Surely a creative person will never want to earn money sitting in one place in the office and doing paperwork, for him it will be a real hell. Such people, as a rule, are looking for an opportunity to earn money without depending on anyone, but for some reason, not everyone is trying to use their basic creative abilities to organize their own business, and this can really be a good idea. Now everything that is produced thanks to manual labor is in demand. Such things are always very original, and most importantly, they are produced in a single copy. For example, handmade toys are increasingly being purchased, and they are bought not only for children, but also for adults, some even collect entire collections.

You should know that there are several main stages on the way to starting a truly successful soft toy business.

First, it is worth thinking about where exactly the work will be carried out. The most optimal option for a start would be, of course, your own apartment, because it is much more comfortable in it than in any rented room, and you don’t have to spend a lot of money on rent.

Secondly, equipment is certainly necessary for work. Of course, you can start sewing toys with a regular thread and needle, but then the quality of work will not be very good, and it will take too much time to produce one toy, so it's best to buy an ordinary sewing machine and learn how to work on it.

The next thing to think about is the range. Of course, at the initial stage it will be quite difficult to come up with something new, since there may not be enough imagination for this, so you should look at interesting ideas on the Internet and try to bring them to life. But it is worth knowing that an exclusive toy will cost much more.

After the production of the first toy, it is necessary to carefully evaluate it, and it is best to seek the help of friends who can tell you what needs to be improved so that the model really becomes perfect and suitable for.

When experience is gained and a certain assortment of high-quality toys finally appears, you should create your own website, on which photos of all the works will subsequently be posted. Through this site, users must order toys for themselves, so it must be carefully worked out, and it is better to entrust this matter to a professional programmer. And, of course, the site should be advertised so that users know about its existence.

Business idea: Production of soft toys

No matter how filled the soft toys market is, you can always find sales and your own niche in it. Toys are bought very often. Moreover, it is soft toys that are interesting because they are popular with both children and adults. Their assortment is the most diverse: from simple, unpretentious, small to the most gigantic and exquisite.

In addition, the factor that recently most buyers prefer domestic manufacturers, especially in this area, plays a big role.

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What is needed for the production of soft toys?

To start work on organizing the production of soft toys, you must have special equipment. It includes professional sewing machines. Their cost is in the range of 12 - 25 thousand rubles. You can immediately purchase a machine for stuffing toys, although here we are already talking about an amount of at least 300,000 rubles. At the first stage, it is still possible to do without such equipment, but this will affect the amount of products produced. In any case, the decision here depends entirely on your capabilities.

Production cannot be imagined without the cost of purchasing accessories and raw materials, which will average 50,000 rubles. The production itself at the first stage does not require large areas and can occupy approximately 20 square meters. It is also better to immediately provide for the cost of advertising in newspapers and the creation of a small page on the Internet with photographs of all products.

Of course, before these purchases, it is necessary to think over the entire range that will be produced. Despite the fact that many soft toys are intended for children, adults make the purchasing decision. Therefore, it is best to evaluate your design decisions among them. Moreover, now a soft toy is one of the most sought-after gifts for girls for all kinds of women's holidays and in romantic relationships.

Popular and profitable business lines.

The creation of their branded toys from different companies has gained great popularity. These funny teddy bears and perky multi-colored cats are often one of the components of the image of various companies. On the one hand, there is no fierce competition between soft toy manufacturers, and on the other hand, this situation shows that the most important thing in this business is the buyer.

A soft toy can be not only corporate, but also folklore style. A variety of housewives, girls in national costumes, angels and much more. That is, everything that your imagination is capable of.

Another interesting direction in this business is the production of toys to order. Such a service is now found not in every city, although it is in good demand. When working with such orders, the client understands that he receives an exclusive gift that no one else will have.

Many are now striving to do something themselves, so in addition to making soft toys themselves, another interesting area is the sale of kits for creativity. They include a complete set of everything you need to make such a toy with your own hands: a pattern, necessary accessories, a set of threads, filler and detailed instructions.

Sales of products and seasonality of sales of goods.

