* Calculations use average data for Russia

Opening a private museum to a small number of people seems to be a promising undertaking, nevertheless, a trip to such an institution is perceived by few as an interesting form of leisure. However, there is still a demand, and if you choose the right theme for your museum and organize it correctly, you can count on a good profit. Moreover, there are a huge variety of development options here, an entrepreneur can work in different formats, offer his visitors something unique, and the variety of topics allows you to occupy a niche that no one else is doing. A good museum can be popular and generate income absolutely everywhere - both in small settlements and in big cities, it is especially convenient to do such a business in historically significant places. Given some of the features of doing this kind of business, you can start a business that will bring a stable and fairly high income. At the same time, for many entrepreneurs, such a business becomes an interesting undertaking, because it allows them to do exactly what he devoted his life to.

Trending product 2019

Thousands of quick money ideas. All world experience in your pocket ..

To begin with, you generally need to study the market in order to determine what exactly is interesting to the population. When working in resort or simply popular tourist cities, you should focus not even on the local population, but on visitors, there are many opportunities. Determining the theme of the museum is the most difficult stage, here the entrepreneur has to engage in full-fledged research, because in the event of an unsuccessful choice, it will not even be possible to talk about covering the costs, let alone making a profit. As for competitors, they are unlikely to have a significant impact on the conduct of their business, because no one will create two museums of the same subject, and when choosing a museum, people always go exactly where they are interested in, there is hardly a marketing campaign here. -that will affect their choice. However, there are museums that are just trying to attract their visitors through something new and unusual, these are, of course, most often museums in tourist cities, because it is difficult to attract the local population to an exhibition of some too unusual collection all the time. But tourists will be happy to visit not only historical sights, but also a very unusual museum. In general, after finding out what is interesting to people and making sure that there will be enough people as visitors, you can start opening your museum.

An important point is the registration process. At its core, an entrepreneur has only one way out - to register a legal entity in order to make a profit on the provision of services, and his museum will simply be as an entertainment and cultural and leisure institution. The process of registering a legal entity is standard, there are no special conditions here. But if he does not aim to make a profit, then he can register a non-profit organization, which will become an autonomous institution. It is rather difficult to obtain the status of a museum, which allows you to apply to the Ministry of Culture for any subsidies and support, as usually private commercial organizations do not become them. But in any case, the application is forwarded to the Ministry of Culture, and there the value of the collection and its significance as a cultural asset are already assessed, and the state of the museum itself is assessed. In general, this is where the difference lies, commercial museums most often collect a collection that hardly matters to the Ministry of Culture, and more “traditional” museums are almost always NGOs.

A separate conversation if the entrepreneur has items of important cultural and historical value, if they are really in a private collection, then the Ministry of Culture will be interested in having these exhibits on display, but it will be very difficult to rent items of this kind. This is in case the entrepreneur assumes the possibility of renting some valuable things in other museums or other institutions. In general, from a legal point of view, there are no restrictions on the conduct of its activities, the main thing (in the case of a commercial organization) is to pay taxes, but to one degree or another the historical museum in any case has to contact the Ministry of Culture in its area on many issues. Therefore, before starting work, it makes sense to go there to find out about the requirements and provisions in the region, because, for example, there may be a restriction on the use of any items obtained during even a private archaeological expedition, it may be, for example, if excavations took place in a war zone in the past.

The next moment is the search for premises for their work. There are many options, but they depend, just on the chosen format of work. Some private museums are located in the houses or apartments of their founders, but these are rather small museums that are of interest only to a small group of like-minded people. A normal museum needs at least one exhibition hall with a size of about 100 m 2. True, there are also smaller halls, and much larger, museums in general are very, very different. An important point may be precisely the location in the city, it is optimal, of course, to be located in the center, but there the cost of rent will be very high. 100 m 2 will cost 70 thousand rubles a month on average, but this is a very rough figure, in large cities this money will not be enough, in a small settlement, on the contrary, it will be possible to save money. If you work in a smaller room, of course, the savings will be more significant. In general, a museum in this regard is a rather difficult undertaking, because in some cases there is a seasonality (for example, in tourist cities), and the flow of visitors is not equal every month, and the rental amount is constant, and it must be paid without delay.

