The Black Friday Puzzle

Business is like a puzzle—except the pieces keep changing. Just when you think you’ve figured it out, a piece shifts, and suddenly you’re back at square one with a new puzzle to solve.

Take Black Friday, for example. What I thought it was versus what it actually is are two entirely different things. If I’d been paying closer attention, I might’ve noticed the steady flow of text messages and emails from other companies—starting a full three weeks before the big day.

But me? I waited until 24 hours before Black Friday to put together a plan. My grand strategy? Run a single Meta ad. The universe had other plans, though, because I got locked out of my Apple account and couldn’t run the ad at all. Perfect, right? Welcome to learning on the job!

Here’s the takeaway: for 2025, I’ll be planning for the winter holidays in June. Yes, you read that right—June. And the marketing campaign? That’s launching in August. If Black Friday taught me anything, it’s that waiting until the last minute doesn’t cut it.

But you know what? I’m not beating myself up. These are the lessons that come with building something from scratch. We live, and we definitely learn.

Be blessed, and here’s to bigger and better puzzles ahead!