How do you celebrate business milestones? 🎉

[tranguyen]

Happy Wednesday, folks 💖

For all businesses, it’s important to stay on top of your goals and track your progress to see how much it has grown. But something @MudFire_D said last week really resonated with me — it’s important to keep track of business milestones and celebrate them too! Doing so can help boost morale and create a sense of pride.

We’d love to know:

How do you celebrate business milestones?

What kind of milestones do you celebrate — is it just anniversaries or also when you’re exceeding sales and revenue goals? Do you celebrate with your team only, or do you also host special events in-store for customers?

Can’t wait to read all your replies below! 🎉

[Bronze_Palms]

Love this question! I set goals regularly in the business. When my staff and I hit those goals, I take everyone out for a staff day. I will also get gifts for the team ($30 per person) for smaller wins. I used to do cash bonuses but I don't find those are as impactful as taking everyone out for 2 hours.

[maxpete]

LOVE this idea of a staff day! 👏

[tranguyen]

So interesting to hear that cash bonuses didn't have the same impact as taking everyone out for the day. And I love the idea of celebrating smaller wins as well ❤️

[DLRosenberg]

We love to celebrate! In the Summer we have garden parties for free- a nice chance for community to come together. We love to hold staff thank you events 2-3 times a year as well. My biz partner and I celebrate by doing fun things together like concerts 

[tranguyen]

The summer garden parties sound so fun ☀️! It reminds me of my favourite vintage shop in Dublin, Om Diva. The owner Ruth loves hosting street parties in the summer and they bring such life to the street. 

[maxpete]

The real question is, who are your favorite bands you like to see perform live?

[MudFire_D]

We did a 10 days of staff appreciation just before our holiday break instead of a traditional party - it was super fun - we got silly things like ice cream and rootbeer, boba tea, ice cream and toppings, mall pretzels, a cookie cake, etc...our Gen Z staffers were especially appreciative of not being required to attend a work party to be thanked 😂😉

For personal business milestones - I normal get a treat of a new pair of boots from Taft @tranguyen or a tattoo 😍. We try to always have a gratitude practice ongoing for the successes so that when things like our new water line main this week happen it doesn't overemphasize the bad in favor of all of the good!!! I think it is easy especially for those of us who weathered the pandemic to remember how that felt and dwell a bit instead of celebrating the day to day and setting new milestone goals helps us to keep the positive momentum. My current goal is 10% of weekly profit into a savings account for my down payment to buy our current building. 💗

[maxpete]

Love all of this and also so cool to see another Taft fan! Their boots are incredible!

Wishing you good luck on your savings goal too, that is amazing!! 👏❤️

[MudFire_D]

I have 4 pair - navy suede, gold floral brocade, silver bird brocade, and a custom pair with the floral toile leather and lug sole for the studio wear and tear - the regular soles are just for date night and special events like the time I got to speak at a Square event 😉.

Nice to see another fan here too @maxpete 

[maxpete]

Fresh! Yeah, I have the the Eden and only wear them in special occasions, but they're so nice!

Maybe a future Square meetup, we can rock our Tafts!

[Doran]

This sounds awesome. 

[tranguyen]

I love all of this so much @MudFire_D 🌟! Also just searched what Taft boots look like and now I need to see how I can get my hands on a pair. I've always been a Blundstone gal myself — you need all the waterproof gears you can get when you are living in Ireland 😂

[CareyJo]

We're a mom and pop shop, no employees.  We don't really set goals to achieve, but we do measure our success by maintaining performance - are we at or exceeding last year?  And if not, why?  In 2023 we didn't match the year before, however, in 2022, we had some huge installs that are once-in-a-couple-decades kind, so they greatly boosted our sales.  We don't see them often.  If I took them out of the picture, 2023 was a win over 2022 and each year before.  We've seen significant growth each year, by 25K or more in sales and this business has been open since 2017 - our longest HVAC business.  We don't 'celebrate' those wins, we're just super thankful for them.  God has blessed us and afforded us opportunities to bless others and travel.

[maxpete]

It's always good to be thankful for the wins too! Glad to hear that business is going well 🙂 

[tranguyen]

So glad to hear your business is growing 🎉! 

[VanKalkerFarms]

Unfortunately bad timing with covid took away or 60th year celebration.  We have some bigger plans for 2026 for 65 years.  Offer some deals for $5.65 or $10.65 that are like 30% off.  Have a food truck and free food with a $65 and up purchase (our average ticket is $114).  Probably get some SWAG with logos and something like 65 and still going strong, or 65 years your garden center in your neighborhood 

We have an internal party with a cookout and tacos and pizza for beating last years sales.  

[maxpete]

Glad you all get to do it up for the 65th!

[tranguyen]

65 years is an incredible milestone, @VanKalkerFarms! I'm so glad you'll be able to celebrate properly this round.