Indian grocery store

Indian and South Asian families, plus home cooks and students who want authentic ingredients close to home.

Retail markup on packaged and fresh goods. Regular weekly shops, festival-season demand and a few prepared items add to sales.

• Knowing Indian ingredients and brands
• Ordering and stock control
• Customer service
• Basic bookkeeping

• Retail food permit or license from your local health department or state agriculture department
• Sales tax registration with your state, since some groceries may be taxed differently by state
• Food labeling and import rules for products brought in from abroad, check with the FDA and your state
• General liability and product liability insurance, plus workers' compensation once you hire
• Spoilage of fresh and frozen goods, and a lease that is hard to exit if sales are slow

Startup costs are typically estimated at around $40,000 to $180,000, depending on shop size, lease, fit-out and opening stock. Spoilage of fresh and frozen goods and a lease that is hard to exit if sales are slow are also worth planning for.

Estimated monthly revenue is typically around $15,000 to $70,000, depending on location, shop size and product range. This is revenue before stock, rent, staff and other costs.

Check for a retail food permit or license from your local health department or state agriculture department, and sales tax registration with your state. Also check FDA and state food labeling and import rules for imported products, plus liability insurance.