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Every start-up needs a business plan, a blueprint that includes your goals and ways to achieve them. The business plan should indicate a knowledge of your market, your skills, potential challenges and how you'll overcome them, and financial projections.
Knowing your market means having an understanding of what kind of greeting cards you want to produce, who your competition is and what kind of presence your competition has. It also means knowing where to offer your products; will you start small, with local independent shops, or try to crack the national market with chain stores?
The best way to gain this knowledge is first, to decide if you want to specialize (only funny cards, only religious cards, the whole gamut, and so forth). Once you've decided that, an Internet search will tell you who your competitors are. Then you have to hit the streets and see which companies' cards your local outlets offer. -
Greeting cards consist of two elements: art and text. Unless you are multitalented, you'll need people to do both. On the art side, this could mean graphic artists or photographers. The text -- prose or verse -- can be written by poets or just people who have the knack of writing concisely and with feeling.
To build your creative team, try placing ads on Internet job sites or in newspapers. If you live near a college or university, a visit to the graphic arts or creative writing departments could be in order. If you want to acquire your own art, try such royalty-free sites as BigStockPhoto.com.
Depending on how many people you hire, freelancers could cost you less than in-house creative workers because you won't have to find the added capital needed to cover benefits, payroll taxes, office space, and so forth. Having an in-house team, on the other hand, ensures that you'll have people working on your projects on a regular basis. Freelancers will send you their work for you to mix and match, or they can fulfill assignments you provide. -
Find a quality printer for your product. The printer will be able to assist you with color choices, stock choices, envelopes, and quantities. Your best bet in finding a printer is to look through your local phone book. You could also spread your search nationally by using online yellow pages.Tell the printer what you want to do to make sure he can handle the project. The best practice is to get three quotes.
Some printers will also store the product for you for an additional fee. If yours does not, secure storage space. You can probably rent a storage space for about $100 to $150 a month.
Printing costs will vary depending on the quantity and size of the cards, the paper used, whether the printing is color or black-and-white, and your location. - In the beginning, you'll probably have better luck selling your cards at independent stores, rather than trying to break into the larger chain stores. If you can build up a sales history, you'll have a stronger argument for the chains to carry your product.
