707. Ask Jacq: How to Bridge Revenue Gaps and Sell More—Even in Your Off Season | Q&A

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Product Boss Episode 707 Title: Ask Jacq: How to Bridge Revenue Gaps and Sell More—Even in Your Off Season | Q&A
Release Date: July 10, 2025
Host: Jacqueline Snyder
Featured Guests: Danielle and Minna Khounlo-Sithep

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Overview

In Episode 707 of The Product Boss: Business Coaching for Product-Based Female Entrepreneurs, host Jacqueline Snyder delves into a pivotal topic for product-based businesses: bridging revenue gaps during off-seasons. This episode, structured as a dynamic Q&A session titled "Ask Jacq," provides actionable strategies for entrepreneurs to sustain and grow their businesses year-round, even when sales tend to fluctuate.

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Key Discussions and Insights

1. Understanding Revenue Gaps and Seasonal Fluctuations

The episode kicks off with a discussion on the challenges of maintaining consistent revenue throughout the year. Jacqueline emphasizes the importance of recognizing slow and busy seasons, referred to as "J months" (January, June, July), and strategizing accordingly to ensure financial stability.

Jacqueline Snyder [04:15]: "We call it 1x in your slow season and 3x in your busy season. So you can make enough month to month to keep the lights on, pay the bills."

2. Calculating and Bridging Revenue Gaps

A listener question sets the stage for practical advice on managing revenue gaps. The listener, grappling with six months of low sales on Shopify and six months of decent in-person market sales, seeks guidance on calculating and bridging this gap.

Strategies Discussed:

• Setting Clear Revenue Goals: Jacqueline advises entrepreneurs to define specific revenue targets for slow and busy seasons.

  Jacqueline Snyder [07:00]: "What you need do is raise your average order value. So instead of needing new customers, you get your existing ones to spend more."

• Raising Average Order Value (AOV): By increasing the average amount each customer spends, businesses can significantly boost their revenue without the need for acquiring new customers.

  Jacqueline Snyder [07:36]: "If we can raise their average order value and get them to buy more, you don't have to do anything new and you're going to get close to that $2,000."

• Engaging Existing Customers: Focusing on repeat business by reaching out to previous customers with special offers or incentives ensures a steady income stream.

  Jacqueline Snyder [08:03]: "Go back to people who've already bought from you. They're nine out of ten times more likely to buy from you again."

3. Practical Application and Goal Setting

The conversation delves into setting realistic yet ambitious goals. For instance, a listener selling high-ticket camping tents aims to increase monthly sales from 2-3 units to 6 units.

Jacqueline Snyder [11:37]: "If you sell two to three a month, let's change the shift for you. Doubling it to five or six—six is your number."

Key Takeaways:

• Stretch Goals: Encourage setting higher targets to push business boundaries.
• Customization Based on Product: Tailor strategies based on the nature and price point of the products. High-ticket items require different approaches compared to lower-priced goods.

4. Mindset and Creative Strategies

Jacqueline underscores the importance of a proactive mindset and creative problem-solving in overcoming business challenges.

Jacqueline Snyder [08:15]: "This is your stretch. How can I get creative to make this thing happen?"

Actionable Steps:

• Business vs. In-Business Activities: Focus on working on the business during slow periods to prepare for busy seasons.
• Savings Allocation: Allocate part of the increased revenue to savings to cushion against future slow months.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• [04:15] "We call it 1x in your slow season and 3x in your busy season."
• [07:00] "What you need do is raise your average order value."
• [07:36] "If we can raise their average order value and get them to buy more, you don't have to do anything new."
• [08:03] "Go back to people who've already bought from you."
• [11:37] "If you sell two to three a month, let's change the shift for you. Doubling it to five or six—six is your number."
• [08:15] "This is your stretch. How can I get creative to make this thing happen?"

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Conclusions and Final Thoughts

Episode 707 of The Product Boss offers invaluable insights for female entrepreneurs navigating the cyclical nature of product-based businesses. By focusing on increasing average order values, leveraging existing customer bases, and setting ambitious yet attainable goals, entrepreneurs can effectively bridge revenue gaps and ensure consistent business growth. Jacqueline Snyder's expert advice empowers listeners to adopt a strategic mindset, fostering resilience and adaptability in the ever-evolving marketplace.

