WHILE the focus of this column section is primarily on social issues and events, I’d find myself sometimes also writing on entrepreneurship once and far. Apart from my social work background, I’m also an entrepreneur, and I’ve gained tons of experience thus far in my years of business. With that said, you probably already sensed an entrepreneurial piece in the works, and you’re absolutely correct. We’re almost halfway through the month of October, and while everyone is hyped up about Halloween and its newfound place in Guyanese pop culture, for now, most businesses are focused on fall and/or Halloween-themed activities or promotions, but there’s still one thing that’s at the back of everybody’s minds—the season of giving. For some entrepreneurs, Christmas preparations for their businesses already commenced in July and I am all for it. Christmas is perhaps one of the largest (if not the largest) seasons for sales and marketing.

The majority of a business’s sales skyrockets during this period. It may be a matter of luck or possibly due to the hard work and preparations a business executes before and during the holiday season. Personally, I don’t believe in luck. You’re probably thinking to yourself — it’s only October; why is she writing a holiday-inspired entrepreneurial piece? If you continue to think that way as an entrepreneur, then how can you possibly prepare your business in time for the rush of the holiday? If you check most of the beauty, clothing, and accessories websites online, you’ll notice that they have already launched their holiday collections. These multi-giant companies probably started to plan their Christmas collection last year.

I understand that with small businesses, resources and time are limited. Nonetheless, you can still be punctual with your online posts, gift collections, and even with your overall marketing campaign. Some customers will start shopping for their Christmas gifts as early as September. Others like myself, may not shop until it’s closer to Christmas. Nonetheless, they may already have in mind what they want to shop from seeing earlier ads or posts about their gift ideas. There are plenty of giant sales around October-November from giant companies such as Amazon and their Prime Day sales or, Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sales. As such, the competition will continue to be tougher, especially for smaller businesses. It can also be demotivating because sometimes you’d think; “I can’t compete with Amazon”. Your business should be your own authentication of what you’d like to sell or provide for customers. It should have a personality and if your targeted customers fall in love with what you have to provide then not even Amazon can beat that.

That is why your business’s advertising and marketing aspects for the holiday season need to occur as early as possible. Your goods and services will become overly saturated with the many existing Christmas posts during December. The last thing you’d want to happen is for your sheer hard work to become unforgettable because it was buried under hundreds of other Christmas/holiday-related posts. A great trip for early preparation is to utilise journals, vision boards, or even your notes app on your phone to slowly bring your ideas to life. You can plan it on “paper” before executing it so you have a better idea of where to start and what to do. You should also start buying your stock as early as you can to avoid delays in freight services or hefty holiday charges/fees. You can even start by cleaning up your inventory, storage, or store space to make the work lighter as you enter December.

You may not be able to complete your tasks before the holiday season kicks off, but it’s better to start and ease off the existing load you’ll have. Starting your preparations early for the holidays also allows you to complete tasks at a slower, more relaxed pace. You wouldn’t be rushing through the season without taking deep breaths to get things done because you would’ve already completed most of it already if you start your preparations early. I may not be able to provide you with all of the necessary information you may need for your specific business as it relates to early preparations for the holiday season. However, I hope this article motivates you, as a small business owner, to reflect on your existing plans and generate new ones for the holiday season ASAP!