The beauty of a side hustle is that you can earn money in your free time by doing something that you enjoy. For some people, gift wrapping is a fun activity that evokes happy memories of Christmas and family time.

For others, it’s a laborious chore that is nearly always left until the last minute. If you’re someone who is skilled at wrapping presents, and you have some time on your hands, read on to find out how you can convert your gift-wrapping skills into a side hustle.

Begin by Reaching Out to Your Family, Friends, & Neighbours

Every side hustle starts out small. And when you think about it, everyone in your life needs to wrap gifts once in a while! Whether it’s birthdays, anniversaries, or around the Christmas holidays, those closest to you may well benefit from your gift-wrapping expertise.

Consider offering your service to your nearest and dearest for free in exchange for testimonials. You can then start to build a portfolio based upon your first experiences of wrapping for those you’re close to. It’s incredible how quickly you can develop a reputation in your local area as a talented gift-wrapper, as word of mouth and social media posts will exemplify your talents.

Perfect Your Skills

In the early days of your side hustle, you should be focused on perfecting your skills. Gift-wrapping can be time-consuming, so you need to spend time getting it right and honing your talents before working out what you can charge for your services.

Working with friends, family, and neighbours is a great way to perfect your skills and work out how long it will take you to wrap a certain number of gifts. As we discuss below, this will help you progress, as working out your margins and what to charge is an important step.

Decide on a Pricing Structure

Working out what to charge is a daunting aspect of any side hustle, but it’s super important. When deciding on a pricing structure for your gift-wrapping business, consider the following:

• Is it better to charge per gift or hour?
• Does my pricing structure reflect the cost of supplies, my time, and travel?
• Do I need to charge extra if I travel to my clients’ homes?
• Can I offer a discount for repeat custom?
• What do other gift wrappers in my area charge for their services?

Don’t get too caught up in your pricing structure, as it’s not set in stone. You can always adapt it as you get busier and increase it to reflect your experience. But you need to have a pricing base from which to launch your business.

Purchase Your Supplies in Bulk & Out of Season

If you’ve ever picked up gift wrap during the holiday season, you will be aware that the price is super inflated at this time of the year. To keep the costs of your side hustle down, consider the following tips:

• Buy your gift-wrap out of season (January is a great time to buy Christmas wrapping!).
• Pick up your supplies like pens, tape, scissors, wrap, in bulk where possible, as this brings the price down.
• Use bargain, online retailers for certain goods, but don’t just buy the cheapest products, as this will reflect in the quality of your wrapping.

You will need to create a budget to cover the initial cost of your supplies and then factor their cost into the price that you charge your clients in the future.

Create a YouTube Channel

There are few better ways to showcase your talents than on YouTube. Spend some time compiling videos of your gift-wrapping skills and upload them to your channel. You will be amazed at how effective videos are at promoting your side hustle, so recording your projects will encourage people to pay for your services. You can then share your videos via your social media accounts, as we explain below.

Develop a Social Media Presence

When you’re just starting your side hustle, consider sharing videos and images of your gift-wrapping skills with your personal networks. Mention in your statuses that you’re offering a gift-wrapping service for the upcoming holidays and see if anyone is interested. You will be surprised at how many people take you up on your offer, as many see gift-wrapping as a chore! You can also use social media marketplaces like RadialHub to create a standout profile with text, audio and videos to demonstrate your skills.

As your side hustle takes off, you might want to consider creating a professional social media page alongside your personal account. This will help you tap into new markets and find clients outside of your personal networks. It’s also easier for your friends and family to share your business with other people, resulting in more business coming your way.

Work Out Your Capacity [And Whether You Need Help]

When you’re starting a side hustle, you need to decide how much time you want to dedicate to it. Are you prepared to do a couple of hours after work every day? Or perhaps you’re only available at the weekend? Before you start taking on clients, you need to work out your capacity and ensure you can manage your client load.

You might want to get a friend or two involved in your side hustle during busy periods to help you take on more orders. But if you do this, just make sure you charge enough money for it to be worthwhile!

Make Yourself Available During the Holidays

The final tip is pretty obvious, but it’s important all the same. If you’re starting a gift-wrapping side hustle, you need to make yourself available during the holidays. While this is a time of the year that most of us enjoy spending with our families, you’re likely to be super busy with your side hustle, travelling to people’s homes and helping them prepare their gifts.

Some people might see this as a sacrifice, so make sure you’re willing to give up some family time during the holiday season, as this is the time of the year that you’re most likely to be super busy.

Gift Wrapping is a Great Idea for a Side Hustle

While we all love the magic of the holidays, so many people see gift-wrapping as a chore that they’d be more than happy to offload. As such, gift-wrapping is an excellent side hustle to develop, particularly if you have a talent for wrapping presents. You’ll be amazed at how quickly your side hustle spreads, so use these eight tips to your advantage, and prepare yourself for some busy times ahead!