5 Things Product-Based Businesses Should Prepare Ahead of The Holidays
Wait…the holidays? It’s August!
Yup, if you own a product-based business you are likely beginning to put together your operations for the busiest time of the year. Whether that means reviewing your budget or analyzing your inventory, there is a lot to be done.
No doubt, you have a checklist of things to accomplish but as an accountant that loves working with product-based businesses, there are a few things I want to make sure you do not forget!
1. Create A Forecast Report
This first step can be the foundation to everything you plan for your holiday season. If you are in your first (or even second or third) year of business this will be more challenging. However, if you have years of data to rely on you can make educated guesses as to what to expect in the upcoming holiday season.
This financial analysis can provide guidance on:
How much inventory you should have on hand
Whether you need to bring in some seasonal employees
How much you can spend on marketing
Simply having this information for each decision you will have to make leading into the holiday season can be a game changing move!
2. Prepare Your Online Storefront
If you also operate in the eCommerce space, your online storefront is going to be just as important (if not more important) than your brick and mortar store. Why? More and more people are turning to online stores for their virtual shopping. Which means you could be meeting some new challenges with the increased website traffic.
Update your website
Give your website an audit. Do all the buttons work? Is your inventory fully stocked? Are there any points in the online buying experience that would cause friction and lost sales? Ask friends, family, and employees to give your website a review and feedback to make sure it is fully ready.
How much traffic can you handle?
If your eCommerce site is going to be doing any big holiday sales you will also want to make sure you can handle some good website traffic. Nothing is worse than setting up a big sale, only for your website to crash. Make sure your hosting platform is reliable and they can handle the traffic!
3. Strategize Your Holiday Marketing
With an unpredictable economy, it may be a mystery whether people will be buying as aggressively as they did during past holiday seasons. Consider investing some time into your marketing strategy and market research. What is important to your audience and how can your products meet their needs?
Work with your accountant to establish a marketing budget that will carry you through the entire holiday season.
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4. Review Your Customer Support & Team Capacity
Whether you are selling products online or in person, can you team handle the holiday rush? Maybe you need to consider having more workers on the floor or hiring seasonal employees. Now is the time to consider whether this is an area your team needs support in.
While it may be easy to quickly answer, yes! You also want to confirm you have the budget to bring on additional team members. Important questions will need to be answered like will they be employees or contractors? How much can you afford to pay them? Will you still be able to cover your expenses if you have a slow holiday season?
By working with an accountant to discuss these types of questions you can feel confident in hiring additional hands that won’t break the bank.
5. Plan Out Your Inventory
You likely know why having too little inventory can hurt your business but did you know having too much inventory on hand can be just as harmful?
Investing in a good supply of inventory for the holiday season will be vital to making sure your operations can continue to run smoothly. For a product that is selling off the shelves, your profits will come to a halt when that last item in stock is sold.
Simultaneously, having too much inventory can present plenty of problems. Having too much inventory sitting on your shelves for too long means cash not being utilized. The longer inventory sits it can become susceptible to spoilage or become outdated.
This is why it is important to redirect you to that first task, create a forecast report! Understanding your numbers from prior holiday seasons and even the last couple of months can indicate a good inventory goal so you never run out but also do not create too much.
If you own a product-based business you are likely already thinking about the holiday season. Consider adding these 5 items to your checklist starting with a forecast report. From there you will be able to build a budget for the holiday season that will ensure it is a success.
If you are not sure where to begin with your forecast report or budget, consider scheduling a consultation with me. From there I can help you create a plan that you feel confident in.
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