Greeting Card Store Business Plan, Marketing Plan, How To Guide, and Funding Directory
The Greeting Card Store Business Plan and Business Development toolkit features 18 different documents that you can use for capital raising or general business planning purposes. Our product line also features comprehensive information regarding to how to start a Greeting Card Store business. All business planning packages come with easy-to-use instructions so that you can reduce the time needed to create a professional business plan and presentation.
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Despite the fact that the Internet now allows people to have instantaneous communication, most people still send greeting cards on an ongoing basis. These businesses are always able to produce high-margin gross profits from their sales given that people will come into their store and purchase a number of cards especially during holiday seasons. These businesses often generate ancillary streams of revenue from the sale of small gifts and trinkets that are commonly found in most greeting card stores. One of the nice things about these businesses is that they do enjoy relatively low start up costs and can usually be found for about $25,000 to $50,000 in most retail markets. The amount of inventory on hand is usually small for these businesses and usually ranges anywhere from $2,500 to $7,500.
The biggest challenge to starting these companies is to ensure that enough traffic comes through each day in order to make sales to cover the rental expense. These businesses frequently do maintain online presences especially the greeting card store develops and produces its own proprietary line of greeting cards. This is very common among independent shops that would differentiate themselves from large-scale competitors. In most markets there are usually only a handful of greeting card stores. Prior to the onset of operations or even during the business planning process, an entrepreneur should thoroughly examine the target market in order to ensure that the business is able to thrive and that it is not oversaturated. These businesses typically remain profitable even during times of economic recession.
A greeting card store SWOT analysis is developed to showcase the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats faced by these businesses. As relates to strengths, greeting card stores are able to make sales not only from their retail location but also via e-commerce functionality as well. These businesses can readily expand by developing their own line of handmade and proprietary greeting cards. The gross margins are high and the barriers to entry are very low.
For weaknesses, these companies are able to produce high-margin revenues but they do have very high operating expenses. Additionally, greeting card stores are usually in competition with related entities such as grocery stores, candle stores, and other small retailers were general merchandise is sold.
As it relates to opportunities, the biggest opportunity faced by these businesses is the production of proprietary greeting cards. In order to differentiate themselves from other area market competitors, many of these businesses will establish their own product line. This includes using a number of handmade items there typically used in conjunction with a proprietary greeting card line. E-commerce sales are always one of the best ways for these businesses to expand their operations as well.
As it relates to threats, there is really nothing about this industry that is going to change. Despite the fact that email now exists, people still want to have a tangible greeting card sent out during holiday seasons or birthdays.
A greeting card store business plan should be developed if the owner is going to seek capital from private investor or from a bank. This business plan should feature a three-year profit and loss statement, cash analysis, balance sheet, breakeven analysis, and business ratios page. As it relates to the industry research portion of the business plan, greeting card stores generate about $5 billion euro revenue among tongue that 3,000 establish locations. A demographic analysis is almost always included in a business plan specific for greeting card store and this analysis should focus on the population size, population density, annual household income, and the amount of money that spent each year on gifts and cards.
A greeting card store marketing plan also is developed in conjunction with the business plan and SWOT analysis. As it relates to this matter, a highly visible retail stores typically acquired in order to ensure an substantial amount of passersby will see the business on a day-to-day basis. Discounts and flyers are typically sent out during the onset of operations in order to ensure that they are able to have customers come to the store immediately upon its opening. Many greeting card stores will also develop ongoing relationships with area event planners as well as corporate gift specialist so they are able to divest wholesale inventories during the course of the calendar year. During major holidays – including Valentine’s Day, Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s – many greeting card stores will increase their marketing campaigns in order to showcase their products to the general public.
A presence is absolutely needed for this type of business especially if the greeting card stores going to roll out its own proprietary line of cards. The company’s website to showcase the inventories carried by the business, hours of operation, contact information, and any other piece relevant information regarding the business. Many entrepreneurs will seek to have e-commerce functionality embedded into the business in order to ensure that sales can be made from anywhere in the world. This again is especially important if the business is going to have a proprietary greeting card line that’s offered to the general public.
Greeting card stores and continue to be one of the retail types of businesses that thrive despite the fact that more and more products are being sold and distributed in an online capacity. For an entrepreneur that has experience as a retail store manager – greeting card stores can be lucrative opportunities.