Gift biz unwrapped episode 243 the first mistake that I definitely
Speaker:see is this fear of inventory and understanding it.
Speaker:Attention gifters,
Speaker:bakers, crafters,
Speaker:and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.
Speaker:Whether you have an established business or looking to start one
Speaker:now you are in the right place.
Speaker:This is gift to biz unwrapped,
Speaker:helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.
Speaker:Join us for an episode packed full of invaluable guidance,
Speaker:resources, and the support you need to grow your gift biz.
Speaker:Here is your host gift biz gal,
Speaker:Sue moon Heights.
Speaker:Hi there,
Speaker:it's Sue and thanks for Joining me here today.
Speaker:Before we get into the show,
Speaker:I have a question for you.
Speaker:How'd your day go yesterday?
Speaker:Maybe a crazy question.
Speaker:I know and yes,
Speaker:you heard me right?
Speaker:If you were to rate yesterday,
Speaker:how much did you get done?
Speaker:How far did you advance toward your goal or maybe in
Speaker:your mind you're saying what goal?
Speaker:Many of you have told me you aren't sure whether what
Speaker:you're doing is the right thing for your business.
Speaker:You're confused that you may be focusing on the wrong things
Speaker:and wasting time and money and you compare yourself to others
Speaker:and feel like you're just not keeping up.
Speaker:Sound familiar?
Speaker:Maybe you find that you're busy all day long,
Speaker:but when you finish up,
Speaker:you haven't accomplished much of anything at all.
Speaker:I've been there too until I started working with what I
Speaker:now call the power of purpose.
Speaker:I made a free video for you that explains how to
Speaker:boost your productivity and get results using the power of your
Speaker:purpose. Isn't it time to make all the effort that you
Speaker:put into your business and your life do for you what
Speaker:you've intended.
Speaker:Now full disclosure,
Speaker:this video does lead into showing you my brand new inspired
Speaker:daily planner.
Speaker:But listen,
Speaker:you don't need the inspired planner to get all the advantages
Speaker:out of the power of purpose that I show you in
Speaker:this video.
Speaker:So if you're interested in discovering a new way to work
Speaker:through your days,
Speaker:so your time is intentional and your results are real,
Speaker:I encourage you to go over and watch this video and
Speaker:you can find it.
Speaker:It, gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com forward slash planner.
Speaker:That's gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com forward slash planner and as a little bit of an
Speaker:extra special announcement.
Speaker:My favorite thing about the inspired planner are the daily bite-sized
Speaker:bits of information that either remind you of a best business
Speaker:practice or share a motivational quote.
Speaker:They sit right in each daily section,
Speaker:so seven days a week,
Speaker:our new tip on how you can grow your business.
Speaker:This is the very planner that I use every day.
Speaker:People ask me all the time,
Speaker:how do I get so much done from a weekly podcast
Speaker:to weekly mastermind calls,
Speaker:writing a book,
Speaker:traveling, exhibiting,
Speaker:and speaking at shows.
Speaker:It gets done because of this planner and the system that
Speaker:I've created.
Speaker:There is nothing else out there like it.
Speaker:So if you haven't,
Speaker:I really do encourage you to check it out.
Speaker:Plus, and this is the special announcement part of this is
Speaker:it makes a great Christmas gift too,
Speaker:and speaking of Christmas with Thanksgiving now behind us,
Speaker:we are in full swing for holiday sales and this is
Speaker:one of those years where we lose a week.
Speaker:Christmas is only four weeks away.
Speaker:You guys,
Speaker:one week less than you'd normally have to bring in sales
Speaker:and go through your holiday themed inventory.
Speaker:Our show today gives you ideas on how to manage through
Speaker:getting the most out of your holiday items as possible.
Speaker:That includes what to do with inventory in January that didn't
Speaker:sell. Some of the ideas really surprised me and I like
Speaker:them. I think you will too.
Speaker:Let's get right to it Today.
Speaker:It is my pleasure to introduce you to Alicia Galodie.
Speaker:Alicia is an eCommerce business strategist.
Speaker:She helps physical product sellers increase their revenue,
Speaker:improve profit margins,
Speaker:and bring home more cash while creating a sustainable business.
Speaker:After six years in the manufacturing and packaging industry,
Speaker:Alicia has learned a thing or two about how to work
Speaker:with international and domestic vendors,
Speaker:make strategic production plans,
Speaker:analyze trends,
Speaker:and utilize marketing strategies.
Speaker:This is what she brings to assist product based businesses.
Speaker:Alicia lives in North Carolina with her fellow nerd husband.
Speaker:Her words,
Speaker:not mine,
Speaker:two wild boys and a rescue dog.
Speaker:She also loves all things savory,
Speaker:so Q,
Speaker:the lasagna and the glass of cab.
Speaker:Alicia, you're right up my alley.
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:Welcome to the gift biz on rep podcast.
Speaker:Yes. Thank you so much for having me,
Speaker:so I really appreciate it.
Speaker:I am really excited to get into the conversation.
Speaker:I'm not going to share with the listeners yet what we're
Speaker:going to be talking about,
Speaker:but it is so timely and relevant.
Speaker:Before we dig in though,
Speaker:I would like for you to share with us a little
Speaker:bit something creative,
Speaker:which would be what a motivational candle would look like that
Speaker:resonates with you.
Speaker:So if you were to tell us a color and a
Speaker:quote on a candle that speaks all you,
Speaker:Alicia, what would the candle look like?
Speaker:So for color,
Speaker:I was thinking like an ivory or a cream because I
Speaker:am all about being able to be multifaceted and fit anywhere
Speaker:in the house.
Speaker:Just make things work as long as it can be like
Speaker:functional, but it can be in the bathroom or it can
Speaker:move to the kitchen wherever you need it to be.
Speaker:That's where it can be.
Speaker:So I was thinking like an ivory cream cause it goes
Speaker:with anything.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:Okay. And what about a quote or a saying or mantra,
Speaker:something like that?
Speaker:Yeah, so I would say something like,
Speaker:so Mark is a really,
Speaker:is one of my favorite kind of like inspirational,
Speaker:motivational quote or people.
Speaker:And he says this thing that I have everywhere,
Speaker:I have it on my desktop,
Speaker:I have it on little sticky notes everywhere.
