Double sales with these Christmas must-haves

One sure way to make money is by investing in anything related to Christmas in these few weeks remaining.
No matter how tough life could have been this year, somehow people save money to spend during the festive season.
So there is no better time than now to make a killing. But you must be wondering how and where to invest.

Since most people have the urge to shop especially during this season, the central business areas and malls are a beehive of activities.
But there are shoppers who hate moving around malls. This is where you come in to close the puzzle.
Establishing a Christmas specialised retail store requires you to bring holiday season products in a central place around your local trading centre.

Mr Reagan Ssembatya, the manager operations House of Wealth, says: “You can run one of such stores especially if you live in an area with few stores.”
He adds that for those who have already established retail stores selling other fast-moving consumer goods, you only have to boost it with decorations, Christmas lights, artificial Christmas trees, balloons and festive season greeting cards.
“If your store is ever filled with what customers need, then that alone will help promote the store,” Ssembatya said.
Mr Daniel Joloba, the chief executive officer –Big Finance, a firm that does advisory and consultancy for Small and Medium Enterprises, says every business has its own starting capital but focus should be more on your source of starting capital.

Use savings
“Don’t go borrowing money to invest in this kind of business. You will be better off starting with the little savings. With this you will not be under any pressure,” Joloba shared.
Sharing her experience, Monicah Namaganda, who owns a retail lock-up at Skylight Arcade down town, says: “The festive season is very lucrative as people spend a lot. Because of this, I also stock products that customers demand like decoration items, wines and seasons greeting cards.”
Namaganda’s lock-up also has other fast-moving consumer goods and the Christmas products just supplement on her stock.
On average, she invests about Shs3 million every year in purchasing and stocking Christmas related products every year.
“With the Shs3 million investment, I sell out and the proceeds almost double the actual investment,” she shared.

Advice
Joloba says when starting this kind of business, it would be wise to know the key items the clients actually want.
“Avoid importing or stocking products before doing a research on what your would be clients want to buy. Remember this is a festive mood and people want party stuff,” he advised.
Don’t be tempted to over stock because this is a small window so you may be stuck with goods which will be useless 30 days later.
“Balance your stocking vis-a-vis your selling, and must have a core group of people who demand certain things and are giving you assurance that they will actually buy and this should be your starting point especially if you don’t have a brand visibility,” Mr Joloba added.
Then, how do you market your products or store? In this case, make use of technology to showcase what products you have through the different social media spaces, WhatsApp groups and personalise marketing in different neighbourhoods.
“Send them the pictures of some of the products you are selling and go ahead to add value beyond what is available,” he shared.

STARTING TIPS
Mr Daniel Joloba, the chief executive officer –Big Finance, a firm that does advisory and consultancy for Small and Medium Enterprises, says every business has its own starting capital but focus should be more on your source of starting capital.
“Don’t go borrowing money to invest in this kind of business. You will be better off starting with the little savings. With this you will not be under any pressure,” Joloba shared.