I love this time of the year when I can reflect on the last 12 months, evaluate the performance of my little venture and plan for the next year.
In the beginning of the year, after hard few months of working to the deadline, I just want to put my feet up, grab a glass of wine and chill out during slow month of January BUT, from experience, I know it’s better to sit down and crunch the numbers that will help my business this year before I take a festive break, while it is all still fresh in my mind.
The first thing I usually do is tidy up the paperwork for the last months of the previous year, as I never have time for this during the Christmas rush. I look at the best sellers, what hasn’t sold, and what needs to be added to the collection to make it more interesting.
After I do all that, I know what has to be done in the beginning of the year once I recover from the Christmas holidays.
1. Prepare old stock and discontinued items for a sale
I like to sell old stock to make room for the new things – as all of my items are pre-made.
I always feel that after the clearance I have a new wave of inspiration. Out with the old and in with the new is my motto every January!
If you make-to-order, you might find that some of your designs just haven’t been selling, so you could do a ‘final sale’ on them and then remove them from your shop to clean up your product line.
2. Come up with new designs/collections
It’s always a good idea to brainstorm collection releases now and book the dates in. Start with the standard Easter and Christmas and add other celebrations that relate to what you sell – Valentine’s day, Halloween etc…
Is your business seasonal? Then you might want to pencil in when each of your 4 seasonal collections need to be ready.
Come up with 1-2 competitions, special events (markets if you attend them), and special offers so you can make sure you have enough stock for each offer during the year.
Once I come up with the new designs and pencil in the new releases, I can do the next step which is…
3. Booking advertisements for the next 6 months
Book my advertising on blogs, magazines, Facebook, newsletters etc. One bonus of booking early is that if you book for a longer period of time, you usually get a discounted rate!
That’s how I start my new year. I firmly believe in de-stashing at the start of the year.
It it such a great feeling walking in to a clean creative space with a plan of action on hand to get the energy flowing!
Do you clean up your product line in January?
Image source: Plushka’s Craft