When starting work, you should pay attention to the seasonality of this product. Since September, the demand for it has been increasing. It reaches its peak during the New Year holidays and lasts until March 8, and by the end of May it disappears. Thus, in the summer you can safely go on vacation without worrying about production. And the time of summer vacation means new creative plans and fantasies. At a time when demand is fading, you can review last year's collection, come up with something new, and possibly upgrade equipment.

To sell soft toys, you will have to do a lot of work in all stores for children, souvenir shops. And also try to conclude contracts with wholesale buyers. You can create your own small department, where you can sell your own soft toys.

Development and profitability of soft toys business.

Previously, many retail chains worked exclusively with foreign manufacturers of these products, due to the relatively low cost and large assortment of soft toys from these suppliers. Today, the buyer himself, giving preference to the domestic brand, has changed the attitude of many retail chains to imported toys. This gives a great opportunity to conclude contracts and develop fruitful cooperation.

The organization of such a business often becomes a real family business. Someone works with wholesalers and stores, another buys the necessary fabric and accessories, and the third carries out the production itself, or works in a department. It all depends entirely on what volume of products you decide to produce.

Here, many are immediately interested in the issue of profit and profitability. The cost of producing soft toys today is quite small. When forming even the wholesale price, the margin is at least 100 percent. This allows you to recoup the cost of such production within one year. In addition, with properly established sales, the incomes themselves in this industry are not bad, even for a small, family business.

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* Calculations use average data for Russia

We have repeatedly written about how to open a business related to the production of toys, including toys made from natural materials and, in particular, from wood. The relevance of this business idea not only does not decrease. On the contrary, the difficult economic situation in the country, the sharp rise in the exchange rate and the restriction of imported products - all this leads to the revival of almost forgotten traditions and an increase in interest in domestic games and toys.

Wooden toys are popular not only in our country. They are one of the oldest and most enduring groups of games and toys in the world. However, at present their production in Russia is rather poorly developed. Several relatively small enterprises and individual entrepreneurs operate on the market. In total, the total number of factories and individual workshops is a little over thirty for the whole country (!). For comparison, several hundred factories (including large enterprises with a large number of employees) and thousands of artistic woodworking enthusiasts are engaged in the production of wooden toys in Europe.

In our country, the wooden toy market is dominated by imported products, mainly made in China. Moreover, most of the Chinese toys are of low quality and not the greatest variety of forms. According to analysts, today there are good prerequisites for new market participants to enter the market. These include the rapidly growing volume of sales of children's goods in our country and, first of all, children's toys (an increase of about 28%), which, in turn, is associated with an increase in the birth rate, an increase in interest in the early development of children (which is impossible without high-quality and pedagogically “correct” toys) and consumer preference for products that are safe and of high quality (even if they have to pay a higher price than the market average). As mentioned above, even the crisis had little effect on this market segment. Rather the opposite. Parents are the last to agree to save on their children, but the economic situation forces them to look for alternatives to imported toys that have risen in price among domestic products. Wooden toys are durable and long lasting. High-quality wood products are completely safe for children, perform the function of educational toys and are considered an original gift for any occasion.

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However, the business of manufacturing toys in general, and wooden toys in particular, cannot be called simple. The manufacturer needs not only the ability to develop an original concept for their products, establish production, find the best balance between price and quality of goods, but also beat other competitors, create and implement an effective campaign to promote their toys. Moreover, it is the latter tasks that are the most difficult to solve. The very same technology for manufacturing wooden toys, as it is believed, is relatively simple and does not require large investments.

Organization of the production of wooden toys

In order to organize your own small enterprise for the manufacture of games and toys made of wood, you will first need a separate production room. It is best to break the room into several production areas, isolated from one another. In one of these zones, artists will work who create sketches of future toys, in others the production process will be carried out: wood processing, painting, assembly and packaging of toys. The workshop also needs to be supplied with electricity and water supply.

