Unconventional Small Business Guide to Black Friday
Break the rules with these out-of-the-box ideas to help you rethink Black Friday
It’s time to think about Black Friday!
As a small business owner and a consumer, there are a lot of things to consider when it comes to Black Friday, offering sales, or participating in general.
Maybe you’ve been thinking…
What sale, offer, or discount should I offer in my business?
Should I spend money on Black Friday?
Do I have the time for this right now?
Should I even participate at all?
There’s no right or wrong answer here. In this blog post, I help you explore the pros and cons, as well as some out-of-the-box Black Friday offer ideas to help you decide what the best decision for YOU is this year.
First, it’s important you know the approach I take.
About Danielle
If you’re new to my word, let me offer a preview into how things work around here.
In case you haven’t noticed, we do things a bit differently around here. I’m not into Bro-Marketing or 5-Steps-to Success approaches. I’m also not the business coach who’s going to deep dive into the nitty-gritty numbers and analytics, and plug-and-play a formula to show you where you can scale to millions.
My focus is on the Business Owner — and ultimately, clarifying and aligning you to what creates your own version of success (a.k.a. what makes you feel the best and most fulfilled every day).
Together, we take a holistic approach to align your business and goals to your lifestyle, how you (personally) best work, strategies that feel good to you (so you show up and do them), and giving you permission to let go of anything else that doesn’t serve you.
It’s about the numbers, and it’s not. Because if those numbers aren’t helping you feel at your best and most fulfilled, then those numbers don’t matter. It’s actually time to make real changes to shift the variables instead.
It’s about your alignment. It’s about your day-to-day and how you live your life while running your business. It’s about what fulfills you in every way (financially, your purpose, how you spend your time, how you best work, your self-care and mental health, your life outside of your business, etc.)
Because when you feel lit-up and deeply taken care of, you show up as your best!
And your best is what creates your best results.
Pros & Cons of Black Friday
Now, whether you’re leaning toward participating or sitting this year out, let’s dive into some pros and cons for you both as a consumer and for your business.
This is not an all-encompassing list, so I encourage you to consider your own pros and cons as well.
Cons for Black Friday
For consumers:
The frenzy of limited-time and exclusive offers may cause impulsive buying decisions that can sometimes lead to regret or overspending.
FOMO (fear of missing out) and the waves of emotions (from excited to anxious, to frustration and disappointment, to joy and overwhelm) can wreak havoc on our mental and emotional health and nervous system.
If you’re participating in-person, it can involve large crowds, long lines, and crazy shopping environments.
Holiday time can feel cut short with the rush to get to the stores or online-shop from your phone, even at the dinner table.
For Small Business Owners:
Pressures to offer deep discounts to compete with other Black Friday offers that may not make sense for your business, values, or pricing.
Feeling like you’re not doing enough — especially when larger businesses with hefty marketing budgets invest in wide-spread advertising campaigns.
Limited capacity for delivery on a large number of offers, including inventory, staffing, customer service, and not to mention all of the tech elements that need to be built, managed, and maintained through the process (and if you’re a solo-business owner, you’re already wearing all of the hats).
General sense of overwhelm — You’re a business owner with a life (and possibly family) too! Maybe you’re in a busy season of life right now and Black Friday planning feels impossible to add to your to-do list.
Pros for Black Friday
For consumers:
Black Friday often offers some of the best prices of the year to help you save money on purchases — especially those you planned on buying anyway
Deep discounts may even offer more access for you to purchase items that were out of your budget before.
For some individuals and families, Black Friday shopping is an enjoyable tradition — I’ve even heard of families shopping in their pjs or ugly Christmas sweaters to kick off the holiday season.
For Small Business Owners:
This time of year (with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday & Cyber Monday all kicking off the holiday, gift-giving season), is a season where more consumers are already in “Buying-mode” psychologically. Making it a potentially easier sell than other times of the year.
Black Friday sales can offer a cash-injection to your business by boosting sales and overall revenue.
