Business can be a lonely game, but it doesn't have to be.

Welcome to Boutique Chat, where we explore community over competition and how to scale your company with the balance and the happiness that we all seek.

We'll hear from product-based businesses of all types, retailers, e-commerce, and wholesale brands,

along with industry experts shaping the future of our industry.

I'm your host, Ashley Alderson from the boutique hub, and I can't wait to chat.

Hey, guys, welcome back to the podcast this week.

I am so excited.

This is one of my favorite times of the year as a business owner. And hopefully it's one of your favorite times of the year as well. We have already beat the crazy holiday rush. We've already been through hell and back when it comes to this season of retail. And now it's this moment that we have, like a moment of pause for just reflecting and looking back on the year that we had, making some plans, digging into the things that we don't always get to on our to-do list as we start to prepare for a new year.

And so I wanted to come to you today in this episode just to remind you of a couple of really critical things that we need to get done this time of year.

And hopefully,

if you've created some space in your calendar, maybe some time away from the store or out of the office, some of these things are going to float to the top of your to-do list because they are

truly going to set you up for success in the new year and long term in your business as well.

So this week as we get into it, I'm here in my office. I'm super

sad if you notice behind me, if you're catching this on YouTube or the video, but my neon light

died today. So it's feeling a little dark in here. But the amazing thing is, I think I've had

this neon light, you guys for like, I don't know, seven years, like something incredibly long. It was probably time for it to die. But there are so many great places to

order neon lights these days. I got on, boom, had one. It's going to be here in two days. It's all

good. So we'll look forward to that new neon light when it shows up. All right, let's dig into it.

Here are your five must do reminders for the end of the year.

First things first. Number one, let's talk about maximizing your cash flow for the end of the year.

So I always think about it like this. Business is kind of this game, right? And it's not just about

how much money you make, but really, it's about

...