What is the Month of Crunch Mean To You?

The word is “Crunch.” Syracuse has a hockey club called the Syracuse Crunch. My sister’s favorite ice cream was Buttercrunch along with a serving of a Nestlé’s Crunch bar on the side. My “crunch” wasn’t so sweet. It was the task of crunching numbers from my last event to see how profitable the event was.

After giving up my accounting major in college to become a general business major because I didn’t love crunching numbers or figuring out debits vs. credits, I still have to perform simple accounting tasks to reconcile statements, check profits vs. losses, figure out pricing, and bill customers for memberships or sponsorships. No matter how you look at it, crunching numbers is part of entrepreneurship.

After the sweet spending of money during the holidays, most of us are faced with larger credit card debts, less spending cash, blank proposals that need signatures and deposits, and using holiday-given gift cards instead of credit cards to eat out. With the average consumer spending $1,000 on meals, gifts, and travel, it can leave little funds to jump-start the New Year with expenditures.

Women entrepreneurs go back to doing work themselves instead of hiring staff. They frantically get out proposals and try to sign deals. They set spending budgets. They pull back on marketing and advertising too. They try to keep going until business picks up.

I saw some great tips in a recent online article listing six ways to keep sales high after the holiday peak which includes; starting a new sale, selling to consumer’s New Year’s resolutions (travel, health, etc.), releasing a new product, marketing to new email addresses you collected over the holidays, re-marketing and re-targeting your advertising, and not becoming too quiet like all other retailers after a busy season.

Today’s Wednesday Wisdom should inspire you to do a few things this week. Crunch your numbers so you know where you stand with how much you spent over the holidays and then establish a new personal or business plan. Second, re-purpose your marketing to mid-winter and early spring specials to attract cash. Third, re-energize your business by ratcheting up new products and services. Finally, if you don’t have money to spend going out and networking or treating clients to lunches or gifts, spend the time crunching your numbers and preparing for April 15th to get it done.