Every once in a while, and especially around the holidays, I read online listings from designers who are selling their gift basket businesses for an average of $5,000.

Why is the price so low?

My first thought is that these designers, selling to pursue other opportunities or because they put more emphasis on creativity and not the business side, don’t realize how much value there is within their firm.

There will always be inventory to sell, and those items (equipment, supplies, etc.) will always retain some value even if it’s half the initial cost. Here are areas where the business’s value is well above the $5,000 price tag.

1. Branding/name recognition, including business name, slogan, and logo.

2. Back office structure, which is all programming and software that organizes the firm.

3. Web site, the online real estate that’s worth gold in terms of keywords, back links, and shopping cart.

There are eight more areas of your business that bring its value up to a minimum $200,000 when you’re ready to sell that I haven’t mentioned.

What value would you place on your gift basket business right now, and why?

Shirley George Frazier

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