Your gift basket business should reflect your style while reflecting your customer`s needs and preferences. You can`t be everything to everyone which is why competition is healthy. If you are stuck doing all the baskets for a city with a population of 100,000 people, you will quickly burn yourself out!
Decide how big you want to get to maintain the style of life that you desire. Then, only go after that amount of contracts. In other words, focus on your personal priorities and build a business that works around it. This is especially doable with a home based gift basket business.
You will be home for school meetings, do your errands as you are picking up items for your baskets and work later on when the kids are sleeping and the husband is watching TV.
With a retail business, the balance between family and work life is not as easy to achieve but can be accomplished if you prioritize as you are building or expanding or shrinking your business.
If you want to have your business up and running in 6 Weeks time, subscribe to the Gift Basket Connectory. For $97 you`ll have everything you need to get your business off to a great start and you will have to quit digging your brain about how to start. Just click HERE for more information.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Secret No. 2- Quality of Service Is Queen When Starting a Gift Basket Business From Home
The number two secret to starting a profitable gift basket business is Quality Of Service. It really helps if you are personable and friendly since customers will feel your genuineness and desire to help them in your voice, by your actions and online, by your presentation.
Really care about making the perfect match between a customer and a recipient. Get in tune with the customer`s vibe and you will know what to sell them to make an accurate match. If a customer is talking quickly and appears to be in a hurry, listen to their request, ask them their desired price range and then make 2 or 3 suggestions to start. Often that`s all it will take for them to make their selection.
If you get a customer that is very specific on the items they want in their basket, suggest the best match you have in your product selection or suggest a custom basket. Custom Baskets should have a longer time frame to produce since you will need to run around more for these. Take down the customer`s request in detail, then get back to them within the next 15-30 minutes with a price and description of what you can create for them based on their selection.
Smile when addressing customers and keep an energy of helpfulness and the joy of the match and you will do great at attracting and keeping customers.
If you are confused about starting a gift basket business, join the Basket Connectory. This program gives you videos to teach you how to make value packed baskets, templates for your brochures and web site, a crash course in marketing, resources for getting all your supplies and so much more... Check it out HERE.
Really care about making the perfect match between a customer and a recipient. Get in tune with the customer`s vibe and you will know what to sell them to make an accurate match. If a customer is talking quickly and appears to be in a hurry, listen to their request, ask them their desired price range and then make 2 or 3 suggestions to start. Often that`s all it will take for them to make their selection.
If you get a customer that is very specific on the items they want in their basket, suggest the best match you have in your product selection or suggest a custom basket. Custom Baskets should have a longer time frame to produce since you will need to run around more for these. Take down the customer`s request in detail, then get back to them within the next 15-30 minutes with a price and description of what you can create for them based on their selection.
Smile when addressing customers and keep an energy of helpfulness and the joy of the match and you will do great at attracting and keeping customers.
If you are confused about starting a gift basket business, join the Basket Connectory. This program gives you videos to teach you how to make value packed baskets, templates for your brochures and web site, a crash course in marketing, resources for getting all your supplies and so much more... Check it out HERE.
Secret No. 1-Focus on Value When Starting a Gift Basket Business From Home
Size matters. The bigger the basket the better....within reason....within budget. Stick to the pre-determined price range to create the best valued basket for the money. The number one secret of starting a gift basket business from home is to Focus On Value as the number one factor for repeat business and word of mouth advertising, which is priceless! People will expect bigger baskets from you since you don`t have many of the operating costs of a retail gift shop.
When shopping for products to fill your baskets, focus on highest value perception. Make sure to buy only name brands and gourmet looking items. The classier the packaging, the better. Buy different shaped and sized items from large to small to boxes, to bags, to jars, to tins or bars....make sure you have a variety of products for better basket artistry.
To actually create this value filled basket, use neutral kraft or flower paper rolls to crumble at bottom of your actual wicker basket or other container. Fill the base of the basket to the rim so as to create a more or less solid base so that the objects will not fall down to the bottom of the container. Use decorative filler to cover the plain paper. My favorite was a shiny paper shred bought per pound in floral supply catalogs.
