LOCATION OF YOUR BUSINESS
A fruit bouquet or gift basket business is a flexible concern and you can really locate it anywhere - at home, retail and local market.
Regardless of your location you can also sell over the internet or face to face – or a combination of these methods.
If your goal is a large company with several employees and big income, you will needa retail location. If you want to create a small business, then you can successfullywork from home.
If you decide to work from home, inventory can be stored in existing storage spaceswithin your home and garage. You may have to add some shelves for proper storage,but these can easily be constructed with very little expense.
Most homes already have some of the equipment needed for business use - a phone, acomputer, and a printer. If your phone isn't equipped with an answering machine, youshould get one since orders may come in while you are out making deliveries.
However, you may want to invest in some sort of file cabinet, cash box, and a faxmachine.
You'll also need adequate record keeping equipment as well as stationery, envelopes,business cards, sales slips, invoices, containers, labels and other miscellaneous items.
Most of these items can be purchased at local office-supply stores. Again, don't gooverboard. Buy only what you need.
If you operate your business from home, call the local council and if you are renting/have a mortgage you should also consult your landlord or mortgage lender so that you can legally set up your business at home.
You can also rent a space or office in your community. Specialty shops are goodlocations for a fruit bouquet business a "special" service. Renting or subleasing space in an existing shop can bebeneficial to both parties involved.
You will be getting adequate workspace for yourbusiness while paying a percentage of the owner's monthly rent.
Instead of renting a space in specialty shops, you can choose to sell on consignmentthrough these shops. A consignment is an agreement between you and a shop ownerwho agrees to display and sell your fruit bouquets/gift baskets for a percentage ofthe sale. The consignment percentage varies from 10 to 30 % depending on your area.
Another way to get started in the fruit bouquet or gift basket industry is to rent market stall.
You can sell your fruit bouquets through your website.
A very important concept, a new fruitbouquet or gift basket business ownershould realise is that starting slow, with a small inventory is the most prudent andsafest way to begin.
It is a good idea to keep your day job when you start yourbusiness. It may take one or two years for a new business to become established.
After that amount of time and experience, the owner should be able to determine whatsells best as well as monthly sales and inventory turnover. With this information, theowner can decide how much inventory to carry. If the business is to be profitable, it isessential to have the proper amount of inventory without the excessive outlay of cash.