Photo by Yellow Cactus from Unsplash

When you were a kid, did you experience a phase where you loved collecting stationery items? Whether it is stickers, pens, notepads, or envelopes, you just can’t help but collect more and more because of their design. Stationeries are not just useful. They are also aesthetically pleasing.

If you are one of the people whose love for stationery wasn’t just a phase, you could turn your love for it into a business. Nowadays, a lot of small businesses are offering stationery products. Even though a lot of adults have come to outgrow their stationery collection phase, a new set of kids and teens are in line to take their place. 

Even though it seems like it’s not a business that would make you millions of dollars in the next few years or so, it surely could provide you with a stable source of income. The competition in this field is tough. To succeed, a stationery business should be able to offer a unique set of products that would entice its target audience. 

If you are a stationery business owner who’s looking for new schemes, here are 4 product ideas that might just work for you. 

 

1. Personalised notepads

People love customised items. If you are just starting your business, made-to-order items are a great way for you to gauge and manage your costs. With made-to-order items, it’s easy to control how much you’ll produce and sell to balance your capital. 

Usually, stationery businesses invest in printing materials to offer a high-quality product. But, if you are new, buying a high-quality printer might be too much for your allotted capital. But, there’s a way you can offer high-quality notepads without having a printer yet. 

You can partner with a photo printing shop for their services to your business. A lot of photo printing businesses offer services that are affordable and of high quality. That way, you wouldn’t have to sacrifice the quality of your products and your allotted budget for your business as well. 

You can start offering personalised notepads with photos, texts, and colours of their choice if you can. Maybe you can set a different price for notepads with photos from ones with texts and colours alone. 

 

2. Waterproof stickers

If you’ve been once a stationery collector, you know how pleasing and cute stickers are. In that sense, you can use your childhood sticker dreams as inspiration. First, try to remember what are the designs, quality, and print that you wish you had when you were young. Then, try to connect it with the current fads and craze in this day and age.

You can start with basic designs that kids and teens love. From simple sunflowers to pastel abstracts, you can add a tweak to those designs to set your product apart from the usual offering. Aside from partnering with a professional photo printing shop for your business, you could also partner with artists for your sticker designs.

If you are eager to offer designs that are unique and fresh, collaborating with an artist is the best way to do so. Also, to make your product more special, make it waterproof. We all love to display and stick those designs on every surface that can be prone to moisture, such as notebooks. Making them waterproof is a key to a high-quality sticker collection product.

 

3. Printed gift wrappers, bags, and boxes

People love good and presentable gift packaging. Also, gifting is something that is constant and will always be around all year round. Aside from the holidays, birthdays and other important milestones are celebrated throughout the year.

Aside from notepads, you can also design your gift wrappers, paper bags, and boxes. You can include these in your partnership with a professional photo printing shop to have a uniform quality with your other products. 

If you want, you can also accept customised gift prints seasonally. If you think that personalised gift wraps won’t make you a lot of sales, you can open them for a certain season only. From minimalist to striking prints, you can offer a wide range of unique designs to cater to different tastes and styles. 

 

4. Picture frames

People are drawn to aesthetics and will always be. And, we all love a good picture frame to display our dearest moments. Nowadays, people rarely have their photos printed. Only a few people value film processing and film cameras because mobile phones have replaced the way we document our special moments. 

But, now and then, people still love to have special moments to be remembered and displayed in their homes. A good number of people still love collecting and buying different picture frame designs for their photos. One great business idea is to offer frames in different sizes. 

Since people rarely have their photos printed nowadays, it’s best to offer frames that can accommodate small to large prints. A lot of people also value minimalism now. While some would love to have a striking print to neutralise and set as a design piece in their homes. 

Having various frame designs would be a great product idea. Maybe you can offer different collections and themes for your frames as well. 

 

Start with products that are in demand and are practical for your budget

It’s quite tough to think outside of the box and produce products that are unique from your competitors. Even though a lot of people are doing business for a long time, it’s still hard to find the right mix of product creativity and meeting your target sales. 

In that sense, the best way for you to set your brand apart and hit your target revenue at the same time is to offer practical products. Items that will be utilised daily and are aesthetically pleasing. After all, isn’t that the purpose of stationery items? 

If these suggestions don’t work well with your business’s product line, you can always tweak it into something that will work with you. Or better, replace it with something more practical and useful that meets your budget. 

 

About the author:

Bianca Banda is a writer for DS Colour Labs Ltd (DSCL), a professional photography lab that offers a vast range of products and services to aid every photographer’s needs.