Speaker:And this is very little is needed to make a happy
Speaker:life. It is all within yourself in your way of thinking.
Speaker:And that resonates so much with me because I didn't really
Speaker:grow up in the best home situation and the cards were
Speaker:always against me.
Speaker:But yet by perseverance and choosing to make my life what
Speaker:I want it to be,
Speaker:I have been able to graduate while working a full time
Speaker:job, be a mom and graduate and have a full time
Speaker:job. Like all those different things.
Speaker:Just perseverance and make the life that you want.
Speaker:That's up to you.
Speaker:Love it.
Speaker:I think that that will resonate with a lot of people
Speaker:who are listening to and you know,
Speaker:I don't know where we got to on the material side
Speaker:of that type of thing.
Speaker:In terms of very little as needed material wise,
Speaker:I think we're gravitating back to that now.
Speaker:But that whole pressure of keeping up with the Joneses,
Speaker:with material,
Speaker:things like the car you drive,
Speaker:the products you have that house size or whatever I think
Speaker:is finally starting to go away because people are understanding what
Speaker:you're saying in the quote that very little is needed.
Speaker:No for happiness.
Speaker:Absolutely. So I love that.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:the other thing that I think comes to mind when I
Speaker:was hearing you talk about this is I think also when
Speaker:you start talking about education,
Speaker:it's a great way to continue doing something that's,
Speaker:I'm not going to say education and getting degrees is easy,
Speaker:but it's kind of safe because you know you're in school,
Speaker:you know you're educating,
Speaker:you're not actually out there doing and proving yourself.
Speaker:So in a way it can be something that you can
Speaker:hide behind.
Speaker:What do you think of that?
Speaker:Absolutely. So little background about me,
Speaker:I used,
Speaker:lived in New Jersey a couple of years ago and I
Speaker:was pumping gas at a Wawa and trying to finish my
Speaker:associate's degree and had just moved in with my now husband
Speaker:and he was then my boyfriend and networking talking ended up
Speaker:getting a manufacturing job cause obviously boots to the ground.
Speaker:That's just my attitude.
Speaker:So they were like,
Speaker:Hey, it's manual labor.
Speaker:I think you'll be good at it.
Speaker:And so I did.
Speaker:I went into it and I still,
Speaker:I took night classes.
Speaker:I was doing that and then I got pregnant and I
Speaker:could have easily just said,
Speaker:Oh, you know what,
Speaker:the pregnancy and the school like,
Speaker:let's hide behind that.
Speaker:But being the ambitious person that I am and the high
Speaker:achiever, I was like,
Speaker:no, I am going to go all the way with this,
Speaker:make this my career.
Speaker:Didn't really know about the online space at the time,
Speaker:but knew,
Speaker:Hey, I want to get this degree.
Speaker:I want to finish my education,
Speaker:but I also want to be able to have that work
Speaker:experience that's going to help me longterm because if you hide
Speaker:behind just the degree,
Speaker:and I believe a lot of people and young people are
Speaker:realizing this now that that work experience is going to take
Speaker:you way further financially because of all the school debt,
Speaker:but also like in your mind and having that experience.
Speaker:It's going to take you so much further than if you
Speaker:just sit in a classroom.
Speaker:Absolutely agree with you.
Speaker:So you sound very confident.
Speaker:You and I don't know each other.
Speaker:We're just getting to know each other on this interview.
Speaker:Right. But you sound very confident.
Speaker:Were you at all hesitant to make that move?
Speaker:Jumping in,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I know you were doing education on the side too,
Speaker:but getting that experience right at that time,
Speaker:or did it feel totally natural and you were,
Speaker:you're the type of person that could just go do it.
Speaker:It felt like the right thing to do to me just
Speaker:because I did grow up in a single parent home,
Speaker:so working was always something that you kind of have to
Speaker:do and I didn't have the luxury of,
Speaker:Oh well,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I can just live at my mom's house or do that
Speaker:and be pregnant and go to school.
Speaker:Then going to a community college,
Speaker:like you don't have housing to just live in,
Speaker:you have to get your own house,
Speaker:you have to do your own thing.
Speaker:And I was on my own besides my now husband,
Speaker:but he wasn't working at the time,
Speaker:so it was really just like up to me.
Speaker:All right,
Speaker:you're, we're going to do that.
Speaker:Which is funny because fast forward five,
Speaker:six years now,
Speaker:I still work a full time job.
Speaker:I have finished my degrees,
Speaker:but now my husband is a stay at home dad.
Speaker:Oh that's cool.
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:So initially it was necessity.
Speaker:I mean you really didn't have a choice whether you were
Speaker:anxious about it or not.
Speaker:This was what you two saw was the best next step
Speaker:for you both really.
Speaker:And so you just jumped in.
Speaker:Absolutely. Okay.
Speaker:Well so tell us now,
Speaker:I'm really curious.
Speaker:What are you doing for your full time job?
Speaker:Yeah, so I recently changed in the last year I was
Speaker:a production planner for an international gas company and I was
Speaker:doing production planning on the shop floor,
Speaker:taking care of customer orders,
Speaker:that kind of thing.
Speaker:So I learned a lot about the production side and I
Speaker:would also work with international vendors to get our steel and
Speaker:our aluminum and all those things so that we could produce
Speaker:the products.
Speaker:Then I recently moved to a more corporate side of the
Speaker:packaging industry.
Speaker:So now I work for a motor oil company,
Speaker:very small kind of almost family run style,
Speaker:so it's completely different than the international multi trillion dollar company
Speaker:and now I'm working for someone who is more small town.
Speaker:They cook breakfast for you most mornings.
Speaker:That kind of like attitude but doing inventory analysis for their
Speaker:multiple facilities,
Speaker:being able to give upper management and the leadership team,
Speaker:those statistics and that data so that they can make the
Speaker:right decisions for the company.
Speaker:Got you.
Speaker:And Although both of these products,
Speaker:gas and motor oil,
Speaker:so very industrial don't relate as much to our audience.
Speaker:I think the skills that you learned really early on and
Speaker:at a massive level running huge volumes and production and also
Speaker:inventory apply.
