#41 Finishing the Year Strong and Starting 2019 with a Bang

Hey guys, don't be sad, but it.

Is the last episode of season one of Boutique Chat. So get ready for a solo episode from yours truly talking about how to wrap up the year strong and kick off 2019 with a bang. And then I've got some secrets to drop.

Let's talk about your business strategy and the juicy details of what actually works. From mainstream fashion to fashion on Main street and the entire ecosystem behind it. How do we scale your company and do it with the balance and the happiness that we all seek? Let's hear from those insiders, experts and strategists that actually make it happen. I'm your host, Ashley Alderson from the Boutique Hub, and I can't wait to chat.

Alright guys, the moment of truth. I'm wondering if you are finishing the year strong. Honestly, is it finishing the year strong in your business? Is it finishing the year strong in your family life and your personal life? And is it finishing the year strong in the way that you want to feel about your business and what you've created in the last year? Now, I know that the last week of holiday sales are upon us. And after that, the last week of the year to move out our inventory, finalize our paperwork, our accounting, and to start to consider all the plans about how we are going to kick 2019's ass. I mean, let's be real, you only live once. And starting the year off right has proven to have psychological effects to help you keep your positive mindset, your sense of achievement and your vision for the year last longer. I mean, we've all been there where we've given up Oreos for the first couple of days of the year, but then we quickly fall off the bandwagon. So what I want to do today, as we enter our very last episode of Boutique Chat season number one, I just want to come to you personally today, you and me, to talk about some tips to help you go out with a bang so that you can start the new year off right. And stick, stick to that plan and that vision that you're creating. Longer than it would take me to give up Oreos in the new year. Make sense? I know that you have a big vision for your business, you have a big vision for your life and what it is you're creating. Your why for your family, your why for your team, and your why for the community around you. And I want to make sure that you're setting yourself up for success as you enter the new year so you aren't just spinning your wheels, constantly posting on social Media and hoping that one day your business takes off. I want to come at it with a plan. So let's do this today. Here's where I want to start. I want to start with where can we, what can we do to end the year strong in 2018 so that we can start the year right in 2019? Right. So let's talk about how do we start moving inventory right now? Because you're at the tail end of opportunity for the holiday season. So here's a couple of ideas you can use to start to move things out the door quicker. Start here. Start marking down not in percentages, but in dollar amounts or cash amounts. Like $10 off versus 10% off of all of your holiday themed merchandise that you know is 100% dead after December 25th. Anything that is red, green, white has a Santa, a Grinch or an elf on it probably should start a markdown process right now so that you aren't left with anything on hand later. Then I invite you to look at your point of sale system reports. Start looking at your inventory as a whole and what buckets does it fall in? Is it a basic that you can keep around and sell throughout the year or a shoe or an accessory? Is it specifically holiday themed? Is it specific winter themed or is it something that you're going to be able to sell for the next two to three months? Get a good picture of what you have on hand right now and then I want you to think about doing the following. Choose 50% of your store that has to go now, 50% of your store that's winter or holiday themed, and start that markdown on that section of your store immediately. Then choose about 20% that hasn't got to go quite yet, but probably needs to go sometime throughout the winter. Gradually start to mark that down. Choose 10% to absolutely blow out the door. This is specifically your holiday themed items. And then your final 20% just to leave where it is. This would be like your basics, your Nikki Bicky tanks, things like that that you know you can sell all year round. And don't start a markdown process on that. Let me go over that again just in case you missed it. Choose 50% of your store that has to go and start to create collection markdowns on it. All right, this is as a whole winter themed merchandise. Then choose 10% to blow out immediately, which is your holiday themed items. Choose 20% to keep right where it is. And this is your basics. And then finally another 20% that meh should go in the next couple of months, but really you could hang onto it for a bit longer. All right, start that markdown plan right now so that you can start to move some of that dated merchandise out and start bringing new pieces in in January for your spring and summer collections. Another idea if you are not already marketing to men. The majority of men have been proven to make their holiday purchases in the last week before Christmas. So if you have any men on your stores, list any men that you're personal friends with on Facebook or Instagram, or if you have