2018 Recap...
Early each January, Square sends me a report that breaks down our entire previous year in one quick email. Either everyone that uses Square is like me and prefers that no complex spreadsheet be attached to the email to get to the real data…or there actually is a spreadsheet attached to the email and I’m just not savvy enough to open it and decipher it. Either way, but here's all we need to know...
We grew 21% in 2018 over 2017 sales. That’s 21% closer to World Pie Domination, just in case you are keeping track.
Square tracked PJP at just under 13,000 sales transactions in the past year (12,834 to be exact). That's 2,069 more transactions than in 2017 (and doesn't include any sales at the Roots and Blues festival because of the required use of the cashless bracelet system).
I have no idea how many transactions is average for a small business, but rolling over the 12,000 threshold makes me feel legit. And thankful for every single one of those 12,834.
Our busiest day of the week was Saturday, which is a first in PJP history. Friday ranked top of the week in both 2016 and 2017.
Our slowest day of the week was Wednesday. What? I would have laid money on Tuesday. This is why I never do well in Vegas.
Our busiest month was November, with our busiest day of the entire year as Wednesday, November 21st. We all worked some long hours leading up to that day, so now it feels a bit more justified.
Our least busy month was January. If January were a person, I would break up with January. Dear January, it's not me...it's you.
While I think I cried less at PJP in 2017 than in 2018, I think 2018 was more of a push on me to grow as an entrepreneur. Also, let’s not forget the Thanksgiving oven debacle because it was responsible for at least two years worth of tears. Obviously, Square didn't report that, but I'm just telling you because I'm a chronic oversharer.
Our most popular pie was Dutch Apple, showing no change from the previous three years. Up next was White Chocolate Strawberry and then Chocolate Bourbon Pecan, hardly a surprise to any of us at Team PJP...we made A LOT of those last year (3,192 Dutch Apples, if you are curious.)
Our top customer visited us 46 times last year (or at least used the same credit card 46 times…cash transactions aren’t included in the customer visit count.) PJP INNER CIRCLE, FOR LIFE.
Cheers to 2019. And 15,000 transactions? We're coming for you...