‘tis the season, and while wrapping presents, the idea of a gift-wrapping business sprung to mind.

tldr: i want to start a sustainable gift-wrapping business and i have zero capital. where do i start?

i am… particularly decent… at wrapping presents, enough so that i think i could get a quite a few not-so-gifted wrappers (pun not intended but i kept it because i thought it was funny) in my small town to pay a small fee for me to do it. when this thought came to mind, i realized that if i honed my skill, offered cool things like ornamental wrapping styles and the ability to wrap odd shapes, i could turn this into a business. i’ve already taken up youtube tutorials and skillshare workshops to tighten up my skills and learn new things and have significantly improved how i wrap gifts in only the span of a few days. as the season progresses i plan on learning more and more. I’ve thought of a name for the business if this ever becomes a reality, and it just so happens to not be trademarked! the longer i’ve been thinking about this concept, the more ideas come to mind, and the more i want to make it a reality! so many ideas, like focusing on sustainability by using recycled materials and possibly buying back or accepting donations of people’s unused gift wrap so it doesn’t go to waste, turning my scraps into pulp-paper to use as cards or tags, etc. i would offer this service year-round on a by-request basis for things like birthdays, but the real business i feel would come around during the holidays, and i imagine i would also offer some sort of promo for valentine’s day, and maybe easter as i know some families have a tradition of giving easter gifts.

like i said, i have zero capital. i work a minimum wage job and the bills are piling high, so i can’t see quite how i would get this business started at all. i think i’m going to start by just making posts on my local facebook groups offering it as a service, not necessarily “starting a business,” just to get a few people interested in my work and maybe a get a few people who will want to come back for me for birthdays or next year’s holiday season. however beyond that, where do i go? how do i market myself to get more customers? how do i go about making a name for my business and trademarking it? SO many questions but i feel most of them apply to only after i’ve gotten the business off the ground, so let’s start there.