The greeting card business is perfect for those who enjoy creativity and want to turn their creative minds into successful ventures. A greeting card is an illustrated piece of card or high-quality paper featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiments.
Greeting cards are a billion-dollar industry now. People need it for plenty of reasons like birthdays, anniversaries, and as well as for business reasons. The greeting card business is a fun-making, feel-good business and can be initiated with comparatively low startup capital on a home-based basis.
12 Steps to Start a Home-Based Greeting Card Business
1. Understand the Market
Making Greeting Cards is a dynamic business. The trends change fast. You must conduct detailed market research on the latest demand of local as well as on the online market.
In addition, if you want to find the kind of searches people are making regarding greeting cards in the online space, Google Trends is a good option.
2. Learn Types of Greeting Cards
There are several types of techniques available to make a greeting card. Such as rubber stamping, calligraphy, origami, paper cutting, hand-printed, with sand and color, living, pop-up cards, and musical cards. Apart from these, digitally printed cards are now having an increasing demand for their decency.
Consider your skills and as well as target consumers when determining the card types. You will need to focus on two segments. One is standard pre-designed cards and the other is customized for your client’s specific requirements.
Apart from these, digitally printed cards are now in increasing demand. Consider your skills and as well as target consumers when determining the card types.
You will need to focus on two segments. One is standard pre-designed cards and the other is customized greeting cards as per the client’s specific requirements.
3. Select your Niche
It is important to select a few categories of making and selling greeting cards when you are starting as a beginner. When profit starts coming in, you can consider scaling it up.
It is advised to visit local retailers that are selling greeting cards and find their collections. Another useful way of understanding the market is to search online on marketplaces like Amazon, Etsy, or eBay.
4. Create a Business Plan
Take some time off and start writing a business plan for your greeting card business. This plan document will help you to understand your strengths and weaknesses while starting and running the business. Your business plan must address the following aspects:
- Target market
- Where you are going to sell – offline, online, or both.
- How big is the market locally
- Pricing
- Marketing Plan
- Financial Plan
5. Select a Legal Entity
If you are planning to run a legally-compliant enterprise, it is essential to select an appropriate business entity. Every state and country provides different options for forming a legal structure for your greeting card business.
For example, in the United States, the four most popular business structures are sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (LLC), and corporation. One can form an LLC if looking to protect their financial assets protected in case of financial disputes.
6. Licenses & Permits
Another important aspect of running a hassle-free legal greeting card company is to procure the necessary licenses and permits. For example, if you are in the United States and planning to hire manpower, it is mandatory to register for an employer identification number(EIN). It is advised to talk to a business attorney and learn more about the required licenses needed to operate a greeting card business.
7. Purchase Equipment for Greeting Card Making Business
When you have selected what cards you will be making and selling, you will need to gather several accessories for your greeting card-making business. For digitally printed cards you will need to have computers, scanners, designing software, and high-quality printers.
You can also outsource the printing arrangement. For other types of cards, you need to source beads, colors, blank card paper, and different craft-making items. You will find these materials from the local wholesale shop or you can go for an online purchase.
8. Select a Business Name for Your Greeting Card Business
Choosing a catchy and unique business name goes a long way in creating a brand. The name should be relatable and customers can easily identify with your products and services. Check this guide to know more about the steps to select a proper business name.
9. Have an Inventory Plan
The number of supplies will grow as you make more and more greeting cards. Hence, it is important to have an effective inventory plan. Create smooth communication with local wholesalers so that you are never either in shortage of supplies or have them in excess.
10. Envelope for Greeting Card Making Business
Give special attention when choosing several envelopes for your greeting card-making business. Consider the standard sizes and colors. Your cards should fit into envelopes properly. The most common sizes of envelopes are A7, A6, and A2.
11. How to Sell Greeting Cards
Card writing is also an important factor in a card-making business. Go for contemporary, creative writing that reflects the thoughts and feelings people generally want to communicate with others.
Make some sample greeting cards to show your customers. You can keep your card in local bookstores, and craft stores on a consignment basis. You can contact retailers to supply your cards on a wholesale basis.
There are also huge demands incorporate and business houses for greeting cards. You can contact those businesses who need to stay firmly established in their client’s minds, such as doctors, insurance agents, high-value retail brands, and any other business houses. Send them a greeting card of your own that explains your business and creativity. And then follow up for an appointment to show your greeting card portfolio.
12. Go Online
It is almost mandatory to have an online presence to be successful in the greeting card business. The first step is to Create a website with an online shop. Offer some discounts, tips, or news as an incentive to your customers for online purchases.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Is Greeting Card Business Profitable?
The greeting card business is expected to grow in the coming years. The present greeting card business industry is worth over $7.5 billion annually and as per industry experts, it is poised to have more growth. In the United States alone, the total approximate revenue collection was 2.93 billion U.S. dollars in the year 2021.
On average, most greeting card business owners earn $50,000 per year. It is seen, big greeting card brands like Hallmark, make a whopping $20 billion on special occasions like Valentine’s Day.
How Much Does it Cost to Start a Greeting Card Business?
You can start a greeting card business with as low as $1000 if you start on a small scale at home. However, it can rise to $10000 if you plan it on a larger scale. The costs mainly include sourcing product sourcing, design sourcing, manpower hiring, and promotional costs.
Do you need any Software to run a Greeting Card Business?
To deliver high-quality greeting cards relevant software comes in handy. You can create, print, and send high-quality greeting cards with a few clicks of your mouse. There are thousands of ready-to-share templates. And also you can customize them. One of the most popular free greeting card software is Adobe Spark, Canva, and Movavi.
As your greeting card-making business grows, you can apply for a Patent and Copyright License. You will need to submit the designs along with your company name with a specific application format with fees.
Editorial Team at 99BusinessIdeas is a team of experts led by Rupak Chakrabarty with over 25 years of experience in starting and running small businesses. Started in 2010, 99BusinessIdeas is now one of the largest free small business resources in the industry.