pay for training and consumables. Well, in the future your work will begin to make a profit.

Costs of a beginner designer
Costs Price, rub.
Training 12000
Set of brushes - 6 pcs. 792
Set of paints - 12 pcs. 1580
Border paint 216
Solvent 96
Plate, vase, set of glasses 282
Total 14970
How does a business pay off?
Costs and income Price, rub.
Costs, training and materials 14970
Income from the sale of a set of glasses - 6 pcs. 12600
Income from the sale of a set (plate and vase) 1200
Total:14970-13800 -1170

Glass and its derivatives have become a part of human life. Look around and you will find at least three glass products. Amazing properties glass is difficult to replicate, so it is unlikely that there will be an alternative or replacement for this material in the near future. This means that the custom glass cutting business is profitable and durable. So much so that you can easily pass on your successful glass business to your grandchildren. But, first things first.

Glass is one of the most ancient materials found and successfully used in practical human life. It's no joke, but glass existed and was successfully used by people 5 thousand years ago. This is the scope for the glass business.

The modern use of glass, as a basis for starting your own business, is divided into: from the production of finished glass products (dishes, interior elements, jewelry, etc.) to the manufacture of glass products ( machining and cutting) from sheet glass, so-called interior glass.

The easiest way to start a glass business is based on the last point - cutting glass and mirrors to order. To open such a business you will need 2 people and two simple devices. By the way, everything that is described in the article about glass also applies to mirrors, because a mirror is glass, only with a reflective layer applied.

How to open a glass and mirror cutting business

The key point of this business: cutting glass to customer sizes from ready-made sheet material. Without going into details: the required piece is cut from a large glass sheet rectangular shape and sold to the customer.

And such services are in demand not only among individual customers, but also in the production of simple rectangular mirrors, furniture facades (glass and mirror cabinet doors), and windows. That is, the circle of potential clients is huge even when providing the simplest services.

Glass cutting is usually done mechanically; it is a very cheap and simple method. A “cut line” is applied to the surface of the sheet using a carbide cutter - a line along which the glass is directed to split by bending it. To do this, you need a large cutting table so that you can lay out a large sheet of glass (mirror), rulers and cutting tools on it. 2 people can handle this job.

Source material - sheet glass of various thicknesses— purchased from the manufacturer in bulk from 140 rubles per square meter, sheet mirror from 200 rubles/m². At retail, after cutting, the finished product is sold at a price of 500 rubles per “square” + cutting cost, about 20 rubles per linear meter. Depending on the thickness of the glass and its other features.

That's all? Is this the whole glass business?

In theory, yes. The most basic, simple and popular service is cutting rectangular glass and mirrors from sheet metal. Even if you have an advanced glass cutting workshop, you will most often order a rectangular cutting service. But, the modern glass processing industry and glass manufacturers offer, practically, limitless possibilities to expand this business.

Let's start with the source material, that is, glass and mirrors. Nowadays, not only glass of various thicknesses is produced, but also colors (tinting), and various characteristics(reinforced, energy-saving, sun-protective (reflective), curved (bent), triplex and hardened). This is already expanding the offer of finished products in the glass workshop.

In addition to glass, you can purchase additional installations for cutting and processing, as well as glass and mirror decoration, which, coupled with the range of source materials, expands the business indefinitely.

Rectangular and shaped glass cutting. In small and medium-sized enterprises, in addition to manual cutting of glass, special semi-automatic cutting tables are currently used, which are capable of coping with high-precision and complex tasks with the help of 1 operator. It's about not only about straight-line, but also about curved cutting of glass. On such tables you can make shaped glass elements, for example, round mirrors, shelves with a round edge, wavy inserts into furniture fronts and much more. The cost of such tables starts from 1 million rubles.

Glass edge processing (Euro-edge, bevel). After cutting glass, even with high precision, a rather sharp edge remains. Which, sometimes, is simply unacceptable in the finished product. To process such glass edges, special edge grinding machines are used. The edges are smooth and of any shape from semicircle to bevel. The cost of machines starts from 500 thousand rubles.

Facet- special processing of the glass edge, where the visible part of the product is cut at an angle of about 45°. This edge achieves interesting artistic effects (for example, a “diamond” break) and various interesting findings for the overall design.

Drilling and grinding of glass and mirrors. The process is no different from drilling any other material, which results in a hole appearing in the original product. Drilling of glass is carried out with a special drill with the possibility of subsequent processing of the edge. Grinding and polishing of glass products is the final stage of manufacturing, which gives the product its final appearance by removing and leveling small defects on the surface. It is performed by manual or stationary installations with special nozzles using special pastes. The cost of installation is from 50 thousand rubles (manual) to 500 thousand rubles (stationary).

Sandblasting glass. Artistic processing of glass by spraying sand with a strong air stream. Due to this, unprotected areas of the glass receive microdamage and lose transparency. Using sandblasting, you can create artistic design elements and drawings on the surface of glass or mirrors, as well as sandblasted stained glass windows. Installations are manual and stationary, manual from 50 thousand rubles, stationary automatic machines up to 2 million rubles.

