Startups

The greetings card is a very familiar product to most people. If you have never bought one you are definitely in the minority.

To franchisees in the greetings card industry it is seen as a nice, clean product that is easy and pleasant to work with and carry around.

As a business, it is also quick to set up and can be run from home with low overheads. So while you're unlikely to be paid danger money to start up a franchise like this, greetings card distribution has much to recommend it.

What is it?

Starting out as a greetings card franchisee can be a scary to begin with. You won't be required to create a range of cute birthday cards or write a witty rhyme for inside but you will have to cold call independent businesses and persuade them to sell your particular range.

On the plus side, though, you will operate on a sale or return basis - so the retailer will only have to give you some of his or her shelf space on trust. And offering something almost for nothing is something most small businesses find hard to resist.

The operation involves providing a range of the franchisors designs in its own rack or carousel. You then leave it with the retailer for an agreed period of time before calling back to hopefully restock and invoice your share of those cards sold.

Of course none of the franchisors will let you just plunge in on your own - there would be little point in buying a franchise if that was the case. Appletree Cottage, Cardline and Colneis Marketing all offer on-site initial training in the locality where you will be selling. This allows you to get to know your area a little through the eyes of a franchisee rather than as a resident.

Most franchisees say they didn't take long to get into the swing of things, "Going into shops and talking to people was terrifying to start off with," says Ken Glanville of Colneis in Devon. "After the first week I'd got used to it and was getting a 99% positive response if I caught the owners at the right moment."

And getting them at the right moment is key. If you don't there's not harm in coming back, maintains Jenny Woodruff of Cardline in Poole. "If they say no they're busy, ask if you can come back later. This is cold calling but it isn't a hard sell, you're only asking for space."

You'll also learn which type of shops to target. The obvious ones are independent newsagents, convenience stores, post offices and petrol stations. But it also pays to think on a wider scale - anywhere that people will visit day to day is a potential outlet: canteens, sandwich shops, garden centres, hospitals, libraries and so on.

It will be up to you to arrange how often you visit your retailers. Most visit every month or six weeks. If left any longer, retailers will be left without stock to sell and, as you pay upfront to the franchisor for stock, you will be out of pocket.

Aside from the initial fees and set up costs, are not huge.

You will be given stock and stands to get you started and - assuming you choose outlets where the cards sell - money will start to come in after the first month.

Travel
All franchisees agreed that petrol was the by far the biggest overhead. The business can be run from your existing car - providing it has reasonable boot space. Ken Glanville of Colneis admittedly covers all of Devon and Cornwall but estimates that he does 35,000 miles a year - which obviously adds up in terms of petrol costs.

Value
Although once the business is up and running you should find that your success brings your petrol costs are brought into proportion.

Storage
All the franchises can be run from a home office with franchisees either storing stock in a large spare bedroom or - as this isn't a perishable product - in the garage. Although ordering on a bimonthly or even monthly basis means the stock shifts fast and you shouldn't need to store vast quantities. So you won't have to pay out for office space and so long as you have a reasonably sized house you shouldn't be overrun with boxes.

Advertising
The driving force behind this business is cold calling - and subsequently building up relationships with your retailers through regular visits. Advertising costs do not tend to figure. It's only really through word of mouth that clients will contact you.

Sundries
Costs ultimately come down to sundries like your accountancy bill, bank charges for paying in cash and a mobile phone. Once your initial fees are paid, overheads are low - which can only aid your profit margin.

None of the franchisees would say that cards on their own are going to make you a millionaire. With a steady income of £100 to £150 gross profit a day this works out at about £20,000 upwards a year. Where this isn't adequate for your needs, it is possible to expand and diversify for greater profit.

It is also possible to expand the range and increase your appeal without stepping outside the general greeting cards line, depending on what the franchisor produces. One franchisee said he also offers gift wrap and party invitations and seasonal items such as CDs at Christmas.

And if you really look to the future, some franchisees have people who go out and merchandise retails outlets for them, obviously allowing for greater coverage of your area.

When looking at the money involved, it's important to remember that this isn't a hard-sell operation. Most shop owners will make up their minds in the first 10 or 20 seconds whether they want to learn more about the product. And this is why you need to be friendly without being pushy.

If the retailer already has cards in the shop this is not necessarily a problem. Most customers like to be given a choice and it can only increase the profits of the retailer - a fact you can point out to them.

As you visit outlets to re-stock, you'll get an idea of what is selling the most. You then need to tailor the stock to suit the customers - for example increase the number of humour cards. If you then sell more cards each month you'll be in a position to negotiate more space in the client's shop.

Jenny Woodruff of Cardline in Dorset stresses the need to keep a tight control of stock and to note the types of card that are selling.

"In the beginning you just put a small selection with a range of everything. As you revisit, though, you quickly learn to make the most of the space you've been given. Whatever the shop, make sure you give a good range of the bestselling cards.

"Also you wouldn't provide the same stock for a student union as you would for a village shop whereas bestsellers work well all over."

"At the end of the day," concludes Ken Glanville of Colneis Devon, "I make a reasonable living, working for myself with the flexibility to be able to take a day off here and there if I need to." This recurring theme of flexibility seems to be one of the main appeals of the card franchise business.

With most clients paying you in straight from the till, your business could be as much as 90% cash. As such one temptation is to just dip into funds when you need a £10 note for your shopping. Guard against this, says Eleanor Johnson, "£10 here and £10 there could leave you without the money to pay for your next stock."

Also make sure you visit the retailer often - not doing so can be a problem for two reasons. Obviously a half-empty stand looks bad but also good service is very important. Just as you don't want a client to be late in paying, if you are late merchandising the shop and in collecting monies, the retailer is under pressure with extra cash in the till.

There are other providers about - as the three here demonstrate - and your client will have nothing to lose by giving your shelf space to someone else.

Another reason to visit often is that shops can disappear overnight. Watch the shelves for dwindling stock or lack of attention in the presentation. You have to run the risk with sale or return but providing you keep in contact with your clients you shouldn't experience problems.

But this doesn't mean you should stay with clients no matter what. If cards aren't selling in an otherwise apparently prosperous business then withdraw from it. There is no point in wasting your time or your stock on an outlet that won't see a satisfactory return.

The number of outlets you serve will probably fluctuate regularly - this is normal as new shops open and others close. But that is why you need to be focused on going out each day and keeping the number up. The key to the business is persistence - and of course to enjoy it.