Black Friday Is a Bill, Not a Bonus - Ep. 24
ZilckSound. You're tuned in to ZilckSound, where business gets real, trends get broken down, and you walk away sharper than when you hit play. Brought to you by zilk.com. Practical news for the modern entrepreneur. Now here's your host, Rob Henley.
Rob:Hello, everyone. Welcome back to ZilckSound. Thanks for tuning in again. And tonight, we're skipping Black Friday. Yes.
Rob:I said it out loud. The biggest shopping weekend of the year, and your host is suggesting you might sit it out. Somewhere a marketing consultant just dropped their coffee. But don't despair. This isn't about discount strategies.
Rob:This is our final episode of the year. And I wanted to take something different with you. I'm not gonna hand you countdown timers or subject lines or the perfect hour to send the email. And I'm not here to tell you discounts are evil either. Plenty of good businesses discount well.
Rob:Tonight is about one decision, whether to join the loudest week in retail and about making that decision with a calculator instead of a nervous glance at your competitors. Because here's what's happening out there right now. Attention costs more than it ever has this season. Every inbox looks like a casino floor and quietly, more and more small businesses are asking the forbidden question. What if we just didn't?
Rob:What if we don't do Black Friday this year? Not out of laziness, not out of fear, out of arithmetic? That question deserves better than panic. So tonight, let's give it some respect. Let me tell you about a candle maker.
Rob:Call her Lauren. Small studio, good product, loyal following. Last year, Lauren did what the calendar told her to do. 40% off sitewide all weekend. And by one measure, it worked.
Rob:Best sales day in the history of her business. The dashboard lit up like a holiday window. Here's the measure it didn't work by. Her candles sell for $30 They cost about 15 to make. At 40% off, she's selling at 18, which means she keeps $3 instead of 15.
Rob:Hear that again. She didn't discount her price by 40%. She discounted her profit by 80. To make the same money as a normal day, Lauren needed to sell five times as many candles. She sold three times as many record units, best ever revenue, less actual profit than a quiet Tuesday in March.
Rob:That's the trap in one picture. The dashboard said best day ever. The bank statement said long weekend, paid for twice, and the bill kept arriving. In January, her regulars weren't buying. They'd stocked up at $18 and a few of them, the sharp ones, had learned something she never meant to teach.
Rob:That her prices are an opening offer. That November rewards the patient. Now call in Peter, frame shop two towns over, same weekend, same nervous season. Peter skipped the discount entirely. He sent one email to his own list.
Rob:It said something simple. The holiday deadline is December 12. Order by then and it's under the tree. Regulars got first pick of the slots. Every order that weekend went home with a small thank you gift that cost him almost nothing.
Rob:His Friday was quieter than Lauren's and his month was fine. And his January showed up alive, full of customers who had paid full price and didn't feel foolish about it. One sentence to hold on to here. Lauren bought a crowd. Peter kept his customers.
Rob:So what do we do with that? In our usual fashion, three ideas. Let's take them one at a time. Idea number one, a discount is not a sale. It's a purchase.
Rob:When you say 40% off, you're describing what the customer gets and you're not describing what you just bought or what you paid for it. So ask it straight. What does this discount buy us? Maybe it buys new customers who will come back at full price. That can be worth it.
Rob:Maybe it clears stock that was going stale. Also worth it. But maybe it buys you a weekend of strangers who love your price and feel nothing for your product. People who will never see your shop again until the next time it's on sale. If that's what you're buying at 80% of your profit, that's not a promotion.
Rob:That's an expensive way to feel busy. Here's the line for you. Revenue is applause. Margin is rent and the landlord doesn't accept applause friend. Idea number two, Black Friday is a rented crowd on the most expensive weekend of the year.
Rob:Think about what you're actually doing when you compete that week. You're bidding for attention at peak prices against giants whose entire business model is surviving on margins thinner than yours. You're fishing in a pond stocked with deal hunters, and deal hunters are loyal, fiercely loyal to the deal. Meanwhile, the audience you already own, your list, your regulars, the people who recommend you at dinner costs almost nothing to reach. On any weekend you like, the discount you run every single year stops being generosity.
Rob:It quietly becomes the price. And the customers you most want to keep are the first ones to figure that out. You're not renting a crowd anymore. The crowd is renting you friend. Idea number three, skipping is not the same as silence.
Rob:If you sit this one out, sit it out on purpose and say so out loud. Because you still have to answer the question your customers are silently asking that week. What's happening at your place? Maybe it's a bundle that protects your margin while still feeling like an event. Maybe it's gift cards or early access for your list or service promise.
Rob:Guaranteed delivery before the twenty fourth. Free gift wrapping. Priority slots for the people who've been with you all year. Even a plain sentence, we don't do Black Friday and here's what we do instead, is a position. Peter didn't go dark that weekend.
Rob:He showed up with something to say. It just wasn't a percentage. And in a week when every brand is shouting buyers are tired, restraint reads as confidence. A full price business with a reason beats a discounted business with an apology. So let me land this.
Rob:This week, give last year's promotion one honest hour. Pull the real numbers. Take everything you sold that weekend. Subtract the discount. Subtract the extra ad spend, the packaging, the overtime, the returns.
Rob:Look at what's left and finish this sentence. Our last Black Friday discount bought us blank. If the sentence ends with something you want more of, new customers who stayed, a clean warehouse, a cash cushion you needed, then run it again this year and run it proudly. If you can't finish the sentence, you already have your answer and it cost you one hour instead of one more exhausted November. One hour, real numbers, one sentence, that's the whole assignment.
Rob:And before anyone asks, no, this isn't about being above it all. It's about being deliberate. Like you're allowed to sit Black Friday out. You're allowed to run it too on your numbers, not your nerves. You're allowed to protect January instead of decorating November.
Rob:You're allowed to charge your full price in the one week the entire Internet insists you shouldn't. You're allowed to make this year's call without promising next year anything. And you're allowed to call a quiet Friday a Good Friday as long as the math behind it is loud. Here's the line to keep. A discount is a tool, not a tradition.
Rob:Tools get chosen. If the calendar made the decision for you, then nobody made the decision at all. Remember that. If the calendar decides, nobody decided. It better be you as always.
Rob:And friends, one more thing before I let you go. This is it. Our final episode of twenty twenty six. 24 episodes of stories, numbers and questions we probably weren't supposed to ask out loud. Thank you for every listen, every share, every kind note.
Rob:It means more than you know. We're taking a short breather over the holidays and we'll be back in 2027 with new ideas and new stories. In the meantime, zilk.com keeps publishing every day so you won't be lonely. From all of us here, Sarah included, have a wonderful close to your year. Sell well, rest better.
Rob:I'm Rob Henley. This is ZilckSound. See you on the next one.
Sara:ZilckSound. ZilckSound.