The holidays hit us small business owners different. Instead of gift shopping at the mall, sipping a hot cup of coco and roasting chestnuts on an open sleigh, or whatever, we’re over here grinding out the 20th order that needs to be personalized while getting emails in all caps of people wondering why their package is late during the busiest shipping time of the year! By time the big day gets here, you’re just ready for it to be over. But not this year!

My small laser business and I have survived 10 holiday seasons and the 11th one is just around the corner! If you want to maximize sales and efficiency while still getting time to relax and maybe even go see that Sugarplum thing your niece is in, then here are my 8 easy-to-manage steps for your handmade business to survive and thrive this holiday season!

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Before we jump into the steps, a quick heads-up – These steps are designed to be tackled over the next few months, starting right now. And, if we are going to double our profits, we need a game plan so, of course I made you a checklist! Grab that down below and let’s get to it!

1. Set Realistic Goals

Alright, step one, and this is crucial: Review last year’s data and set achievable goals. This can be as simple as a checklist outlining important things you’d like to accomplish.

• Double Your Sales
• Be Fully Stocked by October 31st
• Take the Last 2 Weeks of December Off (I highly recommend this one)
• Schedule Social Media Posts Before November
• Only Work 9-5, M-F

Go back to your sales reports – Etsy, Shopify, wherever you sold. What were your best sellers? What flopped? What were your busiest days? Use that info to set achievable sales targets for this year.

If this is your first year selling, or don’t have any data to analyze, no worries! Any products that are selling well now, will be selling well later. Just because Santa Claus is coming to town, doesn’t mean you need to make a whole lot of new merchandise. Just consider what’s working now, so we can double down on it later.

If you don’t have data, then start taking notes for this year, so next year floats better than butter on a hot skillet, baby.

Having a clear goal and expectation for the season prevents over-production of unpopular items, helps you focus your efforts, and gives you an achievable target to work towards.

And don’t forget to consider your available production time! The more you can do ahead of time, the better – but more on that later.

2. Product Line Optimization

Next up, Product Line Optimization! Based on the previous data, identify your top 3-5 best-sellers. How can you make them even more irresistible for the holidays?

Think about special holiday themed packaging, limited edition colors for designs you already have, or bundling like items into gift sets.

And – Which items aren’t selling this time of year? There’s only so much time in a day, so don’t waste your own time and energy on summer themed items or products that just don’t sell this time of year.

When you focus your production on your proven winners throughout the year, you reduce decision fatigue later and allows time for refining new ideas.

3. Source Materials & Order in Bulk

Step three is all about the materials, so now’s the time to Source Materials & Order in Bulk. Once you know what you’re making, calculate exactly what you need to hit your goals. Then, order it all – in bulk! Seriously, do this as soon as you can. Supplier delays are real, and bulk ordering saves you money.

I can’t tell you how many times I’m thinking I’m on a roll to find out that last earring hook was the last earring hook and then I panic big time. Or that I didn’t actually have any more padded envelopes, and now they cost twice as much because I need them delivered yesterday.

If you get stock up now, you’ll be relieving yourself of mental space, avoiding last-minute panics, and securing better pricing before wholesalers try to gauge you for the holidays. It also ensures you have everything on hand when production ramps up and your phone starts sounding like this, Cha-Ching! Cha-Ching! Cha-Ching!

4. Batch Production & Inventory Build-Up

This is where the magic starts: Batch Production & Inventory Build-Up. Dedicate specific blocks of time – ‘production days’ – to make your most popular items in batches.

It takes a lot of mental energy to go from one task to another to another to another. If you watched my “I almost killed my laser business” video, this was one of the things holding me back. Now I dedicate entire days to one or two tasks tops. That way I can actually finish something in a much timelier manner because I am focusing on just the one thing.

Don’t wait until November! Get your started on bulking up your inventory and store it in an organized, dedicated space. Future you will high-five you when those orders start rolling in.

5. Photography & Listing Preparation

Step five should be an ongoing project ever since Step two and that is Photography & Listing Preparation. High-quality photos are non-negotiable for online sales. If you’ve already optimized your listings, now’s the time to take festive shots of your holiday collection, especially any gift sets.

Even if your items are not holiday themed, take pictures of your them being gift wrapped, or hanging out of a stocking.

Mid-action shots, like someone handing over your product to a happy person, make buyers more engaged than just a plain picture of the thing.

Write killer product descriptions that evoke the holiday spirit. Let them know that giving your merchandise as a gift will make them the bast dang gift giver this side of the North Pole.

Save your listings as soon as you can so online marketplace ai can start analyzing it. If you have a holiday collection to be released later, draft all your online listings so they’re ready to publish with just a click when you’re ready to launch.

6. Marketing Calendar

Time to make a Marketing Calendar! First step, plan your holiday promotions.

• Will you offer free shipping?
• A special discount code?
• A storewide sale?
• A gift with purchase?

One year during the Black Friday/Small Biz Saturday/Cyber Monday sales, I had a storewide sale AND a surprise $5 item that changed every day. Leading up to the sale, I would tease the details, and I ended up getting a lot of email signups during before the sale itself! Very cool.

There’s a lot of strategies to try with your customers. I’ll definitely be making a deep dive video about marketing strategies, so definitely subscribe to my email list and keep your eyes out for that! See what I did there? 😉

Social media is a great free marketing resource. You should have taken a bunch of great pictures by now, so use them in your social media posts and email blasts.

The best advice I have for marketing is – when you find something that works and people respond to, repeat repeat repeat. Consistency is key!

Pick your favorite platform and aim to schedule at least 3 posts per week.

Most people won’t get sick of you! Don’t worry! The average person consumes at least 30 minutes of social media a day, and on a site like Instagram, that’s approximately 100 or so posts. So, they are getting plenty of in-between stimulus from your posts and your business will benefit from people consistently seeing your awesome wares throughout their days.

If you hate social media, then harness the power of your email list. That’s usually all I do. What’s great about that, is I can have all my discount codes or sales scheduled ahead of time with matching scheduled emails.

Same thing though, aim for 3 emails in a 7 day sales period.

1. Announcing a sale is soon.
2. The sale has started.
3. Last day of the sale for that final push.

7. Shipping Station Setup

Step seven is weirdly my favorite step and that is making a Shipping & Packaging Station! I think it’s my favorite because it’s like getting ready for a date. You want to make a good impression.

Stock up on all your boxes, mailers, tissue paper, labels – everything! And if you offer gift wrapping, have those supplies ready, too.

For the holidays, I like to switch my cards to these gift tags. I get these printed at VistaPrint, but I’m sure there are a bunch of places that has this style of card.

This doubles as a business card and can be used as a gift tag, which I think is a really fun little touch.

Oh, and don’t forget to look up carrier holiday shipping deadlines so you can communicate them clearly to your customers!

8. Automate & Delegate

Finally, step eight, and this is HUGE for your sanity: Automate & Delegate. What tasks can you automate? Think email marketing sequences, order and delivery confirmations. And if your budget allows, seriously consider delegating.

Can someone help with your social media posts, or even work a few hours of production? If you have kids, they can help with little monotonous things that take up a lot of time. Perhaps, they can help clean up, or maybe even pack some orders.

Hire someone on fiverr.com to help with your product listings or trade your wares with a local photographer to get professional photos done! Haggling and trading makes for a great business bargain!

Hey! And, if you do delegate, take that newfound free time and actually use it for relaxation or socializing or whatever it is you like to do. Don’t just fill it with more work!

If you’re struggling to sell your handmade products, read this post next. I’ll tell you where you’re going wrong and how we can fix it.

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