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What Successful Business Owners Do Differently in September

There’s something about January 1st that makes us want to get our lives together.

New goals. New plans. Fresh calendars. A clean slate.

But what if January isn’t actually the most important reset of the year for your business?

What if it’s September?

September is one of the most overlooked opportunities business owners have to stop, reassess, and make intentional decisions about how they want to finish the year.

Summer is winding down. Kids are heading back to school. Vacations are wrapping up. Schedules are getting more structured. People are settling into routines again.

There’s a natural fresh start energy in the air.

And your business can take advantage of it, too.

Instead of waiting until January to look back at what worked, set new goals, and decide what you want to change, use September as your reset button.

Because you still have one incredibly important quarter left.

And what you do now can completely change how you finish the year.

September Is the Fresh Start Your Business Needs

Think about how September feels outside of your business.

There’s back-to-school energy everywhere.

New schedules. New supplies. New routines. A little more structure after the craziness of summer.

And, of course, fall is coming.

Cue the Gilmore Girls, cozy sweaters, changing leaves, and everything pumpkin.

There’s a reason people love this time of year. It feels like a fresh start without the pressure of an entirely new year.

That fresh start effect can be incredibly powerful for business owners.

Instead of dragging whatever happened during the first eight months of the year straight into Q4, September gives you an opportunity to stop and ask:

Where are we now, and where do we want to go from here?

Start By Looking Back

Before you start planning Black Friday or thinking about holiday promotions, take an honest look at the year you've already had.

And don’t only look at what went wrong.

Start with the wins.

What worked better than you expected?

What are you really proud of?

Which products performed well?

Which campaigns generated results?

What decisions paid off?

What did you try this year that you absolutely want to do again?

Then look at the other side.

What didn't go as planned?

Which idea flopped?

Where did you lose time?

Where did you lose money?

What did you spend way too much energy doing for very little return?

Most importantly:

What do you know now that you didn't know in January?

You have eight months of information that January-you didn't have.

Use it.

Pay Attention to the Patterns

Patterns in business are inevitable.

The problem is that we’re often so busy running the business that we don’t stop long enough to notice them.

Maybe certain products consistently outperform others.

Maybe there’s a particular type of promotion your customers respond to.

Maybe every time you stop consistently marketing, sales dip a few weeks later.

Maybe you repeatedly underestimate how much inventory you need during certain weeks.

Maybe you plan too late every single holiday season and spend November and December stressed out because of it.

Look for the patterns.

Then ask yourself:

If I could start this year over knowing what I know now, what would I do differently?

And here's the best part.

You don't have to wait until next year to do it differently.

You still have Q4.

Q4 Is Too Important to Wing It

For many businesses, Q4 is one of the biggest revenue opportunities of the entire year.

And yet, every year, I watch small business owners fly by the seat of their pants through it.

A promotion gets planned at the last minute.

The email needs to go out tomorrow.

Nobody told the social media person what was happening.

Inventory arrives later than expected.

Black Friday suddenly feels like it came out of nowhere, even though it has been sitting on the calendar all year.

Then we get to December and everyone is exhausted.

You are leaving money on the table when you operate this way.

The biggest businesses in your industry aren't waking up the week before Black Friday and asking, “So...what should we do?”

They've been planning.

You should be, too.

September is your opportunity to get ahead.

Build Your Q4 Marketing Calendar Now

Before the holiday rush starts, map out your Q4 content and campaign calendar.

You don't necessarily need every email written or every graphic created today.

But you should know what’s coming.

When are your major promotions?

What products or collections are you pushing?

What are you doing for Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

Are there launches happening?

Are you running any holiday-specific campaigns?

What important dates apply specifically to your business?

What will you do differently from last year?

Having those decisions made ahead of time gives you something incredibly valuable:

Lead time.

And lead time makes everything easier.

Your emails can support your social media.

Your SMS strategy can support your emails.

Your ads can support your promotions.

Your website can match the messaging customers are seeing everywhere else.

That’s how you create a cohesive marketing web instead of throwing random promotions at your customers because you needed something to send that day.

Don't Just Copy and Paste Last Year's Holiday Strategy

It’s tempting to pull up last year's calendar and do exactly what you did before.

And sure, there may be certain promotions your customers expect and love every year.

Keep those if they're working.

But don't let your entire strategy become predictable simply because it's easier.

Your customers shouldn't automatically know every promotion you're going to run before you announce it.

Look at last year's results.

What worked?

What didn't?

What could be improved?

Where can you create something new?

Use what you've learned without putting your business on autopilot.

Look at Your Inventory Before the Rush

If you sell physical products, September is also the time to take a hard look at inventory.