Depending on your offer, this can be a great way to attract and offer sales to First-Time Buyers as a great way to attract new customers.
If you have excess inventory (especially product-based businesses), this can be a great way to purge this inventory to make space (and revenue) for new.
Ideas for Black Friday Offers for Small Businesses
Time to strategize! Let’s dive into specific ideas for Black Friday offer and sale ideas for your own Small Business!
No Black Friday Offer
Yes, this is an choice too! Over the last 11 years, I’ve ran Black Friday deals consistently and others I literally never said a word about Black Friday — and that’s ok. Maybe the season of business or life you’re in doesn’t make sense to add more to your plate. Maybe you have business values that don’t align with Black Friday or sales of any sort — Shane Co. is one of my favorites to discuss because they claim to price their products fairly from the start so they don’t offer sales or discounts ever.
No matter your reason, it’s ok to do nothing.
Reverse Black Friday Offer
Whether the traditional deals of Black Friday don’t align with your values or pricing, or maybe you don’t feel called to participate this year, you might try-on some unconventional reverse ideas instead.
Announce that you will be donating a percentage of your Black Friday sales to a specified charity or cause (that aligns with your business and ideal clients) to promote socially conscious consuming. Maybe a tree is planted with every purchase over $100. Maybe a pair of your crochet gloves are donated to the local shelter.
Or allow your clients to give back while shopping by offering a “Pay-It-Forward” deal. Maybe with every photography session purchased, a mini-session is gifted to a Foster family. Get creative and emphasize giving!
Flash Sales
You might offer a limited-time discount or sale for Black Friday like many businesses do. For example, for my photography clients, I offer a 20% off on all orders of prints, canvases, metals, etc.
You might make this more enticing by offering flash sales or limited-time deals on specific products, services, or offers throughout the day to create urgency and keep customers engaged.
Limited Edition Offers
It might make the most sense to launch a brand new offer during Black Friday, but offer it in a limited edition way. For example, all Black Friday orders will receive extra support, a free promotional gift, or will recieve the limited edition design that no one else will get.
You might also create an offer to only sell for Black Friday — these can create excitement and FOMO for getting a one-of-a-kind special offer.
Bundles
A great way to “create” a Black Friday offer without having to create a new offer is to bundle some of your current offers together and sell it as a bundle, cheaper than they could get if they purchased the offers separately. For product-based businesses, this can be a creative way to move some of your stagnate inventory.
Add-Ons & Bonuses
You might provide a “free gift with purchase” on all orders or on orders over a certain amount during this time. The free gift might be a surprise or something specific for them to feel excited about. Again product-based businesses, this can be a creative way to move some of your stagnate inventory.
For product-based, brick-and-mortar businesses, you might offer complimentary gift wrapping services to appeal to holiday shoppers.
Exclusive Offers for Loyal Clients
I always love spoiling my long-term, loyal clients who keep coming back to work with me. A great way to say “thank you” to your loyal clients is to offer them a special offer only they get or to give them exclusive early access to the deals before you open it up for the public.
Another fun idea is to surprise your loyal clients with surprise upgrades or free bonuses with their purchase! (I do this frequently!)
Which Should You Choose?
No matter which option you choose, there are a few things I want to make sure you consider:
Does it align with your values?
Does your pricing support any discount or sale?
Does it show value to your loyal and current clients?
Does it make sense for your business right now?
Does it make sense for you right now?
Overall, I hope this blog post helps you consider the decision that is right for you and your business. Black Friday can be exciting and strategic, but it can also create overwhelm and misalignment with impulsive sales or decision-making.
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Danielle Uhl, MSOL is a Certified Coach & Business Mentor with over a decade of corporate experience and three successful entrepreneurial ventures under her belt. With a Bachelors & Masters in Business, she combines her academic knowledge with real-world expertise to help small business owners navigate the challenges of entrepreneurship. Danielle’s unique #WATCHME® brand encourages ambitious solo-business owners to pave their own path and create their own version of success and sustainable growth.
