How to Start a Gift Basket Business on a Tight Budget

Amanda asks:

“How do I start a gift basket business when I’m on a budget and don’t have a lot of money to buy what’s needed?“

It’s true that the business of gift baskets requires that you invest in a considerable amount of inventory.

However, many industry participants began their businesses with a tight and lean product assortment, allowing them to make a specific number of every day gift baskets to market their businesses. This allowed them to promote, sell their designs, and gradually buy more products and offer more variety.

This is how you start on a budget. Here are the main tips.

1. Determine who will buy your gift baskets so you know where to market.
2. Decide which types of gift baskets you’ll make so you purchase the right inventory.
3. Research where to buy products so you select high-quality items at the lowest prices.
4. Set up your workspace in a room that’s already paid for with rent or mortgage monies.
5. Invest in business cards and postcards for marketing purposes as well as a blog or social media page.

Focus on these five steps, and you will accomplish what many of us experience now — gift basket businesses that provide us with satisfaction as it satisfies the personal and professional needs of our customers.

How Do I Pick My Name?

Amanda asks: “I can’t think of a name for my gift basket business, and it’s driving me crazy! How to you figure out what to call yourself?”

Choosing a name for your gift basket business or any business is critically important to your overall success, so your dilemma is a good one because you’re not taking this step lightly.

Selecting a name is very personal. At the same time you want it to sound right, feel right, and easily roll off the customer’s tongue when they say it.

Here are three things to consider as you decide what to name your business.

1. Will the name include your name?

Amanda’s Amazing Baskets and Amazing Baskets by Amanda are examples of adding your name so that customers know instantly who is creating their designs. If you prefer to not have your name in the title…

2. Will the name highlight what you create?

Glamorous Gifts and Glamorous Gift Baskets are examples of highlighting what your business is all about. Some designers prefer to include the word “gifts” or “baskets” to let customers know, in an instant, what they make. Perhaps you want to be more neutral…

3. Will the name be both interesting and obscure?

Creative Occasions and Distinct Impressions are example names that are keeping in line with a gift-giving theme without actually saying that you make gift baskets. Sometimes such a name is valid because you plan to go beyond gift basket making and provide customers with all types of all-occasion gifts.

These questions probably don’t make your name selection easier, but they do point you in the right direction to decide which type of name is best.

The article, How to Name Your Gift Basket Business, will provide more insight. Best of all, once you choose your perfect name, you’ll celebrate by telling everyone and marketing your business worldwide.

How to Decide to Keep or Lose a Customer

Suzanne asks:

“How do I tell a customer that the gift baskets she wants for a low price cost a lot more for me to make? I don’t want to lose her, but I don’t know what to say.“

This person may have already visited retailers in your local area and found that their prices are not to her liking, so she’s now asking you to make what retailers already know is not profitable.

I’m guessing, of course, but some potential customers approach us with requests that are simply impossible to complete.

A woman once asked me to make a large gift basket and charge her a small basket price, plus she wanted 30 days to pay, and this was her first order!

How did I handle it? I explained that while I wasn’t able to fulfill her requests due to my pricing structure, I was happy to recommend her to other designers who might be more accommodating.

Those other designers turned her down as well. She wanted too much for too little, and all of us found the words to turn down her request since staying in business is a top priority when you decide to become an entrepreneur.

You have a choice to either:

If the first option is best, the words are easy to say. Do not allow emotion to get in the way; you’re making a business decision based on your desire to stay in business.

If the second option is best, inform the customer about the value and satisfaction other buyers have experienced with those particular styles.

If the third option is best, make the gift baskets, but be ready for additional orders from the customer that will keep you profitless.

Which is your choice?

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