Speaker:Then even to makers here whose inventory is a little bit
Speaker:smaller, little bit more manageable,
Speaker:but you're bringing in the big power to the topic I
Speaker:guess is the way I'll say it.
Speaker:Yes. And I was in the online space for a few
Speaker:years and I saw,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:serving service based businesses and doing some marketing,
Speaker:doing some social media management and not really being able to
Speaker:feel like I was using my day job in this side
Speaker:business. And then I realized like there aren't as many resources
Speaker:or visible resources in the online space for product businesses and
Speaker:with massive platforms like Shopify or Etsy or things like that.
Speaker:I was like why aren't there more resources?
Speaker:And that's when I discovered podcasts like yours and businesses like
Speaker:yours that are helping these product businesses.
Speaker:And I was like,
Speaker:I want to do that.
Speaker:I want to be able to use the expertise that I've
Speaker:developed over the last six years to be able to scale
Speaker:it down and help these businesses who otherwise might not have
Speaker:those resources because they are so creatively minded.
Speaker:Right. And that's a big point too is the skills and
Speaker:the talent are more on the creative side versus the analytical
Speaker:number side,
Speaker:which is also why we shy away from all the financial
Speaker:stuff too.
Speaker:Yes. So on the side you're working with eCommerce businesses and
Speaker:helping them do what.
Speaker:So helping them really be able to feel empowered to look
Speaker:at their numbers and understand maybe where their profit margins can
Speaker:be changed or adjusted,
Speaker:how they're pricing their products,
Speaker:where they're resourcing their products from making sure that they are
Speaker:getting the best buy they are utilizing their min and max
Speaker:levels, making sure they have that safety stock for holidays and
Speaker:for those busier seasons without getting overwhelmed with having too much
Speaker:where it carries over to the new year,
Speaker:all that stuff.
Speaker:So just really being able to hand them that information in
Speaker:a very digestible way,
Speaker:but also empowering them that if you want to,
Speaker:this is how you can look at your numbers too,
Speaker:because I feel so strongly about empowering the women that I
Speaker:work with to really be able to take it and run
Speaker:with it and create that business that they dream about building.
Speaker:Wonderful. Yeah.
Speaker:And to manage it on their own and work with the
Speaker:numbers that then obviously affect the profits that are going to
Speaker:come into the company.
Speaker:Yes. So.
Speaker:All right,
Speaker:so here we are.
Speaker:We're sitting in December and if you're listening to this live
Speaker:gift biz listeners,
Speaker:maybe you are,
Speaker:maybe you aren't because you're so busy right now with orders
Speaker:coming in,
Speaker:promotions. I mean holiday sales are definitely in full swing right
Speaker:now. And I think that something that happens to us a
Speaker:lot Aleesha as makers is we have that challenge with,
Speaker:I know what my sales were last year,
Speaker:my business has advanced since last year.
Speaker:How in the world do I predict how much product I
Speaker:need because I don't want to lose sales if I don't
Speaker:have product yet.
Speaker:Again, I don't want to buy too much because that inventory
Speaker:might sit.
Speaker:And so it's a challenging balance that I think we all
Speaker:face every year.
Speaker:So I don't know if you have any comments about that,
Speaker:but it's going to lead to what do we do then
Speaker:at the end when holidays are over and we're left with
Speaker:inventory, that if it just sits there,
Speaker:it's dollars on the shelf.
Speaker:Right? So what direction can you give me with both of
Speaker:those types of things?
Speaker:Yes. So to answer your first question,
Speaker:when you're looking at your business overall and you're seeing,
Speaker:okay, I have increased my sales 10% let's make it a
Speaker:nice pretty number,
Speaker:10% my sales have increased from last year,
Speaker:then I would feel confident in saying that your sales are
Speaker:going to increase,
Speaker:your holiday sales specifically will increase 10% now you might want
Speaker:to throw in a little bit of extra safety stock to
Speaker:make sure that,
Speaker:say they ended up being 20% more than last year.
Speaker:You still already have that safety stock on hand and you
Speaker:have all of those lead times nailed down where you are
Speaker:ready to go,
Speaker:you know?
Speaker:Exactly. So if you're hand making your product,
Speaker:you know exactly how long it's going to take you to
Speaker:quickly make up those products that you need to,
Speaker:you have enough on hand to cover you for those specific
Speaker:days that you will be making more product.
Speaker:That's what I mean when I'm saying those lead times,
Speaker:and I know some of you might not understand those kinds
Speaker:of verbiage,
Speaker:so please stop me if you're like,
Speaker:Hey wait.
Speaker:They might not know what that means.
Speaker:Okay. You know I will.
Speaker:I will definitely do that.
Speaker:Yes. I definitely want to be able to explain it.
Speaker:Yeah, So looking at it in that sense,
Speaker:you want to make sure that you are focusing on those
Speaker:numbers and I know it gets really hard because your business
Speaker:is your baby.
Speaker:You're creating this product and you're like,
Speaker:everybody's going to love it and your sales might've even dipped
Speaker:this year and you might feel like,
Speaker:okay, well if sales dip this year,
Speaker:then my holiday sales might dip.
Speaker:That's true.
Speaker:So plan for that,
Speaker:but also have that little bit extra on the side.
Speaker:Let me just jump in here with one thing that I'm
Speaker:thinking. I think it also does vary by industry a little
Speaker:bit. And let me explain what I mean when you say
Speaker:if you've had 10% up through the year,
Speaker:you're riding at a solid clip,
Speaker:10% increase,
Speaker:then holidays you can definitely do 10% or maybe more if
Speaker:traditionally you found that all your business falls in the holidays.
Speaker:But I also think it can be industry dependent a little
Speaker:bit too,
Speaker:how much of a risk you take.
Speaker:Because if you have a themed product where you're buying lots
Speaker:of things that are Santa Claus or dreidels or things like
Speaker:that, that's inventory that you can't use any other time of
Speaker:the, so you might want to be a little more conservative
Speaker:because it's not as easy to do flash sales afterwards or
Speaker:whatever you're going to recommend for the second question.
Speaker:Okay. But also if you have a consumable product where your
Speaker:product expires,
Speaker:then that's just wasted product if you don't sell it.
Speaker:So I think in those two cases you have to be
Speaker:a little bit more careful in which point you want to
Speaker:have a good backup system.
