Your Complete Guide to Starting a Gift Wrap Business

Its Christmas time again, and that means people will be scrambling to buy and flawlessly wrap gifts by the dozen. There is a golden holiday business opportunity here- with little money and little preparation, you can make hundreds as a professional gift wrapper. Its easy, and I will show you just how to start a successful business.

Step 1: Materials:

Buy bulk rolls of four or five types of holiday paper: get a Christmas-y paper, a blue and white patterned paper for Chanukah, a holly paper for the more secular gift givers, a kid-friendly wrapping paper with fun colors and designs on it, and a more serious, business-y type of wrapping paper. Don't be afraid to order too much- remember, wrapping paper lasts forever, so you can always use any extra next year. Also buy a reliable, comfortable pair of scissors, gift tags, and lots of clear tape. Also, consider ordering glove, shirt, sweater, and hat boxes so you have some way to package people's gifs before thy are wrapped. Get tissue paper too.

Step 2: Advertise, Advertise, Advertise!!

Advertise your business in local newspapers, on Internet services sites such as Craigslist, on bulletin boards, and on posters leading to your house. Set up a workstation in your open garage or in your front yard, depending on the weather. Remember, no one is going to come get your gifts wrapped if no one knows about your business, so get the word out.

Step 3: Set Your Prices

Here are some suggested prices. Adjust based on your location- urban and suburban areas are the best places to have a gift-wrapping business, as there are many busy, last minute people. Also, if you choose to work on Christmas Eve or close to it, you can charge a lot more for those few hours. Lots of people will want their presents wrapped hours before Christmas begins, so you can get away with charging much more.

Small Package (Ring Box, Bracelet, etc.) $1-$3 each

Medium Package (Shirt Box, Game, Etc.) $3-$5 each

Large Package (Sweater Box, Awkward Packages, etc.) $5-$8 each

Extra Large Package (Snowboard, Unicycle, Pogo Stick, etc.) $8-$10 each