access to emailing and asking your current female customers about contact information for their spouse, this is the time of year to reach out to men. Create bundles, Create pre wrap and gift ideas Create delivery or a men's night pickup in your store or at your warehouse to make it super convenient for them and give them three price options rather than give them all kinds of detail about the latest trends and so many prices to choose from. Say hey, would you like to spend $100, $200 or $350 on your wife this year? Start there and based on what he chooses, then you start to create a collection or a bundle or a gift for his wife based on the following information. Now this kind of goes with the next idea I want to talk about and that's bundling. As you're talking about marking down collections in your store, think about what can be bundled together to move things even quicker at this point. Are there last minute teacher gifts that you can bundle a couple of accessories together for or babysitter gifts or next door neighbor or best friend gifts? Gift ideas that are on just about everybody's wish list that you can create bundles of merchandise that's already in your store and you were planning on marking down anyway, but now you can just make it super easy for someone to come in and grab that gift or create a bundled product listing on your website so someone can quickly check out and still get that item either with in store pickup or I want to say by the time you listen to this episode, your USPS shipping date may have already passed. So so you'll have to be really clever on how you're still marking those last minute bundles in order to get them to your customer's house before the holidays. Now this last week of the year before the holidays is also the perfect time to ramp up gift card promotions. So if you can't start shipping because of UPS or USPS dates, this is the time to really start pushing gift cards for people. You can choose gift cards that are discounted, like spend $100 and get $10 back for January, you can do gift cards to men. There's a number of ways to ramp up that opportunity, but don't miss out on the gift card craze the last week before the holidays. And then finally, if you haven't already, you probably know that January is going to be a time that you do have extra merchandise on hand that needs to be clearanced out. So start thinking right now about what type of clearance events are you going to start running the week after the holidays and into the month of January to try to move any dated or seasonal merchandise early right away. Now, on the flip side, let's talk about those clearance promotions as you think about them in your business, but in another light now, every retailer in the United States and around the world is probably thinking the same thing after Christmas, how do we discount these things and move them out? Which as a business owner for you, if there's last minute purchases that you need to make for your business in this year, especially for tax reasons, if you're looking for additional write offs and you know that you're going to need these business supplies or tools, say a new computer or a printer in 2019, the week after the holidays is the time for you to go make those purchases because they're usually significantly discounted across many retailers. And again, you can put them on your 2018 books, which is going to help you when it comes time to file your taxes and give you an additional write off. Guys, getting your investment back out of your inventory matters big time. At the end of the year, you've got to get that cash back because when times are slow in January and items aren't moving as quickly, this is when you need to start saving money, not only for payroll that might become a little bit tighter in the month, but time for you to start saving capital for inventory investment. When it comes to shows like Magic in February or any of the Dallas and Atlanta shows that are taking place in January, February, March and April. So start playing it smart in the next two weeks so that you're getting your money out of your inventory and you're planning ahead for what's about to happen in 2019. All right, so the other thing besides moving out your inventory in the next two weeks that I really want to talk to you about is something that's a little bit more personal. You know, we all think about the holidays as the hustle and bustle of the holidays, right? It's such a crazy time of year, so it may seem a little bit counterintuitive for me to give you this next tip, but pretty basic, and that is to make sure that you slow down enough in the next two weeks to really take Time for your why slow down? To breathe and enjoy the Reason for the Season. Now, I know that we're all flush with USPS hatred at the moment because of our packages being lost God knows where across the United States. And I know that we struggle sometimes with the holidays, be it memories that make us sad. Sometimes we've lost loved ones over the holidays and it's hard to face the holidays without them. And there's also, you know, the family that we don't always choose to hang out with over the holidays. I mean, we're being real here, right? And the heightened tension that so many people can feel this time of year just because of all the things on our to do list, all the Christmas concerts, all the cookie making, all of the pressures to get it