Entrepreneurs are encouraged to subscribe to the podcast and engage with upcoming content that continues to support their journey toward becoming the Boss of their business.

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Stay Connected: To further enhance your business strategies, visit Multi-Stream Machine and explore Jacqueline Snyder's signature course focusing on systems, visibility, and sales growth from $0 to $100k and beyond.

Transcript

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Hi, I'm Jacqueline Snyder and this is.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

The Product Boss podcast.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

I've helped launch and grow thousands of product based businesses, even one of my own. And over the last 20 years, I've seen behind the scenes of businesses just like yours. Whether they are makers, manufacturers, artists, or food and beverage businesses. I have spent so many hours studying it all. I've discovered what makes them successful, what mistakes they could have avoided, how did they turn their ideas into successful business, and what are the strategies that they have used to make more sales and be discovered by more customers. And this is what this show is all about.

[Danielle]

Whether you're just starting out or you're.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

Looking to become a million dollar product.

[Danielle]

Boss, I'm here to give you the.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

Permission to chase your dreams, no matter how big or small.

[Jacqueline Snyder]

All you need is the right mindset, a little courage, strategy and support, and you too can be the next million dollar product boss.

[Danielle]

Let's do this. Oh my goodness. Friends, if you are anything like me, you probably spend more time running errands.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

Than running your business.

[Danielle]

Am I right? Like, everything needs something, we gotta run around. And I knew that this was like a major issue for me back in the day, which is why I decided to get help where I could. And I decided to let Instacart handle all of my grocery shopping. So I no longer had to worry about running all the errands and having to run out and get more almond milk from my lattes. Rather, I was like, you know what, we're just gonna let Instacart handle that. So I want you to imagine skipping the store and getting back to designing packaging, orders, making, or maybe actually taking a break, even a nap. Remember those? Okay, so with Instacart, you can get groceries and essentials delivered in as fast as an hour, so you can focus.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

On growing your business without sacrificing a meal.

[Danielle]

Plus, less stress and more focus. And here's a tip. I've actually used Instacart before to order gifts from my daughter's friend's birthday parties. Because I haven't had time to run out and get presents. And I've been able to get the packaging like the gift bag and the gift, like hello, Sephora, delivered to my house while I was in the middle of coaching sessions so that I could have the present right. It's like having a personal assistant without having a personal assistant. So if you want to do what I do and get the help where you can, you can try it now if you head to the Product boss. Com Instacart hey, product bosses, quick check in.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

Is your sales growth feeling stuck, like.

[Danielle]

Totally flatlined despite all of your hustle? Or maybe you're like, okay, this should actually just be harder. Maybe you're feeling like you're walking in mud and it's like, why does this feel so hard? Either way, if you're nodding your head thinking, someone please, please, please just tell me exactly what works so I can finally grow without grinding myself in the ground. Well, I've got something so good for you. Say hello to the accelerate your sales podcast bundle. Okay? It's my absolute best, totally free playlist of episodes that'll show you exactly how.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

To stop being the best kept secret.

[Danielle]

Right?

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

Let's get this product seen.

[Danielle]

Or how about expand your sales across multiple channels without overwhelm. Hello, abundance. Or create products your customers can't wait to buy over and over and over again. And it's going to really help you start to build your business with that clarity, ease and joy. Because growing your business should feel amazing, not exhausting, my friend. This is your shortcut to more sales, less chaos, and way more fun along the way. Grab it now. It's a hundred percent free. I just wanted to make it super.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

Easy for you to find those episodes.

[Danielle]

You're like, which episodes should I listen to you, Jacqueline? Here it is. And it's packed with with pure gold. All you have to do is head to the productboss.com growth or click that link in the show notes and then pop into your email and let's do this. It's your time to feel the freedom to find that abundance and to get passionate about your business again. All right, I'll see you in there. Welcome back, product boss. Okay, we're getting into another Ask Jack.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

Q and A coaching session.

[Danielle]

So this is where I share quick fire answers to real questions from inside of my programs. And they're fast, they're focused, and they're filled with practical strategies that you can use today. So if you're ready to dive in, let's dive in and let's go.

[Listener]

Hi. My question is, how do I calculate my revenue gap if six months out of the year is my downtime and I rely on my Shopify sales and then the other six months are my in person markets where I really do decent sales.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

Great in person. Are we doing spring, summer or is.

