Setting up a Greeting Card Business - Part 1

I've been wanting to write a post on how to set up a greeting card business for some time now, but it would end up being the world's biggest post, so I'm going to split it into parts.  For our first part, a little background on Cara Craft Supplies/DIYWedding/WeddingDIY; how we started as a handmade greeting card company, and came to be where we are now.  The next parts will cover all the different aspects of setting up your own small business to sell handmade greeting cards. 

Cara Craft Supplies/DIYWedding/WeddingDIY - a little history

When I first started out in the crafts business, it was the end of 2003 and I was on a break from software and looking for other ways to earn a living.  My sister suggested to me that I'd always been great at making my own Christmas cards and wrappings, and why not make something of it?  I decided to have a play with it and see what happened, but I never thought it would actually become a business!  I designed several small ranges of cards at very reasonable prices, set up a small, free website to display them (I know - very basic, but it was clear, and it worked, and it was years ago :)), and emailed friends and family to see if they were interested in ordering.  By the end of the season, I had sold nearly 2,000 cards.  I thought there might be something in this greeting card business after all :)

I then set up a company with my aunt Barbara, to design and sell handmade greeting cards into shops.  We registered as a company, called it Cara Cards, and set to work in Barbara's attic, designing a range of cards to sell into shops. As I had a background in software, I set up a simple website for the cards - you can see it at www.caracards.com.  The image quality leaves a lot to be desired - we've come a long way since then!!  A good (and not too expensive) scanner will take the best images of all of your cards.

Our first range was our Indian Cotton Flowers range (left) - very simple bunches of  miniature flowers, tied in raffia or stuck directly onto deckle edge Indian Cotton paper.  It remained our most popular card throughout, the bunches of roses cards particularly popular for weddings. We also had variations on the theme - cards with flowers raining down down into a puddle at the bottom (right), and other flowers like sunflowers and daisies.  We sold the cards for about 1.50 Eure wholesale, and just over 3 Euros retail, though we probably could have gotten a little more for the retail price.

The next ranges we brought out were Baby ranges and some cute Animal Cards (left) with themes like a Frog saying "Hoppy Birthday", or a dog saying "Feeling Wuff".  The price point was the same as the Indian Cotton range, but profits were higher as the cost of materials (using plain card) was much lower. Simplicity was the name of the game - all cards had to be easy and quick to make wherever possible. We were regularly asked for Card Stands which we found impossible to source in Ireland at good prices. 

Market Testing.  Around this time we started approaching shops for the first time with our ranges of cards.  We had 6-12 cards in each range, all standard sizes (C6) and a price list drawn up for would-be customers.  Barbara headed off in her car to local gift shops, baby shops, florists, even post offices to see would they be interested in taking our cards. Many were, and so we continued on.  We tried out some markets for selling our cards, and found they worked great at times of the year when there were special occasions such as Mother's Day or Valentine's Day.  They were hard work, and we were freezing, but we got great feedback from the public on which cards worked, which didn't, and what people were looking for.

The next two ranges we brought out were called Pink Birthdays (left), and then a Christmas Range (right).  We always made sure to have at least 6 cards in a range so they would display well in shops and also encourage people to buy more than one card if they liked the design.  We used the Pink Birthday pink handbag card in some mail promotions we did, and got a die made up for us by a local printer to cut out the handbag with. The Christmas range was personalised for my Groovy Grandad, Darling Daughter etc. as most people only buy expensive Christmas cards for their nearest and dearest.  On average about 17p/25c is spent per Christmas card each year.  I also at this point had discovered pre-cut die-cuts (yes it took me this long!!) and was importing them from abroad to use on cards, saving a huge amount of time and money.  Both ranges did well, and after about 6 months we were selling to over 30 shops, and the card shop chain SWALK had just taken the Pink Birthdays Range on in the city centre shop.

By this point we were making hundreds of cards each week - selling mostly at wholesale prices, and with a lot of hard labour to make the cards.  It was tiring, and I was starting to wonder would it work as a larger volume business.  At the same time, I realised that as a small limited company, we were importing all our stock from abroad (apart from a few items we could get locally) and paying high shipping costs to ship small volumes in, with long delivery times.  I was very frustrated that I couldn't source these things locally and it occurred to me - why  not set up a craft supplies site of our own?  I had the computer skills from my previous career, we had a set of stock already in place, and a registered company which enabled us to purchase wholesale.

Thus www.craftsupplies.ie - Cara Craft Supplies (Cara is my middle name, was alliterative, Irish and is also my gorgeous niece's name) was born.  As it happens, it was born the same month that my son was born - one was early, one was late, and 5 weeks later we were at the Knit and Stitch show in the RDS with a tiny booth.  The response was phenomenal - crafters were so happy to see an Irish craft shop at the show, and one that was online!

About 6 months after that, the craft supplies site was growing and growing and we could no longer sustain the cards business, and so sold it off to a local crafter who took the supplies and existing clients.  A year after launching the craft site I came up with the idea for setting up a Wedding Stationery site which made it really easy for couples to make their own professional looking stationery, and save a huge amount of money in the process.  Thus www.diywedding.ie was born, and a year after that, we launched into the UK with www.weddingdiy.co.uk. 

