Setting Yourself Up For Success In The New Year

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. Hey, guys, it's you and me today for a short podcast, but hopefully an effective one because I know this time of year you're busy, you're hustling, you're trying to get in all of those last minute sales to meet all of your sales goals. And I hope they all do come true. But more than that, more than just finishing the year out strong in terms of selling, I want to make sure that you finish the year out strong in terms of your business. Because there's a few things you really should be thinking about at the end of the year before we turn over that January 1st calendar to make sure your business is set up for success and that your financials are set up for success as well. Because when we come into the new year, I know for me, when I come into the new year, I want a fresh calendar, I want a fresh day planner, I want everything in my workspace clean. I want to feel like I'm going to be on the right track. Suddenly my handwriting goes from that of a 12 year old boy to, I don't know, a grown woman for at least a month or maybe a couple of weeks. Right? We all try to start that new year out on the right foot. But so in order to do that, we have to finish this year strong. So today I'm gonna give you a couple of quick tips to finish your year strong. And then I'm gonna talk about how you and I can ring in the new year together during my favorite time of year. And that is our best year yet. Challenge. I'll get that linked up for you in the show notes and I'll tell you more about it in just a little bit. But if you have a pen and paper, grab some notes, make a mental note, make some notes on your phone wherever you are listening to this podcast or whatever it is that you're doing while you listen to Time to remember these quick tips. All right, you ready? Okay. First tip is this. This time of year, as you are selling down your inventory to one of the lowest points it's going to be at during the year, you're going to want to make sure that you're taking an actual physical inventory count, whether that's in your store or at the warehouse or wherever your inventory resides. Now, depending on what type of business you are, whether you are a Shopify business or a comment Sold business, you or you've got a huge mega warehouse or it's simply the spare bedroom in your home, it doesn't matter. It's really important when your inventory is at its lowest point to physically count what's there. Because we all know how easy it is for there quickly to be a discrepancy in Shopify or in our integration with comments sold or even with theft that happens during the holiday season. Whether we like it or not, it's a fact of life. So typically stores will take inventory at the lowest points of the year, which typically come in January and June. The larger you get, you're probably going to want to take inventory at least quarterly. Or as we were just talking about this in our Mastermind group for some of the largest stores inside the boutique hub, we talked about the strategy of taking inventory anytime a bin gets low, meaning if you have a particular SKU that's just down to a couple, you kind of set up a rolling inventory process so you're constantly monitoring and checking off. So at about at a quarterly flow, everything in the warehouse has been re inventoried. There's no better way than to start the year knowing exactly what you have on the books. And on top of that, that's going to give you a really good indication what you need to start marking down as you move into the new year. Now, hopefully, as you look back at the last year, if you've been listening to this podcast for a while, or if you've been a member of the Hub, or if you've been in retail boot camp for a while, you know that I'm big on making sure you're maintaining your margins so that you can actually pay yourself. At the end of the day, there's nothing worse than hustling and struggling throughout the holiday season and just wanting to enjoy the holiday season for yourself and thinking that you're making all of these great sales. But once you pay your expenses and you pay your team, you realize there just isn't enough left for you. That's the last thing I want for you. Because the whole reason the Hub exists is to help you become successful in your business, but also you to become successful in your personal life. Because life is about more than just us selling trinkets, right? So as you're finishing the end of the year strong, I really want you to think about that inventory and think about, all right, how much did I sell versus how many discounts did I have to take to get there? So as you're setting up inventory for the coming new year, you can look back and say, all right, here's what I've got and here's how old it is and here's the sizes that I'm overrun in. Where do I literally need to blow out my inventory, take everything, get rid of it and start fresh? But where do I still have diamonds hiding in the rough? Where's the inventory that I maybe could shoot, reshoot, restyle and repost? Or the inventory that I posted, but it just didn't go out enough? Right. The average consumer needs to see something seven times before taking action. And if this particular piece that you thought was going to be a hot seller got posted once on a random Tuesday, there's no wonder why it didn't move. So when we look at that inventory, we can ask ourselves a couple of questions about what worked, what didn't, and what would I do different? And maybe one of the things you're going to do different is just re strategize how you're going to launch those pieces on social media. Making sure that each piece gets enough looks across all social media channels. That's probably a topic for another day, but, but definitely something we are going to be talking about when it comes to our best year yet challenge. January 3rd, 4th and 5th, we're going to map out an entire year of content together and we're going to keep that in mind, making sure that each piece that you have has been seen enough times for your consumer to actually take action on it. All right, so that was tip number one. Making sure you're taking inventory this time of year or right after the new year. Now, the second end of your tip I want to hit on this is also critically important. You know, a while back I heard someone say, this is a mentor of mine, say once you start to make money in business, the real challenge becomes trying to figure out how to keep it. Boy, is that true. I feel like that's my husband's role on a daily basis, right? You can build a business that can earn a great lifestyle, great income for you and your family. But. But then these things start to come out of the woodworks, including old Uncle Sam trying to get some of those hard earned dollars put in their pocket. So part of the strategy at the end of the year is making sure that you have really set your year up for success with end of year tax planning strategies. Now, step number one in this whole conversation about