Easy 8 Steps For Small Handmade Business To Prepare For Holiday

Plan and set seasonal targets

Preparation is essential. Plan ahead of time because it will be beneficial to reduce work in the back office so that you can engage with customers more. 

For every business, planning is continuous; However, planning for the year's busiest shopping season should include a thorough examination of last year's holiday sales strategy and performance. This data can be utilized to determine inventory, tailor deals, develop promotional offers, and set revenue goals for the season.

Don’t always show up with the same old boring products every year, spice it up. Give your customers exclusive holiday products that are exciting and revolutionary. Besides introducing new products, maintain an inventory and make sure you have a clear knowledge of what your customers will be seeking over the holidays. You can change your business and plan accordingly based on the types of customers targeted. 

Spend some time investigating your top competitors' holiday sales methods and deciding on the marketing strategy you will utilize to reach your target clients.

Make Holiday Schedule

As a brand, you must be aware of many holidays and events, both significant and trivial. You don't want to lose out on any opportunities. Not only should you keep track of seasonal holidays, but also of other days that are relevant to your business, such as home market, The Franchise Expo, small business fairs, and holiday craft fairs. 

As a business owner, being spontaneous might be enjoyable at times, but it has a substantial impact on your work environment for both business and customers. It is usually a good idea to plan your holidays ahead of time.

1. What goods do you wish to highlight throughout the holiday? 
2. Do you have any special discounts or deals planned for the occasion?

These questions must be answered with caution. The decisions you make will have a significant influence on the performance of your company. Any hasty decision will not be as effective as a well-thought-out one.

Develop a holiday schedule, and figure out what you are going to do and when. Without a doubt, it will greatly simplify and make it so much easier throughout the hectic Holiday season.

Order Supplies Pre-hand

Always stay one step ahead of your customers. Many people are looking forward to the Holiday season, and early holiday shopping is not uncommon. The last thing you want to do is let your customers down.

1. Make a list of the raw materials you will require for the estimated production.

2. Order the raw materials while keeping potential obstacles and delays in mind. Leaving some playing time is always smart. 

3. Make certain that you do not overpay for your materials. Find a suitable and reasonable provider. However, do not skimp on quality.

4. Order extra materials. You don't want to run out of materials in the middle of a project. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Effective Stock Inventory for the Holiday

Your holiday sale is in full swing. Customers are ecstatic about it. Orders are pouring in, but hold up! You are now out of stock. Will you and your production team be able to meet the deadline and fulfill the seasonal demand?

It's usually a good idea to stock up ahead of time. Making a suitable stock before the major event will allow you to concentrate on other crucial aspects such as promotions, packaging, and other tasks. Getting production out of the way is less burdensome and more reassuring.

There is, however, a wise approach to stock your inventory. Stockpiling irrelevant or non-performing commodities is a waste of space, time, money, and effort. Here are some simple stock management suggestions.

1. Sort your inventory by priority. Categorizing your inventory into priority groups can help you understand which items you need to order more of and more frequently, and which are important to your business but maybe more expensive and move slower.

2. Audit your inventory. Make it a habit to physically count your inventory regularly to confirm it corresponds to what you believe you have.

3. Adopt the 80/20 inventory rule. As a general rule, 20% of your stock accounts for 80% of your profits. Prioritize inventory management for the remaining 20% of products. You should closely track and understand the entire sales lifecycle of these things, including how many you sell in a week or a month. These are the goods that bring in the greatest money; don't skimp on controlling them.

4. Maintain consistency in how you receive stock. Making sure incoming inventory is processed may appear to be simple. Ensure that all employees who receive stock do so in the same manner and that all boxes are confirmed, received, and unloaded together, precisely counted, and checked for accuracy.

5. Keep track of sales. Do you know when particular things sell out or drop in price? Is it a seasonal thing? Is there a particular day of the week when you sell specific items? Is it true that certain things usually always sell together? Understanding not only your sales totals but also the bigger picture of how goods sell is critical to keeping your inventory under control.

6. Invest in inventory management software. Manual inventory management is feasible if your company is small enough. However, if your company grows, you'll need to devote more time to inventory than to other aspects of the organization, or risk having an out-of-control inventory. All of these activities are made easier by good inventory management software. 

Prepare Your Websites for the Holiday Season

Look at your company’s website and inspect if it’s ready for the hectic holiday seasons. A few simple questions to ask when looking over your website are:

1. Is the design clean and user-friendly? 
2. Are your most popular and best-selling products easily accessible to your customers?
3. Are there any malfunctions during order processing and checkout?
4. Do your promo code/discount codes work smoothly as planned? 