right this time of year. But guys, I know and I know that you know that those aren't the things that are really important. Those aren't the things that matter at the end of the day. What matters right now is that you guys take time for you. You take time for you and your family because those are the memories that you want to hold onto. You know, when you look back five years from now, it's not the gross sales that you're going to remember in your business and how you killed it on those CC beanies in 2018, but it's the memories that you create with your loved ones that you're going to matter and remember the most. So make sure that you're making time to slow down and enjoy the real reason that we're all celebrating the holidays in the first place. And as you pause, it's also a great time to really start thinking about your vision for the next year, your higher vision for why you're in business in the first place. You know, just as January can be a slow month, it's time for you to use that month as an opportunity, right? It's the month where you save your cash and you use that opportunity to invest back in yourself and in your business so that you can set up success for the new year. Because let's be honest, if you were running like you are at the holidays all year long, you would be faced with some immense burnout. And I don't know that your business would really have the opportunity to grow and flourish because you wouldn't have time to truly work on your business. Because right now in the holidays, you're so busy working in your business. So start thinking about setting that vision of what you want your business to be in its greatest form of itself in 2019 and beyond. Now, two tools that I want to give you for this opportunity and two that I love doing personally and actually some things that Eric and I like to do as a couple as well. The first is journaling about the following questions that I'm going to ask you. Really sitting down in some good old silent time, if you can find any, this time of year, and journaling about what it is that you're hoping to accomplish. What really is the bigger vision for your business, for your family and the life that you want to live. And then after we journal, then it's time for step two, and that is going on and creating a vision board for what we want 2019 to look look like. Now, I usually update my vision board two times a year. Well, actually, I should say anytime something new pops up that I find to be really important or a reminder or a quote or saying that's of meaning and of value to me, I'll add it to my board. But only twice a year will I sit down and like, rip everything off my vision board and repin it on there. Because I want to make sure I'm starting the year fresh with intention and intention that I want for the entire business and for our entire family for the next year ahead. And then that vision board sits in my office each and every day so I can see it and constantly be reminded of really what is the calling that we're after. And it's not just material things that you're putting on your vision board. Because business isn't about material things, guys. Vision is about your greater purpose in life. So let me give you a couple of things to think about that you can both journal about and create a vision board about as you come into the new year. All right, let's start here. Number one is what is the way that you want to feel at the end of every day? What is the way that you want to feel at the end of every day? Now, for someone, I'm going to give you an example. This is my example in the last year more than ever. I don't know why, but at night, I struggle with anxiety. At night, I'll wake up in the middle of the night and I'll feel like my heart's racing, like I'm going to have a heart attack. And it's just the random, like, fears in the back of your head that pop up and haunt Me in the middle of the night. And so for me, in 2019, being able to end the day with ease and joy and grace and a sense of calm and peace, those are all words that are really, really strong and meaningful for me. So they're words that will go on my vision board. So for you, again, what's the way that you want to feel at the end of the day? Number two, what's the way that you want to make other people feel when they're with you? Now, this could be your family, your spouse, your kids, could be your staff, and it could be your customers. It could be the community around you. How do you want other people to feel? And I think that this question is important not just as a daily reminder on our vision board, but it also translates into our social media for the next year. Something that I think so many business owners have really taken a hold of, and something we've talked a lot about in the last couple of years is being authentic on social media. And when you're on social media as a business, you're not just sharing the new arrivals from your boutique or the way in which people can do business with you, but you're really trying to motivate them and inspire them around a thought or relate with them on some type of common theme. Right? Build a relationship with your community. And I think when you have really been intentional about how you want to make other people feel, it becomes so much easier to create that type of content for social media and easily build a relationship with the people who are following you. All