Finding a place is not a problem. For starters, you can get by with even a small area. Someone opens production in a garage or in a summer cottage. But with the equipment, the issue is more complicated. It is widely believed that for the manufacture of wooden toys, general-purpose woodworking machines will be enough. The minimum list includes a chisel and four machines - grinding, drilling, edge banding, CNC milling, painting equipment, packaging equipment (however, you can also pack products manually). Consumables for the manufacture of toys - linden, birch, spruce, pine, beech (the strongest, but at the same time the most expensive raw material). Different types of wood are purchased in different regions of our country. For example, beech is imported from the Krasnodar Territory, and birch is imported from the middle lane. For painting, only high-quality paints are used, which are completely safe for children. However, with them, too, not everything is so simple. There are no more than three domestic manufacturers of completely safe paints in our country. In addition, they do not offer real paints, but rather tinted oils with natural waxes. Although these compounds are completely safe for children, their covering ability leaves much to be desired. Such paints, although environmentally friendly, are too transparent. It would seem that that's all the costs.

The problem is that not everything can be made on a conventional woodworking machine. Of course, if you are going to produce standard products (cubes, balls, counting sticks, etc.), then a four-sided thickness gauge, trimming with a fine cutter, a lathe copier or a template knife for a conventional lathe, screw-cutting lathe will be enough. But for the manufacture of complex author's (and, therefore, exclusive) toys, special equipment will be required, including machines for high-quality processing of small parts of complex geometric shapes. Unfortunately, there are no domestic machines of this type, in principle. Even in Soviet times, when the production of wooden toys was put on stream, thirty machine-building plants of the Glavdrevstankoprom of the USSR Minstankoprom were not able to produce all the machine tools necessary for the industry. By the way, world-famous Soviet matches and ice cream sticks, which were produced at the Tsentrmebeli enterprises, were made on Swedish equipment.

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The technological process for the production of wood products suggests that the smaller it is, the more difficult it is to make. Especially when it comes to large circulations of manufactured products. In the West, even robots are used to make complex wooden toys. Of course, we are still far from such technologies. Most small workshops manage with the simplest and cheapest general-purpose machines. And they can make complex products, but this requires qualified and experienced craftsmen. Unfortunately, there are very few such specialists in our country. In addition, hand-made toys are labor-intensive and therefore cost much more than factory-made ones. It is difficult for them to compete with products made in the countries of Southeast Asia, where global toy production is gradually moving. Chinese factories are constantly upgrading equipment and improving the quality of their products. These factories can employ thousands of workers, engineers and designers. Domestic craftsmen never dreamed of such scales. Russian manufacturers of wooden toys, on the one hand, are trying to revive the traditions that existed earlier during tsarist Russia and later in the USSR, but do not yet have the capacity to implement their ambitious projects. The problem, as usual, is money. Everyone is trying to solve it in their own way. Some companies move production to China, while others simplify the toys they produce in shape or choose one direction for work (for example, the production of designers from geometric shapes), which allows the use of cheaper woodworking equipment. Both options are suitable for organizing mass production.

Handicraft workshops, on the other hand, rely on the exclusive - handmade, complex shapes, careful study of each toy and a limited assortment. This is how extraordinary products are born. True, the prices for these products cannot be called ordinary either. For example, a detailed wooden doll 45 cm in size will cost about 8-10 thousand rubles. How many parents can buy such toys for their children? The entrepreneurs themselves say that with the right positioning, there will always be demand for exclusives, no matter what price they ask for. However, such production can hardly be called profitable: with small batches, even a large margin does not save the situation.

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There are also medium options, when a small workshop produces small and not very complex, but, nevertheless, author's toys. Their cost is comparable to the cost of high-quality factory-made plastic toys. Parents are usually willing to overpay a little for environmental friendliness and originality of the toy.

Large companies rely on ease of manufacture, the absence of small parts that a child could break off from a toy, and bright design that attracts the attention of children. Small firms cite unusual designs, muted colors (pastel colors), “souvenir” orientation of their products and limited editions as their competitive advantages.

Regardless of how much you produce your products, you will need special computer programs that will make it much easier and easier to create original models of toys and put them into production.

Documents for the production of children's toys

All toys intended for children must be certified. This procedure is mandatory and serves as a confirmation of product quality. In addition, for the production and further sale of children's toys in Russia, it will be necessary to issue a hygiene certificate - the so-called sanitary and epidemiological conclusion (SEZ). Although according to the law, you first need to issue a free economic zone, and only then go through the procedure for mandatory product certification, nevertheless, authorized organizations operating on the principle of "one stop shop" usually draw up both documents at the same time.

