When you’re excited about selling gift baskets, you feel like telling the world. But some people in the world won’t be happy with your decision.

I told an uncle about my choice to make gift baskets. He bombarded me with questions. I happily answered him with responses that proved I’d done my homework, but it didn’t matter. He thought my decision was, for lack of another way of saying it, a crock.

How would you feel if a friend or family member tried to stop you from making gift baskets? Would their harsh words deflate you, or would you take their words with a grain of salt and move forward with your plans?

I address this issue in the first chapter of How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business because most of us have felt the sting of strong opinions coming from people who are closest to us. They don’t believe you will be successful. They say you won’t make it, that this will be another failed attempt at running a business.

How can you proceed if your spirit is deflated?

1. Stop sharing your plans with naysayers.
2. Research the rewards and challenges of participating in the gift basket business so that you’re ready for just about anything.
3. Keep working at your day job until revenues match your employment income for at least nine months.
4. Consistently market your business to clients through online and offline methods to grow your following.
5. Surround yourself with entrepreneurs who support and understand your beliefs.
6. Share your concerns here and at Ask The Gift Basket Expert.

Had I listened to my uncle, I would not have grown my revenue year after year, stopped working for someone else, marketed my gift baskets on television and cable shows, or developed the Gift Basket Business site and blog (what you’re reading here) where I share ideas and information with you.

Most of all, the books How to Start a Home-Based Gift Basket Business and The Gift Basket Design Book would not be available to guide you and thousands of other designers in the right direction.

Listen to your inner spirit. If gift baskets are your passion, let no one’s words take you off course. Keep people who understand business ownership and management in your corner. They are the ones who will bombard you with good guidance.

Shirley George Frazier

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