3 Ways to Prep Your Finances for the Holidays

The holiday season is a time of meaning, gathering, and giving. There are a couple key money moves you can make early on to make sure that’s the focus, instead of financial stress. Let’s talk about a couple different financial situations many of us face at this time of year, and how to navigate them peacefully!

What Do You Love Most About the Holidays?

When getting ready to make any financial decision, it’s important to check in with your values. Setting up your holiday spending plan is no exception. Take a moment and ask yourself these questions:

  • What do I love most about the holidays?
  • What are my needs and wants for this holiday season?
  • What do I want to make sure I do to enjoy this time of year?

These questions will help you get clear on your financial priorities for holiday spending. Pick a few special things, like donating to a cause you care about, taking your family for a sleigh ride, or getting a perfect gift for someone you love.

Then orient your spending plan so that those things happen, and don’t worry about missing out on the rest. As long as you get to do what’s meaningful to you, you’ve spent your money wisely, right? Going through this process will lead to more life satisfaction and less financial stress when you find it easy to pay your credit card bill come January.

Intentional Giving

Speaking of donating, at this time of year all of us are getting requests to donate to various causes. Keep in mind that you get to be intentional about how you donate. You don’t have to respond to every single request.

Again, this is a great moment to check in with your values and ask, what causes matter most to me? Where would I like to focus my donations to make an impact?

Then, identify how much money you have available to donate, and divvy it up according to your priorities. You might choose to make one large gift to a single organization, or spread your money around between several.

Use Money Tools

Both of the processes I have outlined above can be streamlined by using money tools and systems. If you haven’t yet, I highly recommend going through a process of figuring out what you value most in life and discerning your needs from your wants. I also recommend checking out my series on creating a spending plan and my article, “How to Make Donating Money Way Easier On Your Finances.”All of these money tools can be a huge help to navigate any financial situation, any time of the year!

If you enjoyed this article and want to go through this process with a guide, I offer personal financial coaching sessions for just this purpose. Click here or below to book a free 15-minute Financial Self Care Consultation to see if we can work together to address your needs.

By |2022-12-06T11:55:26-08:00December 6th, 2022|Categories: Financial Clarity, Personal Spending|Tags: , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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How to Prep for the Holidays as a Service-Based Business

We tend to think of product-based businesses the most around the holidays, but services-based businesses can easily participate in the season too! You may feel your business isn’t  seasonally relevant, or that your offerings aren’t well-suited as gifts.

However, with a bit of creative thinking, you can find a way to position your offerings for the end of the year. Getting creative at this time can help you meet your income goals and experiment with different offers. Here are a couple different ideas to help your service-based business get prepped for the holidays: 

End-Of-Year Specials

If your services might be hard to frame as a gift, say something like bookkeeping or social media consulting, think about how you can create an offer or special around the holidays or the new year.  This look like an end of year bookkeeping review package, or a holiday sale on social media consulting sessions. Focus on helping your customers reduce holiday stress.

Likely whatever service you provide can be tied into that theme somehow, whether you’re offering more convenience or an expert solution to a problem. Keep in mind what your target market is thinking about during the end of the year. How can you help them solve problems and enjoy the season?

Gift Vouchers

Many business can offer great gift-vouchers for their customers. Consider offering vouchers at a discount for your repeat customers. This an excellent way to attract more clients. When people receive a voucher for your service, it will also come with a glowing recommendation!

Holiday Packages

Services or products can be bundled together to create holiday-themed packages for your clients. Try including a free holiday gift with an extra purchase. You could also consider theming a bundle of different services around the holidays. For example, if you’re a teaching artist, you could bundle together online courses under a holiday sale designed to help people make their own gifts!

This is also a great opportunity to collaborate with other business owners. Perhaps you run a massage studio and you partner with a chiropractor to offer a holiday package that includes a discount on both your services. This is a great way to cross-pollinate your customer bases while also reaping the rewards of holiday season marketing.

