Happy New Year ladies! At the end of 2018, we brought you tips on how to clear out old inventory, ways to take care of yourself in the new year and today we are bringing you tips on how to take care of your business in 2019!
Below you will find a list of 10 different things you can do to make your new year a successful one! From cleaning out inventory to enrolling in Retail Bootcamp, these tips are sure to help aid in making 2019 your most successful year yet.
Participate in the Best Year Yet Challenge
The Boutique Hub has a great challenge called the “Best Year Yet” that is happening daily in our members group! This is full of helpful tips to make your days smoother and more productive! If you have been a Boutique Hub member for a year or two, you know that this is one of our favorite seasons of the year, because you basically get access to what others are charging HUNDREDS and some THOUSANDS of dollars for…….all for free – well because you’re members. Haven’t started yet? No worries! It’s easy to get caught up! Just search “Best Year Yet” in the members group and look for video #1!
Find A Boutique Bestie
If you have been in the members’ group at all lately, I’m sure you have seen lots of ladies posting a small piece about themselves and requesting a “Boutique Bestie”—-girls, if you don’t have a bestie yet, jump on the bandwagon! I can’t tell you how blessed I am to have found some amazing girls from just being a member of The Boutique Hub! These are girls who I have traveled with, called when I’m having a horrible day at the office, or just girls that I call for business advice! Owning your business can be lonely but it doesn’t have to be! The Boutique Hub is full of girls who are just like you! Reach out and meet someone!
Photo: Dash B Boutique
Clean Out Old Inventory & Turn It Into $ In Your Pocket
At some point in the boutique world, inventory becomes “dead” meaning that it’s just not going to sell, or it’s so far out of season that it becomes stale. Discount it and move on—take the money that you are able to make from it and buy fresh & season friendly goods.
Create A Marketing Content Calendar
Plan out your marketing at least three months in advance, the Boutique Hub has lots of resources to help with this! If you have a plan in place, it makes executing your marketing so much easier, and harder to forget to do.
Photo: Terlingua Trunk
Review Your Costs
Take the time early this year to check out all your expenses. Are there things you could cut down on? Could you be buying shipping supplies in bulk to save cost per item? What about services you are no longer using? The first quarter is always a little tight because sales typically slow down, what steps can you take to help out with your profit & loss statement?
Take A Tour of Your Website—Does it need a refresh?
Do you need to update the cover photo on your website? What about hiding sold out products? Make sure that the content your customer sees is fresh & easy to navigate! Need to remove holiday collections? What about deleting discount pop-ups?
Photo: Oliver & Otis
Research This Seasons Trends
Start doing your research to figure out what this season’s trends are going to be! I’m personally seeing lots of lace inset details, pale mustard & light destroyed denim.
Look through your website apps, are you using the best ones?
There is a majority of boutique owners who use Shopify as their website host—as most of you know Shopify has an app store that aids in providing their customers with the reporting, tools, and sales apps that they need! Do you have any apps? I’ve found that Bulk Product Edit, Delirious Profit & Free Persistent Cart are three major ones that I use daily! Also, make sure if you have apps that you are not using that you take the time to remove them-they may be costing you money.
Photo: No Roots Boots
Are you the best for the job?
Are you using yourself in the right area? As owners, we often feel like we need to do everything ourselves because, well—this is our baby right? Wrong-if you know you aren’t great at accounting, hire someone to help with it. What about administrative duties? Often times, we are creative but not great at organization. If you know it’s not your strength, consider giving it away to some of your employees. Don’t have any employees? What about contracting someone to do this on an as-needed basis?
Retail Bootcamp
Consider enrolling in Retail Bootcamp, as someone who has completed it twice-I can vouch for the fact that it’s well worth the money & more. The information that I have received in the boot camp has been life-changing. A new class starts at the end of January, find more information about it in our Boutique Members group on facebook!
Photo: Blushe Boutique
Do you have any tips or trick for Boutique Owners in 2019? Comment below and let us know!