Business Ideas | Small Business Ideas: How to Start a Gift Basket Business

Sunday, February 1, 2015

How to Start a Gift Basket Business | Starting a Gift Basket Business

Gift basket business is a rare among all the businesses where you will find less competitors and towering profit. You can always design gift bags or baskets for wine, champagne, candy, cheese, coffee, cookie, etc - or else you can target the occasions like Anniversary, Baby Shower, Birthday, Valentine, Christmas, Chinese New Year Hamper etc. Saint Valentine's Day, also known as Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is a holiday observed on February 14 each year. It is celebrated in many countries around the world, although it is not a holiday in most of them. A Gift Basket Business can be fun and profitable for a crafty person. Many people start out by signing on with gift basket companies or purchasing business opportunities that require monthly payments. You don't have to commit to paying monthly fees to get started in this business, however. You can build your own gift basket company from scratch. Becoming successful in the gift basket industry may take some planning and time, but you can get started quickly, even if you are on a budget.

Engaging in a gift basket business can be very rewarding especially during Christmas. During this gift giving season, people are looking for gift baskets that they can give to their friends, colleagues and loved-ones. Some people are also too busy to prepare their own gift baskets that they will more likely look for people who are selling gift baskets. Because the Christmas season will be here soon, this is the best time to prepare if you want to engage a corporate gift baskets business. A unique gift basket business is best for hobbyists who are interested in gift crafts and for stay at home people looking for ways to earn an income. Gift basket business is also best for employees because they need not resign from their day jobs to start a gift basket supplies business.

Here are some of the things you need to know if you want to start a corporate gift basket business:

Preparing the gift basket

Your gift basket company is basically centered in the preparation and selling of gift baskets. You can make use of your creativity to come up with adorable gift baskets. It will be very helpful though if you check out some gift basket pictures in the internet to get great ideas on how to prepare well presented gift baskets. You also need to consider the content of your gift baskets. Among the most common gift basket contents are toiletry and bath items, fruits and gourmet food. Gift baskets that sell well during Christmas are those that contain fruits and canned goods. Nevertheless, it will be a good idea if you allow your gift basket business clients to customize the contents of their gift baskets. Couples who are planning to distribute gift baskets on their wedding day, for example, may request for gift baskets containing toiletries and bath.

Your clients

While a number of people will be looking for gift baskets especially during occasions and during the Christmas season, it will be a good idea if you know who your gift basket business markets are. This will give you an opportunity to know how to best market your gift baskets. Business organizations and businessmen are among the best clients in a gift basket business. This is for reason that business organizations need a number of gift baskets to distribute to their clients, employees and even business partners. In addition to this business organizations need gift baskets not only during the holidays but all year round to distribute as birthday present to their employees and clients. Family members, friends and fellow employees are also potential markets for your gift basket business.

Instruction:

Step 1

Decide where you will run your gift basket business. Home-based gift basket businesses typically have lower overhead and allow for a reduced start-up investment. Storefront business typically get more foot traffic and may find it easier to make initial sales.

Step 2

Learn how to make gift baskets. You may learn how to create gift baskets by enrolling in a training workshop, purchasing an instructional manual or video, or even following instructions that are posted in online tutorials.

Step 3

Obtain business licensing. The requirements for business licensing may depend on where you open your business, but licensing is often required for traditional and at-home businesses. If you plan to include food in your gift baskets, some jurisdictions will require you to obtain special licensing.

Step 4

Decide the types of gift baskets you want to sell. You may choose to sell gift baskets for all occasions or specialize in a specific type of gift basket. For example, you may specialize in baskets for new parents or focus on birthdays and anniversaries.

Step 5

Find wholesale suppliers of gift basket supplies. Finding low-cost items to include in your gift baskets may translate into more profit for you.

Step 6

Purchase supplies for your gift basket business. The basics you will need are a supply of baskets, cellophane or shrink wrap, ribbons, bows, colorful shredded paper or raffia and decorative items. You will also need a supply of items to place in the baskets, such as candy, cookie, teas, coffee, crackers and jam. If you plan to create baby baskets, you may stock things like infant toys, baby blankets and undershirts, baby lotion, baby powder and soap. For bath baskets, you may need items, including bubble bath, bath salts, bath sponges or cloths, body lotion and candles.

Step 7

Create an initial selection of gift baskets to sell. Depending on your budget, you may create just a few or start out with many different gift baskets. You may use these baskets as samples to show potential customers. You may also photograph them for a brochures, fliers or your business website.

