Of course, everyone thought about starting a business at least once in their life. The prospect of working totally for yourself, not for someone else, is tempting. But only some dare to open their own business. Some do not have sensible ideas, some are afraid to take risks and to take loans, although the financial aspect, as important as it is, does not have a critical point on future business. As they say, a good idea is the key to success.
It all starts with an idea
In this article we will try to figure out how to start a business for production of bitumen emulsions. Why are we talking about bitumen emulsions? It’s simple. It is a product that is promising now, and will remain so in ten, fifteen or even twenty years. Thus the bitumen emulsion business has a long-term perspective.
Every year the amount of freight vehicles and passenger cars is growing, and, as a consequence, the load on roads is increasing. It is clear that the existing hot bitumen based asphalt pavement weakens and roads degrade prematurely. That’s why the use of bitumen emulsions is very profitable: they improve the quality and durability of pavements.
A very important point is that bitumen emulsions are used not only for construction but also for repair of roads! Thus, there is no doubt in long-term business outlook for the production of bitumen emulsions. Now it is time to write a business plan.
Business plan
First of all, it is necessary to define goals and objectives, and the order of action:
- Getting a loan or investment;
- Signing contracts with customers;
- Organizing production of bitumen emulsions and other related products, for example, bituminous mastics.
The number of employees should be determined next. Initially 10-12 hired workers are sufficient.
Additional tasks could be considered:
- Extending service life of asphalt concrete pavement;
- Protection of the environment (use of bitumen emulsions does not cause harmful emissions);
- Reducing energy consumption when producing asphalt mixtures based on bitumen emulsions;
- Strategy to enter a new market.
It is also necessary to define the target market, including all the road-building companies of the country, businesses producing roofing materials, construction companies and oil and gas enterprises.
Competition analysis cannot be neglected. The competitors have already been working in the market for a certain period of time and managed to secure a market position. Assessing the factors that helped the competitors get their share will help to outline the first steps. Note, that you should be better than your competitors in every possible way! Only such approach will help to gain a foothold in the market of bitumen emulsions, and not close the business in the first months of operation. Here you will need an element of novelty. There can be many options. For example, you can offer the buyer a reduction in energy consumptions in production of asphalt mixtures based on bitumen emulsions.
Equipment
When selecting equipment for production of bitumen emulsions, it is necessary to use the criterion of value for money. It is not worth chasing cheaper bitumen emulsion plants, because, as you know, if you buy cheaply, you pay dearly.
GlobeCore has the necessary equipment with different production rates. The UVB-1 plants produce bituminous emulsions with 1 – 22 m3/h capacity.
This equipment is intended for both cationic and anionic bitumen emulsions. In the future it will be possible to purchase the latex injection unit, to produce latex-modified bitumen emulsion.
Note that GlobeCore Company manufactures other equipment used in the road construction industry: bitumen storage tanks, sprayers and polymer modified bitumen production units.
GlobeCore specialists are always ready to advise and make recommendations regarding the optimal configurations of a bitumen emulsion plant.
Funding
If you are a novice businessman, you are unlikely to finance the project out of your own means. Therefore it is necessary to consider combining your start-up capital with loan money.