What exactly belongs to the category "toys for children"? The main distinguishing feature of children's toys is their play purpose. They should be designed for children's play activities. Please note: products with a developmental or educational purpose (puzzles, strategy games, musical instruments, etc.), puppets, souvenirs, equipment for sports games are not children's toys. All children's toys can be classified according to: the age of the child (for newborns, for infants of 3-4 months, for children of 1-2 years, etc.); manufacturing material (plastic, rubber, fur, wood, combined); educational purpose (sound, musical, visual, motor, constructive, figurative); device: electric (a certificate is issued for children's toys in accordance with GOST R 51557-99 and other regulatory documents), soft, simple (cubes), mechanical, collapsible (designers), on wheels (cars), inflatable (balls, balls ); appearance: puppets depicting people, animals, other creatures, imitation weapons, toy cars, toy objects (pots and sets of plates, toy cell phones and glasses), musical instruments, etc.

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A certificate for children's toys is issued if the products comply with the mandatory requirements specified in the following standards: GOST 27178-86 Toys. Test methods; GOST ISO 8124-2-2001 Toys. General safety requirements and test methods. Flammability; GOST ISO 8124-3-2001 Toys. General safety requirements and test methods. Isolation of elements harmful to the health of the child; GOST R ISO 8124-3-99 Toys. General safety requirements and test methods. Isolation of elements harmful to the health of the child; GOST R ISO 8124-2-2008 Toys. General safety requirements. Part 2. Flammability.

When passing the certification procedure for children's toys, the material from which the products are made, the functionality of the toys, and their safety for the child are checked. Of great importance is also monitoring compliance with toys for a certain age of children. Therefore, even at the stage of developing the concept of a future toy, it is worth involving teachers and psychologists in this process. Ideally, it is best to give your products for psychological and pedagogical examination in an independent center.

The most difficult situation is with toys for children under the age of three. They must be completely safe (toddler toys should not go down the throat or twist around the neck), strong enough to exclude the possibility of pricks, cuts, designed in such a way that the child cannot tear, disassemble or bite through them. In addition, they should not have rough surfaces or sharp edges. This is especially important when it comes to wooden toys. After all, any defect in surface treatment can be fraught with a splinter or scratch. Rattles and other wooden toys intended for babies are not covered with paint and varnish, but are boiled in a mixture of wax and linseed oil - this is the safest and highest quality wood processing. Only if all these requirements are met will you be able to obtain a certificate for your toys from a certification body.

Keep in mind that you, as a manufacturer of children's toys, must ensure that not only your products, but the entire production process meets the regulatory requirements. The certificate is issued both for a certain batch of products and for the serial production of several types of toys: toy weapons, constructors and prefabricated houses, toy cars, trains (electric and non-electric, as well as accessories to them), airplanes and ships, toy watches, abacus and etc.,

toy musical instruments (pianos, pipes, drums, gramophones, harmonicas, accordions, xylophones, etc.), dolls, houses, furniture, dishes and clothes for dolls, rattles for babies, etc.

For your products, you will need to issue Technical Specifications (TU) and have certificates for all materials you use in the production of children's toys. If you are planning to import your toys, it is also worth getting a quality management system certificate.

Recruiting staff

Two or three people will be enough to work in a small workshop for the production of children's toys. However, they must be masters in their field, and finding such, unfortunately, is very difficult. The tradition of making wooden toys is almost lost. Good specialists in this field are found, perhaps, in central Russia and in the north, and not in cities, but in villages and villages. If you can find woodworkers, consider yourself very lucky. Over time, the staff can be expanded (the number of employees in large workshops is 15-20 people, and this is with automated equipment), take apprentices who will learn from the masters all the intricacies of work. A good craftsman can also teach everyone at paid courses for making an author's wooden toy, which will become an additional source of income. Some workshops even arrange excursions for those who want to get acquainted with artistic woodworking and watch the work of masters. Especially such excursions are popular among foreigners.