Speaker:Maybe multiple vendors.
Speaker:If you run out of a product you want to be
Speaker:able to refill it,
Speaker:but other products where you're getting the components and they aren't
Speaker:just holiday specific and they don't expire,
Speaker:I think you can take more of a chance.
Speaker:Do you agree with the thinking here?
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:So on the part of the Santa Claus and holiday specific
Speaker:products, so for things like Hanukkah products,
Speaker:you definitely can only sell those in that December timeframe,
Speaker:but some Santa Claus things you might be able to sell
Speaker:for Christmas in July next year.
Speaker:So if you do have a tiny bit more extra than
Speaker:maybe you had planned for,
Speaker:then you always have that option.
Speaker:For people who like to start shopping a little ahead of
Speaker:time for those Christmas in July sales and for my thoughts
Speaker:on the consumable products and the ones that have that timeframe
Speaker:where you kind of have to get rid of them.
Speaker:That's going to tie into the second half of your question
Speaker:because a main part of how I work with my clients,
Speaker:especially after the holidays,
Speaker:is all about bundling your products in a way that makes
Speaker:sense for the consumer to say,
Speaker:Hey, yeah,
Speaker:absolutely. I definitely want that product.
Speaker:That makes sense.
Speaker:I want to buy the two and then get a free
Speaker:coffee mug or whatever it is,
Speaker:however you want to bundle it,
Speaker:and that way you can get rid of those consumable items
Speaker:a little quicker.
Speaker:All right,
Speaker:so let's get into the details of some of these strategies
Speaker:because although we don't necessarily need them right now,
Speaker:the time that the podcast is going live in about three
Speaker:or four weeks from now,
Speaker:I think I'm going to be resourcing people back to listen
Speaker:to this,
Speaker:to figure out what to do with some leftover inventory.
Speaker:So you started with bundling and for those listeners who might
Speaker:not understand what that is,
Speaker:let's start from the top with bundling idea.
Speaker:Yes. So if you are manufacturing coffee beans,
Speaker:that's one that I always love to use.
Speaker:And then you also say you're like coffee and there's a
Speaker:local weather cream,
Speaker:beans and cream.
Speaker:That's their business and they have coffee and they have ice
Speaker:cream. But see,
Speaker:I also have a line of coffee mugs that are specific
Speaker:to their business.
Speaker:They say beans and cream on them and they want to
Speaker:sell more coffee beans.
Speaker:So they are giving you a buy two coffee bean packets
Speaker:and you get a free mug.
Speaker:Say the mug is holiday specific.
Speaker:People still like holiday mugs.
Speaker:It doesn't matter what time of the year it is.
Speaker:People still love those kinds of things.
Speaker:I'm a big mug person and I get tied into target
Speaker:mug aisle.
Speaker:Every single time I would,
Speaker:my husband asked to say,
Speaker:Alicia, you have enough mugs.
Speaker:So I am all about if they're cute and fun,
Speaker:it does not matter what time of the year it is.
Speaker:I will buy it.
Speaker:So if it's seasonal,
Speaker:it's okay to sell that in January as a bundle.
Speaker:Don't feel like you have to be specific with that.
Speaker:If you can throw some snowflakes on it instead of Santa,
Speaker:you're going to have a longer lifespan for that product.
Speaker:Yeah. Are you saying that even if the mug has Santa
Speaker:on it,
Speaker:you can still sell it in January?
Speaker:Yes. I would definitely buy a Santa mug in January if
Speaker:it is cute enough and it's a buy to get the
Speaker:free mug.
Speaker:Absolutely. So you're kind of,
Speaker:you're in a way discounting the mug,
Speaker:but you're not leaving it as a standalone item.
Speaker:You're merging it with other product,
Speaker:which then could be incremental sales if someone's never tried the
Speaker:coffee beans before,
Speaker:they've got the mug ready for next holiday season,
Speaker:but they're also then getting the coffee beans and it looks
Speaker:like a deal.
Speaker:It looks like a deal to the consumer.
Speaker:Absolutely. And if you think,
Speaker:okay, my mugs are going to be a lot lower priced
Speaker:than say my coffee beans,
Speaker:that's my high ticket item.
Speaker:That is the thing that is my sales maker.
Speaker:That's what I'm pushing.
Speaker:Then that complimentary product,
Speaker:it's just icing on the cake for the customer.
Speaker:Right. And so the numbers still work out.
Speaker:If you were to play the numbers together for that new
Speaker:product that you've created,
Speaker:right? That has the mug,
Speaker:the two coffee packets.
Speaker:And what was the cream part?
Speaker:Oh no,
Speaker:I was just saying it's like icing on a cake.
Speaker:Okay. Alright.
Speaker:But the numbers still work out where you're making a margin
Speaker:on the product,
Speaker:right? Yes.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So bundling is one option in terms of what you can
Speaker:do to get rid of holiday stock.
Speaker:What else would you suggest?
Speaker:Yeah, so if your product is not seasonal specific,
Speaker:then I know that January is typically a time where people
Speaker:start winding down.
Speaker:Product makers aren't really making anymore during that time unless that
Speaker:is their peak season and but all is industry specific.
Speaker:But after the holidays you kind of want to wind down,
Speaker:take a little bit of rest time.
Speaker:But people are still buying.
Speaker:And I remember growing up it was always you don't buy
Speaker:certain items,
Speaker:clothing specifically during the holidays because it always gets up priced
Speaker:during that time.
Speaker:And then in January the market,
Speaker:the price tag goes down.
Speaker:So if you are making some type of embroidery shirts or
Speaker:things like that,
Speaker:then that's going to be a time where you might want
Speaker:to push your product a little more because people are going
Speaker:to be buying more electronics,
Speaker:things like that,
Speaker:the gift kind of giving for that season.
Speaker:Whereas if you maybe went a little too high on your
Speaker:inventory in the clothing department,
Speaker:then you can use January and early February to push your
Speaker:product. People aren't really as adverse to buying those kinds of
Speaker:things as they would during the holidays.
Speaker:How would you think about marketing some of this?
Speaker:Would there be specific different messages or what are you thinking
Speaker:there? So for that you're going want to use AB testing,
Speaker:see what kind of works,
Speaker:but you could use some type of post-holiday copy so you
Speaker:could say something in your messaging like now that you have
Speaker:that cash from grandma,
Speaker:then this is a great way to spend it.
