Holiday Planning Guide for Small Biz Owners

It's that time again............ Holiday Gifts!!! - How Small Biz Owners Can Prep for the Holiday Season

1. Make Sure you Have Enough Materials - Stock up on raw materials. You don't want to run out of materials during the busiest season of the year. You want to be able to fill customer orders without a backlog.

2. Advertise your Business - Put an ad in your local paper, send emails, etc.

3. Think Fresh - Now is the time to think outside the box. Come up with fresh, creative ideas. Look on the internet, look through fashion and jewelry magazines, etc.

4. Send gifts to customers - If possible give holiday gifts to your best/favorite customers/clients. They appreciate your fabulous freebies.

5. Be generous with your staff (if you have any) - Bonuses, Gifts, etc. A gift certificate to a spa, starbucks or walmart goes a long way.

6. Budget - Budget wisely!!!!

I've been busy getting ready for a "gift basket party." It's kinda like a tupperware party. I host a bunch of smart, savvy, intellectually stimulating, otherwise boring (i'm kidding - they're smart, warm, friendly, sassy, fabulous and generous :-), albeit a tad bit overworked), women and feed them. They in turn, browse my wares and (hopefully) shop from Boutique MIX.

First, I have to fill in a bunch of holiday gift basket orders from some colleagues and neighbors. I've hit a creative roadblock today, but I have some pics of what I've done so far. Obviously these are going to change 100 times before I deliver them next weekend, and I have run out of tulle. I'll go get some tulle early next week.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining at all......... its just that I lost my eye glasses when I went out to buy some gift basket supplies earlier today. I can't see without them so I'm quite unhappy at the moment because I"m sure there's a Columbo rerun that I'm missing at the moment. Though I can always turn on the tv and just listen since I can't watch. I'm that much of a fan. Anywhooooo, back to the post - here are some pics of my progress thus far.

Last week I committed to making 75 gift baskets for donation to a charity event. I stayed up all night making the gift bags, but it was quite fulfilling and definitely put me in the holiday-giving spirit. I wish I could bring myself to give more. I remember back in high school, I was part of a group called Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) and each holiday season we made gift bags for nursing home patients. We'd go to the nursing homes, spend time with the residents, and distribute love, gift bags and holiday cheer.

Sometimes I feel awful for not making the time to continue that tradition, but I cut myself some slack when I remember that I do share my time and talents with family, friends and others throughout the year. My new year resolution for 2008 is to be a better me!!! What's yours? Oh, and don't forget to take the 2008 Resolution Polls to your left!!!

Below are "not-pretty" pictures of the charity gift bags, which I must admit made me very proud and a little more human :-)