In general, it is better to have a reserve fund of funds in order to be able to pay rent for at least six months in advance without the risk of being left without premises. With 70 thousand rubles for rent, such a fund will amount to 420 thousand rubles. In six months, at least work will be done to attract visitors, after which the risks will decrease. And the museum, which is subject to seasonality, should plan its budget for the year ahead. Some entrepreneurs, by the way, find temporary places to place their expositions, due to which they can generally not engage in this activity for several months, but also not pay rent. For example, you can agree with an already operating museum to open its exhibition only for the summer months. Here you already need to study the possibilities in order to find the best way out of your situation.

In general, if a decision was made to open a museum, then for sure the organizers already have some exhibits, that is, an exhibition is ready to one degree or another. As a last resort, a decision has already been made on exactly what and where to buy. It must be said here that the cost of exhibits can be very different. It can also be the finds of archaeological students who sold them for a symbolic amount, it can also be things made by an entrepreneur on their own (some people who are fond of any kind of creativity, subsequently think about opening a museum of their handicrafts, and some it succeeds), and it can also be real works of art, antiques, things of great historical value - such exhibitions can be estimated at millions of dollars. That is, it is impossible to name even the approximate cost of purchasing exhibits, the range is very, very wide, in fact, from “free” to “astronomical amounts”. It all depends on what exactly to do. And, of course, you need to take into account what size the exposition will be, and in general, how many of them there will be in one museum.

Ready-made ideas for your business

You also need to take care of properly equipping your rooms. This will require the purchase of appropriate equipment. In general, the placement of exhibits in museums may require the purchase of somewhat unusual equipment (for example, armor racks), but we will consider ordinary shelving and display cases. They are usually made from simple materials, but sometimes you need an increased degree of protection if you have to deal with valuable specimens, that is, when there is a possibility of theft. Of course, a simple local history museum hardly needs a complex and expensive security system, but in some cases it is critically necessary. The cost of a rack 4-5 meters long is 30-40 thousand rubles, small showcases are 1.5-2 times cheaper, that is, one average museum hall can be equipped with furniture for 200-300 thousand rubles. Of course, there are many options here too, a lot depends on the exhibits themselves, sometimes you don't even have to buy something more expensive than a simple table. Additionally, a security complex is installed, for this you can contact a specialized private security organization, which will be able to connect a security system for an amount of about 50 thousand rubles, but in the future you will have to pay for security. Here, too, a lot depends on the complexity of the system, on the level of security, you need to count on an amount of 5 thousand rubles or more. For the protection of large museums, the amount will be several times higher. A separate expense item will be the creation of a design project, if this, of course, is advisable when creating a museum. Some of these institutions are really set up in accordance with any topic, so it makes sense to contact a specialized office that performs such work. The cost of a design project (its development) is approximately one thousand rubles per square meter of the room (taking into account that the size is 100 m 2, that is, if it is a large room, otherwise it is 1.5-2 times larger). Thus, you need about 100 thousand more rubles for a design project.

It is also worth thinking about who exactly will be working in the museum. It should be noted that a small institution is quite capable of servicing an entrepreneur himself, but if the museum has a huge number of exhibits, and many of them are valuable, then it is worth attracting special employees. It is good that if they already have experience in such positions, many museum workers who have worked in government agencies will almost certainly be interested in the higher salaries that a private museum can offer them. To service an average museum, a staff of 4-5 people will be enough, the salary of one person here lies within 20 thousand rubles for an average city. Of course, in large settlements people will have to pay a little more. In fact, the entrepreneur himself can also continue to take part in the work of the museum, especially if he forms a collection that is of interest to him. Here you will need a person responsible for the exhibits, their accounting and maintenance, an administrator, and in some cases a guide. Sometimes cheap labor is additionally involved in organizing exhibitions; this is necessary, for example, when working with large paintings or heavy sculptures. Thus, the salary fund is about 100 thousand rubles a month, but this figure applies only to really large museums, which are visited by a lot of people. At the same time, it is better to outsource all business processes that are not related to making a profit, this can include the already mentioned security activities, as well as accounting. Either an additional knowledgeable person or the entrepreneur himself should deal with the issues of regulating relations with the Ministry of Culture, but even a specialist from the outside does not have to be hired, but contact him only if necessary.

