Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. By now, these three days have been drilled into the minds of both business owners and consumers as the time of year to sell and buy.As a business owner watching aaallll the other businesses advertising their Black Friday and pre-Black Friday sales, the thought of not following suit can trigger FOMO. But do you really need to run a Black Friday sale for your business?
Use the following questions to evaluate whether a Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and/or Cyber Monday is right for your business:Are you a business-to-consumer or business-to-business model? If you are a B2C, running holiday-based sales are almost a no brainer. For B2B models, it depends on your target audience and whether they look to make business purchases at this time of year. If you ran a past Black Friday sale, did the revenue generated account for more than 20% of your previous year’s sales? If not and you’re confident you ran a strong promotional campaign and you dread going through the process again, you could consider skipping it this year. Then, evaluate how that decision impacted your business and how it supported you as a business owner.
Do you have inventory or digital products already on hand? If your answer is yes, a Black Friday sale is an excellent way to move inventory and sell more of your digital products. The best part is they are all ready to go! This gives you more time to focus on the promotions and fulfilling the sales.
Do you have the time and capacity to give a Black Friday sale your full attention? It takes time and energy to run any promotion in your business. The time and energy you spend in one area cannot be used elsewhere. Therefore, consider the time and energy cost of running a Black Friday sale to your bigger business picture. If there are other revenue-generating activities that contribute more significantly to your bottom line, a Black Friday sale might not be worth it. The exception is if you have a team in place specifically to help you promote your business.
What is your motivation for running a Black Friday sale? If it’s merely from a place of FOMO or you think you “should,” the work involved in a well-run Black Friday sale might not be worth it. If, however, you want to boost your brand awareness, move inventory, or get your sales funnel in place if you are a newer business, then you most likely will find running a Black Friday sale is worth it.
How do you want to spend the holiday weekend? Most entrepreneurs start their business to have more quality time with their family. If you run a Black Friday sale, even if it is largely automated, you still need to plan for tech issues and buyer questions that may come in during the sale. Therefore, consider whether that potential distraction is worth it if you plan on celebrating the American Thanksgiving holiday. Hiring help from individuals who don’t celebrate the holiday is an option and can drastically reduce potential interruptions or distractions that weekend.
How is the Lord leading you on this one? As a Christian business owner, this is the most important question to consider. Sometimes, He will leave that decision entirely in your hands. However, because He can see your future and is more concerned with growing you spiritually than growing your bottom line, there may be seasons where He nudges you strongly one way or the other.
Did the above questions help settle the Black Friday sale question for you? Share if you’re planning to run one or will sit out Black Friday this year.
PS
If you feel like you’re constantly on a hamster wheel to try and grow your business and want off…and you want to grow in your confidence in discerning the Lord’s direction for your business all year, it might be time for a business detox. Check that out here.
