Back to school season is a significant time of year, especially for parents of school-age kids, but it has a certain place in everyone’s memory. Chances are, you can still remember how it felt to go back to school with a new backpack and lunch box and new back to school clothes — the truth is, back to school season can be a “fresh start” not only for kids, but for your small business as well!
How to Increase Back to School Sales
Here are a few sales tips for your small business, inspired by back to school season:
Refresh Your Small Business Marketing
Just like school kids typically use back to school season as a chance to get a new haircut and some new outfits, back to school season is a great time to refresh and refurbish your small business marketing. For example, now that summer is over, it’s a great opportunity to reach out to some existing clients who you haven’t heard from in awhile. You might have some new business opportunities waiting for you with current customers who were out of the office during the summer or who weren’t thinking about business – but now that summer’s over, people are going to be focused on business again, and that means more opportunities for you.
Make a Special Offer for Parents
Most back to school marketing tends to be focused on back to school shopping and encouraging parents to buy things for their kids. But if your small business sells products or services to adults, consider offering some special “back to school” deals that are focused on parents! For example, if you run a wine store, offer a special “celebrate back to school” wine tasting. If you sell massage therapy services, encourage your busy parent customers to treat themselves to a relaxing massage. If you are a photography studio, offer back to school family portrait sessions. There are lots of ways to tie your product or service into a back-to-school special offer that resonates with your customers during this unique time of year.
Make New Friends
One of the most exciting aspects of starting a new school year, for many kids, is meeting new friends. As business owners, sometimes it’s easy to fall into a bit of a rut as the years go by — we’re all busy, we tend to socialize with the same circles, and our network gets a bit stale. So this year, make a point of doing something new to make new friends, meet new contacts, and expand your network — online and in real life. One of the most important characteristics of successful small business owners is that they have strong personal and professional networks; they never feel truly “alone” because they have great people who know them and believe in them. Your network is perhaps your most valuable asset as a business owner — so this year, invest in growing your network.
Learn Something New
Back to school season is ultimately all about learning and growth — but of course, learning and growth shouldn’t stop when you graduate from school! Being a business owner is all about being a lifelong learner. Use back to school season as an opportunity to deliberately learn something new that will help your business, whether it’s signing up for business coaching or a marketing course or sales training or learning a new language. Back to school season should be an occasion for all of us to reflect upon what we are doing with our lives as another school year begins — time passes quickly, so let’s make the most of it by continuing to invest in our own skills and professional development as business people. There’s always something new to learn, and today’s business owners have more resources at their fingertips than ever before.
Back to school is often a nostalgic time. Even if you didn’t love school when you were a kid, it’s part of all of our history and heritage that makes us who we are. And if you’re a business owner, back to school season can still be a source of inspiration to find new customers, make more sales, and get better at what you do for a living.
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