During the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, we can forget why we started our product-based business. We lose our desire to be creative during the holidays as we frantically work our business!
In the 17+ years we owned and operated our Tastes of Idaho business, we never seemed to have time to celebrate Christmas with family and friends. Either we were doing holiday booths and shows or we were just too busy shipping out products. For years, our holiday decorations stayed in storage — I had neither the time nor energy to put them up. And forget about the big holiday meals on Thanksgiving and Christmas! Who wants to spend all day cooking on their only days off?
Do you feel this way during the holidays?
A different perspective on looking at being creative during the holidays
One of the yearly traditions I engaged in during the holidays was to visit my local gift shop, Costco and other stores (of course, in the evening or on the weekends when I had time!) to see the holidays displays, colors, new gift items, and gourmet foods. It was amazing to see all the creative ideas folks come up with when designing their holiday gift items. Also, I watched to see which products were selling and which ones were sitting on the shelves getting dusty!
We all need a break from the grind of working our business. I found that taking off a small amount of time to visit stores (especially those that sold my or similar products) was a great inspiration to me. We developed several new products or product packages just by looking at what others created.
And, even if I did not find something that I could directly transfer to my business, I became inspired by all the beautiful items I found in stores.
Now, I am not suggesting that you copy exactly what you see in stores. I am suggesting that you look to see what might inspire your creativity for new projects for the new year!
In other words, take some short breaks to rejuvenate your creativity rather than just go through the pressure and drudgery of filling orders!