Next, measure out your cello. Place your prepped basket in the middle of the cello in equal sizes on both sides. You want the celllophane above the neck (or tying point) to be 1/3 higher than the basket itself. Cut off the roll but make sure to be more generous than not with the cello. There`s nothing that ruins a good basket like cello that is all stubby tied close to the attachment point.
Use lots of curling ribbon to accent the basket and tie on theme and seasonal items such as a red rose (quality silk or real) for an Anniversary basket or a preserved oak leaf for a Gourmet Basket during the fall season. Wintergreen boughs like cedar and pine are great to bring Christmas cheer with each holiday gift basket. Stay Tuned for the number 2 Secret to A Successful Gift Basket Business...
I`ve truly enjoyed my 15 years in the flower & gift basket business but it was time for me to move on to other things... Now I try to help out others beginning in the business and hope others will have as much fun in the business as I have had all these years.
The Basket Connectory is a 6 WEEK Program to get your gift basket business up and running. Although I did not write this program, Rita Wilheim is a fellow retired professional gift basketeer who has written not just a book but a whole system to help you go from employee somewhere else to running your own gift basket business in 6 weeks. Start to Running in 6 WEEKS with this system. I sure wish it was around when I was first starting out! But you get to take advantage from an old timer`s lessons hard earned.
If you are ready to take on the Gift Basket Business challenge but don`t want to waste a lot of time surfing and searching..check out this online program. The Gift Basket Connectory It`s not free but it`s very reasonable for all that it includes. Check it out...
When shopping for products to fill your baskets, focus on highest value perception. Make sure to buy only name brands and gourmet looking items. The classier the packaging, the better. Buy different shaped and sized items from large to small to boxes, to bags, to jars, to tins or bars....make sure you have a variety of products for better basket artistry.
To actually create this value filled basket, use neutral kraft or flower paper rolls to crumble at bottom of your actual wicker basket or other container. Fill the base of the basket to the rim so as to create a more or less solid base so that the objects will not fall down to the bottom of the container. Use decorative filler to cover the plain paper. My favorite was a shiny paper shred bought per pound in floral supply catalogs.
Next, measure out your cello. Place your prepped basket in the middle of the cello in equal sizes on both sides. You want the celllophane above the neck (or tying point) to be 1/3 higher than the basket itself. Cut off the roll but make sure to be more generous than not with the cello. There`s nothing that ruins a good basket like cello that is all stubby tied close to the attachment point.
Use lots of curling ribbon to accent the basket and tie on theme and seasonal items such as a red rose (quality silk or real) for an Anniversary basket or a preserved oak leaf for a Gourmet Basket during the fall season. Wintergreen boughs like cedar and pine are great to bring Christmas cheer with each holiday gift basket. Stay Tuned for the number 2 Secret to A Successful Gift Basket Business...
I`ve truly enjoyed my 15 years in the flower & gift basket business but it was time for me to move on to other things... Now I try to help out others beginning in the business and hope others will have as much fun in the business as I have had all these years.
The Basket Connectory is a 6 WEEK Program to get your gift basket business up and running. Although I did not write this program, Rita Wilheim is a fellow retired professional gift basketeer who has written not just a book but a whole system to help you go from employee somewhere else to running your own gift basket business in 6 weeks. Start to Running in 6 WEEKS with this system. I sure wish it was around when I was first starting out! But you get to take advantage from an old timer`s lessons hard earned.
If you are ready to take on the Gift Basket Business challenge but don`t want to waste a lot of time surfing and searching..check out this online program. The Gift Basket Connectory It`s not free but it`s very reasonable for all that it includes. Check it out...
Friday, September 17, 2010
Presenting me...the Gift Basketeer...now retired
I have owned 2 flower shop and gift basket businesses. Two months have gone by since my retirement and I now that I`m all rested up, I feel ready to share my knowledge with those wanting to start out in the business to help them along in their success. In this new blog of mine, I will share secrets that led to my success and tidbits of information that will save you from making the same mistakes I did. You can also check out my Squidoo Lenses for more information on my advice and opinions on gift basket business ownership and day to day operations.
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