Well, it’s January – it’s cold, it’s dreary, and for many businesses, especially in retail and ecommerce, it’s a dead month. We bet you could use a little perking up. Here are a few suggestions to beating the January blues:
- Have a party. If you need to clear out leftover holiday inventory, make an event out of it. Make it more meaningful to your best clients – give them first pick of your new merchandise, too.
- Poll your clients. If you built a mailing list during the holidays, now is a great time to involve them as you shape your plans for the New Year. Limited-time coupons to participants help build traffic in the near-term while customizing offerings to their needs builds long-term success.
- Trim expenses. Slow times are a great time to revisit all those little costs. Get new bids on your phone service, insurance, copying, shipping, accounting and any other outsourced services. Remember, spending less grows your net income just as much as selling more does.
- Network. It’s time to get to those networking events you’ve been meaning to attend. Or maybe start a new mastermind group of local business owners and play host.
- Buy closeouts. Be on the lookout for stores that are closing down after the holidays, and see what you can snap up at bargain prices. You can also attend merchandise auctions, or hit closeout websites online.
- Look for opportunities. Are new retail spaces opening up near you? January is a time when desperate landlords make deals to keep stores occupied. If competitors are going bust or scaling back, it might be time to market more aggressively to capture market share.
- Take a class or connect with a mentor. Increasing your knowledge and skills now will lay the groundwork for success in 2016, no matter what the economy does. At Pathway, we’ve got plenty of classes and mentoring opportunities for you to learn this year. Join us!
How will you beat the January blues? Leave a comment and add your strategy to the list.