Ready-made ideas for your business

Now let's dwell in more detail on the possible formats of work. The simplest example is an ordinary historical museum or a similar museum, which is interesting for the most part to a certain group of people, but "general cultural" institutions often accept entire school classes or even student groups, if their exhibits consist of objects of study in a certain field of science. Here people already go to the museum for the sake of enlightenment (and in the case of schoolchildren - often just on a voluntary-compulsory basis). Therefore, when organizing a museum of this kind, it is worth starting cooperation with educational institutions, offering a discount on mass trips. The entrepreneur only benefits from this, because the discount on tickets does not affect the level of income, because many people come at the same time. However, the most interesting for schoolchildren, students and their teachers are registered museums, which, as already noted, are most often non-profit enterprises.

A different format of work is museums of unusual subjects, in the world there are a huge number of such small institutions that collect things incomprehensible to the common man in the street. The most common example is the celebrity museum. Everything here is determined by the founder's imagination, but the biggest risk in this direction is not finding an audience. On the other hand, there are examples of museums of this format, which are visited by people from all over the world. The cost of a ticket to such institutions is usually an order of magnitude more expensive than a ticket to a simple museum, although only a well-known institution can set such a price. The next category is museums designed for tourists, these are the institutions that most of all depend on the season, but in special cases they can earn several times more in a couple of months than a regular museum. Usually these museums are dedicated to the history of the city, its architecture, art, some events that took place in the life of the city. It is clear that such a museum will be successful only in a city that is initially of interest to tourists. And in a separate category there are museums that are dedicated to some unusual direction, which the organizer himself is fond of. What distinguishes such museums is that most of the exhibits are the product of the creative thought of the owner of the museums, such institutions just start with exhibitions in their own apartment or house. It can also be anything, but here you need to be sure that there will be enough like-minded people to make money on it. An additional (and sometimes the main or even the only) source of income is the sale of made things; in general, any museum can deal with the sale of exhibits.

Thus, the cost of opening a museum can be both very small and very significant, an average simple museum can be opened (without taking into account the collection, the cost of which, as it was noted, cannot be estimated at all and is always calculated individually) for an amount of about one million rubles from taking into account the reserve funds for maintaining work in the first months. The amount of monthly expenses is 200 thousand rubles, and it should be noted that this is a very large figure. To cover the costs, you need to maintain at least a page on the Internet about your museum, and for this you need to invest at least 50 thousand more. The cost of a ticket to the museum starts from 50 rubles (but not even the one described here, but much simpler), the average cost is 300 rubles. Thus, to cover the costs, you will have to attract almost 670 people every month, or about 30 people per day (a working month with 22 days is taken into account).

For a museum located in a relatively large settlement and has established cooperation with schools and other educational institutions, this is quite realistic; for museums of a different format and a different way of attracting clients, this indicator can be very large and unrealistic. Therefore, many commercial museums are located in small areas and are serviced by one person. But a popular place always has its visitors, you just need to understand that it will take several months of hard work before there are many clients in the open museum. This business is very complex, and is definitely suitable for those who are themselves passionate about a particular field and are ready to develop an interest in it.

Ready-made ideas for your business

Matthias Laudanum
(c)

Creative people approach entrepreneurship in a non-standard way, turning a hobby into a business. Museum opening: features, profitability, business plan for the implementation of the original project with the calculation of the return on investment.

The museum is often associated with historical and monumental trends - local history, art, military. In fact, absolutely any thing can be exhibition exhibits, the main thing is that the interest of the general public is present. Often the idea of ​​organizing a museum as a business comes to the head of an accomplished collector, and then administrative issues remain to be resolved.

Advantages and disadvantages

Before embarking on the implementation of the idea, it is necessary to assess the advantages and disadvantages of the project to open an exhibition hall:

When implementing a business idea, you need to pay attention to the critical points. For example, schedule the museum so that people have the opportunity to visit the institution on Saturday and Sunday, as well as in the late evening hours.

Instructions for action

If we are not talking about the “museum at home” format, then first you need a business plan with calculations of basic indicators both for the ideological inspirer of the project and for attracting investors from outside:

1. Enterprise concept.
2. Registration with government agencies.
3. Selection of premises.
4. Repair and equipment.
5. Staff.
6. Advertising.
7. Financial calculations.

The steps are standard for the development of any business, but each has its own peculiarities.

Concept

In the museum business, it is important to determine the format and theme of the institution. People's tastes change quickly, so universal and enduring values ​​are chosen, or, conversely, something shocking. For example, a lot of thrill-seekers go to a museum of eroticism or instruments of torture.