[Listener]

It holiday for me? I live in the mid Atlantic, so it's spring and then I call it kind of fall holiday.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

Okay. Before they shut it all down. I live in LA now. I used to live on the East coast for 10 years, I was always, like, so surprised that I was like, you can't be outside all the time.

[Danielle]

Right.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

Okay. So my goal for all of you is that you're able to. We call it 1x in your slow season and 3x in your busy season. So what that means is you can make enough month to month to keep the lights on, pay the bills. You know, if you're like, on average, I need to make three thousand, five thousand, thirty thousand, a hundred thousand dollars a month. How do we do that? Month to month to month? And that would be your slower season. Your busy seasons is really where the profit is made. So in that other six months of the year, that's where likely. If I normally make 10,000amonth, I'm going to make $30,000 a month in these months. If I normally make a thousand dollars a month, I'm gonna make 3,000amonth in these months. So what you're gonna end up learning over this week together is one, the season you're in right now is probably still your slow season.

[Listener]

No, I just finished my spring markets last weekend.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

Okay.

[Listener]

I call this kind of my maintenance period. Doing things with you. And.

[Danielle]

Yeah.

[Listener]

Such. And then it'll start again. My markets will start up September through Christmas.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

Perfect. The other key differentiator for all of you, which is why I'm doing this in the summer and I normally don't do this in the summer, is we work on our business or in our business. So when you're months like Caprice right now, which the J months, January, June and July are technically slow months for product people. January, because everyone's spent in December. The ones that do well in January are activewear supplements. Think everything that has to do with the New Year's resolution does well in January. Why do you think we have Valentine's Day? It's not because on February 14, we actually need gifts. It's to start people buying expensive things again to kick us back into sales. So that's by February 14th. So J months are slow. June, July again, if we look at Amazon, Amazon did Prime Day pre pandemic when everything went crazy. Bill. But Prime Day or Christmas in July was literally to get people to buy again in July. So what you're going to probably be doing right now is exactly what you said. You're working on your business versus in your business. So right now, you're going to be working on the things that are going to set you up to double or triple your revenue. I've seen people 10x their revenue going into your busy season, which the majority of us, unless you have like back to school stuff or, or like you're very specifically like other season oriented, most of us are going to start to sell the heck out of our stuff starting, you know, September, October, November. So what you're doing here right now is. Right. And you're going to get to choose as the business owner what you're going to focus on that needs a tune up. So maybe it's looking at your what does better in the fall for you, Shopify or in person?

[Listener]

In person.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

Okay, so what I'm going to want you to work on, and we're going to talk about this tomorrow, is raising your average order value. So same if we still only got 30 people came by your booth. And normally we're like, on average, I get 30 people to come by and on average they buy 30 bucks. We're going to work on getting those people to buy $50, $65, $70. So you don't actually need a single new customer, like more than what you do. If we can raise their average order value and get them to buy more, and that already is going to double, triple, quadruple your revenue and then we squirrel some away. Right. We've got savings for our slow months and then we actively work in our business and busy times and on our business in the slower time. So you're on the right track.

[Listener]

But do I need to have this calculation in my head? Or maybe it's why should I average it out or average out my slow time?

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

I don't want you to delay gratification. Like, I don't want you to delay what's going to happen for you. So right now, well, what's the number? Do you want to share the number that like you'd like to make in June or July?

[Listener]

Oh, I would love to.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

You know, like the revenue gap. So if you're making $1,000, you make 2,000, 5,000, 6,000. What would you like to do?

[Listener]

I'm a realist, so I put that into it too. But you know, maybe 2,000amonth during these slower months.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

Okay, and so what are you making in the slower months? On average?

[Listener]

Probably a thousand.

[Danielle]

Great.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

So you have to make another thousand dollars. So this is for all of us. We are product bosses on a mission. Slash maniacs on a mission to figure out how we're gonna sell another thousand dollars. Whether or not you hit that thousand dollars, it doesn't matter. This is your stretch. Your stretch is going to be like, what do I need to do? Who do I need to be in this moment? How can I get creative to make this thing happen? Maybe I go back to my customers and we're gonna get into this. Maybe I go back to people who've already bought and make them a special offer. Like it's going to take a new way of being to give you the new way of thinking to then lead to the do. A lot of this is not what do I do next first it's how do I like get so maniac on a mission out of my mind? Like we're going to throw the ideas out there and then one of the easiest ways for all of you to do this is go back to people who've already bought from you. They're nine out of ten times more likely to buy from you again. So that right there.