Speaker:You might've wanted this.
Speaker:If you're in the Northern States,
Speaker:then January is definitely going to be a time where people
Speaker:are going to want to buy sweaters and those cowls and
Speaker:scarves, things like that,
Speaker:so you can definitely market to the upper half of the
Speaker:country. Whereas my husband was mowing the lawn in North Carolina
Speaker:January 1st last year.
Speaker:That is not fair to talk about.
Speaker:I'm in Chicago,
Speaker:I'm sorry,
Speaker:but you can target your ads specifically to those Northern States.
Speaker:If you are United States based and say,
Speaker:Hey look,
Speaker:I get it.
Speaker:It's cold.
Speaker:Here you go.
Speaker:Here's 10% off for new customers or 10% off for returning
Speaker:customers. Utilize your email list during this time to really push
Speaker:those sales because conversions on your website are usually what,
Speaker:2%. It's very low statistically speaking,
Speaker:but conversions on your email list are going to be a
Speaker:lot higher,
Speaker:so those emails that you've collected for the holiday,
Speaker:Hey, 10% off or giveaways you've done,
Speaker:whatever you've done to grow your email list up until this
Speaker:point is going to be key in helping you make those
Speaker:bundle sales because they're going to feel like it's an exclusive
Speaker:deal for them,
Speaker:which it can and will be exclusive for them.
Speaker:Only offering it to my email list first.
Speaker:You guys get first dibs on this inventory blow out or
Speaker:whatever you want to call it to create that excitement.
Speaker:Yeah, I think that point in terms of making that group
Speaker:of people feel really special or that there's a limited amount
Speaker:left, which to holiday product,
Speaker:there really is,
Speaker:you might have 200 left versus only two,
Speaker:but feeling that level of exclusivity and being special,
Speaker:getting the offer special,
Speaker:I think really holds a lot of weight.
Speaker:Absolutely. Okay.
Speaker:Can you share with us a client that you've worked with
Speaker:who did have leftover holiday inventory and how you helped manage
Speaker:them through the situation?
Speaker:We're going to get into the story with Alicia's client right
Speaker:after a quick word from our sponsor.
Speaker:This podcast is made possible thanks to the support of the
Speaker:ribbon print company.
Speaker:Create custom ribbons right in your store or craft studio in
Speaker:seconds. Visit the ribbon,
Speaker:print company.com
Speaker:for more information.
Speaker:Yeah, so one client,
Speaker:she makes baby blankets.
Speaker:Well, she produces them through a manufacturing company and she was
Speaker:struggling because several of her wholesalers had not sold through their
Speaker:inventory during the holiday season as she had anticipated.
Speaker:We looked at our numbers,
Speaker:said, okay,
Speaker:this is what we can expect in sales.
Speaker:They'll reorder,
Speaker:but it didn't pan out how we had anticipated.
Speaker:So she's applying the product to stores that are then selling
Speaker:the product?
Speaker:Yes. And so they're not holiday themed necessarily,
Speaker:but because that line didn't sell,
Speaker:she's not getting the reorder.
Speaker:So it's affecting her numbers.
Speaker:Correct. Right.
Speaker:Okay. So we were able to figure out,
Speaker:okay, if we can maybe add in a new product for
Speaker:next year,
Speaker:we knew that this product would eventually sell out as most
Speaker:seasonal products do.
Speaker:Eventually you will sell them.
Speaker:But we figured that okay to plan ahead for this next
Speaker:year we are going to want to do a few tweaks
Speaker:to both her website copy cause she does sell direct to
Speaker:customer as well.
Speaker:But also with the information that she's giving these wholesalers and
Speaker:these boutiques,
Speaker:how many she shipping to them,
Speaker:streamlining that reorder process for them so that if they do
Speaker:run out,
Speaker:she can quickly send it up there to them.
Speaker:But without really having that extra lagging inventory on their shelves.
Speaker:Oh so ordering less so that it's not sitting there but
Speaker:being able to refill it if itself.
Speaker:Correct. So streamlining that process was what definitely we hope to
Speaker:anticipate will help us this year better anticipate that.
Speaker:Okay. If they do sell a lot quicker this year,
Speaker:they'll have less product on their shelves,
Speaker:but we will be able to get it to them very
Speaker:quickly. Okay.
Speaker:So I'm just kind of curious in,
Speaker:this leads to the question that I was waiting on a
Speaker:second ago.
Speaker:It's kind of an equal play in terms of the responsibility
Speaker:of product selling through,
Speaker:right? Because your wholesale client,
Speaker:the one who makes the baby blankets wants to provide as
Speaker:much information.
Speaker:Maybe, I don't know that you would call them shelf talkers
Speaker:in gift shops,
Speaker:but some type of promotional material or make sure that that
Speaker:retailer understand why these baby blankets are so special and why
Speaker:they're different.
Speaker:Maybe from someone else's baby blankets.
Speaker:That would be probably part of the sale of getting the
Speaker:product placed in that gift shop in the first place.
Speaker:But then it's also the retailer's responsibility to sell through to,
Speaker:right. I mean where does that all fall in terms of
Speaker:visit 50 50 did you guys feel in this situation that
Speaker:it was more an issue on the retailer's end or your
Speaker:end or when you were thinking afterwards about how all this
Speaker:happened? Where did you feel besides what you're going to do
Speaker:next year in terms of the replenishment,
Speaker:but where did you feel it could have been better?
Speaker:Yeah, so I think it was a combination of both our
Speaker:part and the boutiques.
Speaker:They could have done a better job of,
Speaker:all right,
Speaker:this product is in my shop and I need to sell
Speaker:it. And that way I can make more money out for
Speaker:my business.
Speaker:But then also on our end,
Speaker:the promotional material could have been better.
Speaker:These baby blankets are not like the ones that you would
Speaker:get at Walmart or target or even Amazon.
Speaker:This is a specially made organic of material where we could
Speaker:have packaged it better in a way for our boutiques to
Speaker:better understand why this is such a high quality product for
Speaker:their customers and why their customers are gonna want to buy
Speaker:this product over something else.
