Why The Fall is a Great Time to Start a Business

Holidays are coming! More people spend money than ever before from November to December, especially in the US. They buy gifts for Christmas and other holidays, like Thanksgiving and Halloween. This is a great time to launch your own business because everyone’s in a shopping mood.

Last year, Americans spent over 211 billion dollars between November and December, that’s a whole lot of money! It’s even more than the year before. This shopping season happens in most countries, not just the US. So, if you’ve been thinking about starting a business, fall is the perfect time to jump in!

Have you ever seen the chaos at malls during holiday sales? Crowds pushing and grabbing to score deals? That’s because people are ready to spend big! So, what if you could launch your business just in time to tap into that holiday shopping excitement?

Let’s see why starting your business in the fall sets you up perfectly to make the most of this golden shopping season. We’ll break it down in simple terms, no need for fancy words here.

Can I Really Get Set Up In Time?

Launching an online business isn’t as slow as you might imagine! There are many ways to jump in, and one of the easiest is to pick and register a name for your website (like “yourbusiness.com”). Then, you just add other things you need, like website storage (called “hosting”), which is also pretty simple. Tools like EasyWP can make it even easier, getting your website ready in no time.

Buying all your supplies at once has lots of perks, but the biggest one is giving your business a strong start. You can save money right away if you shop smart!

Before you do anything, though, you need to figure out what kind of business you want to run.

The Best Businesses to Start during the Holiday Season

Pick something you love to sell and know about! It’s always a good idea to start a business with something that excites you and where your skills can shine. The holiday season is even sweeter because it brings guaranteed buyers for some popular gift items. Think about what you enjoy getting as presents – chocolate, makeup, fun activities, or gadgets – and you’re on the right track!

Want to be even more specific? Brainstorm things directly tied to Christmas or other winter holidays. Decorations, trees, menorahs, cards, wrapping paper, and New Year’s calendars are all hot sellers. You can even choose another holiday, like New Year’s Eve, if Christmas isn’t your cup of tea. The best part? The holiday rush guarantees a built-in market, so you can worry less about finding customers.

Staying updated on cool new stuff is important too! Apps like TikTok can be a goldmine for fresh ideas. Remember that trend on TikTok called #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt? It’s where people see cool products in videos and just gotta have them. Makeup and skincare are super popular on TikTok (makes sense since you can really see them in action!), but you can find pretty much anything, from clothes to gadgets. Even “life hacks” like magic teeth whiteners or those crazy Power Scrubber Brushes can go viral and become massive hits, especially around holidays.

Selling things not your thing? Don’t worry! With seasonal events coming up, there’s another way to make money from your skills. Think of it this way: your time is valuable, and if you’re good at something, it can be REALLY valuable. Got expertise in a field? Share it! Teach, entertain, cater, decorate, plan parties – the possibilities are endless.

All you need is a website to showcase your skills and reach potential clients. But remember, a good business lasts, so don’t just focus on the right now.

In other words, don’t be like Homer Simpson:

Do you have your idea now? Good. Now, let’s look at how you can put it into practice.

What Kind of Site do I need?

Let’s take the two examples we talked about earlier: selling things you can touch (like toys) and offering personal skills (like haircuts). We’ll see how these ideas translate into building a website.

Reseller sites

The kind of business above (buying and selling products) is known as a reseller business. These can be fairly easy to set up, and with Upspeedhosting, first-year domain, hosting, and security all come to scarcely more than the price of a bread and a slice of Christmas cake.

WooCommerce on WordPress is a common way to approach this. It’s an out-of-the-box solution that takes you through every part of setting up a store, piece by piece. This covers everything from checkout pages and store layout to setting shipping plans and payment methods.

Outside of the WooCommerce setup, there’s not too much to worry about. You’ll need to choose a theme that integrates well with WooCommerce, and then create listings for the products you want to sell. This will involve adding pictures and/or media to listings (people love to see what they’re buying), and creating some basic terms and conditions so customers know your process for returns. Don’t be put off by this — you can draw heavily on what you see on other sites, and especially at first, it will be a manual process anyway (where you speak to the customer directly), so you can feel your way through on a case-by-case basis.

And what would this business look like in reality? If you sell small, easily-mailed items, the day-to-day reality of having an online store could be as little as a few non intrusive boxes at first that you can tuck into a wardrobe and a few visits to the post office per week. The only time the commitment goes up from your side is if things are going well — a win-win situation.

Selling services

Websites for this could be much simpler than above. You’ll probably want to feature a bit about yourself, explain what you’re selling, what experience you have, and why you’re looking to do it, as well as a table of your fees in relation to what you do. Don’t forget to pepper the pages with images,

The advantage of this over reselling is you’ll need pages and less media, you won’t need to buy a lot of surplus stock that you may not sell, and you won’t need to implement a selling platform (which takes time and effort). Instead, you could take payments in person or install a simpler payment system on the website.

Progressing Beyond A Basic Website

SEO and social media

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a process that involves making your site more attractive to search engines. It can seem daunting and complex if you try to figure it all out yourself. But luckily, we have a tool that makes it easy. RelateSEO can help you find product gaps in search engine results that will allow your site to rank well despite its newness. It also gives steps on how to improve and nurture your SEO. It’s currently free to try, so there’s no reason not to take full advantage.

And there are other tools waiting when your business is a bit further along. Later, you can use other Relate products to bolster your social media presence and even build your reputation by gaining positive reviews. We also have plenty of articles that will help you understand your audience on social media or even generate content ideas easily. These are all waiting for you whenever you need them.

Business tips

Once you have your website running, social in place, and a steady stream of customers thanks to immaculate SEO, you might have the occasional business question you need answering. Whether you should start a TikTok presence, how to use social media, or anything else, the Upspeedhosting blog is full of business tips and advice as you grow.

Getting The Word Out

Got your website ready? You’ll want people to see it fast, especially during this busy season where time flies!

While things like RelateSEO and social media are awesome for building a long-term audience, they take time. If you want visitors right now, consider paid ads on Google or Microsoft. These platforms match your products with people who are searching for them at that exact moment. It’s like super-targeted advertising, and it’s surprisingly affordable!

Don’t forget to spread the word to your loved ones – they’re your biggest cheerleaders! You can even get creative with flyers or business cards – anything to get people buzzing about your new project.

Right from the very beginning, even with your first few customers, try to make them like you and keep coming back. Start easy! Just stick a “thank you” card in their package, telling them how much you appreciate their business and giving them 10% off their next order. Later, you can build on this with email lists, updates, and maybe even special deals for your best customers.

But don’t stress about all that now! Remember, there’s no rush. When you’re planning for the future, there’s always time to deal with things later. Take it slow, celebrate each win, and enjoy the ride!