3 Steps to Quickly Plan Q4 in Your Pet Business

Q4 is officially HERE! 

If you aren’t familiar with the idea of breaking the year into quarters to plan in your pet business, here’s the breakdown…

Q4 is just a quick way to say the “4th quarter of the year.” 

Q1 = January, February, March

Q2 = April, May, June

Q3 = July, August, September

Q4 = October, November, and December… Also known around here as “the money months!”

Why do we call them the “money months?”

Because they tend to be the HIGHEST earning revenue months in pet businesses due to holiday shopping, fun events, and lots of people traveling. 

But they can also be the most exhausting months as a pet business owner– complete with early mornings, long nights, and missing out on holiday fun with loved ones. 

Our latest Pet Business Coaching Week was focused on getting you geared up and ready for Q4 with a solid plan that will boost your revenue to its highest potential AND decrease your stress level. 

BUT, if you couldn’t make it and you’re having an “oh doggie crap!” moment, we don’t want you to worry… you can still take action to earn more in these next few months ahead! 

We put together a “Last Minute Q4 Quick Plan” just for YOU. 

Here are 3 steps to take toward a last-minute Q4 plan for your pet business: 

1. Review your traffic, conversion, and retention. 

Traffic, conversion, and retention are the three things that EVERY business needs to grow. 

Traffic→ Walking traffic, cars driving by, website visitors, social media followers. 

Are you being consistent with your marketing? Are you running enough ads? Is the location of your business hurting your traffic? Are you growing your email and SMS list?

Conversion→ Closing the deal and making the sale. 

Are you upselling enough? Are you able to turn grooming inquiries into grooming appointments? Are you and your team working to master your selling skills?

Retention→ Getting the people who we have converted to come back– again and again! 

What is your customer return rate? Do you have or need a referral program so your customers can tell their friends? How do you show customers your appreciation?

The intersection of these three things are where your pet business will SCALE! 

Look closely at these three things, so you know where to focus your attention during Q4. Once you evaluate these, we’ll head to step number #2… 

2. Define your goals for the quarter. 

You know where your pet business might need some work, so now write down your goals for Q4 based on your evaluation. 

Here were the top 4 goals other petpreneurs had in mind for Q4 in a recent poll: 

✔ Increase your revenue. 

✔ Build your audience. 

✔ Build a stronger team. 

✔ Show customer appreciation. 

Just physically writing your goals for the quarter down is a BIG step! Now, you need to get laser focused on those goals. When you feel yourself straying and trying to do more, DON’T. Come back to this list to reset. 

Now how do you focus on these goals? That leads us to step #3. 

3. Plan two events per month and assign a specific goal to each. 

We are already in October, so if this month you only plan one, that’s OKAY! The idea here is to get something on the calendar and execute it. 

These events do NOT have to be the most elaborate. They do not have to “do it all”. 

They just have to 1. Happen and 2. Address your goal. 

For example, if you want to boost revenue for October, host a Ghoulishly Gross Sale! Our CEO, Candace, used to do these in her pet business years ago, and they have become more popular in recent years.

Take your GROSSEST treats and put them in Halloween cauldrons. Promote this sale and its dates like CRAZY on social media, to your email list, etc. Do Facebook and Instagram Lives to showcase the treats you’re featuring. Do some sort of sale to bring people in for their pets’ Halloween treats– like buy three, get one free. 

This is just one example that addresses one of the main goals we listed above! Here is a blog post with 9 event ideas you could use in Q4. 

Just make sure each event has your goal at its core. When making decisions about what to do and how to host your event– revisit your goal.

You CAN make the most of this holiday season, even though October has already arrived (so rude. Slow down, 2022!). You CAN plan some time off for yourself. You CAN spend time with loved ones during the holidays. You CAN put more money in your pocket before the end of the year.

And even if you didn’t have a chance to think about this until now, you can start TODAY and still see success. Want to dive into these three points more in depth? Check out our Crash Course training replay here!

Learn more with us!

• Need 1:1 support to make massive action now? Book a discovery call with us to see if working 1:1 with Candace is the right fit for you.

• Get on the waitlist! You’re passionate about pets. It’s time to have a business that supports the life you want, too! Learn the specific techniques to find new customers, to increase sales and to build a better team for ANY kind of pet business by joining the Pet Boss Club! Get on the waitlist here.