Wooden toys are a sought-after product, but only if your target audience knows about you. The difficulty lies in the fact that you will have to promote your products not only and not so much to your city or region, but to the whole country. The advertising budget in this case will be much larger. The best way to promote is through the Internet. Actively use social networks, including VKontakte, Facebook, Instagram and other services. To get started, take high-quality and beautiful photos of your products. There is no need to hire a professional photographer for this. It is enough to have a high-quality camera and a good imagination. Try to take photographs that are subjective and varied. Post them regularly on social networks with various comments. They attract attention…and new subscribers (and therefore potential customers). To create original photos, you don’t need to rent a studio - prepare props (you can do it yourself) and provide good lighting. It is worth thinking about creating your own website. Moreover, this does not require large investments. It will be enough for you to have a catalog website with product photos and your contacts.

If you have enough funds, you can open your own online store. A simple option will cost 30-50 thousand rubles. It will also be possible to agree on partnerships with other online stores and regular stores that sell goods for children and, in particular, educational games. But small manufacturers of wooden toys cannot count on large retail chains. The latter take for sale only cheap products at a selling price of up to 200-300 rubles. With semi-manual labor, such a wholesale price for a toy cannot be set. But with large volumes of production, you can sell your products through wholesale companies and retail chains.

Pay attention to the numerous projects with joint purchases. The main audience for such projects is mothers with children, so high-quality wooden toys will be in high demand here. A separate group of potential buyers of such products is preschool educational institutions. It is quite difficult to work with them. They are limited in budgets and financed on a residual basis. Of course, they are unlikely to be interested in expensive exclusive toys, but educational games and various constructors will be relevant. Often, children who liked the "kindergarten" toy, then ask their parents to buy them the same home.

Both large enterprises and small semi-handicraft workshops are advised by experts not to miss the annual thematic exhibitions dedicated to goods for children and, in particular, toys. Such exhibitions are held both in Russia as a whole and abroad. The largest and most famous international exhibition of toys Spielwarenmesse takes place every year in the city of Nuremberg (Germany). Experienced entrepreneurs advise beginners to start with regional and then Russian exhibitions. And only after gaining experience and a more or less wide range of products to present their products at international exhibitions. In Europe, the traditions of making wooden toys are much better developed than in our country. Therefore, it will be quite difficult to hit the European masters. Exhibitions are the best way to express yourself, establish useful contacts, find new partners and ideas for inspiration.

To organize a small workshop, taking into account rent, preparation of premises, registration, purchase of equipment and raw materials, registration of licenses, it will take from 500-600 thousand rubles, which is a relatively small amount. Many regions have programs to support start-up entrepreneurs. For example, you can get a subsidy to reimburse a certain percentage of the cost of purchasing equipment, subsidies to reimburse part of the costs of exhibition activities, or even rent a production facility. These programs are especially relevant for entrepreneurs who invest more than 1 million rubles in their business.

The circulation of finished toys produced by one workshop is usually small - up to 500 pieces of each item. The cost of even the most complex toys usually does not exceed 1.5-2 thousand rubles. At the same time, its selling price starts from 3 thousand rubles and above. On cheap toys, the margin is higher. With a cost of up to 100 rubles, a toy can be sold for 400-500 rubles. The payback period of a business depends on many factors. A small workshop reaches the level of self-sufficiency during the first 1.5-2 years of operation. The profitability of such a business is estimated at 18-20%. The business of manufacturing and selling wooden toys is not seasonal, but demand increases on the eve of the New Year holidays and decreases markedly by the summer.

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Profitability calculator for this business

Many women are excellent at sewing, knitting and other types of needlework, but they never think about making money from their hobby. As a basis, we will take the base of the plan for creating toys in the style of Teddy.

Product

The first thing you need to do is decide what you will produce directly: bouquets of sweets, exclusive custom-made cakes, soft toys, or something else.

Author photo: Lyovkina Nadezhda, author in the magazine "The wrong side of needlework", owner of the hand-made blog don-kupidon.livemaster.ru, Work experience: 3 years of training in the center - a certificate of additional education in crochet with the right to teach, several years work as the head of the circle of applied arts, prizes in offline competitions.