In cities with an initially tourist orientation, it is easier - people come to rest, try to get new experiences and broaden their horizons. Such a contingent will come to the museum on its own, the owners' task is to clearly indicate their presence on maps, reference books, guidebooks. It takes a lot of effort to attract audiences and create a pilgrimage site to an ordinary, unremarkable location.

Museums are usually of 2 types:

• in room;
• open air.

They also distinguish between mono-museums and a mix of different themes, united under one roof.

A good solution would be to combine entertainment and cognitive functions, for example, as is done in the Darwin Museum, with elements of the show program, color music, and demonstration of film materials. Another niche in business is focusing on a narrow range of interests of a large audience.

This is the path chosen by the museum of UFOs, boxing, vintage cars. Admirers in these areas number in the thousands, with constant updating of exhibits, a steady stream of customers is ensured.

Artistic orientation is considered traditional - galleries and passages with paintings, photographs, installations. Visitors are certainly given the opportunity to purchase the works they like.

Any private museum, created not for the sake of pure art, but for financial gain, receives a significant part of its income from the sale of additional services, the sale of original exhibits or copies. Often fees are charged for permission to film and photograph on the territory of the exhibition.

Before opening your own museum, it is important to make sure that a similar institution does not function in the city and the surrounding area. Otherwise, the idea is doomed to failure - visitors will go to a well-known and promoted place. Even with the maximum use of advertising means, pulling off an already small audience from competitors will be too expensive and unprofitable.

registration

After the main direction of activity has been chosen, you need to formalize the business. You can register a museum in 2 ways:

1. Private enterprise in the form of LLC or individual entrepreneur.
2. Non-profit association.

In the second case, the focus is not on making a profit, but on acquiring a national and cultural status, with support from the state and subsidized activities.

If the subject of the exhibition concerns archaeological finds and valuable exhibits, then it is necessary to obtain approval from the Ministry of Culture. Otherwise, no special permissions or licenses are required.

Premises

The territory for the placement of exhibits is selected for the intended purpose. If an open-air museum is planned, then a land plot with a lease term of more than 20 years or acquired ownership is required.

Any room is suitable for a closed exhibition. The organizers specifically choose the abandoned production area to save money and for the sake of a large space. Small expositions are placed in halls with small squares. Since the simultaneous presence of several people in the room is assumed, it is calculated for at least 40 sq. m.

Basic requirements for the premises:

• separate location;
• vehicle entrance and parking space;
• installation of a fire and security alarm system;
• availability of communication systems.

It all depends on the specific type of collection and the form of project implementation. Rent payments will be part of the fixed costs of the business, so it is better to find a profitable option in advance. If it is known in advance that the exposition will be open for several months a year, then it is beneficial to conclude an agreement only for this period.

When renting premises, there is a risk of termination of the contract. Since the stability of the location is a key factor in museum activities, the best way out is to invest in the acquisition of real estate.

Repair and equipment

The decoration of the premises is carried out in accordance with the general idea of ​​the project. In some cases, repairs are not carried out. For example, in an open-air museum, a site is fenced off, and exhibits are placed on the territory according to the developed plan. In a traditional showroom, you may need a thematic design that requires redevelopment, restoration or complex renovation work.

Usually, a museum needs to install:

1. Fire and burglar alarms.
2. Shelving structures.
3. Showcases.
4. Fixing systems for walls, floors, ceilings.
5. Furniture for visitors.

Most often, exhibitions are held in closed rooms, so it is necessary to take care of high-quality lighting in the halls and equip exposition items with additional lighting.

If an interactive model of the museum's functioning is envisaged, then screens, a stereo system, and computer panels will be required. To prevent damage to the collection, exhibits are protected from direct contact with people. But most visitors are attracted by the opportunity to touch interesting things, so it makes sense to set aside an area where some of the objects are allowed to be viewed up close.

The museum needs a department to provide additional services - the sale of goods and souvenirs, a photographic platform, conducting master classes. A small area should be allocated for the needs of staff, administration and sanitation.

Staff

A large number of employees are involved in large-scale museum projects:

• tour guides;
• collection specialists;
• managers;
• organizers of performances;
• auxiliary workers;
• security guards;
• accountant.

The owner can organize and present a modest exhibition on his own, involving third-party organizations for certain needs - advertising, security, keeping records.

It is better to recruit specialists with experience in the museum field. Private business attracts employees from public institutions with higher salaries and a variety of business formats. Therefore, with sufficient funding, it will be easy to hire qualified personnel.

Free download here as a sample.

