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Start a Gift Basket Business

By Lisa Paredes

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 25Nov2008 Word count: 423 Viewed: 434 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

There are ways to make extra money from home that are fun and creative. These home based businesses mix hobbies and interest with marketing to provide a terrific second income or a great lifestyle change.

The Concept

If you are searching for the perfect mix of creativity and the ability to make money, consider starting a gift basket business from your home. Thanks to various types of gift baskets, this new industry is booming. By basically creating baskets for holidays, or a specific niche, such as business gifts and theme or event related celebrations you can carve out a great living for yourself and your family. And, you can choose to concentrate on one particular type of basket or you can do a variety of basket types.

The Start-up Costs

Though, some believe that it is hard to start a gift basket business for less than $10,000. There is a growing consensus that a home gift basket business greatly reduces the start-up expenses. Starting a basket business inside your home will eliminate the costs of leasing space and paying extra for utilities. You will need to check with your local chamber of commerce for licensing and zoning fees. Yet, the majority of your start up expenses will revolve around the materials you will need to create your basket. In order to reduce costs, you should purchase most of these items from discount stores, and surplus supplies both on an offline. Believe it or not, there have been successful home gift baskets businesses that were started for only $100.00.

Marketing

Creating a marketing strategy for your home based business should contain both on and offline strategies. For your offline component, first introduce yourself and your business to local businesses. Start by dropping off business cards and professional flyers. Then move up to attending local business meetings that are open to the public. You may even consider creating free baskets for select group of local businesses in order to get your foot in the door. Your online strategies should include a well-designed website. And, if creating web-pages is not your forte, you can find a number of businesses that will not only create a website, but also host your website at a reasonable price. Also, look into linking your site to others that may compliment your services or will be viewed by your target audience. But, be sure not to forget the business that you can gain by posting pay-per-click ads using Google AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing.

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