Speaker:So really educating those boutiques to understand this is why you
Speaker:want our product,
Speaker:but also this is why you want to sell our product.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:Okay. And I'm also thinking from a gift shop owner perspective,
Speaker:that's something for those of you who are listening,
Speaker:who owned shops and you stock other people's products.
Speaker:So you're the recipient.
Speaker:So either retailer,
Speaker:obviously in this case,
Speaker:understanding what is provided by someone whose product you are now
Speaker:going to dedicate very valuable shelf space for because you're a
Speaker:shop. If you're physical,
Speaker:brick and mortar,
Speaker:you only have so much space.
Speaker:So each of those products has to be really valuable and
Speaker:important for your customer.
Speaker:But then you as the shop owner also have to understand
Speaker:and be able to explain why this is so special and
Speaker:why you're carrying it in the first place.
Speaker:So I think that always helps.
Speaker:Yes. As a shop owner and retail or don't feel like
Speaker:you can't go back to,
Speaker:especially if it's a small business,
Speaker:like they want the product to sell because they want to
Speaker:be able to that you buy more from them.
Speaker:So don't feel like you can't go back to them and
Speaker:say, Hey look,
Speaker:I'd really like a little more information on the product so
Speaker:I can sell more.
Speaker:Like this is a collaboration between both of you and asking
Speaker:those questions is going to make that deeper connection.
Speaker:It's all about the vendor management side when working with vendors
Speaker:and in the retail space,
Speaker:working with these smaller handmade businesses,
Speaker:if that's kind of where you're getting your products from,
Speaker:having those connections is going to grow your business because then
Speaker:they are making sure that you are getting the best product
Speaker:for your shop and that way you are able to sell
Speaker:the best product in your shop.
Speaker:So make sure that you feel okay and having those conversations
Speaker:up front or having your sales team do it however your
Speaker:business is set up.
Speaker:But making sure that those connections and those collaborations truly are
Speaker:there is going to take you further.
Speaker:Perfect. Okay.
Speaker:And we kind of got off on a little side road
Speaker:here. Let's go back again to talking about what you do
Speaker:about leftover holiday products.
Speaker:So you talked about the bundling,
Speaker:great idea and then seasonal specific strategies.
Speaker:Is there anything else you would suggest?
Speaker:I would suggest no other real promotional ways other than like
Speaker:your email list.
Speaker:If you need to run ad run ads,
Speaker:the marketing side,
Speaker:but take it as a lesson for next year.
Speaker:It's easy to say,
Speaker:Oh yeah,
Speaker:it was great last year.
Speaker:It was great,
Speaker:we sold and let's buy the same amount.
Speaker:But really next year is the time to be focusing on,
Speaker:okay, what did my numbers actually tell me and what did
Speaker:my sales actually tell me that I can use to prepare
Speaker:for this season?
Speaker:And I know typically you guys are preparing in like June
Speaker:and July.
Speaker:So taking that time as summertime to really focus on,
Speaker:okay, how can I better use this information to my advantage
Speaker:for next year so that I'm not stuck in the mud?
Speaker:Right. And I think that leads also to a point that
Speaker:after the holiday season is over and the Russia's done and
Speaker:some people's business honestly never takes a dip,
Speaker:it just starts going into January again.
Speaker:So whether you're that type of a retailer where it just
Speaker:keeps going or whether you get to sit back for a
Speaker:minute and breathe,
Speaker:catch your breath.
Speaker:I think that's still the point where you should jot down
Speaker:what did happen,
Speaker:what worked,
Speaker:what didn't work.
Speaker:Just even if it's on an eight and a half by
Speaker:11 sheet of paper that you're going to file somewhere.
Speaker:So Alicia,
Speaker:to your point to compare against what happened the prior year,
Speaker:if you don't do that,
Speaker:you're going to forget.
Speaker:So that's my 2 cents added in there because I know,
Speaker:I think I'll remember because it's just so dramatic and so
Speaker:much is happening at the time,
Speaker:but 12 months pass and you might not remember everything that
Speaker:you wanted to adjust for the next holiday season.
Speaker:Absolutely. So I always like to tell my customers that no
Speaker:mistake is a mistake if you learn from it.
Speaker:So if you are able to take that information,
Speaker:it's a learning lesson.
Speaker:It is a way that you can grow your business the
Speaker:next time around or the next season or the next year.
Speaker:However it is that you want to take that information.
Speaker:You are not failing as a business owner because you made
Speaker:a quote unquote mistake.
Speaker:It is simply something to learn from and we move on
Speaker:from here.
Speaker:Oh great.
Speaker:I'm glad you said that.
Speaker:Glad you brought that to the table.
Speaker:We always have to remind ourselves that I think though.
Speaker:All right,
Speaker:so you're an expert in inventory for sure.
Speaker:What mistakes have you seen with your clients?
Speaker:Maybe two or three things that you've been seeing that repeatedly
Speaker:happened that seemed to be the common mistakes for small business
Speaker:owners with their inventory?
Speaker:Yeah. Oh man.
Speaker:Okay. Like do you need me to extend that to a
Speaker:hundred different misdiagnosed?
Speaker:Just the top ones.
Speaker:Let's do top three.
Speaker:So the first mistake that I definitely see is this fear
Speaker:of inventory and understanding it,
Speaker:not counting it.
Speaker:Just kind of putting things on your shelf and then hoping
Speaker:it sells and then scrambling when you have sold out and
Speaker:then you've got quote unquote angry customers or maybe you do
Speaker:have literal angry customers.
Speaker:That is not what we want in your business.
Speaker:You have to be looking at those numbers.
Speaker:You have to be looking at your sales history to be
Speaker:able to make better decisions because even though you are a
Speaker:creative, if you want to take this business to the next
Speaker:level, increase your profit margins and be able to take more
Speaker:money home.
Speaker:You have to be making decisions based on numbers and not
Speaker:on the fear of looking at those numbers.
Speaker:So that's the first one that I definitely see.
Speaker:The second mistake that I see is you do get a
Speaker:system in place and you think,
Speaker:okay, well Shopify handles the inventory and the numbers and all
Speaker:that stuff and then you just assume that it's going to
Speaker:pop up something to tell you,
Speaker:Hey, you need to order more.
