Incense sticks (also known as Agarbatti) are an integral part of Indian culture, used in religious rituals, meditation, and aromatherapy. The production process is simple and requires minimal machinery.
Due to the high demand, Agarbatti-making is a highly profitable business. With limited capital and equipment, you can start small, and with the right marketing strategy, it can grow quickly. In this article, we explain how to establish a small-scale incense stick manufacturing business and make it profitable with minimal investment and a small workspace, even from home.
Basic Investment for Incense Stick Manufacturing Business
To start an incense stick manufacturing business on a small scale, you need some basic investment, which is mandatory to run the business. Here, we provide information about the products so you can get a proper idea about investing.
- Sawdust powder/jiggat powder/charcoal powder.
- Adhesive gum or joss/tabu, etc., made from Litsea glutinosa bark.
- White chips.
- Perfumes – made from essential oils and masala.
- Babu stick.
- Packing material.
Here we describe the quantity and materials you require to achieve your business goals. For 1000 incense sticks containing 10,000 sticks, about 27 kg of all ingredients are required.
- Wooden plans for rolling.
- Weighing balance with 10g capacity.
- Aluminium trays.
- Heat sealing machine.
- Sprayer.
- Weighing balance platform.
- Plastic buckets, jugs, etc.
- Bag stitching machine.
- Packing table.
- Containers for mixing ingredients.
The incense sticks manufacturers may employ about 2-10 people for the manufacturing process, depending on the operational scale and budget.
- Skilled and unskilled labour.
- Office management staff.
- Manufacturing unit supervisor.
- Delivery boy.
Pre-Plan for Establishing Incense Stick Manufacturing Business
To establish a business, some basic steps are involved, like market research, unit location, uncostscos, and initial expenditure.
India is one of the leading ice manufacturers in the world. Consumption-wise, India’s following parts contribute to the demand-
- South Indian Territory – 32-35%.
- West India – 28-30%.
- North India – 15-18%.
- East India – 17-25%.
As we described earlier, you have to do market research. Once you have understood the market, you have to prepare a project report. The purpose of this report is to tell the financiers how you intend to penetrate the market.
The important activities done in a business plan are-
- Determining the space and the unit cost.
- Furnishing the machinery requirements details.
- Chalk out the expenditure on raw material, labour wages, utility bills, etc.
- Stating the profit estimation and the markets focused on.
- Initially, you required the capital purchase of machinery, raw materials, establishment costs, labour costs and other expenditures. You can either start with the cash in hand or get the whole project financed.
- With all these pre-requisites fixed and a humble start, you can plan out your marketing strategy and think of ways to expand the business.
- Strategising done right can shift your business from home to a dedicated manufacturing unit in a short period.
To run any business legally, you require basic registration and an important license. Once you have done all the legal processes, then you become he authorised manufacturer. Registration with the ROC is a mandatory procedure.
- Procure NOC from the city’s pollution control board authorities.
- Trade license.
- MSME Udyog Aadhar Registration.
- GSTIN.
- For a unit with more than ten employees, familiarise yourself with the ESI and PF Act.
- Initially, you have to advertise your products so that you get a larger customer base. You can even do door-to-door sample distribution.
- You can advertise your products on social media, and then you can run advertising on Google.
- You can make your establishment’s website so that customers can directly purchase the product from your site.
- Retail Distribution: Reach to the local market retailers and sell the product directly to the shops.
- Channel Distribution: Partner with distributors in the area to start a secondary sales plan and include retailers to create a correct mix.
- E-commerce: Be a seller on Amazon, or start an e-commerce venture of your An e-commerce developer can provide you with the end-to-end support to start one.
Incense Stick Manufacturing Process
To start the incense stick manufacturing process, first, you have to finalise the incense stick composition, then you have to start the process as per the composition.
- First, choose the fragrance type and then blend the ingredients mentioned above in the given proportion.
- Moist these with little water to make a paste and roll on a plan manually or with a license stick-making machine.
- Finally, dip the incense sticks into the chosen fragrance’s solution and then pack these in moisture-proof wrappers and paper or cardboard outer covering.
A typical composition for an Incense stick-
- White Chips- 40%.
- Charcoal- 20%.
- Gigatu- 20%.
- Essential oils and other ingredients – 20%.
Required Machinery
To run the Incense’s manufacturing business, you require some machinery that decreases your workload. The primary machinery to manufacture incinerated stics includes a powder mixer, a stic-making machine and a dryer machine.
- Powder Mixer Machine: To blend the raw materials, the powder mixer machine is used. Raw materials include sawdust, charcoal powder, perfume, and other ingredients.
- Incense Stick Making Machine: The Incense Stick Making Machine is of three types. You can purchase according to your project and budget.
- Dryer Machine: A Dryer machine is used to dry the sticks after they are made. This machine ensures the proper storage and prevents moisture issues. ( Manual/Semi-Automatic/Fully Automatic Dryer Machine).
- Sealing Machines: To seal the incese stick pouches or packages, a sealing machine is used.
- Packaging machines: For other packaging and labelling of the products, you have to purchase packaging equipment.
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