When the nation prepared for Y2K ages ago, survival was on everyone’s minds. Home generators sold out, cases of bottled water were snapped up and foodstuffs packaged to stay edible for decades filled pantries. Add to the equation die-hard survivalists whose answer to pending catastrophes prompted the construction of bunkers and safe rooms provisioned with everything from air filtration systems to organic waste disposal systems. Survival is a hot issue for folks with apocalyptic perspectives born of Mayan predictions, Nostradamus prophecies and the newest and latest doomsday theory. It’s no sin to capitalize on this phenomenon, as you’ll be doing people a favor by soothing their fears and giving them assurances that even if things bottom out, their families can stay safe with the right amount of preparation. Survival is a human instinct. So is finding a way to profit from it in the country where innovation is king.
Your Business Plan
Write a business plan to provide a road map for your survival kit business. Estimate the amount of cash you’ll need to launch the enterprise. Establish goals and objectives. Conduct a competitor analysis to determine your competition (or lack thereof). Compile this information plus marketing strategies into a business plan that outlines your plan for growing the business. Use this plan to entice banks, venture capitalists and lenders into funding your start up.
Your Business Personality
Give your survival kit business a name that commands immediate attention. Develop a logo and determine what items will be in your kit and how you plan to package everything. For example, first aid supplies will easily fit into zippered canvas bags, but large survival kits may include everything from a water-purifying unit to dried foods that can be reconstituted. Research larger containers like crates and plastic storage bins. Include shipping costs when you figure your kit sizes and contents.
Recruit a Supplier Network
Locate suppliers for items that will go into your survival kits. Open lines of credit and accounts with wholesalers and distributors after meeting their credit requirements. Negotiate quantity discounting and price breaks that come with buying in bulk. Avoid putting all of your survival kit components into the hands of a single supplier, by the way. Make that mistake and if your supplier goes belly up as a result of his own poor business decisions, you’re not left in the lurch.
Launch Your Enterprise
Set up a warehouse or office racked to inventory, pick, pack and ship kit components. Make your picking and packing system easy to negotiate by installing worktables adjacent to supplies like boxes, bags and fill materials and create a sensible and efficient system that makes quick work of labeling, manifest generation and other fulfillment tasks associated with tracking and shipping your kits. Choose the best transport agency for your specific needs by comparing the cost of mailing kits via the U.S. Post Office versus a private carrier like UPS or FedEx.
Focus on Marketing
Flesh out your marketing strategies. Host a website. Make sales calls to retailers whose product mix fits your survival kit. Offer quantity discounts to those buying kits in bulk. Support your marketing objectives by contacting newspaper and web product reviewers and don’t forget to pursue TV talk show producers to maximize the amount of publicity you drum up. Place your kits in catalogs and big box stores. Keep in mind what you already know: Fear drives sales, so maximize yours by infusing your marketing and advertising messages with that weighty reality.