We had a Christmas party at the salon as a customer appreciation event. My day got off to a late start. Due to inclement weather, there was a two-hour delay with the elementary school opening, so that put me two hours behind as I had to stay home with my youngest son until his bus came. Then, there was apparently a problem with a broken pipe in the building's sprinkler system, and the repairmen were making a HUGE mess while trying to fix it. The party officially started at 5 p.m., but there was a muddy mess outside the front door until about 5:30. You KNOW that caused major stress on my part!

The mess did finally get cleaned up — and just in time for guest arrivals. The turn-out wasn’t as high as I’d hoped, but there had been severe weather earlier in the week and many people were rushing around to get caught up on things they couldn't do earlier in the week. But those who did attend enjoyed themselves. We had our new retail products all manufactured and labeled and on the shelves, along with our custom printed gift certificates with matching wrapped Belgian chocolate bars from The Chocolate Works. The specials we offered that night were free paraffin dips for anyone in attendance and 15% off any product or gift certificate purchases. We sold approximately 20 gift certificates and several products that night. The gift certificate sale was extended until Christmas Eve and we sold many more up until the deadline. Postcards with a free service offer also went out to all of our current and past clients wishing them a Merry Christmas.

—Melodie, Tickled Pink Salon & Nail Spa, Clayton, N.C.