#ask-the-community
Thread
This is a personal thing but still related to running a company - but does anyone else get a bit of January anxiety/stress? We always have such a slow Dec and Jan after a great November and I stress every year about cash flow and planning for growth at this time. Am I alone?
@Jenni Bailey - Calla shoes I suspect it's the same for all of us who aren't seasonal to January. Lower sales, lower conversion rates, smaller AOV's. We've just gotten used to 2-3 good months where we're selling without trying and now it's time to reflect. I use this time to cut costs and trim the fat. You're not alone!
I hear you! This is my 3rd January. First January experience was rly tough mentality. Now I’m handling it a bit better, I expect it to be slow and know it isn’t a signal of the year to come. Focusing on creating exciting plans and goals with the team, and keeping marketing efficiency high / overall costs low.
Our business is the same. Jan/Feb are slow months where you begin doubting your strategy. Then things ramp up again in March.
Trick is not to rip up the playbook and make crazy changes. Trust the process
Agree on all of the above - always tough to keep the positivity up in the height of winter
for sure relatable 🫠
We try to always book a long vacation in January actually - the last years 3 weeks. And we try to get the team to take some time off too. Because there’s just not that much to do, and if the marketing team get idle hands they test too much in a time with low conversion rate, and we loose money.
So January is now our chill month - the month I personally look forward to the most during the year 🙂
@Jenni Bailey - Calla shoes I agree on this, I look at the numbers and I’m like “f*ck” (excuse my French), but I don’t think this anxiety/stress is a bad thing perse.
I do feel that Q4 makes you a bit too comfortable sometimes and then January really puts you back on the ground with both feet.
I’m very thankful for January being shit, because it really hits that reset button where I’m fully engaged in the company together with the whole team, making sure we get out of this asap.
It really made me super sharp again, something I haven’t really experienced since November, uncovered multiple strategies that will hopefully get us to the next level again.
I’d use all the alertness that that anxiety/stress bring and aim that energy on productiveness and unconvering new strategies.
Btw, just a disclaimer, I function very well under these circumstances, but ofcourse everyone functions differently, so just sharing my personal experience and how I deal with it.
I typically work in blocks (currently on wk2 of a 6 week block) - I find it helps me focus on the work and reduces the stress about the risk
I’m the same. I always wonder why I carry on if sales are not growing month on month, but then well see a shift and it makes me realise we’re in the right track!