What type of card business?

There are three main ways of starting a greeting cards business:

- Making and selling handmade cards

- Designing and printing cards

- Designing cards for a manufacturer

Choosing the right one for you will depend on your skills and experience, amount of capital available and personal preference.

Whether you decide to find a publisher, publish your own, make handmade cards or even open a shop, you will need to understand the way the greeting cards industry works. If you don’t do your homework and study the business from all angles you risk getting lost in what is a fast-moving, exciting and challenging industry.

FINDING YOUR MARKET

There are hundreds of different types of greeting cards; it is important to decide what type of card you intend to produce or sell before setting up in business. This will help you identify the market for the cards and decide on pricing and where you will sell them. If you can think of a new idea to bring to the industry then you can make serious money. Be warned – the industry is addictive and once you start you will get hooked.

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You can produce designs on the computer or use objects to create patterns and designs.

WHAT SKILLS DO YOU NEED TO RUN A GREETING CARDS BUSINESS?

Creativity

Creativity is a vital part of producing a card range. There is little point in copying someone else’s cards. If you intend to produce original cards then you should try to produce something different. This will increase your chances of success. The ability to create saleable designs in whatever medium you choose is very important, as is originality which will make you stand out from the crowd.

If you lack creativity then you will need to employ a designer. If you want to supply ideas to the larger publishers then you will need to be able to draw, but if you are producing handmade cards this won’t be necessary.

Money management

In addition to your creative skills it helps if you are good at controlling costs; wastage can be expensive in such a low value product. Running any business demands good money management, but if you can operate a household budget then you should be fine.

Another important factor is the amount of money you have available. You can start a business with very little capital by making handmade cards in the spare room and selling at craft fairs. On the other hand having ranges of cards printed and employing agents to sell them is a much more expensive option.

Selling skills

There are many ways to sell cards:

- friends and family

- the workplace

- craft fairs

- direct to shops

- trade fairs

- using agents

- by placing spinners in places such as hospitals.

If you are good at selling you may want to market them yourself. If not, you might need to employ an agent on your behalf.

IT skills

The ability to use computers is vital when running a business. You may need a website to promote your cards or you may wish to sell over the internet. Finding suppliers and potential customers is also easier with the internet. And many cards are designed using computer programs.

Administrative skills

There is inevitably a lot of paperwork involved in running any sort of business: keeping books, orders, invoices and general paperwork. Most creative people don’t enjoy this part of the business but it is essential if you are to keep in control.

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Don’t worry if you don’t have all these skills at the moment: you can learn them. There are numerous courses available for the creative and the business side.

Using your talents

If writing is your forte then you could sell verses to card manufacturers. If you have a talent for painting, photography, calligraphy and writing then you may want to use it in the business; if you don’t want to make and sell the cards yourself then consider setting up as a card designer.

There is a huge demand for card designs from the larger card companies. Although individual design fees may not provide a large income, cards are generally produced in ranges which can increase your income.

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It is very satisfying to walk into a shop and see your work on display and watch people admiring and purchasing your cards.

TYPES OF CARD

Artists’ cards

These cards are generally produced by artists who want to earn extra money when selling at art fairs, or who want to produce something affordable for their customers to buy. Many of these will be bought for framing and as such they will command a higher price. They will also be original work, which again will add to their value. Despite the fact that they will be unique and command a premium price you will still have to be careful if you are to make a profit.

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Make the cards the right size for standard frames and you will increase your sales.

Hand-painted cards

Hand-painting cards can be very time-consuming. To make it cost effective you need to find a method of painting cards which will take a minimum amount of time, such as painting 10 similar cards at once or painting all the skies in one go.

Some artists create lovely cards from paintings that haven’t sold or have some areas of a painting which are better than others. This is fine if you have a market for one-off cards but if you are trying to produce a range it’s unlikely to work.

Tips for hand-painted cards

Work on watercolour paper or card and then glue the result to the card base; this prevents expensive wastage if you make mistakes.

Clearly label the cards as original work; some artists label them ‘frame or send’ as many people will buy them to frame as pictures.

Handmade cards

The majority of cards made by craft workers fall into this category; they have a strong element of design and some artistic input making them difficult to copy. Customers will not buy cards which look amateurish or use cheap materials. Make sure you are producing the best cards you can using quality materials if you want to sell them commercially.

You can buy a huge range of items to stick on the cards to enhance your design but be careful as they often make the cards look amateurish. Lettering is important on handmade cards and if this is one of your weaknesses consider going on a calligraphy course or having the greetings printed.

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If you are planning to produce these cards in quantity then you may have to employ someone else to help you make them. In this case you need to ensure that the skills needed to produce the card can be taught fairly easily.

Assembled cards

These cards are often mistaken for handmade by customers, but in fact are generally termed ‘hand-assembled’ by the trade. The cards consist of different shapes, stuck-on letters or other items assembled on the card. Although there is an element of creativity needed to design them, little skill is needed to assemble them.

Their advantage is that it is easy to produce a professional looking card; the disadvantage is that if it is easy for you it is easy for everyone else and your cards may not be unusual enough to find a market.

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Although they can be a good product to sell at craft fairs, shops will probably find that there is not the level of design or artistic input required to make them worth stocking.

Stamped cards

Stamping is a very popular pastime and many people use it to make cards, as it is quick and easy to do. Selling these types of cards, however, is difficult. Because it is so quick and easy many people make them for their own use.

Stamps can be expensive, and if you are not careful you can spend a lot of money on them and never use them. If you like stamping, one way to make your range unusual is to experiment with different paints, inks and powders (especially metallic finishes) to create something special.

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Stamping combined with other skills such as drawing can produce interesting and quality cards.

Hand-finished cards

This term applies to cards which are printed, and then have something extra added to make them into a semi-handmade card. This can be something attached with adhesive, like dried flowers, or a logo which is individually painted.

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If you aim to produce cards in quantity to sell to shops, hand finished may be a good option. It is not as labour intensive as handmade but commands a higher price than printed cards.