During the second edition review of How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business (that was back in 2000 — the book is now in its fifth edition), the book’s editor asked me to consider writing about adding flowers and fruit to baskets rather than chocolates, chips, and beef sausage.

“Are you kidding?,” I asked her. “I’m teaching entrepreneurs about gift baskets, not flower and fruit baskets!”

The book editing period is crucial, as that’s the time when the publisher and I am making sure all of the book’s information is correct. Getting advice about basket products was where I drew the line.

But are flowers and fruit a bad thing to mention? Are they that much of a competitive product that neither one can show their “faces” in our studios?

The creation of flower and fruit baskets helps to elevate the entire industry. Just think: when a prospect comes to you asking for fruit, you can suggest complementary items such as tea, chocolates, stationery, and biscotti. What customer wouldn’t want this and more, especially the gift items, which last long after the edibles are eaten?

So, don’t be like I was in 2000, growling at the mention of flowers and fruit. Both have graced my gift baskets for many years.

What are some of the products in your gift baskets that you once thought of negatively but now happily include?

Shirley George Frazier

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Updated articles with expert tips about making fruit baskets aren’t published often, so if you find one that will aid you in adding fruit, be sure to read and save it.

That was my first thought when finding a fruit basket article on the Omaha.com Web site.

There’s no video available, but the next time you’re asked to include fruit, you’ll be able to follow the text and set fruit firmly within your basket.

My first accountant asked me to create a fruit basket for one of her clients located in midtown Manhattan. I didn’t specialize in fruit but became an expert quickly to accommodate the $150 budget. The arrangement mirrored what you’ll read in the article.

It was gratifying to find a parking space (you don’t have to live in New York City to understand how difficult parking can be) and deliver the fruit basket intact to a crowd of folks with smiles on their faces.

I remember the firm’s owner preparing to tip me, but I told her that I was the business owner who was happy to hand deliver her gift, which signaled the owner to put her money away.

Hopefully, the article cited for this post is still available, but if not, here’s an important quote about creating a fruit basket.

“Maybe on the bottom, you put the grapefruit because you want a good level bottom layer. Then layers. You don’t want to put two red apples together. You want to put an orange or a green apple next to it.”

Some of the problems you may have faced when receiving fruit basket requests are:

What’s been the difficulty for you in adding fruit to your baskets?

Shirley George Frazier

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A woman in my town who owns a flower shop asked me to critique her gift baskets.

She has a beautiful mix of themes, and her enhancements complement each design.

This woman also sells fruit baskets, which were subcontracted through another firm.

“I’m through working with them,” she told me. “They tape all of the fruit, and then my customers tell me the fruit comes apart when the tape is pulled off. I used to make excuses to cover myself, but I lost some customers.”

Her solution? To find another firm for this outsourcing task.

Customers don’t want to hear why a gift basket wasn’t delivered, was made sloppily, etc. They just want it right. Don’t you?

Stop making excuses for situations that can be solved. Make changes, and start handling business professionally every day for every client.

Shirley George Frazier

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