What's the biggest thing you want to achieve for your business in 2025?

[tranguyen]

Happy Wednesday, everyone ✨

We're already half-way through November and soon before you know it, 2025 will come knocking. Our team have been cooking up some exciting plans for the Square Community next year which got us all talking about how we've love to know:

What's the biggest thing you want to achieve for your business in 2025?

Can't wait to read all about what you have plan for the new year and do let us know if there are any resources, events or programs we can plan to help you reach your goal 🌟 

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This question is part our Season of Giving celebration. RSVP to Cheers to You, a Seller Community Virtual Celebration today. 

[CareyJo]

I really want to work towards being 75% commercial.  I'd like to see that happen by June of next year, so that we're really seeing the income shift before the end of the year.  There's one more site we'd like to add to our portfolio but we have no control over that selection.  I do want to work on making a list of potential commercial clients to visit with, ones that have a lot of properties or larger properties.  More commercial work means less labor and higher income which translates to less time in the field.  That also means less paperwork for me in the office because there are less clients on a weekly basis.  I've been struggling mentally and emotionally for a long time over going into a new venture.  Less time in the office might give me the comfortability to be okay with taking it on.  I'm wrestling with writing a book series and still following my dream and how that looks and what to compromise on, to fulfill both without sacrificing what I really want.  Shifting to more commercial is not about growing or the increase in income, it's about the income replacing what we will lose by giving up more residential clients and working less.  It's just a trade off but that would benefit both of us in running the business until we can retire in a few years.

[Twpchair]

Although in different fields, I struggled with this as well at one point. I had or was using 101 different vendors/ suppliers at one point and the amount of emails, deals, blowout sales, etc. Was putting me at my breaking point. I have a great young man who works for me and does all our daily business and bookkeeping and I asked him to look up the numbers to streamline it down greatly and look into bigger suppliers that handle all retail furniture, decor, rugs all of it and compare them. He did and printed it off and I got to calling and cut it down to 10 wholesalers and picked up 10 more local vendors who specialized in decor and accessories. Best move I made and cut down my time and my manager/ bookkeeper at the store. Good luck with your adventure and I wish you the best!

[anucrown]

The biggest goal for Anu’Crown in 2025 is to secure wholesale brand deals, gain product placements in select retail locations and media, and greatly increase our brand’s footprint. Achieving these objectives would mean not only expanding our visibility but also building relationships with larger retailers, allowing us to share our unique luxury hats with a broader audience.

To do this, I aim to establish partnerships with boutique and upscale retail stores that align with our brand’s identity, securing shelf space that will give our products greater visibility and accessibility. Additionally, I’m focusing on product placement in media outlets, fashion events, and influencer campaigns, positioning Anu’Crown hats in places where they can gain organic exposure and attract new customers.

Increasing our footprint is equally important, and I envision this expansion through a mix of strategic event attendance, online presence, and targeted marketing efforts. Ultimately, my goal is to elevate Anu’Crown from a boutique brand to a recognized name in luxury hats, loved by customers and valued by partners.

[Twpchair]

Amazing goals!! Now, I have to go back and redo my goals 😆 just kidding! I wish you all the best and I hope you can rock it out! You have a great plan laid out and knock them out 1 at a time! You and only you know what is best for your business and by laying out goals like that I expect to see or hear about you in Michigan! Go get it!

[CareyJo]

I love hats!  I would so visit a shop!  Sounds like some great, thought out plans!

[Twpchair]

As many are going bigger and more commercial, larger clients I on the other hand have decided to take advantage of a smaller store about 6 buildings down from my main store. I started small roughly 1k sq ft. Outgrew that in less than a year. I am the only retail furniture and decor store in our town and 30-40 minutes from the big box stores. We get a lot of people and foot traffic. It's go-go all day. I have been debating and debating do I want to do this and could I mentally and physically handle both? I had a long talk about it with my husband and he is so amazing. How do you know if you don't try? Then I talked with my manager and the rest of the employees and they said go for it! I want and I love that one on one connection and communication between customers. Our community is 85% of mom-and-pop businesses and I started to feel like a warehouse worker, loading and unloading dock worker. So I put the deposit down on 2nd location more of a gift shop and locally made boutique store. Also in the store my best friend has 2 light breakfast and lunch coffee shop. She will be joining me! A smaller scale for her but still enough to draw in both crowds. I feel like I need this for my peace of mind and to get back to being with the customers and doing what I enjoy and miss. The main store I will still own and work there a couple of days during the week and fill in when needed here and there. I have an amazing group of guys and 1 lady who I feel 100% can handle business just fine when im not there. So here's to 2025 and location/business number 2! The lease starts January 1st but the ones in there now are out Nov 30th and we can move in, set up, and hopefully everything will go smoothly. 

[CareyJo]

Sounds like it will be awesome!  Congrats!

[Twpchair]

Thank you! I’m excited about it and think I need it. 

[Traderandco]

Our goal for our cafe business is to really bed down our systems and processes, including training. This will help our team culture and our efficiency.

Along with that, our goal is to be able to have our managers run the store, with us as owners taking a step back, to be able to better run the business.

[Jacksmith4095]

It sounds like you have a clear and strategic vision for your café! Focusing on solid systems and thorough training is a fantastic approach to strengthen team culture and streamline operations. Empowering your managers to take on more responsibility will definitely allow you, as owners, to concentrate on growth and long-term planning. Wishing you all the best as you work towards these goals!

[VanKalkerFarms]

I would love to hire on a head grower to be in charge of the day to day aspects so I can focus on so many of the other parts of the business.  I made a 110k offer with health and a vehicle and 3 months vacation to my prime candidate and lost out by over 30k.  I really feel half the salary would be made up in the first year just by improvements of someone doing the daily tasks of monitoring soil analysis and production daily, but finding the right person is hard.  I've tried 2 in the past and neither made it past week 2.

[maxpete]

You will find a good fit for this, I believe it!

[JTPets]

2025 will be about refining my automations and finding new ones through creative uses for AI - I wrote 900 lines of API code with it to connect my catalog to google sheets - I've already automated 3 processes that took hours a week to do manually.

[maxpete]

I'm excited to keep following your journey with this, because I'm already learning a lot from you!

[RuckusDonuts]

We are in the final stages of launching a Kickstarter campaign to *eek* acquire a small trailer to allow us to really increase our opportunities as far as sales at events, etc. These combined with our wholesale program have been the fastest growing aspects of our business.

I'm also looking to revamp our menu, more specifically how often we change it. I feel we've gotten a bit predictable & stale.

[maxpete]

Super exciting!! Please share when it launches, and hope you are able to meet your goal to get the trailer!!

[Traderandco]

That's really exciting! Good luck with the Kickstarter. Having a mobile trailer to take to events are such a great way to get your branding out there in the community and build a stronger following.

revamping your menu and changing it up more often, also gives you the opportunity to update your pricing more easily.

Would love to hear how you go with the kickstarter and getting the trailer up and running.

[Daras_Soapery]

I'll be doing our very first charitable campaign! I'm super to help raise awareness for Autism & Neurodiversity. If we can reach our goal of $500 to donate to a local organization that would be a win!

[maxpete]

Love this so much! Way to give back to the community! 

[Daras_Soapery]

Thank you! It's something very close to my heart. My nephew has autism and the support from the community has been beautiful.