tax planning really comes down to your accountant. And you may need to have like a gut check conversation with yourself about who your accountant is. So we've gone through a number of accountants in our personal life for this reason. There's the type of accountant that simply files your taxes and for all purposes, I would say go to H and R Block or whatever, Betty sue down the street, anyone can file your taxes. That's really not that hard. What's most important, however, is that you have an accountant that acts more like a coach, somebody who can look at your numbers, talk about your personal goals, look at what you're planning to do in the coming year, and help you create a strategy for your business. Now, our accountant we meet with a couple times a year, but coming toward the end of the year, we're always meeting toward the end of October, beginning of November, making sure we're on the same page with, all right, here's what we're projected to do this year. Here's what our plans are toward the end of the year, here's where inventory may be ending up, here's additional expenses that might be popping up, and we have a conversation so we can create a strategy so that that taxable income or that loss is minimized or maximized, depending on how you want to look at it. So a couple of key places where when you're working with your accountant, you can really think about creating these tax efficiencies. So first is obviously making sure if you've got mileage included, that you're monitoring that, and there's some great apps out there to help you monitor your mileage, or if you want to just create a spreadsheet where you're monitoring all of the miles that you're taking that are business related each and every year. Now, I would also suggest thinking about your IRA contributions at the end of the year. There's some limits and some opportunities, but you definitely can be putting some funds aside in IRAs, depending on your income level, that can be saved for future generations. I would also think about what buying opportunities you have this time of year. If you have some cash, extra cash, and you want to minimize that extra cash by investing in supplies for the year ahead. If you find something where you can get a year end closeout and buy in bulk to get better pricing and use up some of that cash for a supply that you know you're going to need in the New year a lot of times this is a really great time to do that. I would also think about if you have a team and you're going to be offering any kind of bonuses that that definitely come before the end of the year so that it lands on this year's books. If you are cash heavy in your business, a few other things you might think about are thinking about what other capital improvements you need to make to property or maybe it's technology or tools that you need to invest in something that's going to grow as an asset in your business that you can invest in now with that cash. And depending on what that asset might be, it may have a favorable deduction schedule for you and your taxable income. Now, let's say this year hasn't been your best year yet and you are not making the income that you projected. So you're likely paying quarterly tax tax estimates throughout the year. So meeting with your accountant this time of year is going to tell you, do I need to make that fourth quarter quarterly payment or how is my first quarter payment for 2023 going to change based on my projections that I have right now? All very important conversations to have and one last one I'll throw in. This is the cherry on top. This is a big one. And this is a conversation again we want to have during the best year yet challenge. Also, this is a conversation we have in retail boot camp and this is a conversation we have in our and that is when you do have some taxable income that you're able to set aside. How can you create new revenue streams for your family based on that revenue? What I mean by this is, is this, you've got your boutique, right? And you're selling products and you're making an income. If there's enough income, you can take that revenue and invest it in something else, like property. Let's say that you can create a second LLC for and then one property can work renting property to the second. What I mean by that is this. At the Boutique Hub, we have a commercial property that we're able to own but lease back to our business as office space, right? So we own two different llc. One rents from the other and it creates a tax efficiency for both of our businesses. So think about is there other property that you could invest in or ways that one LLC could maximize and leverage the other? If you're looking for a resource on this topic, I would highly suggest two books. The first is Money Master the Game and the second is Unshakable, Both by Tony Robbins they're personally books that my husband, I feel like went down this rabbit hole on that's led him to every podcast under the sun and different ways of thinking about gaining tax efficiencies in our businesses and in our lives, but also thinking about long term estate planning. Because the tax efficiency conversation we're having be a conversation that's going to set you up for tomorrow. And honestly guys, I don't care how old you are, this is a conversation we all need to have and that is what is going to set us up for tomorrow in terms of estate planning. I'll tell you this just a little behind the scenes conversation from me, your friend Ashley. I grew up on a ranch in North Dakota and if there's anything that my family and my friends in agriculture know is that planning for the next generation sometimes is hard, right? It's like a, it's a pride thing and it's just hard, right? And so most families don't get this right from the get go. It takes a little pushing. And so in our own lives, just talking about estate planning and you know, transfers of property became a really sticky subject really fast. And I know for many family owned businesses this is the case. So I encourage you, if that is you with multi generational family owned businesses or maybe you and your spouse have multiple businesses, please take the weight off of someone else's shoulders by you doing your due diligence to think about generational businesses and setting your estate up right from the start. You don't have to have a lot of anything. You don't have to have a lot of property or a lot of money or a lot of anything to simply get started. And this goes far beyond just creating a will, this is creating an estate plan. So talk to your accountant, get familiar with those books that I mentioned and start having this conversation now. Because sometimes you wait a little too long and things get a little too hairy. So Godspeed. All right, next tip I want to give you guys today is of course it's the end of the year, it goes without saying. But for those of you who are new to having having employees, you may not know this. This is the time of year where you need to make sure you your double driver. I can't even talk today where your