It is a fact that Christmas is the season for giving and spending. But for me, Christmas is also the best season to start a venture. There is one good reason why you should start a business this Christmas and the reason is this: People have the money and willingness to spend, so you are most likely to earn if you satisfy their needs. So what are you going to offer?

In this article I will talk about the most in demand products which you can use as the source of your inspiration for your idea. I have limited the ideas to those that are easy to do, meaning, you can start them from your house and utilizing minimal capital.

Here are the fastest selling items or services every Christmas:

Food Items

Goodies and Sweets.

Almost everyone loves Christmas treats, so you will not go wrong in making sweet food products like cookies, ensaymada or cupcakes. One of those people I know who earns big time with goodies is the one who makes the famous Cunanan Ensaymada. Her product is so good that she gets hundreds of orders every Christmas. Making her product a staple gift every Yuletide season.

Per Order Food.

Every Christmas and other special occasions, we order food from Manang Edith; that is what we call her. She is a family cook in Valle Verde, Pasig. It was  her employer who discovered her talent for cooking. So the owner decided to give her a business. Now, she earns more than just her monthly salary. She gets extra income from the food she cooks. You can also do this from your house. If you have a specialty dish, you can ask friends and relatives to order from you for their Noche Buena or Christmas Parties.

Simbang Gabi Delicacies

If you are in for a short term business, you can serve the Simabang Gabi people. Most of these people crave for the classic puto bumbong and bibingka combination after the mass. You may want to think of adding hot chocolate to your menu, just for the flair. Aside from the church people, you can also serve office parties.

 

Gift Items

Gift Baskets

The nice thing about this business is that you do not manufacture the food. You just go to the grocery and pack them nicely in a basket. When I was in college, I partnered with a friend and we sold gift baskets to different companies. We bought items in the grocery and bought nice baskets in Dapitan, Q.C. Gift Baskets is one of the easiest items to sell most especially if you have connections in offices.

Souvenir Items

Every December there are a lot of visiting Filipinos who are here to spend their holidays with their families. Aside from spending their dollars on food, they will also spend for gift items to bring back home to their foreign land. Souvenir items like t-shirts, handicrafts, mugs and ref magnets with Filipino inspired designs are a few examples of items you can offer them. Also, do not forget the foreign visitors market who buy souvenir items too.

Personal Gifts

Those reasonably priced items like shirts, fancy jewelry, and exchange gift items always sell fast. The best way to make them move fast is to sell them at 150.00 pesos and below. These items can be sold in offices, bazaars, or online. You can also add an extra service of wrapping the items for a fee. Doing that will take the hassle of wrapping the gift off of the buyer. You can check low priced items in Divisoria, Baclaran or Quiapo.

Corporate Giveaways

Pens, mugs, shirts, notebooks are few of the items companies give away to their clients. You can start this business by investing a few thousands in a heatpress machine and printer. One of my students in Innove is a retired teacher. Now she spends her time servicing the corporate giveaways needs of her previous employer. This is one easy and fun business to do.

Garage sale

Do you have any unused or second hand items? You can do a garage sale.  Every year in our subdivision, some homeowners bring out their items they want to sell. The price is very cheap so the all the items go in just 3 days. The good thing about this is that you do not have to spend anything on rent and you turn your old items to cash. So bring out you unused and second hand items and turn your “garbage” to income.

 

Special Christmas Services

Catering.  

One of my friends work for a master franchisee company, and every Christmas season she sends out fliers for her catering services to all franchisees. Because of this, she was able to earn on top of her salary and bonuses. Now she is retired and has started a rice sandwich business.

Event Organizer.

Most people in the company are busy during Christmas season and that includes HR officers. So these HR people, instead of them organizing the Christmas party, would just outsource it. If you have a talent for organizing events, you can start sending them proposals.

Contest coach.

Aside from food, there has to be entertainment during Christmas parties. School contest groups and company contest groups are the market for such service. The Talent fee can range from 500-2000 per hour depending on the talent of the coach.

How to Approach?

In thinking of a business to pursue, always start with the market and your resources in mind. When I say market, I mean check out the people around you or your connections and see what they are most likely to buy from you. On the other hand, your resources (time and money) will dictate what business you can pursue. Of course, the more resources you have the more you can do with your business, but then again, having more resources is not an assurance of success.

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