Thinking ahead about the holiday season can help you turn plans into action items. This can also be a chance to do one last push toward your annual or quarterly income goals.

If you liked this post, you’ll also probably enjoy being on my newsletter list! Every month my subscribers get a newsletter tailored to small business owners and the best tips for their finances, plus my weekly blog posts! Click here or below to get signed up. 

 

By |2022-11-18T14:23:49-08:00November 18th, 2022|Categories: Cash Flow, Small Business, solopreneurs|Tags: , , , , , , |0 Comments
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How to Prep for the Holidays as a Service-Based Business

We tend to think of product-based businesses the most around the holidays, but services-based businesses can easily participate in the season too! You may feel your business isn’t  seasonally relevant, or that your offerings aren’t well-suited as gifts.

With a bit of creative thinking, however, you can find a way to position your offerings for the end of the year. Getting creative at this time can help you meet your income goals and experiment with different offers. Here are a couple different ideas to help your service-based business get prepped for the holidays: 

End-Of-Year Specials

If your services might be hard to frame as a gift, say something like bookkeeping or social media consulting, think about how you can create an offer or special around the holidays or the new year.  This look like an end of year bookkeeping review package, or a holiday sale on social media consulting sessions. Focus on helping your customers reduce holiday stress.

Likely whatever service you provide can be tied into that theme somehow, whether you’re offering more convenience or an expert solution to a problem. Keep in mind what your target market is thinking about during the end of the year. How can you help them solve problems and enjoy the season?

Gift Vouchers

Many business can offer great gift-vouchers for their customers. Consider offering vouchers at a discount for your repeat customers. This an excellent way to attract more clients. When people receive a voucher for your service, it will also come with a glowing recommendation!

Holiday Packages

Services or products can be bundled together to create holiday-themed packages for your clients. Try including a free holiday gift with an extra purchase. You could also consider theming a bundle of different services around the holidays. For example, if you’re a teaching artist, you could bundle together online courses under a holiday sale designed to help people make their own gifts!

Thinking ahead about the holiday season can help you turn plans into action items. This can also be a chance to do one last push toward your annual or quarterly income goals. If you decide to pursue a holiday-related offer in your business, I recommend reading my previous post, 3 Tips to Financially Prepare Your Small Business for the Holidays. It will give you some ideas on what kind of prep you need to do in the coming weeks.

☮

Angela

Image by Toa Heftiba 
By |2021-10-22T17:19:49-07:00October 22nd, 2021|Categories: Cash Flow, Small Business|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments
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3 Tips to Financially Prepare Your Small Business for the Holidays

It’s important to be proactive when it comes to the holidays. They bring a host of financial challenges and opportunities for small businesses. Let’s talk about three ways you can prep your business for the holidays, so that you’re able to have a profitable and satisfying holiday season, without stressing out.

Reflect on This Time In Past Years

Look back to your records to see what happened in your business in past holiday seasons. Which events, specials or sales, and products were the most profitable? If something didn’t go the way you planned, how can you improve on what you did the last few years? This will give you good data to help you focus your offerings this season.

If your business is relatively new, you can simply reflect on the past year and what’s been most profitable for you. Chances are you know what your best-selling products or services are. How can you make sure you have the resources to sell a lot of them? What strategies do you want to use to promote that offering during the holiday season?

Having access to clear financial records is extremely helpful when you’re doing business planning like this.

Plan Sales and Specials

Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday are coming up soon, as well as a host of other times when businesses typically offer sales or specials with their products. Consider whether you’d like to participate in these dates, and how your business is best suited to do that. Perhaps you can focus on promoting packages to up the dollar amount spent by each customer, or offer a deal on your bestselling offering.

Alternatively, you may decide not to participate in these dates, or to do so in a different way. Some small business owners choose not to take part in these events, because it doesn’t feel right to them, or because they choose to celebrate Buy Nothing Day. Even some larger businesses opt out, or take a different path. Deciem, a large skincare brand, holds an annual sale for the entire month of November, to discourage “hyper-consumerism.”