W2 are filled out so those on your payroll can get those W2s and turn them in for their own tax planning purposes. But also anyone that you pay over $600 in the year needs to be issued at 1099. So go through with your accountant review where you've spent over $600 outside of those on your payroll, so you can get those 1099 issued. All right. Two more tips I want to give you for end of the year planning. And this is a big one for those of you who have employees, employee appreciation, right. There's nothing like the end of the year to look back and to say thank you. Now this looks different for every business. It can be small, large, grand, medium, mediocre and everything in between. But I would suggest a couple things. If there's some sort of gift or bonus or feel good, thank you for the year that you get that done before the end of the year is over or if you're going to plan a party or celebration or even for us, because our company's all remote, we do a zoom celebratory party and we do a gift exchange. We use the app called Elfster, if you're familiar with that. And we draw names and everyone gives each other a gift. I believe our limit is $40, something like that. But it's a feel good way to go around. We talk about our favorite memories from the last year, our favorite projects that we've worked on together, and we celebrate the goals and success that we've all shared in the last year. That also for many of you can lead into vision board plan and just some experience planning that you want to set the tone and excitement for when you look forward into what's going to come in the new year. Last tip I want to give you guys today is this. And this plays directly into what we're going to be doing together the first week in January during the best year yet challenge. And that is this end of year review. And when I think about an end of year review, I think about three main questions. The first question is what worked? The second question, what didn't work? And the third question, what am I going to do about it going forward? And this isn't just a question you ask in general. I would take these three questions and I would break them down like this. What worked, what didn't work and what am I going to do about it? With my marketing, with my inventory planning, with the brands that I carry, with my brand specifically, with my team specifically, with my health specifically. Right. And with my overall well being or my family specifically, what worked, what didn't and what am I going to do about it in the new year when you can really take an inventory because I firmly believe you can't go forward without first looking back. So when you firmly take an inventory of what happened in the last year. Now you can start to make a lot smarter goals going forward. Those of you, I'll just give you this tip. Those of you who have the Boutique Boss Planner, I know many of you do, if you at least fill out the month in review. It's my favorite part of the planner. If you at least do that, you can look back because we ask you all these questions every single month in the planner. You can fill out and look at what worked with my team, what worked with the promotions I ran, what worked with the brands I carried, what was happening with the weather at that time, how was my inventory at that time. We've got your stats and your inventory and your financials all in that one place. So as you're sitting down in December and you're mapping out the next year, you can quickly flip through your planner and say, oh, my gosh, I totally forgot about that back in February of last year, right? Because this last year, you guys, has this last year for you been a blur? It's been a total blur for me, is gone so fast. And this year has been a heck of a roller coaster, I know, for many of you. So it feels the same for me. So what worked? What didn't? What am I going to do about it? In each of these areas of your life and business, and then from that foundation, we can springboard and we can start to create smart goals and plans and accountability and scorecards for the year ahead. So those were just a couple of quick tips this week, you guys, to make sure you finish the year strong. And I am rooting for you. I hope you have some wonderful time off during the holidays in there just to sit, reflect and be. And here's the biggest change I look to come in the new year. It's this. We all inside of the Boutique Hub, right? All the members inside the Boutique Hub. Every day, our focus is how can we grow your business. But beyond that, it's not just about growing your business. It's about living your life with intention and peace and with full heart. Right? And so as we go forward in the new year, that's really where I want to start. It's not just about being successful at business, it's being successful at home. Right? And internally as well. And so we're going to focus on that. We're going to continue to provide content like that for our members, but also for you listening on the podcast, right? Anyone who comes in contact with us at the hub, that's going to be our intention in the new year. So I want to make sure you guys please click on the show notes for today or head over to Instagram because we've got these links plastered all over. But I want to invite you January 3rd, 4th and 5th because we're going to talk more about all of this, plus our best lessons learned from 2022 and our biggest predictions for what's going to be happening inside of 2023. Then we're going to map out an entire year of content for your business together. And we're going to talk about mapping out your inventory for the New year together. So we've got three big days, three big trainings. It's totally free. I hope you guys can join me because it's just one of my favorite times a year. So crack out that new planner, enjoy the smell of fresh paper, write your name in it not like a 12 year old boy, but like a grown adult and let's kick off this new year together. Sound good you guys? As always, thanks for listening to the podcast and being with me this week. Please take a screenshot wherever you're at. Let me know what you do while you listen. Shoot it to me over on Instagram. It's AJ Alderson and if you're so inclined, I would just be so grateful if you'd also leave a quick review for this podcast. Helps me know what's working so we can plan more great episodes in our next season that's going to be launching in January. You guys have a great rest of your day. I will see you soon. I'll see you on the Best Year Yet Challenge and I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. Hey guys, thank you so much for listening to this episode. We hope that you loved it. Don't forget to hit subscribe and subscribe. Leave a rating and review down below for a chance to be one of our featured listeners each and every week. For more information on our spirit of community over competition and how to access complete show notes and bonus downloads from our guests, head on over to the boutiquehub.com and join the community. We'll see you next week. Sam.