Don’t give customers a chance to identify any problems. Let your website be inspected by multiple people just in case you overlooked any bugs or problems. 

To put it simply, your website is your company's public face. Your website's appearance makes an immediate and lasting effect on your visitors. You should be able to impress first-time clients not just with graphics, but also with user-friendly websites.

The website should have a simple ordering and checkout process. Not only that, but the website's user interface should be compatible with computers, smartphones, tablets, and other devices. Customers will return if you make ordering simple, offer several payment methods, and deliver quickly.

Use Social Media 

You have set up an amazing Christmas sale, but wouldn’t it be sad if you don’t talk about it? Social media is an excellent marketing tool for promoting your company and spreading the word about how fantastic your holiday sales offer is. 

Just having social media isn’t adequate. You'll need to figure out how to get people to read your posts, engage with them, and provide them with high-quality content.

Social media is a great helping hand for small businesses. In the modern era, social media offers various options for building your digital brand, from posting on Instagram to running cost-effective ads on social media networks like Facebook, to increase online visibility and keep your company at the forefront of target customers' minds.

You as a business have a great chance of creating personal bonding with your customers using social media. It opens a door that enables you to interact with customers including responding to comments. You can use the reviews about your business as constructive critiques for improved development of targeted promotional campaigns.

What do you mean by quality content? 

Go with the quality over quantity rule. Every post on your social media, even including short stories, never desultory your posts. Create a theme for your social media that matches your brand guidelines and work on creating aesthetics that attract curious customers. 

There is a term called to create a pin-able post. Pinterest is a visual search engine, your goal is to capture the eye of the viewers. So how do you create pin-able posts? 

1. High-quality and vertical images

2. Take full advantage of text overlays to tell a story that helps the pinners to understand what they are looking at. 

3. Don't be afraid to experiment and try new things to avoid looking boring and underwhelming. 

4. Use easy-to-read bold fonts and contrasting colors that make the texts stand out. 

A small craft business tip is to create Pinterest boards that focus on how to use your products in various ways, how versatile they are, and are great gift-giving ideas to your loved ones. 

Optimize Your SEO and Video Marketing

Having the appropriate product titles and descriptions will greatly boost your chances of being noticed. Examine and adjust your listings on any platform be it Amazon shop, Etsy shop, or eBay store to make them more holiday-season-appropriate. Here are some pointers to help you come up with better titles and descriptions to sell more at Christmas.

1. Make use of relevant keywords.
2. Consider how customers will find your products. Keep it brief and to the point. Add materials, colors, occasions, and uses. For example, Blue Felt Hearts.
3. Make the description brief and straightforward. Include all of the information that customers want to know, such as dimensions, colors, materials, how they can be used, and when they may be used.

When you optimize your SEO on your products appropriately, your buyers will find it easy to make a purchasing decision. Even if customers did not accurately search for the product, your keywords will assist in boosting your product to appear in their search results.

Fun Fact: More than 64% of viewers are inclined to purchase the product after watching a related video. It's no surprise why most businesses invest in video marketing. Video marketing greatly helps you enhance your social media engagement and build personal interactions with your company. 

After-Sale Service in the Holiday Season

Most firms overlook this stage, but let me tell you how critical it is. Post services have the ability to convert a one-time purchaser into a repeat purchaser.

Keep the Christmas spirit alive by preparing your customers for the new year. Use this time to devise a strategy for persuading customers to return and spend more time in your business making further purchases. Find fresh ways to engage with new clients you gained throughout the holiday season, and don't forget to reach out to potential customers as well.

Finally, for all the small businesses out there. Do not forget Small Business Saturday, 27th November every year.  At the commencement of the holiday shopping season, promotes small businesses and encourages consumers to shop locally. It also benefits customers looking for one-of-a-kind products and experiences in their region, as well as local economies that benefit from successful small enterprises.

And for all the Americans out there, American Express provides small company owners with free resources and marketing materials. On the website's Small Business Saturday center, you can build unique flyers, social media assets, signs, and more with your brand name and American Express logo. There is also information on how to host events such as pop-up markets, culinary festivals, welcome stations, and others. Everyone has access to these materials. You definitely don't want to miss the big day. 

Are You Ready? 

The holiday shopping season is different every year. So, as a business owner, you must guarantee that your organization is prepared to handle the increasing volume of sales. By following the tips above, such as improving your SEO and optimizing your customer service experience, you can ensure that your business satisfies both new and existing consumers and capitalizes on all chances during this busy Holiday season.

I'm hoping that the holiday sales will be less stressful this year. Holiday seasons are supposed to be joyful, so don't forget to smile and chuckle now and then, even in the midst of the bustle. Please take a moment to share this post on social media and help your fellow crafters and small business owners.