thoughts on business idea

[Lilly]

Hi
I have used this site quite often to answer many queries so it sprang to mind as the perfect place to do some market research.. if you have 5 mins to spare… sorry for posting a question as my first post to this forum hopefully I can return the favour one day…..
I am looking into opening an online luxury party (gift) bag business for hen/girls nights, baby showers birthdays etc.
The bags/packaging will be of high quality and contain everything required to create a beautiful piece of jewellery/craft as well as offering cute decorations game/menu/playlist suggestions etc basically the idea is to provide a whole party in a box.
Price wise I’m hoping have different levels starting at something affordable like £5 or so upwards and hope to offer something fun but alternative to traditional tacky hen night stuff
Can you let me know what you think and how much (if anything) you would pay per head for this kind of thing…
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated
Many Thanks Lil

[bednobs]

sorry i dont understand exactly what it is you will be selling

[bednobs]

or who would need them/buy them

[Nibble]

I wouldn't - this isn't my cup of tea at all.

[boxtops]

^^sorry, that was from me, not nibble (he's not into hen nights)

[Prudie]

It all depends how much people are willing to spend on favours for party guests. No more than a fiver for me - that'd be £100 just for 20 people.

[boxtops]

I'm confused too - on one hand you are talking about party bags, on the other you are talking about the menu, and how the whole party would run.

Surely only people with no imagination would want to buy a party in a box - where's the planning for your guests, in that? Party planners charge megabucks.

[Answerprancer]

Hi Lilly, you might want to try some sites like this:
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk

[pizza]

Sorry Lily theres too many firms offering this service, you need to go back to the drawing board and think about new ideas.
Good Luck x

[Maydup]

Hi Lilly

Afraid I wasn't sure what would be in the bag either. A kit to make your own jewellery? A game/menu/playlist - what's that exactly?. Sorry if I'm being dim but "I'm out"!

[Answerprancer]

Have you tried anything like this before? If not, a good starting point might be to seek out friends/contacts who have already had some success with similar ventures.
Thoughts that spring to mind (other than the above): find out what products people are willing to buy, set prices, find target clients, set up a website. Network like crazy. Dress up, go to parties put on your best smile, get chatting to people and hand out your business contact details - you can't beat word of mouth/recommendation for generating business.
Get a business package together and seek out people/organisations who might give you funding to start this off.

[Answerprancer]

If -as Pizza suggested- the market is flooded with this sort of thing, you might need to consider 'tweaking' the idea, maybe theme it in some way, or add a specific 'flavour', for example, you could go down the 'eco' route and offer stuff that is strictly 'fair trade'/made from recyled materials etc.

[sherrardk]

I thought of something similar but even EBay is full of similar things and £5 each is expensive. As answerprancer has said, maybe you need to tweak the idea a bit.

[Maydup]

Nice idea AP (eco theme)

Or change with the trends ie currently you might use a Union Jack theme, another time it might be the latest big musical for example or a celebrity inspired them. Keep it right up to the mimute.

[sinderella]

i think what you are planning because a lot of people are splashing out on this kind of event.i know from personal experience
you need to get a website and get some quality photos on their of what you have on offer
DO NOT use a cheap build your own website or customers will only stay on it for 1.6 seconds and it will be a complete waste of time
find some people who are currently offering their services to these users and get a link to your website
also go to people who have these type of customer traffic
if you dont know who these are maybe you shouldnt be in this line of business
fancy dress shops.nail boutiques.entertainers
dont ever say all my friends thought they were wonderful
pick someone who will give you honest feedback.good luck and best wishes

[Lilly]

ok thanks for the feed back, its shown me that i'm probably not explaining my idea very well for a start lol!
some good advice ...and words of wisdom i'm testing my product at a local market soon so will see how it goes and what tweaks to make then
Thanks again lil