I have an idea to start a high-end gift wrapping service company. I am enjoying thinking about it because I see many angles on which I could expand if successful. How does one determine $ needed to start and raise the money?

The Japanese have been doing this for a century or so. They have taken it to astronomical heights. Make a study of what they do. Their department stores are an absolute delight but the superior grade gift wrapping costs a lot.

Some points:

It only suits expensive or very special gifts.

There's only a few department stores that don't do it.

In the event of any downturn in the economy your business will be one of the first to take a dive.

Selling the service might be difficult, but even more difficult is finding somewhere to do it.

May I suggest some alternatives?

Sell a 'unique gift-wrapping kit' so buyers can do it themselves where ever they are in the USA.

Teach it in short courses to department store staff.

Select the finest gift-wrapping materials from all over the world and sell them wholesale and retail. Does anyone do this?

Select and sell the materials based on culture (Japanese for example), style, period (30's look for example) color of course, closing materials (the ribbons, seals, ownership markers), filler materials, and attached note materials which have to be superior just by themselves.

As for the financial angle you'd have to tell us if you want to set up in your own shop-front, as a desk at a department store, sell online (eBay too?). The method of selling determines the costs.

In any case, get yourself a spreadsheet program and develop out all the costs to set up in your chosen environment.

You can raise the money in the usual way. Go to a bank with a business plan in hand, raise it from friends/family, save it up yourself or take on a financial partner.

There's a few things to think about. Y'all come back now if you want more ideas.

Good advice machine. I'd say all your many parts are working well together

I'll second that! Great stuff there Machine. Who woulda thought there were so many possibilities to gift wrapping?

Plumpp, start writing your business plan. That will help you determine your needs and your available assets (financial and creative). You will put your ideas on paper and see just how viable this is.

Surprisingly, I think this is an easy one. I remember shopping for Christmas gifts last year in the mall and in a rush as usual because just like the year before, I'd waited until the last minute. I remember being very tired after all the shopping and wanting to just go home and get some sleep, but I remembered I'd have to wrap all the gifts. Luckily my girlfriend happens to love wrapping gifts and she wrapped them for me, otherwise I would of been up all night cutting, taping and cursing. And thats if I'd even managed to do a decent job, which I probably wouldn't of.

If I would of passed a kiosk in the mall offering gift wrapping, I would of payed dam near anything. And thats all I think it would take really. Maybe have 4 or 5 prewrapped boxes on display and have customers pick which ones. If an entrepreneur who knew what they were doing approached me about investing in an idea like this, I'd be really excited.

Thanks Bizdev and Vangogh for your kind remarks.

A further point. There's gift wrapping and then there's superior high-class gift wrapping. I wouldn't bother with the ordinary thing. It's too competitive, everyone is doing it and there's nothing available apart from location and price to differentiate your ordinary gift wrapping business from the others in the same business.

The wholesaling of high-class materials is probably the best option allowing bigger margins with higher volumes without the high labor content that is inherent in having one or two people per desk to do wrapping.

I lived in Japan for a while and was quite surprised at how most things are wrapped or boxed. People even pay money to have an extensive hand-painted print made to wrap around a gift.

I happened to buy 3 of those prints for $50 each and much later sold them for $4000 framed. They were superb and very impressive when framed.

Another Australian in Japan was buying old silk kimonos and cutting them up to make beautiful scarves. She made an absolute fortune from it. The kimonos, worn only once, were largely discarded due to minor stains or being unfashionable. Typical original cost was around $5000 to $25,000 per kimono (some were more) and she bought them for just a few dollars at markets. She cut around the stains and made scarves.

An advantage to the wholesaling angle is that all travel is tax-deductible... yippeeeee, as you'd need to travel to discover materials and methods.

A photo essay also would be smart to do if you are going to do that.

Here's some good books on the topic if anyone is interested.

Presentations: A Passion for Gift Wrapping by Carolyne Roehm. Hardcover, 2005
US$29.95

Quick and Easy Enchanting Gifts Wrapping 149 Items by Yoshiko Hase. Paperback, 2004. US$13.95

The Gift Wrapping Book: Over 150 Ideas for All Occasions by Caroline Birkett Paperback, 2002. US$22.99, Hardcover.

Gift Wrapping: Creative Ideas from Japan by Kunio Ekiguchi. Paperback, 1987.
US$18.00. Hardcover.

Gift Wrapping with Textiles: Stylish Ideas from Japan by Chizuko Morita. Paperback, 2006.
US$19.95
Excerpt - page 91: "... The late Nukada 1911-1993, who studied wrapping and knotting techniques, noted that "the way things were wrapped reflected the value of the contents, and the talus of the person bringing the gift"