In our case, the product is soft toys made in the style of Teddy. This is a special production technology, in which all the limbs of the toy are movable, while fastenings can be of different types - bolted, cotter pin, thread. The traditional Teddy toy is a bear, but today there is a new term "friends of Teddy bears" - this is any animal (cats, dogs, hares, cows, horses, giraffes). The main thing is the observance of the technological foundations of sewing.

Demand analysis

The next step is to conduct a demand analysis for the products you plan to produce. A free way to calculate market capacity is to analyze search queries using wordstat.yandex.ru.

An example of analysis for the query "Teddy Bears":

On request "Handmade toys"

At the request of "Handmade":

Production plan

The next questions you need to find answers for yourself are: How to make toys? What equipment and materials will be required for this? What kind of space is required to get started?

Requirements for the premises

The indisputable advantage of this type of activity is that there is no need to rent a production area to start a business, toys can be made at home.

Manufacturing technology

The process of making soft toys can be carried out both manually and using a sewing machine. The basis of any toy is a pattern, on the basis of which the manufacturing process takes place.

An example of a German bear pattern:

It is important to remember that by creating your own unique pattern, you become its copyright holder.

Equipment and materials

For a full-fledged home production of Teddy-style toys, you will need the following equipment:

Consumables

Finished product cost

The next step that needs to be done is to calculate the cost of manufacturing the product in order to understand how profitable it will be to produce it and whether your toy will be a competitor in the market.

The cost is determined from the amounts of direct costs and indirect.

• Direct costs are directly, the cost of materials used in the creation of a toy.
• Indirect costs are electricity, the time of the master.

An example of identifying the cost of a Teddy-style toy:

Of course, this is a very conditional plan, and each master refines it "for himself." For example, you had to spend time shopping for the right fabric and so on.

From practice: on average, tailoring a simple Teddy toy has a cost of materials - about 1000-1500 rubles. Each master has his own time costs.

Pricing

Now you know how much it will cost you to manufacture a particular toy, then you need to determine its retail price. On average, the cost of work is determined by the sum of direct and indirect costs multiplied by 2 (cost of work). But you can revise this system to a greater or lesser extent.

From practice: When determining the price, it is necessary to focus on the cost of handmade toys, Teddy Bears of their "colleagues in the shop":

Target audience and ways to promote products

The next step you need to take to open your own business is to understand who will actually buy your products and where to sell them.

Potential Buyers

The main target audience of buyers of soft toys consists of women, and there are practically no age restrictions, as well as children. Also potential buyers include collectors and lovers of hand-made, in general (by the way, there are also men among them).

Ways to promote products

The hand toy market is very specific; for it, the most relevant way to sell it is to trade via the Internet.

Sales channels

Potential buyers can be found in thematic communities, forums, social networks.

Making soft toys with your own hands is an exciting and very profitable business. A soft toy can be bought as a gift for both children and adults. The idea of ​​making goods for children with your own hands deserves attention and a detailed study of all the nuances. Business profitability from 100%. Manufacturers put a 100% margin on wholesale prices. They know that parents are always willing to spend more on their children than on themselves. In order to make products with your own hands, you need to decide what kind of toys will be: author's, collectible, souvenir, wooden, educational or educational, soft or combined. Indeed, in one toy you can accommodate several properties and characteristics. Soft toys can be sold on the Internet by creating your own page or store. You can sell your goods through stores or any other outlets under a contract for sale. Offer your products on social networks. Also, do not forget about your friends, neighbors and co-workers. All of them are your potential clients. Young 19-year-old millionaire Cameron Johnson made a fortune selling stuffed animals on eBay. The algorithm for making soft toys is quite simple: we make a sketch, a pattern, then cutting out all the details from the fabric and final assembly, sewing and stuffing with filler. Some parts can be sewn with a sewing machine and overlaid. The easiest place to start is making figures of soft toys with a minimum number of parts. For example, it can be a heart, a ball, a bun, a smiley, a snake, etc. By the way, the production of toy pillows, chair covers or covers can become a parallel and completely not superfluous production in the manufacture of soft toys with your own hands. What do you have enough imagination for. For young parents, a mat for the development of children can become a very interesting product. It is not at all difficult to make it, but in the store it is expensive. Moreover, the developing rug is made exactly according to the same scheme and using the same tools and materials as soft toys. Cut, cut, sew. And below is a master class on making soft toys, in the form of step-by-step instructions.

