Black Friday deals – they’re everywhere at the moment (as are articles on how to have your best one yet – we promise this one will be different).
It used to be a one-day event for US retail but it seems everyone has jumped on the pre-Christmas opportunity to snag a customer with irresistible, never-to-be-repeated offers. A culture based on urgency and scarcity we’re told to buy it now or you’ll regret it later but how helpful is this messaging? Is it sustainable? What if we could update and refresh this message so that everyone can have the best Black Friday ever?
In this short read, we take a dip into what’s behind Black Friday and why its pervading message may be taking you, your business growth and your personal development off course. We finish with the one thing every successful business owner does regularly on Black Friday – and how you can do it too.
What’s the deal with Black Friday?
Falling the day after the Thanksgiving holiday in the US, Black Friday marks one of the busiest shopping days of the year. A quick search reveals a plethora of origins of the name but regardless, the image that comes into everyone’s mind is customers elbowing their way to a new flat-screen TV.
At the heart of it is the fear of missing out as consumers are lost in the urgency. Of course, this has lost some of its bite in recent years as BF events run for weeks before and after the end of November but still, the irresistibility of the hot deal remains.
What can we learn from this?
Time to pause
When we put purpose back into the transaction we start thinking about value. The quick fix of an in-the-moment buy may be exciting but does it last long term? Is there anything to be said for researching what you want, what’s on the market and the best place to buy it from? By doing this we’re able to think of wider implications.
It’s this kind of energy that leads to building a business with confidence and sustainability in mind. Think for a moment about the difference between spending and investment. They’re both about exchanging resources but one is more focused on the long-term.
- Spending is often impulse-driven, time-sensitive and short-term.
- Investment sees further into the future, is more intentional and harnesses the power of purpose.
Urgency but not as you know it
Picking up on this notion of deliberate, insight-based and deliberate action to build value allows us to take a wider view. The urgency is still there but it has changed: it’s not about clicking buy by the end of the day but considering that we have one life and if we blink, it’ll be gone.
And we have so much to achieve by then. This isn’t meant to be fatalistic but rather a call to action. It’s never too late to start something new, shift your mindset or invest – time, energy or resources into what you’ve always wanted to do.
The Black Friday every successful business has throughout the year
What do you spend your week doing? It’s too easy to be caught up in the day-to-day and while you’re working in your business, it’s difficult to be working on it – and yet, this is where greater satisfaction, balance and fulfilment lie.
In the Sparks by Ignium podcast, we spoke to fellow Scaling Up coach Bill Gallagher back in 2022. Host Phil Rose explored how taking time out is not just desirable, it’s essential if you want to scale.
They talked about regularly ringfencing days in:
- Blue for working with clients.
- Red for admin.
- Green for developing wider culture.
And
- Black for strategy and implementation.
If you want to add value to your life and your business, this is the only Black Friday you need (or Monday or Thursday – or whatever works for you).
Pause in action
We were invited to work with the partners of a boutique law firm. They wanted to build a strategy so they could grow the value of the business to move towards exit or acquisition. The project involved developing the resourcing and capability plans for the current and future teams, as well as working with the existing team to clearly define roles and responsibilities.
As a four-partner firm, with partners at different stages in their careers, it was essential to develop a plan that clearly laid out the next steps.
By investing in themselves, they were able to build the value they needed to achieve their aims.
We’re happy to say they were successful.
What kind of Black Friday will you have?
Make it a valuable one by ringfencing time for you and your future. Take time out to plan, strategise, pause for thought or reach out for help. If you need us, we’re here for you.