right, question number three. What is the legacy that we hope to build? Right? I asked this question at the end of almost every podcast that we have, and that is, you know, 20, 30 years from now, when the business is gone and you're sitting on the front porch of your steps with your grandbabies in your lap, and you're telling them about this life that you led and the experiences you had in the business that you built. What is the legacy that you hope to leave behind? How do you want other people to remember what it is that you built? And now I know for each of you listening, that's going to mean so many different things. You know, I know some of you have some major huge visions and you want to touch so many lives and impact so many people. And some of you, I would say that I know my husband doesn't listen to this podcast, so I can tell you this, but I know for him, it's not about impacting millions of lives as so much as it is really having meaningful impact in maybe more of a handful of lives, really. It's not about being on a big stage or having so many people know what his mission was, but really having the deepest, most faithful impact on those who are closest to him. So it's okay no matter what the legacy is that you wish to build. I just really think it's important that you identify it and you become really intentional about it so that you can start to take the right daily steps toward leaving that legacy. All right, question number four. What are the financial goals that we have? Because let's be honest, you're building a business, and if your business doesn't have money, at the end of the day, you don't have a business. And for a lot of you, if you have a goal to leave a legacy behind you and impact thousands or millions of people, you have to have a vehicle to get there. And for a lot of you, that's a business, and that's the way I look at the Boutique Hub. The Boutique Hub has to be a sound business model so that we can have the impact that we hope to leave on other people for many years to come. Right? So again, I'll go back to this without going down too much of a rabbit hole, but everyone has a really unique money mindset, and money mindset is something that's been so fascinating to me over the past couple of years because I've seen mine dramatically shift. I came from a place where rich people were viewed as negative, right? If you were rich, you couldn't be a good person if you had money. Money is the root of all evil. I could name you a bunch of Bible verses that would go along with that. I had a poor view of what it meant to have a financially successful business. And thank goodness I met so many great people who helped me shift that along the way and helped me really understand the truth about money, which is that money is amoral, meaning money is neither good nor evil. Money is a reflection of your character, and it's what you choose to do with it that matters the most at the end of the day. That's why I think really identifying your business goals and your financial goals is so important, because money is, let's say, like a brick. It's just an object. You could use that brick, that illusion of an object, to throw it through someone's window and vandalize a property and cause a lot of harm to people. Or you could choose to take that brick and you could build a beautiful cathedral with it. Right? You could build Something so meaningful and long lasting to so many people around you. But the choice is yours, and it's a reflection of who you are on the inside. So if you think, oh, money is not that important to my business, I invite you to think again. Because I think having a successful business brings you a lot of opportunity to spread so much good in our world. Question number five. What family goals do you have? You know, someone once said to me, ashley, you sure have a lot of work trips planned in the next year, which we do. But where's your family trips? Because if you don't schedule them right now, six months in advance, just like you would your work trips, they won't happen. And this really made me take a step back and go, wow, that's right. You know, sometimes we can be so intentional about setting goals for our business that we aren't as intentional about setting goals for our family. And so I invite you to really think about what's the experience that you hope your family shares in with you this year? Is it a trip that you want to go on? Is it a simple experience you want to have together? Is it goals for your kids around their schoolwork or reading or a sport that they're a part of, or the way that you want them to interact with you, your spouse, and their other siblings? I think it's time that we just take a step back and we be more intentional about all aspects of our life and not just our businesses. All right, final question. What are the experiences that you wish to have this year? And now this is where I would say you can be a little more selfish about. You know, you're working awfully hard at your business and all these aspects of your life. But what's important for you to experience? Is it a trip that you wish to go on with your spouse? Is it a car that you've been saving for? Is it a big milestone in your business, like winning the Boutique Awards or something along those lines? What is it that you really hope to accomplish in the next year for yourself or for your business or for those around you? And cut