“Seems silly to say, but after attending a gift basket convention in Houston and looking at the gift baskets in “Gift Basket Review,” I thought I should do the same kinds of designs and bought cases of food items that I used only in one type of theme, like tea cookies in tea baskets and not using them in anything else, etc.  …duh!  Didn’t take long to figure out I wasn’t selling enough to do that without them expiring first!”

I’ve been making baskets for 18 years now, I can hardly remember my first year in business. I do remember the biggest mistake was not realizing that at the holiday, companies run out of products , and I did not have a good source for baskets. I got through it by going to a local floral wholesaler and getting baskets. Then I looked for local products to use and I probably got some items from Imperial Foods. I spent the second year researching wholesale companies and the baskets were much better. There were probably forums, but the connection and resources to something like your group weren’t readily available like they are today.

Mistake #7 – Creating what she thought her customers wanted but didn’t

Wow, one mistake.  How to reduce a whole year to one mistake.  This is really hard.  There were so many big ones. Now that I think about it, I’m surprised I’m still in business.

Derek Thielke of Northwoods Cheese Company, a manufacturer and wholesaler of shelf stable cheese and gourmetfoods for the gift industry, remembers:

Inventory control and materials purchasing was our biggest mistake during our first year of business.  We got so excited about our new business, we purchased some boxes that we were doing for a gift for one of our first large customers.  We took advantage of some special pricing that we could get for the boxes and purchased way more than we needed.  After 16 years, we have worked through about 60% of those boxes.  Check back with me in another
10 years and I will let you know how it is going.What we have done to overcome the situation is to only have one person do the ordering and wait until actual purchase orders come in for our customers, before gathering materials to assemble gifts.  It does create some problems doing this because it extends our lead times, but cash flow is more important than lead times when you think about it.  This situation almost put us out of business.

Diane Dick, from Apex Gift Boxes Ltd, Leeston, Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand  remembers:Thank you for the opportunity to share with you my biggest blunder in our first year of Christmas gift packing.  I had heaps of staff that I had employed, thinking that I would need them all and in hindsight probably could have done the job with half the number. So to keep them all busy during packing, I had them pre-pack lots of the different size boxes that we had available for sale, in anticipation of lots of sales or big orders in these price brackets.You guessed it, the orders for those sizes just didn’t happen, everyone wanted bigger ones, or personalized ones!!!  Come the end of the Christmas pack, I had to painstakingly unpack all the products, remove the woodwool, and undo all the boxes to pack them away.  Lesson learnt, unless you already have an order for that product, then don’t merrily assume that it will come.  Now we pack to order. We remove stock from our shelves for each bulk order placing them into a box with the customer’s name on them. Then when we’re ready to pack we just pull up the box and get to work.

At Apex Gift Boxes, we create gifts for all occasions for our business customers and personal clients throughout the world, delivering great service within New Zealand. With over 12 years in the gift industry our many customers enjoy our personal and caring approach to their gift giving and come back time and time again. 

Mistake #12- Starting a Business without Knowing What She was Doing

Lisa Chalker, owner of Family Affair Distributing Inc. located in Long Island, NY  shares:

My biggest mistake was NOT knowing what I was doing…literally.

My business “fell” into my lap and I had no idea how to make gift baskets, how to order, how to decide what to charge and how to get business!  Oh, and did I mention that I did not have money so ALL my purchases went onto my credit card building up a debt I have been dealing with for many, many years!

My first step to overcoming all of this was to educate myself…I found teaching tapes from Cherie Reagor, Mary Ann Jacobs and I got industry magazines.  I learned HOW to create great baskets, how to ship them, how to figure out what to charge and who I could target as clients.  I was constantly evolving and making changes once I found out what to do differently.  What a difference information can make…AND, I branched out to include imprinted promotional products and decorated apparel so that if a client didn’t need a basket, they could still use my services and I would still get the business  OR I could incorporate the premiums into my corporate baskets.

One more important thing I learned…I MUST always be networking!!!  That is sooo important and I would have to take another 4 paragraphs at least to tell you how crucial it is for building up your business and that if you don’t network, and network effectively, you will never see the growth you want to see!

Family Affair has grown into a marketing company that helps reinforce a client’s brand through the use of either imprinted promotional products, decorated custom apparel or gourmet gift baskets that can be customized for the client’s needs.  I also have strategic partnerships with PR and Advertising Firms, Graphic Designers and Social Media companies to be able to be a one stop resource for my corporate clientele and to have a referral relationship with these “sister” companies.  I differentiate my company from my competitors by being value driven instead of price driven and being consultative rather than a commodities type of broker.

