A tisket, a tasket, a snazzy-cool gift basket...

Gift baskets can sell very well if they stand out from the crowd.  Everyone loves receiving a nice gift basket. They look pretty and it's exciting to pull everything out and see what you've got. They are just fun!  And they are a favoured way for businesses or companies to thank customers and offer congratulations for employees (new baby, etc).  But you don't need to limit yourself to new baby and happy retirement baskets.  Consider these options: 

New UniversityStudent Basket: a laundry basket as the tote, include, laundry detergent a book of easy recipes, a set of sheets, towels, small alarm clock, etc. 

Cook's Gift Basket (for guests to give to hosts/hostesses when invited to dinner):  small wooden cutting board, wooden spoons, 2 pots of fresh herbs, small recipe book or recipe cards, tea towels, quick-drying germ-free dishcloths, etc. 

Favourite Teacher Basket:  a flat-bottomed tote bag with pockets as "basket", pencils, pens, highlighters, mug, stickers, treats, apple, post-it notes, small calendar, tissues, etc

Cookie Making Basket: big ceramic bowl as "basket", cookie cutters, icing, cookie dough, spatula, silicone baking sheet, sprinkles, tea towels, etc.

Spa Gift Basket: aromatherapy oil, homemade soaps (many WAHMs make and sell these), face mask, lotion, hair clip, sponge or face cloth, manicure kit, pumice, etc.

Hiking/Picnic Basket: backpack as "basket", compass, mosquito repellent, disposable camera, trailmix, protein bars, apples, water bottle, first aid kit, sunscreen, etc.

Think outside the basket!  You can build yourself a loyal following.

Clothes make the child. You can sew some designer children's clothes and sell them on eBay.  There are some women making ridiculous amounts (like $150-400!!) off of a single toddler outfit on eBay, using fabric that I know cost them $9/m at the very most.   You can add personalized details and pom poms and ribbons and if you can have co-ordinated hair ribbons, jewelry, bags or shoes, all the better.  Buyers are just lapping this stuff up and there is always room for different designs and styles.

"Doomsday Damsel:  Don't be distressed, the Damsel will save you!" Or something like that. I can see something along those lines as a name for your Emergency Preparedness Specialist business.  In the wake of Newcastle Floods as well as threats of floods, fires, storms, earthquakes and cyclones, people's minds are turned to the safety of their families.  It would not be hard to help people to see the utility of having an emergency 72-hour kit, a good first aid kit and hard copies of important documents.  You could create 72-hour kits in backpacks that would contain everything that a family would need to survive and be as comfortable as possible for 72-hours: water, food, clothing, blankets, cash, toilet paper, diapers, and more, according to their family.  Buy items in bulk. Because the clothing needs would change and other needs would change as children grow, you could offer a 6 month exchange/rotation policy.  The kits could be brought back (in original condition) and a new one could be given in its place with the clothing and other needs that are better matched to the growing children, for a small fee for the new food (as the food in the returned kit would be nearer its expiration date).  The idea is that of a very practical insurance policy.  This is something that other people just wouldn't get around to doing and updating on their own.  If you could make this easier for people and bring people greater peace of mind by offering to photocopy their documents and assembling them, or by making and keeping track of 72-hour kits, you WILL have customers.  Just google 72-hour kit and you will see that it is a known term and not just something that I made up! ;-) 

The way to a busy mom's heart is through her stomach. You could offer ready-made frozen meals for a week for sale to busy families (or families who just don't like to cook).  There are people who've made successful part-time businesses of this, making 5 different bulk meals, in say, 6 portions and then freezing them and delivering the frozen meals to 6 different families.  So you take a recipe and make enough for six families. It's only a little more work to do this than to make just one family portion. Do this 5 times and you have work-day meals for 6 families for 1 week. Charge around $100 per family and that is $600/month!  If a family hired you to do this for every week that would only be $400 for them per month.  Considering that many people eat leftovers for lunch, that is not a lot to spend to feed your family for most of a month, especially for healthy convenience cooking!!  AND you could be just cooking your family's food portion at the same time!!  Definitely look at getting some insurance for any business related to food!

Natasha Clark