[Listener]

And I did, I did make growing my email list my priority for 2025.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

Amazing. And then the next thing for you, what you're going to learn tomorrow is going to be you usually make $1,000. If we can get the thousand dollars of those same people to spend more with you, you don't have to do anything new and you're going to get close to that 2000.

[Listener]

Okay, thank you.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

Thank you. Hey, friends. Okay, so I don't know if you're anything like me, but sometimes it feels like my self care routine is slipping through the cracks.

[Danielle]

Because when I'm juggling and wearing all the hats in my business and doing all the things, I mean the last thing I have to do is like really fulfill that self care routine that.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

My doctor's talking about. She's like, mom.

[Danielle]

So listen, so when it comes to running a successful business, you can't really pour from an empty cup. And a lot of times that self.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

Care is like one of the first.

[Danielle]

Things to get yourself recalibrated. So that's why I want you to meet Glossy. Now Glossy is my favorite daily beauty supplement designed to transform your skin and gut health from the inside out. And I'm actually an investor in this business because I so believe in this idea of science backed ingredients for digestion and skin hydration. And Glossy makes it really easy to look and feel your best without that whole 10 step routine in the mirror.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

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[Danielle]

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[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

And I'm good to go.

[Danielle]

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[Listener]

Hi, my question is, I have a really high AOV item. It's a luxury camping tent that's 1950-2150. Should my revenue gap be larger? Because I actually do need to be generating a bit more revenue to support my team.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

I saw you, you're like, I just have to sell one. I was like, awesome. So your business, do you mind sharing a little bit more? Like the size of your business right now or your monthly revenue or even how many you sell a month?

[Listener]

Yeah. So we're selling probably about two to three a month. And we're a small business. Tariffs just really hurt us. So I had to scale back our teams to just be me with some contractors to support. But it's reimagined camping tents.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

I love that. So you sell two to three a month. So let's change the shift for you. How many would you like to sell a month? Right now that feels reasonable. So you're selling 2 to 3, doubling that and saying you want to sell 5 to 6amonth or do we want to get to 10, 20? Like what's the number that you feel like is accessible to you right now?

[Listener]

Accessible feels maybe doubling it, but I would love to get to that maybe like 10amonth number.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

So let's just go with double because I don't want it to feel like such a gap that you feel overwhelmed and it overwhelms you. So do we want to get to. So if you're like two to three, should we say five or six?

[Listener]

I had that my. I make about five and I was going to get to six with the a thousand. But let's say six that I want to sell a month.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

Okay. Total. So six would be stretchy for you if that feel like a gap. Okay, perfect. So that's where I would start you at. I would say so if anyone else. And when I coach, I'm not only coaching Danielle. Some of you might have a similar question. They saw someone else that sells high end art. So this will work for some people when it comes to units and you selling $35, $80, $180 pieces of things. But for her specifically because a thousand, like, her product is over a thousand dollars. Let's look at the number of units sold and then jump it. Because if you sell diamonds, we're not gonna be like, we're gonna sell a hundred of the, like, you know, three carat diamond ring this month potentially. So it's more of like an individual thing. All right, so six is your number. Thanks for listening in to this.

[Danielle]

Quick Q and A with Ask Jack.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

So this coaching moment is just another.

[Danielle]

Moment that you get to drop into.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

What it's like inside of my programs.

[Danielle]

And hear the questions being deeper. So if this has given you any clarity or momentum, which I hope it has, imagine what happens when you keep learning with us, when you get into.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

The curriculum that we have in our programs.

[Danielle]

So don't forget to follow and subscribe to the show. And we've got so many more episodes.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

Coming your way to support you on the day to day. And I cannot wait to see you.

[Danielle]

And shout out to my students and shout out to those of you that.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

Have been so willing to share and.

[Danielle]

Ask the questions because like I always tell my students, your answer is in the room.

[Minna Khounlo-Sithep]

All right, see you in the next one.