Idea for small business - opinions please!

[jamcorrosion]

Looking for some opinions if you think this is something you would use or would be used in general…my friend is looking to start a business. There’s no major need for massive profit and it’s more for her to have something that’s just for her and be something other than ‘mummy’. But just after some opinions if it’s a gap in the market and if it’s something you or anyone you know would consider using:

The general idea is to be a sort of ‘personal shopper’ but for gift giving. Give some basic info about the person, the event, the budget etc and she will source the gift. Or there will be things like hampers she can either source bespoke gifts to fill OR there would also be some ready made sort of ‘off the shelf’ type hampers or gift sets for those who want delivery more quickly or can’t be bothered providing info. She would charge 20% of the final gift value.

Opinions all welcome good or bad!

Thanks

She needs to do the ballache work - find the truly interesting, unusual and personal gift - and deliver it on time, no exceptions.

For every £100 client spends, she only gets £20 which on NMW is not long enough.

How does her offer differ from personal shoppers at say NAP - who are free?

Yes I agree she needs something that makes her ‘unique’ which is her.

The difference is it’s much more personal, she’s not an employee doing it cause she’s told to, she’s doing it cause it’s something she has a passion for and the emphasis is that it’s for gifts.

She doesn’t need the money she is SAHM and her husband is a high earner

Give some basic info about the person, the event, the budget etc and she will source the gift.

It's a no from me. By the time I've told her all that, I could have found a gift myself and saved the 20% comission. Which would only be about two quid on my usual gift budget to be honest!

Fair enough. But it would be aimed at people who can’t be arsed to do this themselves. It’s not something I would personally use as I’m quite good at sourcing gifts but I was hoping for some it would be a good idea!

Mainly cause life is so busy and hectic it’s something that can be outsourced and also for those who find it a chore!

A USP is never you - until
she’s made her name, she’s not yooneek.

’Passion for the job’ is what burger flippers say.

Other gift shoppers have big brands with great names behind them.

If she wants to do something like this, she needs to target really high net worth customers. The sort who pay somebody else to find and furnish their next home for them, or pay people huge sums to decorate their house for Christmas, and will fork out thousands for their toddler's birthday party.

Does she know many multi-millionaires?

Of course it is - lots of businesses become successful due to the person rather than the product. But I agree she’s not unique until she’s made her name but we all have to start somewhere!

Passion for the this type of thing is really what I meant, something she really enjoys doing whereas me in comparison would hate it!

Yes the big brands stuff is true - I was hoping that would be a reason she may have a chance at being successful or at least breaking even as it’s much more personal

Yes that’s the other thing I was discussing with her - what market would be her target as obviously it would need to be those with significant disposable income and probably busy lives!

Doesn’t necessarily have to be multi millionaires but if she did manage to get one as a client it would be amazing!

It’s very much in the discussion stages at the moment and just trying to get an idea of the general opinions around this sort of thing.

Personally when I’ve looked for this sort of gift I never find the idea I’ve got in my head and trawl through allsorts of sites then end up abandoning and getting something else but everybody is different

she sounds delusional

Whats delusional about an idea for a business? Absolutely no need to be so rude

Not something I would personally use, but I’m probably not her target market anyway. I would however pay for a a wrapping service as I’m crap at it and I hate it. I might be open to someone purchasing gifts from my list, wrapping them and delivering them to me. Obviously works far better in a localised area.

I think the same. By the time I have shared all that info with her, and paid 20% over the odds, I could have sourced the gift myself online and paid for quick delivery. The internet makes this sort of role almost redundant.

The best way to start a small busines is to realise what other people constantly compliment you for which you take for granted. That means you have a natural facility and talent for something others don't. So if her home is stunning and always tidy, she could become a personal declutterer. I know people who paid a lot - and thought it was worth every penny - to have someone help declutter their homes. Or she could style homes prior to marketing them.

I'm really not that good at choosing gifts. I couldn't afford such a service now but, back when I could, I'd have been interested. I'd need to know she was really good, though! If she were just going to get a different colour/brand of something I'd have chosen, it's not worth paying for.

