Tips, Insights & Resources For Starting a Gift Basket Business
Gift baskets are a popular gift, You can sell them to individuals or for events, your designs can range from a wedding, baby shower, newborns, to bath and body, get well, housewarming, etc. The ideas are endless.
Before you start you should first think about where you’re going to run your business from, start from home or from a shop.
Many people start at home because it takes far less money up front. You don’t need to pay rent on a storefront and you don’t have to take the risk involved with an actual store. Starting from home gives you the chance to either start full-time or part-time.
Whichever ways you choose to start, make sure you put research into it first. This can be a great choice for a hopeful entrepreneur or a great avenue for a creative person looking for additional income.
Skill Set:
- Good eye for design
- Meet deadlines
- Excellent communication skills
- List of Common Business Skills
Employee and Job Consideration During The Start-Up Phase or In The Future:
Approximate Daily Hours Needed:
You can set your own hours unless you open as a retail establishment then, you need to abide by retail hours.
Equipment, Supplies, & Services During Start-up OR In The Future:
- Electric Styrofoam Cutter
- Styrofoam Glue
- Counter roll cutter 30″ & 40″ wide
- Six roll cello wrap dispenser
- Curling ribbon dispenser
- Electric impulse heat sealer
- Professional Deluxe Industrial Heat Gun
- Bowmaker
- Stemming machine
- Bar system with a heat gun
- Foam
- A variety of baskets
- Custom boxes, containers
- A large variety of ribbon
- A large variety of decorating supplies
- baskets, “filler” items such as tissue paper, and items common to several baskets, including food – gourmet chocolate, candy, brownies, cookies, etc.
- Postal scale
- Shipping materials
- GPS (for deliveries)
- Essential office Equipment
- See Our List of General Retail Equipment
Monthly Expenses and Operating Costs To Consider:
See our list of common business expenses
Licenses:
See Our Page on Licenses and Permits
Startup Costs
Bare essentials – Just a few hundred dollars, should get you started and give you enough supplies to build a bit of inventory to get you started.
Tips And Considerations:
- Your inventory level should grow as your sales grow. However, Start small, keeping inventory at a realistic level.
- You can buy your items for gift baskets either through wholesale or retail means. It is advisable that you buy the items and supplies that you use in large quantities, such as baskets, “filler” items such as tissue paper, and items common to several baskets, at wholesale price.
- Creativity: You can’t start without creativity because this business is made up of mostly creative baskets. Anyone can buy products but only a creative person can arrange them in a truly beautiful way.
- Knowledge of what to put in the baskets: To start you will need to know what people like. Whatever kind of designs you create, you should know the most popular things to put in them.
Type of Customers:
Explosive growth in popularity over the past several years as the number of home-based businesses and independent shops catering to the corporate market has increased. Businesses and individuals looking for that “perfect gift” now choose to give gift baskets.
Statistics:
Explosive growth in popularity over the past several years as the number of home-based businesses and independent shops catering to the corporate market has increased. Check out the study, Gift Basket Statistics, published by Sweet Survival http://giftbasketbusiness.com
Revenue:
Your income potential depends on how hard you work, particularly in conceptualizing your products and marketing your business.
Industry insiders estimate potential revenues to range from $10,000 or more annually working part-time from home.
According to a survey conducted, 72 percent of the respondents reported annual gross sales of at least $50,000, with about 27 percent indicating that their sales reached $200,000 or more. The survey also found that profits averaged at 22 percent of sales.
Articles
1. How To Start A Gift Basket Business With No Monthly Fees : Smallbusiness.chron.com – 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. More…
2. Become A Gift Basket Business Owner: Fabjob.com – One of the best things when you start a gift basket business is how quick and easy it is. You can use skills you already have in your gift basket business, and work part-time or full-time. More…
3. Start A Gift Basket Business: Articles.bplans.com – Looking for inspiration? Check out our sample business plans for companies offering gift baskets. See how others like you got started and turned their business idea into a reality. These plans can be read fully online, and are available in LivePlan. More…
4. Start Your Own Gift Basket Business With Shirley George Frazier: Facebook.com – Start Your Own Gift Basket Business with Shirley George Frazier. Welcome to current and alumni students of the Start Your Own Gift Basket Business course! Share your success and gift basket photos here! More…
5. Start Your Own Gift Basket Business – Course Details At Ed2go: Ed2go.com – First, you’ll learn how to make gift baskets that stand out from everyone else’s. You’ll discover where to find foods, products, and supplies to make your baskets, and you’ll find out how to set up your own design studio. More…
6. How To Start A Gift Basket Business: HowStuffWorks – Starting a gift basket business isn’t difficult and doesn’t demand a large outlay of cash. There are many advantages to owning a gift basket business, with the best one being that you can start it out of your home. Read on and find out how to start a gift basket business. More…
7. Start A Gift Basket Business On Less Than $1000.00: Hubpages.com – I moved my gift basket business to four different cities. I started in Phoenix, Arizona, San Diego, California, Houston, Texas and back to Prescott, Arizona. .The wave has crested on the gift basket business but it enjoyed great popularity in the 1990s and early 2000, People still enjoy giving and receiving gift baskets for all types of occasions and situations. More…
Books
How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business
How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business By Shirley George Frazier
How to Start a Gift Basket Service
101 Ways to Grow Your Gift Business Starting Right Now
How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business, 4th