out a picture of it and put it up on the vision board. All right, those are the questions I want you to start journaling about and then finally take action by putting them up on your vision board once you do. Let me take this exercise one step further. The next step I would invite you to think about both in journaling and on your vision board is asking yourself about your top initiatives for the next year. You know, how some people create a word of the Year, like, you know, my word this year would be calm, or, I mean, it should be calm. It's not. It should be whatever your word, quote unquote, might be. To me, I think about it in terms of the boutique Hub. We look at it as, what's our top three initiatives for the year now for us in 2018? And if you watched what's happened to the boutique hub in the last year, I think you'd agree it kind of took off like a wildfire, in a sense. And we started the year with three people on our team and ended the year with, I think, 14 on our team, which is pretty remarkable. So our initiatives for 2018 at the boutique hub were how do we really create strong processes and onboarding and delivery to our community and really remain consistent in building a business and a foundation of a business that's going to be there for a very, very long time? I think businesses as a whole, whether it's retail, the boutique of any business, you name it, business is all about this one simple philosophy. Okay, you ready for this? This is like an Ashley Alderson ism that I made up. And it is. It's all about floating your boat. It is about floating your boat. Because we all start building a business like we build a boat, we have to build the frame of the boat. And the entire purpose when we first build that boat is to see if it will float, right? I mean, our boat could float, but it then could start to take on some water. So we have to find out where's the leaks in the boat so we can seal them up, patch them up, and really start to turn that boat into something very solid that's now going to turn into a speedboat or a sailboat or a cruise liner, you name it. But it all has to start with getting that boat to float. So in 2018, it was all about shoring up the business and really preparing it for what's to come in the future. Because you have to have all those little holes patched and everything sealed up and ready to go before you can lift your sales, Right. Or before you can turn the motor on and really excel that business forward. So that was our 2018, where 2019 for us is going to look more like, how do we put the sales on and create an even better experience, build off of what's already been built for our members, Right? And our team is finally on board enough that they know how we operate and how systems work, and we can start to move forward without so much onboarding. So I invite you to Think about what does that mean for your business? What are your top three initiatives and where's your boat at in the process? Are you still shoring up little patches or are you simply trying to get that boat to float, or are you ready to put up that sail or turn on the engine and really propel that boat forward in the next year? Break that down into the top three initiatives that you have for the year. And this I want to be really straightforward with you. This is not just for you to think about. This is for you to think about and then you to bring back to your entire team so that they all are on the same page and they know as a whole, this is what we're working on for the entire year. And then if you operate with having team meetings every single week, you and your team can review. Where are we at with achieving these top three initiatives for our year? And as we're priority prioritizing all the big rocks and the busy work that lands on our to do lists, it's easier for us to prioritize knowing how close is this going to get us to achieving our overall initiative for the year. Make sense? All right, guys, so a couple of the things that I want to share with you, kind of a little Preview coming into 2019 about the boutique hub, have to do with our initiative. And because this is the last episode of 2018, I mean, I got to let you in on some secrets, right? And I've got a big one that's coming at the end of this episode. So don't go away. There's a big reveal that's coming, but let me start here. Launching in 2019, we're going to be bringing back something that we had so much feedback from you guys on for the past couple of years. And that is our 2019 best year yet Challenge. Each year we have started the new year with a best Year yet challenge, which is usually a four to six week process of planning, vision, setting, bringing in guest experts and the latest strategies on what is working right now in business. But it's also about accountability. To start the year off right now, I told you at the beginning of the episode that psychology, this time of year is crucial. And the way that you hold yourself accountable to whatever the initiatives are and the goals that you set and the New Year's resolutions you create for 2019 is going to be really, really important. If you're like me and you try to give up Oreos and you fail after 24 hours, you aren't going to feel very good about yourself. But if you do go after giving up Oreos, God bless you, by the way, and you're successful for several weeks on end, you're going to feel a whole lot better