The initial stage of launching a project to open your own museum will not do without advertising costs. If the target audience is clearly defined and small in number, then it is enough to create a high-quality optimized Internet site, pay for the first places in the results of search sites and post information on thematic forums.

In a situation where the museum was conceived for a wide range of visitors, it is necessary to act on a larger scale:

1. Cooperation with educational institutions and municipal authorities.
2. Installation of signs and information boards in crowded places.
3. Internet advertising.
4. Announcements in the media.
5. Representation of interests at thematic conferences and exhibitions.
6. Conclusion of agreements on mutually beneficial work with competitors - domestic and foreign.

A traditional museum, housed in a large room, can provide halls for exhibitions of exhibits of other directions, thereby expanding the audience, which at the same time can get acquainted with the main collection.

Museums conduct educational, entertainment and educational activities. The more actively excursions, lectures, master classes are organized, the more famous the institution becomes and the flow of visitors increases.

Video: how to open a private museum in Russia.

Financial calculations

To determine the amount of investment and the profitability of the museum, it is necessary to have information about traffic, seasonality, and ticket prices. For example, to open an exhibition of weapons in an enclosed space of 50 sq. m. will need to be invested (subject to the ownership of the collection and the building):

If the number of expenses includes the purchase of premises and exhibits, then the cost of launching a project increases by 3-10 times. The collection can be wholly owned by the entrepreneur, or some of the items are borrowed for a while elsewhere - there are many nuances regarding the formation and evaluation of the exhibition.

Fixed monthly costs include:

• Communal expenses;
• the salary;
• taxes;
• advertising;
• administrative.

With the passage of time and the growing popularity of the museum, marketing expenses will decrease to a minimum, although it is impossible to completely stop the activity to attract visitors. Average monthly business costs are 250,000 rubles.

Visiting exhibitions costs Russians at least 50 rubles, the average cost is 300 rubles. Pricing is based on the group nature of museum trips - families, classrooms, tourist teams. The ticket price is above 500 rubles. unaffordable, therefore such prices are set by establishments focused on a financially secured narrow category of clients.

With a work schedule of 2 days off a week, during the period of maximum activity, the museum accepts up to 50 people daily. The monthly income is 330,000 rubles, the profit is 80,000 rubles, the profitability is 24%. However, such indicators are achieved within a few months, the rest of the time the revenue barely covers the costs. With a successful combination of circumstances, the investment in the project will pay off in 2 years.

According to the reviews of entrepreneurs who have opened a private museum, this business is very specific. Even with large investments and correct calculations, it is easy to fail - the demand for museum values ​​is almost impossible to predict.

If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.

Not so long ago I went to Yaroslavl - a city that is part of the "Golden Ring" of our country.
I was there, in the Museum "Music and Time". The director of this museum, D. Mostovsky, simply a magnificent circus artist, has been collecting bells from an early age. Everyone laughed at him, called him a fool, an idiot, etc. Nobody wanted to understand a person's hobbies. Even his wife did not share his views. So she said: "Do not believe people who laugh at you because of the bells, they just do not know that you are a fool from birth."
As time went on, the collection of bells grew - these were bells with the words “Take me, give me,” and bells with which the troikas drove, etc.

Simultaneously with the collection of bells, a collection of watches began to appear gradually ... Watches, I must say, are unusual. For example, 30 different melodies are available for the grandfather clock of the German company Sauer. It took three to five years to restore each copy. Every watch is time, every time is a second, every second is a moment in history, and besides, it is also the fate of the owner.

One clock was translated by A.P. Chekhov himself, other hours were translated by F.I.Shalyapin. The man, having remained in retirement after being fired from the Circus, began to think about how to live further and the idea of ​​creating a private museum not subject to the state came to his mind. He immediately grabbed onto it, and began to implement.

The first thing he did was buy the already half-deserted house of a local merchant, placed his collection on three floors.

Nobody believed him that he would be able to raise this house to its feet, everyone said, "Why do you need it - don't go there." Despite all the exclamations, he still bought it, restored it. And he makes a profit from it. But, as elsewhere, he has to trade in every little thing, souvenirs - this is his main income.

But the most interesting thing he does is play the hurdy-gurdy before leaving the group, and people leave him as much as they can. His income is so great that at the moment he bought the Organ in Germany and is restoring a separate building especially for him near his museum. In five years, people will be walking in the park and listening to J.S.Bach.

