Navigating the Holiday Rush: A Laser Cutter's Guide to Success

Start Early Don't wait until the last minute to start planning. Begin by reviewing your past holiday seasons. What worked well? What didn't? Use this information to create a detailed plan for this year. This includes creating a production schedule, ordering materials in advance, and knowing where to source reliable materials.  

Optimize Your Workflow Efficiency is key during the holiday rush. Group similar orders together to streamline production, implement rigorous quality control measures, and prioritize ergonomics in your workspace. Remember, a happy and healthy team is a productive team.  Even if that “team” is only you.  Also, consider having one area for finishing and another one for packing. This will allow you to have clearly defined workstations and increase productivity.  

Leverage Marketing Use social media to showcase your holiday offerings and engage with your audience. Email marketing is another powerful tool. Send targeted campaigns to your customer list, highlighting special promotions and limited-time offers. Consider paid advertising to reach a wider audience.  Pretend no one knows or remembers you laser cut.  You have to tell them so they can buy!

Prioritize Customer Service Clear communication is essential during the holiday season. Keep your customers informed about order status and shipping times. Respond to inquiries promptly and professionally. And remember, happy customers are loyal customers.  We strongly suggest having a hard cutoff date for orders as well.  This will ensure you have enough time to get last-minute orders out and into your customer's hands before the holiday.  

Learn and Grow Once the holiday rush is over, take some time to reflect on your performance. What worked well? What could be improved? Use this information to refine your strategy for the next year

Here's what preparing for the holiday season looks like for our own laser business:

We ordered a decent supply of both wood and boxes ahead of time, and even started printing some of our "generic" items ahead of time. That will leave us room to do custom items later on. I've even gone as far as pre folding our boxes to make the shipping process even faster.

This year we are also leveraging our social media presence a little bit more by exploring paid ads for one of our holiday products. This particular item in the past has always been a good seller for us on Etsy, but we want to try our hand at presenting it to a wider audience on Facebook.

What have you done so far to help prepare for the holiday rush?

Comment below.

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