Speaker:Don't just simply rely on the system,
Speaker:understand maybe what it's trying to tell you and why it's
Speaker:telling you that.
Speaker:So that,
Speaker:and I guess this ties into the first one so that
Speaker:you can be able to make those better strategic decisions for
Speaker:your business.
Speaker:You can plan ahead for those sales increases during certain seasons
Speaker:and it tracks that for you.
Speaker:But understanding why and how.
Speaker:So going beneath just a raw number,
Speaker:but why is the number looking like it does?
Speaker:What does it mean and what does it suggest that you
Speaker:should be doing for the future?
Speaker:Exactly. Okay.
Speaker:And then another mistake that I see on the inventory side
Speaker:is this idea that if you just buy a bunch of
Speaker:inventory, then you'll be good.
Speaker:But you got to understand that that is money that is
Speaker:tied up on your floor,
Speaker:on your shop floor,
Speaker:that you are not able to use to invest back into
Speaker:your business,
Speaker:back into maybe different products back into yourself,
Speaker:your own self development as a business owner,
Speaker:that's money that's in your business,
Speaker:that's sitting there and waiting and not being able to be
Speaker:utilized for the business.
Speaker:So things like dead stock and that's something that I deal
Speaker:with very heavily in my day job is analyzing that dead
Speaker:stock. What are those products that have not moved in over
Speaker:a year,
Speaker:which you should be looking more on if you are a
Speaker:smaller business than the one that I'm dealing with on a
Speaker:more quarterly,
Speaker:a monthly basis.
Speaker:What is not move,
Speaker:why hasn't this product moved?
Speaker:Okay, what can we do?
Speaker:Maybe we need to throw something extra on it,
Speaker:design it a little different.
Speaker:If you are able to do that,
Speaker:then that's great because then you can utilize the same product,
Speaker:but sometimes you have to cut your losses and be able
Speaker:to have that as a write off.
Speaker:So that's going to be the finance side.
Speaker:You want to talk to your accountants and things like that
Speaker:for that side,
Speaker:but don't just keep it,
Speaker:like you said,
Speaker:taking up valuable shelf space that you need for more products.
Speaker:Right. And you know what?
Speaker:This mistake just triggered what I couldn't remember a little bit
Speaker:earlier and that is you're right,
Speaker:exactly with the product that you're talking about.
Speaker:If it's just sitting there not selling,
Speaker:it's like a little piggy bank of money that you can't
Speaker:break into.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:And if it's going to sit and stay and stay and
Speaker:stay for so long,
Speaker:it doesn't fit in a bundle like we were talking about
Speaker:before, you can't find a solution to get rid of the
Speaker:product. I would suggest,
Speaker:and I'll be interested in your comments to Alicia,
Speaker:but I would suggest even taking that and getting it out
Speaker:of there at a loss,
Speaker:selling less than cost Steven,
Speaker:because you're not tying up your money.
Speaker:Yeah, you didn't make any money on it.
Speaker:You might've paid the customer for the sale to take it
Speaker:off your hands,
Speaker:but at least it's adding back into your cash flow and
Speaker:you've learned that that's not the right product for your customer.
Speaker:The sizing's wrong,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:whatever the reason why it wasn't selling,
Speaker:but getting it out of there,
Speaker:I think there is a time and a place to do
Speaker:that. Consciously knowing that that's what you're doing,
Speaker:knowing that you are taking a loss on it but clearing
Speaker:it out.
Speaker:Yes, that's an absolute great suggestion and I highly recommend it.
Speaker:After you have looked at those numbers,
Speaker:like you said,
Speaker:you want to make sure that you are being conscious about
Speaker:it and you're not just like,
Speaker:well, this didn't sell and I just bought it so too
Speaker:bad we're just going to cut our losses.
Speaker:You want to be strategic about it.
Speaker:You want to make sure that you're looking at those numbers
Speaker:and learning from them.
Speaker:But another thing that you can do too is sell it
Speaker:back to the vendor.
Speaker:And a lot of people forget about this part is that
Speaker:you can go back to you or if it's a raw
Speaker:material, say and maybe you have extra leftover that you didn't
Speaker:use for your product.
Speaker:You can say,
Speaker:Hey look,
Speaker:I have this extra and start the conversation.
Speaker:Sometimes they might say no and that's okay,
Speaker:but at least you tried the answers already.
Speaker:No, if you don't try,
Speaker:Right, you might as well ask.
Speaker:Yes. So ask the question and say,
Speaker:Hey look,
Speaker:I have this.
Speaker:Are you willing to buy it back at price?
Speaker:Or maybe you have to sell it back at a discount.
Speaker:Obviously you don't want to,
Speaker:but they might just buy it back at cost Or in
Speaker:exchange for a different color.
Speaker:If it's an ingredient as part of,
Speaker:or an element of a design,
Speaker:maybe the red beads aren't selling,
Speaker:but by golly,
Speaker:you need the pink ones or whatever.
Speaker:So you can,
Speaker:if you're a good enough customer,
Speaker:and I think that gets into vendor relations,
Speaker:right? But if you're a good enough customer and you're sitting
Speaker:on product,
Speaker:my never thought of doing that.
Speaker:I think that's an excellent suggestion.
Speaker:Talking about inventory,
Speaker:and this is gonna be my last question for you cause
Speaker:we're winding down here.
Speaker:What types of tools would you suggest for a small business
Speaker:owner to really get a handle on their inventory?
Speaker:Because you're saying don't just rely on Shopify.
Speaker:What would be a good suggestion of what we should be
Speaker:using? So there are a few inventory management systems out there
Speaker:and for Shopify does have very good tools but you don't
Speaker:just want to use just their inventory management one.
Speaker:You want to be able to kind of dive a little
Speaker:deeper. So you might want to add on a few extra
Speaker:plugins to your shop to kind of better understand where those
Speaker:numbers are coming from and why it's doing what it's doing.
Speaker:But on that side it's really not that difficult to run
Speaker:the numbers.
Speaker:And I mean I do it daily.
Speaker:What type of plugins are you thinking people should use?
Speaker:I don't know specifically off the top of my head and
Speaker:write those down.
Speaker:Usually I just analyze it with my customers to see what
Speaker:they're using and then see how we can tweak it to
Speaker:better make sense for their business so that it is tying
Speaker:in all those things.