The choice is ultimately yours. Whatever sales schedule you decide to follow, you will also want to take into account your production timeline. Right about now is when many product-based businesses start beefing up their inventories. Here’s an article I wrote for product-based businesses on how to financially survive this process.

If you’re a service-based business or selling digital products, there may still be some considerations for you around your schedule during the holidays. If you’re providing 1-to-1 services, for example, how will your availability change during the holiday season? How can you allocate your resources to ensure you’re able to deliver and make a profit?

Prep for Events

You’ve likely signed up for whatever craft shows, expos, or web events you’ll be participating in during the holidays (or maybe you haven’t yet and now is a good time to think about that!). Now is the time to think strategically about what you can do to get the most out of these events. I wrote an article on upping your profit during holiday events which you can read here.

If this post was helpful for you, you might like checking out my free eBook, The Cash Flow Reboot Guide. This 9-page resource can help you brainstorm to get prepped for a profitable holiday season. Download it for free here.

☮

Angela

Photo by Kira auf der Heide

By |2021-10-15T11:43:38-07:00October 15th, 2021|Categories: Cash Flow, Small Business, solopreneurs|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments
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Are You Really Getting the Most From Craft Shows?

Are Craft Fairs Worth It?: At Peace With Money

Craft fair season is on the horizon, and its important to make sure you’re aware of the financial implications of every show you attend. Certainly you want to calculate the cost of the craft show itself and how much you are selling, but that’s really just the beginning. Craft shows are a way to be face to face with your customers, which opens up a world of potential marketing, networking, and connection opportunities. Every element of your craft fair presence should be planned with the intention of getting the most business, exposure, and presence you possibly can. After all, you paid to be there – you might as well milk it! 

Imagine the Possibilities

Begin to think about how you can use the even to your fullest advantage. Consider how you’re using the show from an advertising perspective. Are you advertising it ahead of time so that your fans come to see you? Once you’re at the craft show, are you using it as the advertising opportunity that it is? Are you collecting names for your mailing list ? Are you advertising your other upcoming events so customers and potential customers know where they can see you next? Are you letting them know how to buy from you online or at local shops? All of these pieces of information are important to convey to anyone who visits your booth. Think about the most clear, effective, and inviting ways you can disseminate this information. Maybe your need to tweak your display or create a small colorful flyer. Find a creative solution and make it happen.

Craft shows are also a time to be present with your customers, a rare experience these days. People often shop at craft fairs specifically to support local economies and meet makers face to face, so make sure you are giving people the experience they’re looking for. Be friendly, personable, and connect people. Use this in-person opportunity to its fullest extent. Perhaps you want to demonstrate how your handmade items are made – people love watching live demonstrations and learning more about a maker’s process. Tell the story behind your craft.

Get the Most From Craft Shows: At Peace With MoneyEspecially if you are seeing return customers, ask for feedback on your work. Ask customers if there’s anything they wish you made. If you really want to have fun, maybe set up a poll or other interactive station where people can offer feedback or vote for their favorite product. Simply connecting with other people who live near you by talking about community happenings can make the difference! Craft shows are a great opportunity to really touch base with your customers and get to know them better in order to understand how you can deliver your product to them. The craft show is about connecting as well as making a profit, and those connections eventually pay off. Being friendly throughout the day will also likely improve your experience of the event, and your day to day life in your community. 

I hope these tips will help you come up with more ways to get the most out of the craft fairs you attend this year. If you are interested in chatting about more creative ideas for promoting your business at craft fairs, don’t be afraid to shoot me a message! And of course, you can schedule a time to talk with me or check out the packages I offer if you feel you need more guidance. 

☮

Angela

Image Sources: ,  Miroslava

By |2018-11-08T19:31:29-08:00November 7th, 2018|Categories: Small Business, solopreneurs|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments
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