Additional services that can be provided in a glass cutting workshop. In addition to the above, you can install equipment with which you can produce laser processing and glass engraving, creation of stained glass windows from colored glass, glass bending furnaces, assembly of double-glazed windows, production of mirror tiles, glass kitchen aprons, photographic glass, volumetric stained glass windows from glass bevels, etc. Additional source income in the glass business - sale of accessories, frames and holders for glass furniture, mirrors and other things.

Practice shows that even a minimal set of glass cutting services is in demand, profitable and, with proper implementation, quickly expands and increases overall profits.

You can organize a glass processing and cutting business practically from scratch. According to practitioners, the most difficult thing in organizing a business is to agree with the manufacturer on the supply of raw materials (glass) in installments. That is, goods today - and money tomorrow. If you manage to do this, then the investment in the business will amount to mere pennies...

About glass cutting

Such shops make money by cutting glass for windows, balconies, mirrors, patterned glass for interior doors, stained glass windows and aquariums. The most popular glass is 3 and 4. The main orders come from the local population, especially in rural areas. Glass is purchased in bulk in 100 m2 boxes and delivered personally by the supplier. Purchasing the entire batch of raw materials is expensive, so best option cooperation with limited capital - deferred payment.

The average markup on goods is 30-40%; on individual corrugated goods it can reach 50%. There is also a separate fee for cutting glass - about 50 rubles. If the client takes a large order, delivery is free. In most cases, the client himself comes to the workshop and picks up the goods.

Recruitment

Finding workers to cut glass is usually not difficult. All production process a person will master it in a couple of weeks. Payments to cutters are made based on the volume of work performed, according to a piece-rate bonus form. Typically, the wage fund for two craftsmen per month is 35-50 thousand rubles.

Which tax system to choose

To start a business, just register individual entrepreneurship at your local tax office. An individual entrepreneur is the most suitable option for such a business, since it is cheaper and, if something happens, it is easier to close. The simplified taxation system (STS) is used as a taxation system. You can get 6% of revenue or 15% of profit. If you don’t understand it yourself, it’s better to hire an experienced accountant, part-time (5 thousand rubles per month).

Which room to choose for glass cutting

You can even choose a semi-basement or basement option as a premises for production. There are no special requirements for the premises; in fact, they do not differ from the standard requirements for industrial premises (SanPiN 2.2.4.548-96). The main condition is the presence of supply and exhaust ventilation; even a window fan is sufficient. Well, if you work in winter, you also need heating.

As for the area of ​​the room, 30 square meters is enough. meters. Of which 20 square meters are allocated directly for production, the remaining 10 are for storage of raw materials and finished products. Renting such an area will cost 10-15 thousand rubles per month, depending on the region. Taking on large areas at the beginning of a business, when there are not many orders yet, does not make sense. The larger the area, the higher the rent.

What equipment to choose for cutting glass

Basic equipment will require a cutting table and professional glass cutters. If you can save money on the table by making it out of a sheet of chipboard, then the glass cutters should be exclusively professional. One new glass cutter costs about $150 (Bohle Silberschnitt). At least two of these glass cutters are required, or depending on the scale of production.

Advertising

As for advertising, in the absence of serious competition it is basically not needed - clients come on their own. You can place a couple of advertisements in the local newspaper or post them around the city. And then, depending on the quality of production, classic word of mouth already works.

Step-by-step plan for starting a glass cutting business

1. Compile a market analysis.
2. Develop a business plan and strictly follow the goal.
3. Find suppliers of raw materials.
4. Rent a room (30 sq. m is enough).
5. Purchase equipment, inventory, tables.
6. Conduct a simple advertising campaign: make and distribute business cards, post advertisements.

How much can you earn from your activity?

1 sq. m of cut glass costs from 500 rubles on the market. A small workshop can bring in 200 thousand rubles. per month.

How much money do you need to start a business?

• Rent of premises - from 15 thousand rubles.
• Purchase of special equipment, additional installations for cutting glass - from 500 thousand rubles.
• Purchase of glass cutters - from 15 thousand rubles.
• Purchase of glass of different thicknesses - from 100 thousand rubles.

You can reduce costs by using mechanical glass cutters. In the first stages, all work can be done manually (without the use of special equipment).

Which OKVED code should I indicate when registering?

• 1 - production activity associated with glass.
• 44 - painting and glass work.
• 46 - trade in glass products.
• 44 - wholesale glass products.

What documents are needed for registration

Like any other type of business, glass cutting requires registration with the tax service. Opening an individual entrepreneur is ideal for conducting business. To legalize a business, it is necessary to: tax service at the place of registration of the applicant, submit:

• Application in the prescribed form.
• Photocopy of passport, birth certificate.
• Receipt for payment of the mandatory duty.

Do I need permission to open?

The glass cutting business does not require licensing or certification.

Glass cutting technology

Today there are different glass cutting techniques:

• Destruction of the top layer of material by a diamond glass cutter, mechanical fracture along the intended line;
• Sandblasting method with virtually no waste. The work itself is done very carefully and does not require physical strength;
• Liquid glass cutting is a technique that requires the use of expensive equipment.

To organize a business on initial stage It is advisable to use diamond glass cutters or sandblasting devices.