This means her first hundred or so customers would probably be incredibly labour-intensive: trial and error on what to ask and how to ask it, figure out her system for checking in with customer, what to do if they change their minds or recipient doesn't like it.

I reckon she could give it a try and see whether she still loves choosing gifts after she's been through all that, over and over again. Does she have enough contacts to get started? You're not going to build this business with a few TikTok ads, the right kind of personal recommendation is what you need.

The first one that came up for me on google search charges £50 an hour

^^

Yeah again I get what you’re saying but it wouldn’t be aimed at someone like you - more at people who hate that sort of task or struggle to choose gifts etc or stuck on time. I know it’s a niche market but was hoping it wasn’t too niche to be a success!

Well really she wants to do something she can do more or less from home as she is a SAHM and is currently having some health issues so the idea of it isn’t really to create a huge business or profit it’s more like a hobby but as a small business if that makes sense?

Ah yes that’s not a bad idea actually - something I would probably use as well!! I’m absolutely awful at wrapping they always look like a toddler has done it 😂 thanks for the suggestion

The difference is it’s much more personal, she’s not an employee doing it cause she’s told to, she’s doing it cause it’s something she has a passion for and the emphasis is that it’s for gifts.
Well if it’s not scalable then it’s going to be a very limiting business where she either gets no clients or she ends up working 40 hours a week for peanuts totally unable to delegate because “she’s the USP”. It just can’t build the sort of business you envision, it will be a ribbons and bows sort of job that takes her away from her family or anything meaningful while she spends all day shopping with other people’s money. Or worse, spends all day shitposting on SM trying to attract customers. She should start from what people really need and how she can meet that need, not from “I fancy sitting on the Anthropologie website all day without having to explain the credit card bill to DH.”

Yes so someone like yourself would be more like the target market. Yes I think that’s the barrier isn’t it to getting started with a business like this - it’s something that would grow I think mostly by word of mouth recommendations but obviously you have to find initial customers who are willing to take the risk when it’s a brand new business with little to no reviews.

I also mentioned that she would need to find a way to do it so there’s not enormous start up costs and therefore more financial risk. So sourcing the stuff then having to order and collate means a longer delivery time which in this age of convenience and next day delivery may be a negative.

Oh wow - will have a look thanks!

Yeah - my friends include a perfume expert, a finder of home accessories in a very particular style, someone who knows all the music and can almost instantly tell what you'll love, as well as an interior designer and the woman who always knows the perfect tradesperson. (These are remnants of my previous lifestyle!)

It's slightly rarefied air, but actually a lovely world to live in. I think there is mileage; it VERY much depends on how good she is with people as well as shopping, and on the people she can muster as early clients.

Well it’s not meant to be something that the goal is for it to grow into a big business with lots of employees etc. The goal is really for it to stay small and personal and be something that is just ‘hers’ really.

The idea came from the reasoning you mention tbh! Lots of people are time poor so it’s something that can be outsourced. I also wonder if it could be something that men are more inclined to use?!

One thing that Mumsnet is brilliant at is finding gifts for people.
My mum loves silk flowers, I need a company that will export them to Belgium, £30 budget - and someone will know. <not a real scenario>
I'd ask on here rather than pay someone.

For me, it would take the good out of a supposedly thoughtful gift if I knew that DH (or whoever) had shared loads of details about me to someone else but not actually thought of or sourced the gift himself.

Sounds like you’ve got someone for everything!!

Yes there’s no expectation for it to be something massive, just small and personal and it’s something she has a genuine interest in and knows a lot more than I do! Yes I agree - that will be the hard part I think getting initial customers to take a leap of faith.

I wonder if she could try and test the waters with ‘hypothetical’ customers - get a group of people to pose as customers and she sources hypothetical gifts and they then give honest feedback

Our local town business sites are loaded with this type of offering. I learnt, being self-employed that you need to offer what sells, not what brings you joy, to make any money at all.

I'd just add that I wouldn't mind receiving a voucher for something like this. So if hopeless DH bought a voucher for £100 and I could say what I wanted and someone would source.
I actually kind of want this now!