Posts Tagged “Christmas”

Unless you’re in retail, the period between December 25th and the Monday after January 1st is, effectively, the Doldrums. From a business point of view, it’s the equivalent of being on a schooner or square-rigger, in the middle of the ocean, with nary a breeze in sight. Nothing happens. 

If you’re in outbound sales, you might as well reorganize your desk, update your files, weed out old contacts, et cetera. 

If you’re in marketing and advertising, it’s time to catch up on all the sleep you lost in the big run-up to the Christmas selling season, as nobody’s going to do anything until next year. 

As for me, I’m catching up on business plans, marketing plans, and strategic plans. 

Which brings up another question…what are your plans for next year, and how do you plan to adapt to the Brave New World of economic reality?

I grew up working for my Dad. He owns a music studio (a teaching studio) that had a small counter, where he’d sell strings, drumsticks, picks and a few books. No big deal. When I came along, I had visions of turning his operation into a “real” music store, complete with lots of stock, drumsets, keyboards, synths, guitars, amps – the works. My Dad was somewhat indulgent, but quite a bit less enthusiastic when it came to opening the wallet to buy stock. He was a child of the Great Depression, and believed that caution and prudence were rules to live by. No floor plans and going into debt for him, certainly not on the hopes and dreams of some kid who thought he knew everything. Turns out the Old Man was pretty sharp, for in the intervening years, I’ve seen more music stores than I care to think about asume room temperature when faced with recessions, big store competition, and lack of forecasting the fickle tastes of John Q. Public. 

What I learned, working retail for my Dad, could fill a book (and perhaps, someday will). One lesson that was brought back to mind today was what it was like working retail for Christmas. In many ways, they are some memories I’d rather forget. Read the rest of this entry »