Manufacturers need to make more soft toys

The capacity of the soft toys market has a dynamic growth, +25% annually. According to experts, this trend will continue for several more years. The positive growth rates of the toy market are also tied to the positive indicators of the birth rate of children. Today, the soft toys market in the CIS countries alone is measured in hundreds of millions of dollars. According to marketers, soft toys are the most sought after, compared to other types of children's entertainment products. 40% filled with soft toys (this is the largest part) of the total market volume of all kinds of toy products. Experts motivate this fact by the fact that a soft toy has a certain versatility. The core of potential consumers is quite wide. These are parents of children of all age categories, as well as adults (mainly gifts for women). To be precise, 85% of parents of children aged 5-6 buy a new soft toy at least every three months. Profitability of production starts from 100%. Such markups already have wholesale prices! The retail price can often jump by 200% -300% of the cost. Everyone who at least once went to toy stores or supermarkets should not be surprised at such extra charges. An interesting fact: soft toys seem to have little functionality. But innovation has not bypassed them. The Japanese company Takara Tomy has released a plush mouse called Hug and Dream Minnie Mouse, which plays the sound of a sleeping person. This relaxing effect helps to prepare for a sweet sleep not only for children but also for adults. It relieves stress very well, a harmless remedy for insomnia.

Master class on making soft toys

A soft toy can be made at home no worse than factory quality. You do not need to buy a sample in the store in order to disassemble and reproduce copies of it at home. Although an inexperienced fashion designer should probably do the first job in this way. To gain a little experience in patterning parts and stuffing them with filler. This is the main thing to learn in this craft. The best way to start learning a craft is to search the Internet. A huge number of free and paid pattern patterns for soft toys can be found on the Internet. Here is a simple example of a Linux penguin pattern:

As a result, the Linux penguin should look like this.

There are more complex patterns, but it is better to start with a simple one. So, let's try to make our first soft toy - Linux penguin. We print the pattern on cardboard and sign each detail with the corresponding numbers. Next, cut out the patterns. Then pay attention to the nuances when cutting. Lay the fabric in one layer on the table inside out to the top. On top of the fabric with moderate economy, we decompose all the details. Paired parts are laid out symmetrically to avoid mistakes. We set the contours of the details in such a way that there is room for seams. When all the details are cut out of the fabric, they must be sewn with a machine exactly along the contour. They are sewn from the wrong side, and then turned inside out. Before turning, you can trim the seams and make notches. So the edges will turn out perfectly smooth. Naturally, the color of the threads is matched to the color of the fabric. The cover of the toy is ready; now it should be filled with filler. A synthetic winterizer is best. Various types of synthetic winterizer can be purchased at online stores at low prices. Pay as much attention as possible to stuffing the soft toy. For high density, you can use a pencil, and you should start from the most distant parts. A soft toy can have a copper, wire frame up to 3mm in diameter. This slightly complicates the process of stuffing the cover of the future model with filler. In such cases, it is important to monitor the position of the frame and prevent it from shifting from the center. To do this, before installing the frame, it is better to wrap it with cotton wool. Avoid sharp edges in the frame, process them with a tool!

Soft toys need the best material to make

The material for soft toys determines the success of their sales. Soft toys need a special material: high-quality, attractive and pleasant to the touch. Take the fabric in your hands and try what emotions it evokes in you when you touch the palm of your hand. Buyers must try all soft toys by touch - this is a very important sales factor in this business. Saving is not appropriate here. Not much fabric is needed to create one model. Manual production will require the following materials:

• a variety of artificial fur;
• natural fur;
• plush;
• viscose;
• special mohair;
• leather.