Speaker:The raw materials,
Speaker:they do have that vendor management that it's an all in
Speaker:one encompassing kind of thing for them like dashboard style.
Speaker:Let's move on and I'm just curious what you're looking at
Speaker:for your future.
Speaker:So you've got your full time job that you're already doing,
Speaker:you're working with people to help them here with their inventory,
Speaker:profit margins,
Speaker:all the numbers,
Speaker:scary things.
Speaker:Right. Where do you see this going?
Speaker:The future Eventually I'd like to make this my full time
Speaker:gig. I really enjoy working my day job.
Speaker:I don't mind it.
Speaker:I never really have minded my day job.
Speaker:I just always felt like I was called to do and
Speaker:be more than clock in and out nine to fiver.
Speaker:I would like to,
Speaker:and this is just because I believe so strongly in self
Speaker:care and mindset host something of a self care summit for
Speaker:product businesses maybe in that early February season after they are
Speaker:done with all of that back and forth and holiday and
Speaker:craziness where they can,
Speaker:okay, let's crunch a few numbers,
Speaker:let's get you kind of situated,
Speaker:but let's just take a breath to instead of rushing into
Speaker:the next season.
Speaker:So really being able to just create that space for these
Speaker:product businesses where not only do you feel like,
Speaker:okay, I can kind of understand my business and that side
Speaker:of my business,
Speaker:even though it's difficult,
Speaker:but I can also feel empowered to just breathe in that
Speaker:business doesn't always have to be a hustle and a grind
Speaker:and a go,
Speaker:go, go.
Speaker:It is important to still take that time to Woosah.
Speaker:And did you get this idea just from the fact that
Speaker:in working with business owners,
Speaker:you're just seeing their levels of stress?
Speaker:Yes. And I mean,
Speaker:okay, so I'm in my late twenties and I gone through
Speaker:burnout. So I can only imagine the people who are putting
Speaker:their heart and soul into a product and maybe being a
Speaker:parent as well and just the stress and all of that
Speaker:that goes into running a business.
Speaker:It is hard and I get that and I've seen other
Speaker:businesses I've worked with go from season to season to season
Speaker:without breathing or taking a vacation or stopping.
Speaker:So take some time to pamper yourself,
Speaker:to treat yourself to something nice,
Speaker:even if it's like,
Speaker:okay. The other day I was feeling extremely stressed out,
Speaker:been dealing with some stuff with my mom's passing.
Speaker:I'm sorry about that.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:And I was like,
Speaker:I can't do this.
Speaker:I don't know what I'm doing.
Speaker:I'm feeling overwhelmed.
Speaker:They make this so difficult.
Speaker:And then I just went to a local Mexican restaurant,
Speaker:ate some enchiladas for lunch and read a true crime book
Speaker:for an hour.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:Getting away.
Speaker:It does a world of good for your mindset,
Speaker:that's for sure.
Speaker:Absolutely. And it made all the difference.
Speaker:I got back to my phone afterwards and everything had figured
Speaker:out itself out.
Speaker:I was like,
Speaker:okay, it's okay.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:It's okay.
Speaker:Big deep breath.
Speaker:What I find sometimes is people so easily can call you
Speaker:wanting answers to their questions and sometimes if you just wait
Speaker:for a little bit,
Speaker:they figure it out themselves and then they're empowered to figure
Speaker:it out later too.
Speaker:So we don't always have to take on all the problems
Speaker:of the world,
Speaker:but sometimes we want to.
Speaker:Right. Okay.
Speaker:So Alicia,
Speaker:where can our listeners go to find out more about you?
Speaker:Yeah, so I have a podcast called the product bench and
Speaker:it's all about this kind of stuff that we talked about
Speaker:today. Those promotional strategies,
Speaker:going to have a lot of solo episodes uploaded by this
Speaker:time, so you'll have lots to binge if you need to.
Speaker:And then Instagram is really my favorite place to hang out,
Speaker:mostly Instagram stories,
Speaker:a lot of just real life craziness with my two boys
Speaker:and my husband.
Speaker:So Alicia DACA lady over there.
Speaker:Wonderful. Thank you.
Speaker:Well, I appreciate so much all of your direction.
Speaker:This will really be helpful for all of our listeners as
Speaker:we are past the holidays and then trying to figure out
Speaker:what to do with all of our inventory.
Speaker:So thank you so much for all your knowledge and expertise.
Speaker:I really appreciate having you here today And thank you so
Speaker:much for having me on today.
Speaker:I really appreciated it and I really hope everyone was able
Speaker:to find some type of nugget or truth that they can
Speaker:take into their day and run with it.
Speaker:Definitely. Thank you again.
Speaker:Bye. Bye.
Speaker:Bye. There you go.
Speaker:Whether you just listened to this show in real time or
Speaker:you're catching up and it's already January,
Speaker:Alicia has given us actionable ideas to clear out product and
Speaker:prepare for 2020 our new decade on its way.
Speaker:That's so exciting and filled with possibility,
Speaker:but before we get to next year,
Speaker:I want to tell you about next week.
Speaker:I met our guest a few months ago and she has
Speaker:become one of my favorites.
Speaker:You know how you meet someone and they just light up
Speaker:the room.
Speaker:It's almost like there's like sparkles and glitter all around.
Speaker:That's Sam.
Speaker:She's as sweet and bubbly as she can be and so
Speaker:is her product.
Speaker:Hear all about it on next week's show,
Speaker:and until then,
Speaker:happy holiday selling.
Speaker:I want to make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook
Speaker:group called gift is free.
Speaker:It's a place where we all gather and our community to
Speaker:support each other.
Speaker:We've got a really fun post in there.
Speaker:That's my favorite of the week,
Speaker:I have to say where I invite all of you to
Speaker:share what you're doing,
Speaker:to show pictures of your product and to show them what
Speaker:you're working on for the week,
Speaker:to get reaction from other people and just for fun because
Speaker:we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody in
Speaker:the community is making.
Speaker:My favorite post every single week without doubt,
Speaker:wait, what aren't you part of the group already?
Speaker:If not,
Speaker:make sure to jump over to Facebook and search for the
Speaker:group gift biz breeze.
Speaker:Don't delay.