As a mom and a shopper, I love Black Friday — and I hate it.
I love the deals — we got some great videos last year for $5 each!
I hate the pressure of getting to a store, or checking out online, by a certain time lest you miss the deal of a lifetime.
I love the fun of Christmas shopping.
I hate the commercialization of the Christmas season.
I love the excitement of looking for great deals.
I hate the greed that overcomes some shoppers as they try to be first in line for those deals.
I love that everyone wants to cater to me to get my business.
I hate that everyone seems to be out to make a buck.
I love that going shopping at the mall feels like going to church because of the carols playing over the audio system.
I hate that the sacred of Christmas is overshadowed by the shopping and the secular.
In the past, I have looked at Black Friday as a necessary evil — stores taking advantage of, and contributing to, the commercialization of the season by tempting shoppers to spend, spend, spend, but also giving us a chance to spend less on our holiday shopping than we would otherwise.
This year, though, for the first time I am on the other side of Black Friday. This summer, I joined the ranks of work-at-home moms supplementing our family income through a direct sales company. I joined a company called Lilla Rose that sells unique Flexi clips and other “hair jewelry” through parties, shows and online sales.
For the past month in my consultant group on Facebook, I have heard of little else besides how to get ready for the anticipated Black Friday sale, how to market it, how to serve our customers through it, how BIG it often is and how excited everyone is about it.
This year, I am looking at Black Friday both as a shopper and as a business person. I’m looking at my expenses, both for my business and personally, and thinking about how the sale this weekend can truly help me get “in the black.”
From my interaction with other vendors, I’m also more aware of how vital direct sales businesses are to a lot of families — paying bills, buying groceries, purchasing educational materials, paying for tuition, helping to pay for music or dance or sports lessons, and in some cases being the main source of income for a family. And for the most part, they are not “just pyramid schemes” or too good to be true, but legitimate businesses with legitimate products filling a niche in the American market.
So when I look at Black Friday and other holiday shopping fun this year as I complete my gift list, I will also be thinking about which small business friends might have something that will meet my needs, knowing that my purchase will not only bless the recipient but also those fellow moms who are using their business to support their families … and I hope you’ll do the same.
Happy shopping!