about yourself and it's going to spend spur you on to try another thing and another thing and to take more action on your bigger health vision. All right, so your business is the same way. If you're a member of the Boutique Hub and you're listening, I really want to invite you to start marking off time on your calendar starting the first week in January to join us for the Best Here yet series and be accountable to go through these really short quick exercises each week to keep you on track to start 2019 strong. Now I will tell you we're teaming up with several guests and each week we're going to bring you a bundle of checklists, videos and worksheets to keep it really simple for you to take action. I'm also going to be teaming up with some of my favorite brands and vendors from the Boutique Hub to do some giveaways to make it fun for you along the way and reward you for taking that action on building your highest version of yourself and your business. And I'll tell you, we're also going to be rolling out some pretty awesome new member benefits in January that have been a lot long time coming from insurance policies for all of our members, their staff and their families. That's a big deal. To major offers and perks from international companies that you see often like Hertz Rent a Car and Office Depot and QuickBooks and comments sold. Some are already in place and some are going to be brand new in January. So if you're a member of the Hub, January, you guys is going to be epic. And if you're not yet a member of the Hub, I just want to personally take this time to invite you. I don't think I do that often on the show, so I want to let you know that membership to the Hub is less than about 80 cents a day if you're a boutique owner, which considering what's included, that's pretty epic. And the price is likely going to be changing in 2019 because of all of the new value that's going to be offered each and every month as we go out the new year. So guys, I just want you to know this. Thank you so much for listening to this season of Boutique Chat. I hope you know if you have been a member or if you've met me in person or met Eric, my husband, in person. I truly hope you know that you are the most important thing to us. So hearing your feedback and building a community around your needs is what we are always focused on. Making sure that we impact your life and your business, your team, your staff, your family, and therefore your community. That is what the Boutique Hub is all about. So, guys, you've made it to the very end of the last episode in season one. So are you ready for a surprise? I mean, we've got to reward you for listening this far, right? So as we plan for all the good things 2019 has in store, one question that we have constantly been asked lately is about the retail industry's biggest event of the year, and that is the Boutique Summit. Okay, so last year it was our second annual event held in Dallas, and we sold out 570 spaces for retailers around the world to attend in just 30 hours. In just 30 hours, the event was sold out and there was a massive waiting list. So this year we knew we had to change some things up so more of you could have the opportunity to attend. So the big announcement I want to share is, guys, this year we are moving the Boutique Summit to a new location with some new faces and some more space. So I'm inviting you to join us June 9th through the 11th, June 9th through the 11th in Atlanta, Georgia, for America's Mart and the third annual boutique summit. Enter CHEERING AND CLAPPING Just kidding, guys. We're going to be back with more space, which is going to include over 40 speakers from the best in our industry and leaders of all aspects of retail, e commerce, marketing, apparel, manufacturing, social media, paid advertising, you name it. It is going to be epic and be the biggest and best one yet. So I'm inviting you to mark those dates down and plan to join us because this is one event that you cannot miss. June 9th through 11th in Atlanta, guys, I can't wait to see you there. All the details on speakers and tickets and all the things that you're going to need to know are going to be coming at the end of February. So you can definitely stay tuned to hear more. So, guys, thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for listening to season one of Boutique Chat. I can't believe, can't believe. We are almost done with the season. We are going to be back in January to kick off season number two. So thank you for making this possible. Over 100,000 downloads of these episodes, you guys. Holy smokes. Thank you for making this possible. Thank you for being here and thanks for playing along each and every week messaging me over on Instagram. AJ Alderson and and letting me know what you're doing while you're listening to the show. It has meant the world to me to get to know so many of you along the way. So in the next couple of weeks that we take off, I really want to wish you and your family the happiest of holidays, the merriest of Christmases, and don't be a stranger. Message me anytime inside of the Boutique Hub if you're a member or chat with me over on Instagram @ajalderson. You guys, thank you so much for creating a true community in our industry and and making the biggest movement in retail. I am so humbled to be here with you each and every week.

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