This is not a complete list of the types of material that can be used. Often when creating toys, you will need to combine materials in detail. Plush coat, fur paws, leather horns. In ordinary fabric stores, there is a very poor selection of such materials. Online stores have a good selection, but you can not try the material by touch. Therefore, it is better to go to manufacturers or distributors (intermediaries) for material. If it is not possible to buy a small amount of fabrics from manufacturers who can only offer wholesale, you need to look for goods in the city where the factory is located. It is easy to buy from local residents of such cities all types of products manufactured by the plant in an assortment at factory prices. Resale of factory products is the main income of local residents. Here is an approximate list of cities with textile factories:

• Ukraine:
  • Zhovti Vody (Dnepropetrovsk region);
  • town Yasinya (Transcarpathian region);
• Russia:
  • Kireevsk (Tula region);
• Belarus:
  • Zhlobin (Gomel region market right next to the railway station).

It is worth going once and establishing cooperation with small suppliers, and then you can work through postal carriers. Along with the manufacture of children's entertainment products, you will gain invaluable business experience. It is also important to choose a quality filler. The quality, service life and presentation of a soft toy also depend on the stuffing material. The following materials are mainly used for stuffing:

• first of all, a synthetic winterizer (you can also use synthetic winterizer waste);
• foam rubber;
• cotton wool;
• plastic crumb;
• cereals.

All fillers differ in quality, properties and service life. Stuffing fillers can also be combined. For example, if you need to make a more stable toy with legs, they should be stuffed with a heavier filler: plastic chips or semolina. In online stores you can buy accessories: spouts, eyes, antennae, tongues. In toy production, additional consumables will be required:

• sewing threads of different colors;
• medium density cardboard for patterns;
• copper wire up to 3mm. in diameter;
• Super glue.

You can buy additional consumables at any clothing market or at the appropriate stores.

It is better to quickly make a soft toy on high-quality equipment

The main equipment in the home production of soft toys is a good sewing machine. Everything else is an additional tool:

• a set of needles and a thimble;
• sharp scissors;
• iron;
• pliers
• awl and hooks;
• centimeter tape and ruler;
• pencil;
• chalk and soap.

At the stage of starting a business, an inexpensive electric sewing machine with support for the overlock function worth $100 is suitable. But later you should think about more functional equipment. The most reliable brand of household sewing machines is considered "Singer". A particularly interesting model of the Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 sewing machine, which will greatly facilitate your work due to its wide functionality. The sewing machine supports the widest range of sewing patterns, 12 types of buttonholes and 4 types of font that can be used as a signature. The Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 has a horizontal shuttle. Software control, automatic threader, support for most adjustments in automatic mode - give you the opportunity to work with maximum comfort on equipment that has been proven over the years. You are focused only on creative work and are not distracted by trifles. And the accompanying petty processes do not steal your precious time. Brief technical characteristics of the sewing machine with a horizontal shuttle Singer Quantum Stylist 9960:

Combining toys to expand the range

Making wooden toys with your own hands is a little more difficult and expensive than soft ones. You will need a woodworking lathe and drilling machine. Lots of woodworking tools. Some start-up capital is required. Because, in order to make wooden toys with your own hands, you need to purchase a special easy-processing and harmless tree (for example: alder). If you are going to sell such products in children's institutions, then you will need special permits and certificates. Without sanitary permits, you cannot distribute them there. Now the market is becoming more competitive in this area. In addition, wooden toys need different varnishes, paints, edges, oilcloths, adhesive tapes, brushes, bolts. Ideal if production is a family business. Men can work with wood, and women with fabrics. Some models can be combined, most often in this way: a soft toy with wood elements. The family approach to business can give rise to the production of a wide range of children's entertainment products. Products that do not sell can be recycled into new models. For example, from one large one you can make two small ones. This approach is always better than selling leftovers at cost. In addition, they don’t ask for such leftovers, and not this year, but next year they will definitely be sold, even at a discount, there is where to dump. And there are leftovers in any trade and there are not always ways to cash them out without loss. There are many options for building the structure of this type of business, look for the most optimal ones. Let this article be your creative inspiration and a successful start to a super-profitable business. We wish you to achieve the results of Cameron Johnson, who made very good money reselling Beanie Babies stuffed toys over the Internet.