How to Start Notebook Making Business – Manufacturing details, Business plan, and Profit Analysis

Notebook making business is one of the popular small to medium scale business that has continuous demand in the market. Although the growth of digital usage has slightly impacted the notebook manufacturing industry, it was not able to replace the customer’s preference.

Today, Notebook manufacturing is still one of the best small scale business that can be started with minimal investment. You can make a wide variety of notebooks either using virgin paper or recycled paper that are available everywhere in the world. Plus, if you are eligible, you can also avail government schemes like MUDRA which provides financial aid to setup the business

In addition, with the new printing machines you also have wide options to manufacture and design customized notebooks as per customers’ preferences.

Today, we will see how to start a notebook making business by covering aspects such as business plan, manufacturing process, list of notebook making supplies, the capital requirement for manufacturing, and marketing. All these elements will help you to prepare a decent project report for your business

Profitable Aspects of Notebook Making Business

Manufacturing of notebooks is considered a profitable business for several reasons out of which, it is known to be an economical small-scale business with a good return on investment.

The production process of notebooks is considerably simple, you can manufacture notebooks from virgin grade paper material or cheap sources like recycled paper material both of which are relatively economical to buy

With just a few raw materials (paper) and a few supplies, you can make different kinds of notebooks like, Dairies, planners, contact books, Ruled and unruled notebooks, To-do list books, etc.,

It also gives a decent profit margin of 15 to 20%. A Special thing about notebook making business is, that this is a type of business that has demand across the country, it is independent of season; it is a major requirement for all types of sectors educational institutions, Manufacturing, Banking Retail etc.,

You also have a lot of opportunities to diversify this business, by making paper bags or providing book-binding services,. Both require the same raw material that is used for making notebooks. However, you need extra investment and machinery to make them  

Notebooks come in different types such as A4 Size, A5 Size Notebook, Regular Notebook, Ruled and Unruled, Long notebooks, rough notebooks and register notebooks, etc., and each of them has a specific market. For example, A4 size notebooks are used by almost everyone, Whereas long notebook is mostly used by higher education students and register-type notebook is used for accounts or business. So taking into consideration the wider audience; Notebook manufacturing is a lucrative business

Why Starting a Notebook Making Business in India is Important

India is home to one of the largest youngest populations in the world, which is considered to be its driving force for development. The education sector in India is estimated to grow by 225 billion U.S Dollars by 2025, This means, there is a lot of scope for investment and business growth in the education sector. Supplies such as books play a crucial role in fostering the education sector

Plus, there are several measures taken by the Indian government such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan(SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan(RMSA) to improve the education system which are also considerable factors for driving the growth in notebook making business  

According to research, Indian stationery market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.2% during 2023 – 2029. The majority share of the market is driven by exercise notebooks followed by copiers and premium paper.

Steps Involved in Notebook Manufacturing Business

A notebook making business usually undergoes 6 different stages to finally release the books to the market. Here are the steps

Business Plan

To start manufacturing notebooks you need to first have a detailed business plan. This business plan should cover five important aspects

1. Capital
2. Area of Manufacturing
3. Type of books expected to be manufactured.
4. Machinery and raw material details
5. Forecast of sales

The above five are crucial elements that play a vital role in giving you the possibility of carrying out your business. They help give you a clear picture of your ability to set up the business, your competitors, and market conditions for the business.

Registering Your Business

Notebook manufacturing business comes under small–medium scale industry. This type of business falls under the MSME Category. You can register this business as a sole proprietor Private limited or LLC as per your budget and business preferences

In order for the registration process you need basic things at your hand such as Government ID proofs, Bank account and other applicable proofs as per your state laws

Manufacturing Process of Notebooks

The notebook manufacturing process involves simple steps that can be accomplished with a handful of machinery.

The overall cost of a machinery set-up for making notebooks is estimated to be around 6 – 10 Lakhs. Under 7 lakhs you can get a semi-automatic notebook-making machinery set-up. A fully automatic notebook-making machinery costs around 10 Lakhs.

Typically three important machines are used in notebook making process

Cutting Machine, Stretching cum Folding Machine and Edge Squaring Machine

Important points to keep in mind before manufacturing notebooks.

• Paper material used for notebooks – Virgin grade or recycled?
• Size of the notebooks – A4, A3, A2 or Long notebook
• Quality of the paper used (GSM)
• Production capacity
• Design specifications i.e,  ruled, unruled, single column or register

Once you have the information of the above criteria, you can then start the book manufacturing process.

