Sunday night after a long holiday and it’s all over but the crying…or the joy depending on your perspective.

It is hard to say goodbye (just ask my double-cousin once removed Jack…last night he was struggling with this concept.) A new pair of sunglasses did help, a bit; for his parents’ sake, I hope that they helped all the way home.

Yes, it was indeed dark but sometimes a new perspective is all you need to see in order to make things better.

The holidays are coming to a close and the kids will be back to school, everyone else is back to work. The late morning wake ups and the extra cup of coffee in your jammies has to end sometime. Unless. Unless…you work from home and the kids get themselves off to school. (Sometimes that is me. Sometimes it isn’t.)

I do hope that all of the inventory brought in for the gift buying frenzy was put to good use and people purchased what they wanted, enjoyed the act of giving and in turn, the art of receiving, too. January is a tough month for retail, but the stores that plan ahead and budget a slow-down should be okay.

There are months when sales are lower, the fixed costs are the same, but you can mitigate expenses by selling through inventory, being open when people want to shop but other stores are closed early, or even with less staff… Some people do like to take time off and go to Florida in this cold weather we should be having soon, so that helps.

So, now, it’s all over but the counting…what worked well in 2015? What didn’t? And, of course, what shall we do to finalize our plans for a better 2016? These first few days of the new year back in business should be busy – even if not with sales – make the most of every hour.

~ Dawn aka Hat Girl