§1What this business is
A shoe tack is a small nail with a square body, flat at one end and pointed at the other. Half-hard bright mild-steel wire is fed into an automatic machine and finished tacks come out. They are tumbled in a polishing barrel to clean them and remove burrs, then heated in a bluing furnace to give the blue colour. Panel pins are made on the same machines by changing the dies and are not blued. The profile’s figures are worked out for shoe tacks.
Capacity: 48 tonnes of shoe tacks or panel pins a year, worth ₹26.40 L (single shift at 75% efficiency).
§2Is it right for you?
Who it is for
A small entrepreneur near a footwear or hardware market who can run and maintain automatic wire machines.
Who it is not for
Someone looking for a high-margin or branded product.
Advantages
- Small outlay of about ₹10 L with a rented 100 sq m shed
- Automatic machines turn wire into finished tacks in one step
- The same machines make panel pins by changing dies
- Cobblers and shoemakers buy tacks all year
Drawbacks
- Profit is only about 9% of sales in the profile
- Wire is two-thirds of the running cost
- Plain goods sold by weight, so buyers compare only on price
- The coal-fired bluing furnace gives smoke and heat
Skills you need
- Setting and grinding tack-making dies
- Running the bluing furnace at the right heat
- Buying wire of the correct gauge and hardness
- Selling to hardware and footwear-material wholesalers
Why difficulty 2/5: Simple automatic process and small outlay; the margin is thin.
§3Market
Who buys
- Shoe and chappal makers
- Cobblers and footwear repair shops
- Carpenters and users of panel pins
- Schools, colleges and offices (pins for notice boards)
How it sells
- Hardware wholesalers
- Footwear-material (shoe findings) traders
Good to know
- The profile says there is no BIS standard for shoe tacks; IS 6738 for panel pins and lost-head nails is generally followed.
- Wire is bought from local iron merchants and wire-drawing units.
§4Raw material & machinery
| Item | Qty | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic shoe tack making machine, 10 to 25 mm length, with electricals | 4 | ₹2,50,000 |
| Annealing-cum-bluing furnace, 750 x 500 x 750 mm, coal fired | 1 | ₹50,000 |
| Double polishing barrel, 650 mm diameter x 1000 mm long, 3 HP motor | 1 | ₹25,000 |
| Double-ended bench grinder for grinding dies | 1 | ₹10,000 |
| Weighing balance, weight trays and small pots | — | ₹10,000 |
| Spare cutters, dies and tools | — | ₹15,000 |
From: DC-MSME project profile — Panel Pins & Shoe Tacks (2010)
- Mild-steel half-hard bright wire, 15 to 16 SWG4.25 tonnes a month at ₹30,000 a tonne
- Coal for the bluing furnace₹10,000 a month
- Polishing material₹5,000 a month
- Packing material₹2,500 a month
From: DC-MSME project profile — Panel Pins & Shoe Tacks (2010)
§5Licences & registration
- Udyam registration
- GST registration
- Factory licence where the worker and power limits apply
- Trade licence from the local body
Start it in your state
Pick your state: today’s cost, central + state subsidy, raw material, land and help, on one page.
§6Schemes & subsidies
- PMEGPCentralActive15–35% subsidy
- MudraCentralActiveLoan up to ₹20 lakh, no collateral
- CGTMSECentralActiveNo collateral, up to ₹10 crore
At ₹10.15 L the project fits PMEGP (ceiling ₹50 lakh for manufacturing) and a MUDRA loan (up to ₹20 lakh). CGTMSE can cover the loan without collateral.
§7Money
How the investment is worked out: Fixed capital ₹4.45 L (machines ₹3.45 L, erection and commissioning ₹0.35 L, spare cutters, dies and tools ₹0.15 L, office furniture ₹0.25 L, pre-operative ₹0.25 L) + working capital for 3 months ₹5.70 L = ₹10.15 L. Shed is rented.
Working capital: Working capital for 3 months is ₹5.70 L. Monthly running cost is ₹1.90 L, of which wire is ₹1.275 L (4.25 tonnes at ₹30,000 a tonne).
Prices from 2010 — machinery costs will be higher now.
§8Export potential
Confirm the HS code in the DGFT ITC(HS) lookup before you export
Export council / board: EEPC India
- The profile is written for the home market and gives no export figures.
§9Risks — where people fail
- Wire price rising while tack prices stay flat
- Worn dies giving blunt or uneven tacks
- Footwear makers moving to adhesives and moulded soles
- Larger nail units undercutting on price
§1030 / 60 / 90-day plan
A general plan that applies to any business. A plan for this business will be added after research.
- Days 1–30: Visit a working shoe tacks and panel pins unit, ask 10 buyers about price and quantity, and get quotations from 3 suppliers.
- Days 31–60: Udyam and the licences you need (Udyam registration, GST registration), a project report (DPR), and the scheme or loan file.
- Days 61–90: Space and machines, trial production, and first deliveries to 10 customers.
§11Who to connect with
§12Watch
There is no episode on this business yet. Shows are coming soon on the Podcast page.
Want to start Shoe Tacks and Panel Pins?
DPR, loan file or registration — ask us on WhatsApp.
¶Sources
Data review: 6 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Report it. For information only — not legal or financial advice.