I still believe that selling cards you have made for a living can work well - with a few caveats we'll cover in the next few blog posts on the topic.

1. Consider whether you want to sell your cards at retail prices - to friends and family/colleagues, or at wholesale prices to shops.  The former has the advantage of giving you a much better markup on your cards, but the disadvantage of being unlikely to grow into a formal full time business.  Selling wholesale is a smaller markup - though this can be gotten around through clever use of supplies and easy to make card designs, and the advantage of greater potential to grow into a larger business.

2. Think about maybe making a living out of your craft by both selling your cards or scrapbook layouts, but also giving some classes, making some wedding invitations etc.  Mix it up and it won't get monotonous or boring!

I'll leave it at that for now - lots more to follow.  Please do add your comments and tell me what questions you would like answered on "How to set up your own Handmade Greeting Card Business!".

Comments

[Neasa]

Ais, what a wonderful post! Thanks.

[pauline price]

What fantastic timing this blog has! I am in the process of trying to do just what you have described above.

Unfortunately I do not have the computer skills to fall back on, like you. However, I am navigating my way around the place, albeit slowly.

I have so far set up a free website, with a gallery, market research and blog. I would be delighted to receive constructive criticism about either.

My main stumbling block is fear! Fear of Failure & Fear of Success at the same time. I am trading under the name of Vinca Cards by Polly Peirce. I feel just a bit more comfortable using an assumed name at the moment; for a variety of reasons.

So far I have had one major order from a local newsagent back in July and a few private commissions.

While I have invested time and money in card making; it is a slow start, at a pace I can cope with.

I can't wait to see the rest of your articles as I am sure they will give me just the boost I need.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

Pauline

[Jan]

Thanks Ais. Some great advise and tips there.

[Kate Walsh]

Thanks Ais this is so interesting and informative can't wait to see the next part.

[Ringo]

Great info ais. Lovely to read the story of your success.Looking forward to the rest.

[Aisling]

A great point raised there Pauline - I know of NO crafters who think their work is as great as it actually is!! You have to rely on the opinions of those buying it to be convinced it is... thanks for reading!!

[Patsyann Carrel]

Hi, stumbled across your website and enjoyed so much your "crafting history". I have suffered badly with my health for the past year and tried cardcrafting as a means to stem my boredom. Now I am absolutely hooked and can lose myself for hours crafting. I want to sell my cards (needs must) so I am going to try and set up a free website (computer illiterate). Any tips or help would be warmly welcomed. Your details are in my favourites. Thank you Patsyann

[Aisling]

Hi Patsyann - check out our latest blog post - there's more information about setting up sites and a few recommendations. It's worth looking at Yahoo's free website service - it comes with a simple, easy to use site builder tool too. http://geocities.yahoo.com/ps/learn2/HowItWorks4_Free.html

[Rachel Keeley]

hi,i have a queation-how do you know how much to sell your cards for? im doing cards but mine are small paintings that will be scanned and printed onto card-and i want to sell to shops,but i dot know how much for? please help!!!

[Jan Scott]

I am currently making one-of-a-kind greeting cards, gift tags, boxes, and door hangers. My problem is "How do I price them for the retail market?". I don't expect to make a lot of money, but I would like to recover costs of supplies and get something for the time spent. Can you help me with this aspect? I have found a website, a blog site and also have been offered a booth at a convention site, so reaching the public is not my problem. Putting a value on my work is.

[Aisling (author)]

Hi there,

If you're not sure how much to charge for something, the best thing is to ask people how much they'd pay! Price is dependent on the need/desire of the customer, the locale, the competition..and so many other things. Try showing your work to a small set of close friends and family and asking them to value it, and go beyond that to a wider group if you find there isn't agreement there. Many people make the mistake of setting pricing as Cost of Goods + Cost of labour + x%, but if the price arrived at isn't what people expect to pay, you'll suffer either way. Underprice and people will assume the quality is not great, overprice and they won't purchase. Research is the name of the game here. Good luck!

Aisling.

[PSuttie]

Hi there, I too am trying to set up a small business after family and friends said my cards were very nice and that I should try and sell them! My dad has been very kind and helped me design my website which I'm hoping to take orders from once I have done some advertising! Do you have any ideas of how I can advertise at a small expense? I also have a craft fair this weekend and was wondering if you had any idea about how many cards I should take to sell there? Also what are the general policies for selling handmade cards to shops? Do they buy them all up front, or only give you the money if they sell? And how much of a percentage of the sale are they likely to take?
I'm sorry I didn't mean to write so many questions but if you've got time to write back it would be greatly appreciated!
Thankyou for a fab blog aswell!

[Aisling (author)]

HI there,

firstly, check out the "Selling your cards" section of our forum at http://www.craftsupplies.ie/shop/chat/viewforum.php?f=11. Advertising at a small expense can be done with a small budget on Google Adwords. For the craft fair, depending on the footfall expected, I would bring at least a couple of hundred cards, and LOTS of Father's Day ones. Do a special deal e.g. one for 3.00, 2 for 5.00 - this always attracts. If you read the rest of the articles you'll see shops usually take the card price, add 100% plus VAT, though this can vary. Good luck!