For many people, the concept of a museum is associated with empty halls, grandmothers caretakers, paintings hung on the walls and budget funding. These ideas are in some way associated with the old approaches to museums, when their content was completely taken over by the state. However, these days, a small private museum can be an example of a great low-budget business for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Of course, the creation of a museum, as a business, will be profitable only in those cities in which there are large flows of tourists and city guests. The creation of a museum in such tourist centers is not too difficult business, which can bring its creators not only good money, but also a lot of pleasure from participating in an interesting business.

For example, in many small cities located along the Golden Ring of Russia, there are a huge number of private museums, which are actively visited not only by Russian tourists, but also by foreign travelers. The very names of such museums serve as excellent advertising and attract visitors: the iron museum, the museum of cunning and ingenuity, the mouse museum, the chocolate museum, and so on.

What does it take to create a museum?

First of all, this is the premises. It is advisable to place the museum in its own premises, since the lease, especially at first, will not be repaid by income from ticket sales. Private museums do not have to be located in large, spacious rooms, as is the case in large cities.

Specialized and ethnographic museums are of particular interest to visitors.

Therefore, the placement of a private museum is possible simply in a village house or in several large rooms of a former private apartment. The expositions of private museums, as a rule, are not very large. Placing the exposition in a small space allows you to make the exhibition rich, and the excursions are rather short, which increases turnover and income.

Antiques, private collections of objects from different eras, photographs, posters are of great interest among tourists.

Oddly enough, even museums devoted to the very recent, Soviet period, the history of the city or local customs are popular. It is enough to travel to the nearest villages, collecting old, often unnecessary things from the population, or to purchase a collection of some collector to lay the foundation of the exposition.

So, for example, in the museum of cunning and ingenuity, various everyday things are collected, which demonstrate the remarkable ingenuity of the Russian people, used in everyday life for a variety of reasons. There is a device for fishing, and various kitchen utensils, and tools for agricultural work.

In the chocolate museum, wrappers of various types of chocolate and chocolates, old photographs, advertising samples can be demonstrated. All this arouses the interest of visitors and serves as a wonderful advertisement for excursions.

The cost of setting up a private museum can be minimal, especially if the owner of at least a small collection is involved in this business. It is very important when creating an exposition of a private museum to show a sense of humor in order to make the excursion lively and interesting.

Correct selection of museum curators and tour guides is also important.

At first, the owner of the museum himself can act as a guide, but, as a rule, in order to increase the duration of the work, you have to hire a staff.

Ticket revenues can be supplemented by revenues from the sale of various souvenirs.

Therefore, in a private museum, it is necessary to immediately provide for a room where souvenirs will be sold. In small private museums, the sale of souvenirs can be organized at the entrance, where souvenirs become, as it were, part of the exposition.

Location plays an important role in the museum's profitability.

The most profitable are museums located near the most visited places in the city center, near the parking of tourist buses.

Initial costs for the creation of a private museum may be limited by the cost of repairs and equipment of the premises. At the same time, for example, when placing an exposition in a village hut, such costs can be minimized. However, the advertising costs of the museum cannot be avoided. It is necessary to make and place signs, banners, direction signs to the museum, brochures and colorful booklets about the exposition.

The cost of an entrance ticket can range from 50 to 250 rubles. A visit to the museum, even with one bus excursion, can bring an income of at least 10 thousand rubles.

However, it should be taken into account that current expenses for the maintenance and protection of the museum, staff salaries, constant advertising can reduce the profitability of a private museum to zero.

Therefore, it is highly desirable, when creating a business on the basis of a private museum, to act pragmatically and systematically from the very beginning. How to do this will help you, which you can order on our website.

After several decades of neglect, the Surkov brewery in the center of Arkhangelsk, founded 100 years ago, was sold at auction. As a result, the city budget received 34.2 million rubles, and the new owner, StroyTechnologiya, received three emergency buildings of the former brewery and the obligation to use the facility restored in strict accordance with its historical appearance only as administrative and commercial premises or for "non-destructive production."

The building reconstruction project is almost ready. Most likely, another shopping center will open on the historical squares. The commercialization of the project is also evidenced by the fact that a brewery has already been opened on the first floor of the plant. Many historians of Arkhangelsk hoped that the famous building would still be given over to an exhibition that would tell about the history of brewing in the North. By the way, it is very entertaining, because the "secret" of Surkov's beer has not yet been revealed, and many modern brewers only copy the recipe.

