Are the Holidays a Good Time to Open for Business?

Posted on December 12, 2008 
Filed Under Startup Help

Give each of your gift baskets a nameRuby asks:

“I’m thinking of starting a gift basket business next year, but I want to make money now so that I have some extra cash to officially start making baskets. So are the holidays a good time to jump into this business?”

Wally Amos, the man who put Famous Amos Cookies on the map, once said something similar to, “If you don’t start your business now, when will you?”

The way your question is posed makes me think that there is some underlying reason why you’re hesitant, but if you have enough capital (cash) to buy inventory and enough contacts who will buy, why not start business by selling holiday gift baskets?

You wouldn’t be the first. In 2002, I worked with a designer who started business on November 12. She was confident that her business would make $5,000 gross (income before expenses are deducted) because of her business connections.

We crunched numbers, determined the inventory, and she started marketing a few days before Thanksgiving. On December 31, we checked her financials. Her gross sales were $4,893.78, and she continues to thrive today.

Some of the marketing tactics in her plan are documented in 101 Ways to Market Gift Baskets.

If your research convinces you to start now, do it without hesitation. Or wait. The choice is up to you.

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