Starting my own design business at home (invitations, birth announcements, etc.)?

5 responses to “Starting my own design business at home (invitations, birth announcements, etc.)?”

1. 
   Gerald S

   January 23, 2011 at 8:27 am | Permalink

   Go to http://www.score.org/index.html and in the upper left hand corner, enter your zip code. On the next screen, you will get information in the nearest SCORE chapter. Call them and arrange for a free meeting with a SCORE counselor to discuss starting your design business.

   SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to entrepreneur education and the formation, growth and success of small business nationwide. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

   SCORE has 389 chapters in locations throughout the United States and its territories, with 10,500 volunteers nationwide. Both working and retired executives and business owners donate time and expertise as business counselors.

2. 
   MyZ

   January 23, 2011 at 8:55 am | Permalink

   I love the idea i also love the fact that you are a go getta.
   That is a very diffucult field to be in especailly when you have places liek alphagraphic, officemax, office depot that are known for printing. But i would first of all doa google to see what is the best software to use, then try and make a few and put it into a flyer and then distribute, i’m sure you have friends that knwo people, start makign new friends, goign to baby showers…just be KNOWN….also your personality and you work willpay for its self.
   About printing, will outsource until you have enough to buy a printer, becasue, they pay for them selfs after a few gigs aswell.

   Good luck, oh and next is to get a website set up
   and work out how much you goign to charge for color or black and white, and make specials, liek 89c with out pic, 100 with pic …

   Goog luck

3. 
   pigscales

   January 23, 2011 at 8:58 am | Permalink

   Your very first step in starting a home business should be to develop a business plan.

   You will need to have these questions answered in your business plan, however. Ask yourself these questions:

   Do you have money set aside to live off of in case your business doesn’t make a profit the first year?

   How much money do you have to invest in your business?

   Will you need outside funding?

   How much will materials cost for your products?

   What are you going to charge for the product?

   Who are the people in your target market? What different kinds of demographics describe them, and where would they see your advertisements?

   Do a search for printers in your area, and find out the costs from them. See if you can have a business account with them.

   Also look into the cost of buying printing equipment yourself. Compare these prices and decide if one is better than the other.

   Advertising costs are high, you might want to just design your own business’ brochure, business cards, and flyers and distribute them yourself.

   Advertise on craigslist.org in your local city.

   You can advertise your birth announcements at baby shows, or talk to the local hospitals.

   See if you can rent a table at a bridal show with samples of wedding invitations, thank you notes, programs, etc.

   Take an advertisement in the phone book.

   Design a website.

   Put a magnetic sign on your car.

   There are so many ideas, and you can find a lot of information on the web. Also call your small business administration, they can help you out with business plan development, small business loans, and other information.

   good luck!

4. 
   JoeyZ

   January 23, 2011 at 9:29 am | Permalink

   Advertising your business can be a tricky problem. I think firs tyou need to develop a company image so that you can maximize each advertising opportunity that gets the attention of your target demographic. Get your website done and done as well as you can first. Then put it on every form of advertizing you create. This way anyone interested can go to your site and increase your liklihood of a sale. Next I would get some solid signage near and around party supply stores, baby supply locations, etc. As far as outsourcing, you will have to decide what level of quality you are looking for and if you can do solid minimums. Vista is good price wise but the quality lacks bad. The print broker I use gets all of my printing through a place called SIA. (www.siaservices.net, I think). It is the best quality but the price is a little higher. They also had a whole package to help him get his business up and going for a really good price. Was thinking about talking to them myself but my business is doing fine.
   One other thing I would suggest for you is to cross promote your business with caterers, florists, party planners, photographers, etc. Anyone who can help you generate business but at the same time can expect you to generate business for them. As a start up I would stay away from the yellow pages, expensive pay per click search engine campaigns, etc.

5. 
   D S

   January 23, 2011 at 9:51 am | Permalink

   For outsourcing of printing online try
   http://www.overnightprints.com