The Pause To Prep Before The Retail Rush

As I sit and enjoy a Hot Chocolate Truffle that was thought of and envisioned months and months ago, I am reminded of the intense planning and preparation that led up to this holiday season, just around the corner.

It’s a quiet pause the week before the retail rush and I’ve learned over the years to use the pause to pray, reflect, and to make the final preparations.

In retail and in small business, the holiday seasons means everything. It may be the hope of coming out of the red and ending the year in the black.

But more than that, at Choco le`a, I’ve learned that this is the season we grow closer as a team. When we heavily rely on one another to shine in your strength zone and we’re trusting you to do your thing, but also counting on you to be willing to jump in somewhere else if needed. It’s when we really show ourselves what we are made of and so has become a most exciting season of growth.

It’s what we’ve been training all year for and have recruited holiday help for, did renovations to make a few square feet more of space where there was once an awkward wall, and where we let our new skills, like the colors and designs on this year’s Christmas truffles like the Hot Chocolate Truffle, to shine and show what we’ve been learning this year.

So as you pause to prep your own shopping list, consider the businesses you’d like to support because they are counting on you and have put everything they’ve got to give you the best they have to offer in products and service.

And if you are in retail, remember in the rush that you did all you that can to prep and all you can do now is pray. Pray they come. Pray they love it. And be ready to pivot and learn from it if they don’t.

It can be the merriest time of the year or the most stressful time of the year. You decide what it will be for yourself and for everyone you have the opportunity to come in contact with. Good luck retail friends!

erin’s tip

Support a business where your hard earned money is sustaining people you respect who appreciate you, and a place with a product or service you believe in. Let the retail rush no stress you out, but bring you peace that the money you worked hard for, is going to the right place.