 

Mistake #13 – Not Knowing Her Target Market and Marketing too Broadly

Deb Walton, owner of  Indy City Gift Baskets shares:

My biggest mistake in business took me much longer than the first year to learn. Maybe I’m just a slow learner. I thought making and marketing beautiful baskets would bring more business in my door. After all, I was receiving extraordinary compliments on our designs. My target market was corporate, I was marketing to banks, law firms, CPA’s, real estate, professional services, manufacturing. Anybody and everybody corporate. After all, my target market was anybody and everybody.

Then I learned a very valuable lesson, it was not about my design, the beautiful bow, the details I put into the gift. What does this gift do for the sender? What will it accomplish? The Corporate Anyone and Everyone clients were not purchasing from me every month or every week. They were buying a gift on an as need basis. They sure were not buying 20 gifts, all the same, every week.

I shifted my marketing, I finally figured out who was going to buy every month, or even better, every week. Here is my breakdown, you can see I’ve figured out my target market.

Corporate – Anybody and Everybody 42 gifts
Senior Communities 125 gifts
Residential Contractors 226 gifts

Know your target market and focus your valuable time marketing to them.

Mistake #14 – Selling without Listening

Cheryl Pliskin, owner of  Jest Notes & Baskets  recalls:

I’d have to say that the biggest SELLING mistake was doing just that:  selling without listening. It takes time to learn how to network properly and without being in the prospect’s face BEFORE establishing a relationship.  Learning that giving first was significant, learning that there has to be a need before you can suggest a solution and learning patience were huge.

On the BUYING side, I bought too much of some items that I thought would be critical before knowing if there was a market.  Case in point:  all that dang cow ribbon!  I still, almost 25 years later, have some rolls left.  Avoiding impulse shopping, bringing in too much of a specialty item that isn’t universal enough for different types of gifts and just not getting spread too thin were key lessons.

And still are.  😉

Cheryl and Jest Notes and Baskets has won many awards through the years including:  (1) Burlington County Regional Chamber of Commerce 2015 Voice of Business Award: Business Excellence fewer than 25 employees (2) South Jersey Biz 2014 Small Business Award for Relationship Building (3) One of South Jersey Magazine’s 2013 Super Women of the Year (4) Named by The Voice as a Mitzvah Hero for 2013 (5) Tri-County NJAWBO’s Business Woman of the Year for 2010 & 2008 (6)  Named one of New Jersey’s Top 30 Woman Owned Businesses by NJAWBO for 2007(7) Named 16th Fastest Growing Company by Philadelphia Business Journal in 2006

 

Mistake #15 – Having a mistaken conception of what a gift basket business is

Nancy Stingone, owner of Unique Design Creations tells us:

The biggest mistake I made during the first year in business was my “perception” of what a gift basket business should look like. I saw the business as just making gifts for woman with alot of “fluff”.

Over the years and through networking I have learned to expand my business, developing programs, and letting my clients know how I can help them in their gift giving needs. And, that I am their “Go to Person”.

Unique Design Creations offers gift baskets for corporate companies, small businesses, as well as for your family, friends and co-workers.  Nancy gives her clients my personal touch, as well as my expertise to design unique gift baskets for all special occasions and events.  We offer Real Estate Programs, and Assisted Living Programs.

Mistake #16:  Opening her business without research or knowing anything about the industry or business in general.

Sylvia Thompson of Baskets Galore by Sylvia says:

Karen Vause-Green, owner of Turquoise Ribbon Gift Baskets  located in Fredericksburg, Virginia, remembers:

The biggest mistake I made my first year was, not making a profit on my baskets and sometimes not even making my investment back. I overstuffed my baskets in an attempt to really wow my clients but in the end what happened aside from me not making money was, the client came to expect this “overstuffed” basket every time.

I had to stop and re-think  and re-work my baskets.  I had to learn to tone down the amount of product all while keeping the “wow- factor”, that they were use to receiving from me. I had to realize that sometimes less is more,

 I laughed when I read the topic. One of the biggest mistakes I made when I first started my business was not charging enough for my products. I was just so glad that people wanted to actually buy my stuff that I wasn’t even
concerned about the profit. I didn’t include a lot of variables like shipping, my labor, delivery, etc.I look back and wonder how I made any money. But since I was home-based at the time, it didn’t seem to matter.
Eventually, as the business began to grow, I had to increase pricing. But that made it difficult for some of my customers who were used to getting such a great deal to stick around. They took their business elsewhere and I
learned a valuable lesson…price it right from the beginning. If you short change yourself or bend the rules to give a great deal or get the sale, they’ll expect that same low cost every time.And now, a note from me: