I'm thinking about starting my own gift basket business. Does anyone have any suggestions, comments or ideas?

Answer 1

For valentines day one year my wife gave me a basket that had a six pack of beer,some fishing lures, beer coozie and best of all. Coupon that read pick your fantasy nite!!! I loved it.

Answer 2

Associations may be a good avenue to explore. These organizations will address many of the thoughts, questions and concerns you'll inevitably have as well as many you haven't anticipated yet. See the source box for some relevant links.

Research, research, research – this cannot be stressed enough. Read as much as you can about the industry. Here are some book titles that are relevant:

* How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business, Third Edition by Shirley George Frazier
* Start Your Own Gift Basket Service by Entrepreneur Press
* Start and Run a Gift Basket Business by Mardi Foster-Walker

There are plenty of free informational resources out there. Check the source box for links to articles.

Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!

Answer 3

Hey there!

Thats a wonderful business idea. What I would suggest is that your success will be determined by how creative and out-of-the-box you can think. Typically you will find most gift baskets to have similar content and presentation. How different can you be?

Instead of serving the entire market, as most gift shops do, how about identifying certain niche markets? Think what kind of clients you would enjoy working with? What would make you happy and what are you passionate about? Work on these target markets and I am sure you will do much better than serving the whole market.

Some examples which comes to my mind are babies / expectant mothers / baby showers / corporate gifts / wedding gifts / graduation gifts.... let your imagination run wild... take a piece of paper and a pen and jot down all what comes to your mind and the review the list and identify what you are most comfortable with... and go ahead with that.

Once you decide which niche to work on, try and gain leverage in that market. For eg. lets say you are very keen to work on wedding / brides gift baskets. Contact as many wedding planners / event organizers about your business. Leave a sample basket for them. Offer them attractive packages for their clients and most importantly, build a rapport so that you will remain on their minds when such a requirement does come up.

The same leverage can be done with other niche markets as well.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any further questions and I will be more that happy to help.

All the best!

Regards,
Namz

Answer 4

I was searching for gift baskets online and it was quite an ordeal. If you have a website, and it is a must do for any business, make sure your webmaster has you coming up in the first page of a google search for gift baskets in your town.

With that being said, I think most basket businesses cater to the "girly" end of the business. I would love to be able to purchase the 6 pack and fishing lures type basket in my area. Here, it is all wine and cheese, cookies or flowers. Blech.

Being a realtor, I would like to think there would be some house warming gift baskets available. There isn't, I have asked. One gift place tried to sell me on a $100 basket of wines. That assumes that my clients drink wine, and I wouldn't make that assumption. I don't have a knack for putting these things together, but I'd like to see a bottle of bubbly, a couple 9V batteries for the smoke detectors, a GC to a locksmith to change the locks, that sort of thing. Practical, yet fun.

I wanted to buy something nice for my mom for her birthday, which is just before Christmas. They have alot of friends and family over, so I bought her a cookie basket. The cookies arrived in a cute basket, but were packaged in sandwich bags with twist ties. How ugly is that and who would set that out on their table? There has to be a more creative option available.

Business 101: Find a void and fill it. If you are creative and I assume you are, stretch the traditional boundaries, market to something besides - been there, done that - with the right tools and products, you could do great things.

Best of luck to you.

Answer 5

Gift baskets are still EXTREMELY popular. I work for a realty agency and, omg, we get 'em all the time! Other than that, according to what kind of business you are starting, gift certificates might work.

Answer 6

Don't forget baskets for new pets....they are a big hit--pet beds filled with chew toys, bones, biscuits, food/water servers, blankies, etc.. I have found many fillers for baskets in big lots, or any place that sells odd lots of items, 99 cent/dollar stores (works great for gourmet baskets because most of the food items are imported...so who knows what you paid?). Get good at making bows and buy your ribbon on bulk reels--fancy ribbon, lace ribbons, ribbon with wire edging (for shaping)...there's a lot you can do. Print gift cards on your printer at home and don't forget to include your contact information. Good luck with your new business!

Answer 7

That's a very good idea, and I wish you good luck. I make baskets myself. I'm a beauty consultant for Mary Kay, and any customer who doesn't pay me for his/her products, I put the product in one of my baskets and sell it so that I can still get my money.

Answer 8

hi

i think you can give them oil painting from their photo means turn their photo in oil painting it will create nice impression on them.

Capture that special moment.turn it into a masterpiece that will last forever!

i suggest u to look at this site i think it will help u,

A great idea for a personal and unique gift is a handmade painting made from a photo that you send.

Check out this site: http://www.portrait2000.com
here to visit their samples:http://www.portrait2000.com/samples.htm

The prices are reasonable and the outcome is amazing.

Answer 9

I would say, if you have'nt done your own business before, you would want to get a little educated as far as running a successful biz, tax benefits, women and money and being a successful entreprenuer. I know of a product that has helped us tremendously in our business and you're welcome to check it out. If you would like to learn more you can contact me.

Answer 10

thats a great bizness.what do u think of packing beautiful shells and corals,and jewellery made of shells,carved wood, glass beads.i export those stuffs.so if you are perhaps interested that would be great.