Here are the steps involved in book manufacturing.

Step 1: Paper Material is Chosen and Cut into the desired shape by the Cutting Machine

In the first step, a bulk quantity of paper material is purchased from a vendor and then they are cut into the desired shape as per the notebook that is being manufactured.

It is in this step the manufacturer needs to be very careful as improper cutting of the paper can disturb the final notebook’s look and appearance. So, the person who is in charge of cutting the paper should be experienced and know how to handle the measurement scale

Step 2: Fixing the Paper and Attach a Cover By Using a Pin machine

Once the paper material is cut into the required size this whole bunch of paper is stapled together with a heavy-duty pinning machine or stitching machine and then a thick cover is attached using a strong adhesive.

In some cases, the papers were half folded to the middle and a cover is placed on top of them, and were finally pinned together. These are called soft case books which are very popular notebooks

However, if you are making organizers, planners, or diaries the paper materials are woven together with a strong thread and are finally attached to a hard case.

Step 3: Make the edges soft and stable using an edge-squaring machine

Once the notebooks are stapled they will be put into the edge squaring machine. This machine applies high compression on the notebooks to give a square edge finish to the notebooks; This shape gives stability to the notebook

Step 4: Resizing the Notebooks Using Cutting Machine

By using a cutting machine, the large-sized notebook is cut into individual notebooks, which are finally packed and sold to the market. Cutting machines are available in Manual and Automatic models. The manual cutting machines are cheap but consume a lot of time and energy. Whereas programmable automatic cutting machines have high energy and can cut notebooks precisely with high output capacity.

Resources Required for Notebook Making Process

Like any small business, a notebook manufacturing unit also requires certain resources to run such as…

Workers

A notebook manufacturing unit can be run seamlessly with the help of two workers. One worker takes care of sorting the raw paper material attaches a cover and staples them. Whereas the other worker loads the material to the edge squaring machine and cutting machine.

You also don’t have to bother about the learning curve, the entire process is simple, and the workers can easily learn the process and do it on their own.

Area for Manufacturing Unit

The area required to set up a small-scale notebook manufacturing unit is about 250 sq. ft to 500 sq. ft. This floor space is enough to accommodate the machinery and provides enough space to store the notebooks in cartons.

Electricity

To run a small notebook manufacturing unit, you need at least 3 3-phase electricity connections. Especially, if you are using automation-grade machines for making notebooks, you need ample electricity supply to run the machines efficiently.

Miscellaneous Items

In addition to the above resources, you need some notebook making supplies, such as staplers, gum, covers, needles, scales and punching machines etc., In addition, you also need to have some basic office stationery such as a calculator, record books, commercial weighing balance, and computer set-up with an internet connection.

Marketing Notebooks

The business profit in notebook manufacturing highly depends upon the marketing strength of your business. As you are already aware there are several established notebook manufacturers; you can only sustain and gain decent ROI when put high effort into marketing your products

Here are some tips to keep in mind when you are marketing notebooks

• Reach out to local shops and stationery and explain about your business prospects
• In the initial stages, your books might be bargained for less by vendors however, this is common you first need the production to move on so it is ok to settle for less.
• Expand your connection with local NGOs and Educational institutions, you can introduce your business to them. These two sectors have the highest demand for notebooks
• Tie-up with university stationary shop owners, you can provide your business card and start making a deal with them.
• Participate in education fairs and local events; you can supply free books to them as part of increasing your brand awareness.
• Finally, keep up with trendy designs on notebook covers, such as releasing special edition notebooks as per the trending event in that country for example, the cricket World Cup, Fifa world-cup or Olympics or Scientific breakthrough, etc., Everyone loves to buy books with eye-catching notebook covers so use it wisely.

Notebook Making Business Profit Analyses

Let us now look into a simple business profit analysis by setting up a small scale notebook manufacturing unit, Once we do this profit estimation we can get a fair idea of the amount that we need to include in the project report

So with the above rough Profit margin calculation, we can expect a minimum of 1 Lakh revenue monthly from notebook-making business. However, one must keep in mind this is a highly competitive field and also requires extensive marketing skills and connections with a lot of vendors.

In the initial days, you may get very few orders. However, once you start growing your connections and making new vendors, you will slowly see the growth in the business