Holidays are seen as a great opportunity for businesses to market and sell their products and services. And they are indeed! On holidays, people are looking for sales and are open to purchasing more than ever. Additionally, common big holidays often also mean meeting with family and friends expecting gifts. And then comes something huge, the end of the year with its Black Friday, Cyber Monday, the whole Christmas gifts rush: so many opportunities! The season is even longer for fitness professionals as it continues into January, which is an essential month for new beginnings and fitness resolutions.

A lot of marketing opportunities and sales also imply a lot of work. While things might go more smoothly if you are a bigger company with a lot of resources and the whole marketing department, for solopreneurs, it’s an entirely different world. The holiday season for solopreneurs might be a snowball pressure, but no one talks about it.

Holidays for solopreneurs: blessing or curse?

It seems that everyone is offering special deals by the end of the year. The great thing is that many people out there are also waiting and looking for a discount. It might sound like a perfect situation, but it’s not, and here is why.

• Everyone is offering special deals. The more businesses offer and advertise a deal, the harder it is to be seen, especially online. The advertising costs are going up by this time, and as a solopreneur, it is hard to compete with a resourceful company.

At the same time, if you do not offer a deal, you might face frustrated or even angry current and potential customers:

“Why don’t you offer a deal? Everyone does!“

“I really like you, but I saw that fantastic deal at another place, and you don’t offer any sales now, so I’m going with them instead.“

It doesn’t seem that you actually have any choice but to work even harder and to offer deals everyone is so excited about, whether you want it or not.

• You have to do all the work by yourself, including strategy, marketing campaigns, design, writing, posting, selling, accounting, and everything else that goes with it. As a solopreneur, you always wear a lot of hats, but by the end of the year, you have to become a superhero to make it all work while beating other entrepreneurs in a war for a customers’ attention.

• What about your personal life? On top of it, you actually have your personal life. You may have another full-time job if it’s only your side business. You have your family and friends, so you are also looking for different gifts for them or yourself. You are pressured to buy it now because just in a few days the price goes up and you can save a lot of money if you buy it now.

Speaking of family and friends, you might also have different personal events planned that desire your time and attention.

Regardless of how well you plan and prepare ahead, how many deals you close during the holiday season, it is clear that it’s an incredibly stressful time not only on a business but also on a personal level. It’s okay to bring the hype into all the opportunities of that sale season, but we shouldn’t dismiss the mental pressure caused by that.