Now the question arises as to whether an object with a cultural function can be attractive for investment? And what is this cultural function - the purpose of the building, its age or architectural features? - says co-owner of several interactive art projects Andrei Sokolovsky. - We are accustomed to a clear division: the library cannot generate income, so it must be on the balance sheet of the city, and the shopping center is a commercial facility, so there is no place for a museum in it.

European tendencies are such that today museums and libraries are located in shopping centers, and large shops are located in museum complexes. And cultural objects themselves can and should generate income. Only this requires the right approach.

The average payback period for a new museum is about five years. However, you can get income much faster if you know some of the secrets of running a museum business.

If we talk about art, then creating a high-quality museum collection requires significant investments. The museum, of course, cannot pay off only through the sale of entrance tickets, these incomes are hardly enough to support economic activities, - said the executive director of the online art auction "ARTLOT 24" in St. Petersburg Alexander Gubanov. - A successful business model of a modern museum provides for its own gallery and infrastructure facilities that provide additional monetization opportunities.

Among the private museums that successfully use this model in St. Petersburg are the Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art and the Faberge Museum.

Thus, one of the types of additional income can be called the holding of temporary commercial exhibitions by the museum, tickets for which can cost more than visiting the permanent exhibition of the museum. In addition to exhibitions, the museum can host other side events - lectures, master classes, presentations, concerts.

Also, almost every museum has its own "exit through the souvenir shop" - an additional source of income from the store at the museum, which sells thematic books, postcards, souvenirs and miniature copies of sculptures. The initiative group of the Arkhangelsk search engines decided to follow approximately the same principle of creating a museum. In December, a new "War Museum" was opened in the capital of Pomorie, its exhibits were things found during the expeditions. Visitors can learn about the hostilities during the Intervention and the Great Patriotic War on the territory of the Arkhangelsk region.

Visitors can also get acquainted with the work of search engines and their unusual finds, - says one of the founders of the "War Museum" Alexei Sukhanovsky. - The average ticket price in this segment is about 300 rubles. All exhibits can be touched by hands - this is one of the tendencies for attracting visitors in the modern museum business.

Marina Björnsgård, Deputy Director for Development of the Art Deco Museum, believes that a number of conditions must be met to ensure the attendance of the exposition. Firstly, it should display unique samples, secondly, it should be geographically accessible and, thirdly, provide a high level of communication (excursions and educational projects based on the exposition).

For people to come to the museum, it is necessary to surprise. They often try to achieve this with the use of modern lighting or graphic effects. The most promising area now is interactive museums, where the visitor not only walks through the halls, but also performs some actions himself, interacts with exhibits. This could be, for example, a "museum of entertaining science" or a petting zoo. Such an idea looks promising for a province that has not yet been spoiled by such entertainments, ”notes Oleg Tkach, financial director of the Greenwood trade and exhibition complex.

The Northern Maritime Museum in Arkhangelsk also thought about how to attract visitors. The renovated building in the city center, new exhibitions and the maritime theme itself, it would seem, should attract visitors and, therefore, generate income.

We have come to the conclusion that if you do not arrange presentations in the museum, various events and do not work with travel agencies or with schools, colleges, then the flow of visitors will be very small, not like at shopping centers, - believes and. O. Director of the Northern Maritime Museum Evgeny Tenetov. - I am sure that a museum, even the most modern one, cannot generate income. In the best case, he can work to zero - to earn on his own development.

According to Tenetov, a museum or art space is always a point of growth in the development of a territory.

As the head of the Kolomenskaya Pastila cultural and production cluster Elena Dmitrieva notes, in small towns the appearance of a museum, a cultural object stimulates the opening of related businesses, increases the value of real estate, makes it possible to create new goods and types of economic proposals, the main of which is not knowledge, but an impression ...

Now, most of the opening museums in the regions of the Northwest are aimed at tourists. Basically, these are small expositions dedicated to some kind of folk craft, where the main role is played by an interesting story of the guide and a visit to a large gift shop.

A good move is to organize a museum in which the historical part is combined with the entertainment part, for example, as in the Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines, ”notes Anna Karganova, director of the Foundation for Russian Abstract Art.

This is approximately the path taken by private museums, which are opening in areas of the Arkhangelsk, Murmansk regions and Karelia, attractive for tourists. Time will tell whether they will survive, and competent strategic planning can help them in this.