Business planning and strategy are for every jewelry designer!

Editors note: July 15, 2021 was the original publication date for this post. Each year, additions and updates keep it relevant to you and to your business.

Every year, makers across the country look up at their calendars on December 1st and realize that the holiday season has been suddenly thrust upon them. So I want to say this in the least alarming way possible:

December starts in just over 5 months.

Start planning months before December

December is the month when you might make as much as 25% of your sales for the year. That is a hefty amount of inventory to prepare and there are so many moving parts – you need to have a marketing plan in place (shows, email blasts, social media posts and more), an inventory plan in place (having enough inventory made to carry you through multiple holiday shows AND website sales), and a self-care plan in place (take a day off, go to a holiday party, get a good night’s sleep).

All of these parts take small to large levels of organizing, and that last part should not be overlooked – the first time that I realized that I could actually take a day off in December – DECEMBER – it was eye-opening. With a little extra advance planning the holiday season doesn’t have to be ragged, discouraging, and sleepless.

A checklist just for you!

I have here for you, a handy checklist to help you take small steps that add up to an overall holiday strategy plan made to decrease your stress levels.

This is by no means a definitive list, nor am I saying that you need to do everything on this list – pick three! Pick one or two if that’s your thing.

Any movement towards planning and strategizing** is going to result in a smoother, less stressful holiday season, and that is not a small thing. Not small at all.

The holiday preparation checklist (Pick three!):

• Look up last year’s sales numbers if you have them, and add 10% to plan for an increase in sales volume.  

• Make that extra 10% of your jewelry inventory by the end of September.

• Order your holiday shipping boxes, gift boxes, shipping labels, and ribbon by the first week of October.

• Start making/designing pieces that can retail for a gift price so that you can make some sales – online and in person – in December.

• Start using a social media planner to plot out all of your holiday social media posts in advance (I like Canva Pro, but Planoly and other systems are good too) – have them ready to go by the beginning of November.

• Beef up your Pinterest posts and profile to drive traffic to your website – start this process in September at least to help your pins gain traction.

• If you don’t already have a newsletter pop-up on your website – make one! 

• Encourage email sign-ups starting now to be able to use them to market to during the holidays.

• Look at your budget for ordering metals and gemstones and other jewelry supplies (solder, flux, borax – all of it) to have on hand and place your orders accordingly.

• Starting now, every time you need to make one piece for an order, make two and set one aside for holiday inventory.

• Decide now whether or not you will participate in any Holiday discounts – Black Friday, Plaid Friday, Small Business Saturday, or Cyber Monday.

• Add a date to your calendar to get your gas and oxygen tanks refueled, or set a time to get yourself some backup tanks. Because dashing out to your supplier at the last minute can be stressful and disruptive.

• Write your holiday email blasts by the end of October and set them to launch during late November and December.

• Review your pricing with my pricing eCourse now to make sure that you aren’t leaving money on the table during the holidays.

The next step is to hold yourself accountable. Studies show that stating goals and tasks out loud or writing them down somewhere (handwritten or typed) helps you stick to your goals. So here are two accountability options – private and public.

Private – send me an email and tell only me which ones you’ll pick. 

Public (i.e. even more accountability) – leave a comment below with your choices.

Don’t see an action on this list that resonates with you? Post your own in the comments!

**It is 2024 and most global supply chains are more or less back up and running, but having a time cushion can still help with your peace of mind. Consider adding an extra 2-4 weeks of lead time for any order or project. It is one way to feel more in control of your holiday season.

Have a question? Drop it in the comments!