How to plan your wholesale year for consistent and predictable sales

Therese
14 hours ago
5 min read

By Therese Oertenblad, Small Business Collaborative

If you have ever sat down in January to plan your wholesale and ended up feeling overwhelmed before you even began, you are very normal. Most product-based business owners I meet are not short of ideas. They are short of space. Space to think, space to breathe and space to map out a wholesale plan that feels realistic and doable.

Wholesale planning should not feel like climbing a mountain. It should give you clarity, confidence and a sense of steady direction. And it should not require you to become a different kind of person in order to make it work.

A strong wholesale sales strategy is not about doing everything. It is about focusing on the things that genuinely move your business forward. Here is a supportive way to look at wholesale planning so you can build predictable wholesale sales this year without burning yourself out.

Why planning feels hard and why it is not your fault

So many business owners tell me the same thing:

“I know I should plan. I just never know where to start.”

Planning feels hard when:

You are already stretched thin
You do not know what to prioritise
Your confidence dips in and out
Your sales feel unpredictable
Everything feels urgent so nothing feels clear

If no one ever showed you how to plan wholesale in a way that fits you, of course it feels overwhelming. This is incredibly common, especially among introverted and creative business owners who prefer connection over spreadsheets.

A good annual sales plan for your small business should not feel heavy. It should feel like support.

Start with compassion, not pressure

Before you think about targets or outreach or how to sell wholesale more consistently, begin with something much simpler.

Ask yourself:

What do I want this year to feel like?
What is sustainable for me?
What kind of structure helps me thrive?
What absolutely does not work for me?

Your wholesale planning should reflect the way you naturally work, not force you into a system you will abandon by March.

Planning from pressure leads to burnout.

Planning from compassion leads to consistency.

Consistency is what creates predictable wholesale sales.

Understanding the UK Buying cycle helps you breathe again

One of the biggest reasons planning feels stressful is because most business owners guess when retailers are buying. And guessing is exhausting.

When you understand the real buying cycle, you stop feeling behind and start feeling prepared.

Here is a helpful overview of what retailers typically look for throughout the year, including examples of products that tend to perform well.

Valentines

Buying window: October to January

What sells: small, thoughtful gifts, jewellery, cards, candles, accessories.

Mother's Day and Spring

Buying window: January to March

What sells: soft colours, fresh motifs, wellbeing products, stationery, ceramics, textiles.

Father's Day

Buying window: March to April

What sells: cards, mugs, socks, grooming items and humorous gifts.

Teacher Gifts and End of Term

Buying window: May to June

What sells: thank you gifts, candles, stationery, cards, treats.

Summer Holidays

Buying window: March to June

What sells: travel accessories, lightweight textiles, outdoor gifts.

Back to School and Autumn Reset

Buying window: July to August

What sells: calendars, planners, stationery, home office and organisation products.

Christmas

Buying window: June onwards

What sells: seasonal gifts, festive decorations, ornaments and core bestsellers. Christmas is the biggest buying period of the year.

This is not about doing more. It is about doing the right things at the right time. Wholesale planning gives you space to work ahead rather than scrambling when buyers are already making decisions.

Your outreach does not need to be perfect. It just needs to exist.

A big reason wholesale feels heavy is because outreach can feel personal. If a retailer does not respond, it is easy to make it mean something about you or your product. In reality, it rarely means any of that.

Retailers are simply busy humans juggling a lot.

This is why having some kind of outreach rhythm matters. Not because you need to send hundreds of emails, but because structure takes the emotional weight out of selling.

Think of it this way. It is not about sending 100 email pitches to retailers and hoping something sticks. It is about breaking it down into small, doable actions. Even 3 to 10 pitches a week adds up to a huge amount over a year and feels much more achievable.

Inside Sales Growth Lab, we work on helping you find a rhythm that fits your personality and your life so that outreach feels realistic rather than draining. Your outreach does not have to be big. It just has to happen.

With your non-negotiables mindset is often the missing piece, especially with follow-Up

Here is something I see all the time.

Business owners assume they should naturally know how to sell simply because they run a product business. And when selling feels uncomfortable or inconsistent, they blame themselves.

But selling is a skill, and the mindset behind it matters just as much as the actions.

Inside Sales Growth Lab, we start with your sales mindset because this is where most blocks sit. Not in your product. Not in your pricing. But in the beliefs you hold about selling.

When mindset is not addressed, it shows up as:

Avoiding follow-up
Assuming silence is a no
Disappearing for weeks at a time
Pitching in bursts then stopping
Feeling guilty for selling
Thinking you are being pushy when you are not

Follow-up is a normal part of selling to retailers. It is how they stay aware of you, and it is often when the actual order happens. But if the mindset underneath it has never been examined, follow-up always feels heavier than it needs to be.

This is why we tackle it inside Sales Growth Lab. When your mindset shifts, your consistency and confidence follow.

You deserve a wholesale Ppan that supports you

Wholesale planning is not about perfection.

It is about creating a structure that supports you when life gets busy, that gives you clarity when you are tired, and that helps your business stay steady even when your confidence dips.

Your plan should: