Hey, Danielle here, the founder of Hemp & Hope. It's that time of year again and we are all looking forward to the festive period... with that comes a busy time of year for small businesses.
The upcoming Black Friday weekend is one of the biggest shopping events of the year, it is known for ridiculous discounts and a mad rush of impulse buying. It goes against everything we stand for.
Every year I am completely torn between running a sale and not. I don't believe in this needless consumption and crazy price cuts, yet I have decided to run the sale.
It might not be a popular decision to some but I want to chat a little about my decision and why I feel it is the right one.
I ran a poll last year on my Instagram asking 'should I do a Black Friday sale?' the vast majority said yes. I was surprised. I didn't really want to do one so I asked for peoples reasons behind their answers. Here is the conclusion we came to:
Buying new sustainable fashion can be expensive, and for good reason, it is more expensive so that we can pay our workers properly and use good quality materials. It has to be this way but I understand that it can make sustainable fashion inaccessible to some people. I don't want it to be this way.
Running a Sale allows people to purchase an item they have been looking at but can't afford. I want our products to be enjoyed and loved by all and if this is an opportunity to allow that then I'm all for it!
We won't be taking a crazy percentage off our items, only 20%. This allows us to still make a little without taking a single penny away from our workers.
The second reason is more personal for me. I adore our makers and have become good friends with them over the years. If I wasn't to take part in Black Friday I would essentially be turning down money for them. The majority of that money goes back to our makers and I would hate to rob them of the opportunity for a boost!
I regularly donate to charities based in Nepal and the more money I make the more I can give back.
I have never been in it just for the money but I understand that I need to make money to be able to help people.
Thirdly, people do a lot of their gift buying around Black Friday. Like it or not people love a discount. if people are going to be purchasing gifts anyway I want them to have a sustainable option available. A discount may be the difference between buying a fast fashion bag or one of ours.
I would love to hear your thoughts on Black Friday, It is such a tricky time of year for me but I hope you know the decision to run the sale comes with good intentions. I do not want to encourage impulse buying. Do your research before you buy, don't be caught out by super-cheap items... someone somewhere isn't being paid for that.
Check out our blog post on 'How to Avoid Impulse Buying On Black Friday' I hope it helps.
All my love, Danielle :)