Step 8

Set prices for your gift baskets. A good rule of thumb is to double the amount spend on making a gift basket. For example, you may charge $50 for a basket that costs $25 to make.

Step 9

Advertise your gift basket business. Pass out fliers and create a gift basket website to advertise your business. You may also place ads in telephone directories and newspapers. In addition, you may ask your loved ones to tell others about your new business.

Tips

Consider using the services of a gift basket drop-shipper that doesn't charge monthly fees. This may be a good option if you don't want to stock your own products and create the gift baskets yourself.

Open a business bank account. This may help you to keep your personal funds separate from your business funds.

Creating a business plan may help you to plan your business startup and stay on track as your business grows.

References

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Easy Tips and Ideas to Start Business

Although anyone can start a business, many people fail because of a bad product or improper research. If you want to start your own business, you can improve your chances for success before you even begin. In order to make your business successful, start strong and make sure that your idea will hold out for the long haul.

Have a Good Product

Ensure that you plan to sell something useful. Although you may think that your product is important or special, that doesn't mean the general public will agree. Ask friends, family and strangers what they think of your product. If they don't seem that interested, ask them why. With their suggestions, you can either improve the product or scrap the idea completely. According to Brad Sugars of Entrepreneur magazine, most small businesses fail because they sold a product that didn't have an adequate market. This also applies to small businesses that provide a service. A lawn-care business might be useful for part of the year in a northern state, but it is in-demand year-round in the south. Consider whether people will actually want to use your service and get constructive advice from those not afraid to give their opinion.

Research Local Businesses

Research local companies before starting up your own business. This will not only give you an idea of the amount of competition you will have, but it will also help you price your product or service. If you're looking to start a wedding photography business, you may find during your research that the market is over-saturated in your area. If not over-saturated, you should contact each business and ask them for a price list. Alter your prices so you can stay competitive with the competition in town. Researching similar local businesses will also help you decide where to locate your business location. Try not to start up a store or office close to another business of your type. If your small business is located away from similar business types, this will cause locals to choose you over businesses that are farther away from where they live.

Get Professional Advice

You may know someone who has started their own successful business. Ask him for advice and listen to his stories of how he started his company. You may gain useful advice on the good and bad ways to start a business. Local entrepreneurs can also introduce you to local product providers or advertisers that you may not have met without their help. Accept any advice with open arms, especially if the advice is coming from someone successful in the area.

How to Calculate Business Start Up Costs

Starting a business in no easy endeavor. It takes a great deal of research, perseverance and hard work. While sweat equity will make your small business more successful, you will most likely need real capital to get the business started. Before you start raising capital and/or investing your own funds, the first thing you need to do is determine the total start-up costs.

Step 1

Determine your costs of sales. For most small businesses this means inventory, the cost of raw materials, manufacturing equipment, shipping, packaging, and warehousing. However, not all businesses sell products. In this case, the cost of sales is primarily the direct labor involved in making the sale. For example, to open a small shoe business entails purchasing enough inventory ($10,000) to stock the store.

Step 2

Determine professional fees. Planning your business structure, i.e., limited liability corporation or general partnership, means hiring an attorney. There may also be the need to pay an attorney for help with establishing trademarks, copyrights, and patents. In this scenario, that puts total professional fees at an estimated $20,000.

Step 3

Determine technology costs. Technology can greatly reduce the cost of labor for small business if used effectively. Most small businesses require computers, printers, cell phones, website development, Internet access, software applications, information security, data storage, and outsourced information technology (IT) consulting. If the cost of technology is $10,000 to start, add an additional $5,000 a year for maintenance (hint: maintenance is not included in start-up costs).

Step 4

Determine administrative costs. This varies with business types and may include items such as business insurance, office supplies, product packaging, parking, rent, express shipping, desks, chairs, fax machines, phones, or anything else necessary to operate the business daily. A good estimate for start-up administrative costs would be $5,000 for the first six months.

Step 5

Determine initial sales and marketing costs. Now that you have your product, you need to let folks know about it. Sales and marketing costs generally include marketing materials for presentations, printing stationery, business cards, advertising, trade show events, and public relations. These initial sales and marketing costs can add up to $3,000.

Step 6

Determine the wages and benefits needed to secure a staff. This includes employee salaries, benefits, workers compensation, and payroll taxes. Let's put the cost of wages and benefits estimated at $20,000 for the first three months of business.

Step 7

Add all costs associated with starting the business for a total. Be sure to only include business start-up costs that will be incurred in the first three to six months of operations. For this example, the calculation is: $10,000 + $20,000 + $10,000 + $5,000 + $3,000 + $20,000 = $68,000.

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