What has been selling?

What hasn't?

Do you have enough inventory planned for your busiest weeks?

Where are your gaps?

Are you carrying too much of something that isn't moving?

What do you know you're going to need more of as the season changes?

Think through the actual calendar.

You know Black Friday is coming.

You know holiday shopping is coming.

You also know there are weeks when demand naturally shifts.

Plan accordingly.

And while you're at it, check in with your vendors.

Get firm ship dates.

Know what is arriving and when.

And don't be afraid to establish cutoff dates.

If an item won't arrive until it's too late to be useful to your business, decide ahead of time what that date is and communicate it.

A Christmas item arriving after Christmas isn't helping anyone.

Service-Based Businesses Need a Q4 Plan, Too

This isn't only for boutiques or product-based businesses.

If you're a service provider, coach, agency owner, or consultant, you need to prepare for Q4, too.

Are you launching anything?

Will you run a holiday promotion?

What does your client schedule look like?

When is your team available?

When are you available?

Do you need additional support?

If you need to hire someone for your busy season, don't wait until you're already drowning.

Hire them.

Train them.

Get them integrated into your business before you desperately need them.

And make decisions now about when you're going to work and when you're not.

Which brings us to a part of Q4 planning that doesn't get talked about nearly enough.

Put Your Time Off on the Calendar

You should not have to spend Thanksgiving working because a promotion wasn't planned in time.

You should not have to unexpectedly work all day on Christmas Eve because something fell through the cracks.

Unless you want to work those days, you should be able to step away.

Too many business owners enter Q4 with every intention of spending time with their families.

Then the lack of planning catches up with them.

Suddenly you're answering emails from the dinner table.

You're fixing something on the website.

You're trying to finish a campaign.

Your family doesn't get your full attention.

You don't get to enjoy the moment.

And then you feel guilty about all of it.

By December 31st, you're exhausted and telling yourself:

“I cannot do this again next year.”

So don't.

You can make that decision now.

September Sets the Tone for the Rest of Your Year

The way you operate in September will carry into October.

And October will carry into November.

And November will carry into December.

If you're already scattered in September and you don't take the time to get organized, that chaos will compound as your business gets busier.

But the opposite is true, too.

If you use September to create clarity, October becomes easier.

If you know what's happening in November, you can prepare for it.

If December is mapped out before you get there, you have a much better chance of actually enjoying it.

Planning ahead doesn't just help you make more money. It gives you room to actually enjoy the business you've built.

Schedule a CEO Day Before September Ends

Here's your challenge:

Schedule one full CEO day before the end of September.

Put it on your calendar.

No client work.

No packing orders.

No jumping into every little day-to-day task.

Just you, your numbers, your calendar, and your plans.

Use that day to review:

• Your wins from the year so far

• What didn't work

• Your sales and marketing data

• Patterns you've noticed

• Q4 goals

• Inventory needs

• Promotions and launches

• Your marketing calendar

• Team availability

• Vendor timelines

• Your personal time off

Then take the plan you've created and communicate it to everyone who needs to know.

If you have an internal team, share it.

If you work with contractors, share it.

If you're working with an agency like Boutique Bestie Solutions, tell us what's coming.

The earlier the people supporting your business know what you're planning, the better they can support you.

And the more cohesive your entire marketing strategy can become.

September Is the Monday Morning of Your Business Calendar

This might be my favorite way to think about September.

September is the Monday morning of your business calendar.

You can stumble into it without a plan and spend the rest of the week trying to catch up.

Or you can sit down, figure out where you're going, and start intentionally.

You don't need to wait until January 1st to reset your business.

You don't need a brand-new year to make different decisions.

You have four months left.

Four months to use everything you've learned this year.

Four months to make changes.

Four months to build momentum.

And one very important Q4 ahead of you.

So take a moment.

Write down your goals.

Look at your numbers.

Build your plan.

And decide now how you want the rest of this year to look.

Your strongest finish could start in September.

Need Help Planning Your Q4 Marketing?

You don't have to figure out your Q4 marketing strategy alone.

At Boutique Bestie Solutions, we help boutique owners and e-commerce brands grow through strategic email marketing, SMS marketing, Pinterest marketing, and proven growth strategies designed to increase revenue without adding more to your plate.

Whether you need fresh eyes on what you're currently doing or a team to help you actually execute the plan, we'd love to help.

Reach out to learn more about our free marketing audits and our DIY and done-for-you marketing services.
https://boutiquebestiesolutions.com/pages/lets-be-besties 

Because Q4 is coming either way. Let's make sure you're ready for it.