(By Mike Periu)

“Large appliances, flooring and carpeting are just some of the items you can buy at a deep discount this January. Many sellers raise prices in anticipation of holiday and end-of-year remodeling projects. Yet sales this past season were weaker than expected due to weather and other factors. This means sellers are offering attractive discounts on large purchases for remodeling.“

January isn’t just about getting to work on your New Year’s resolutions; it’s also a great time to spend money. While it’s true that “saving more and spending less” is a common way that people try to start the new year, for small-business owners, spending now will likely save more down the road, as many businesses offer significant discounts during this month.

This January in particular, benefits from several other larger trends could potentially save you thousands of dollars.

Hire People

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest jobs report, it’s a terrible time to be unemployed. Last month, only 74,000 jobs were created, less than a third of what we need to make a serious dent in unemployment. Even worse, only two out of three working-age people in the U.S. and the world over are actually working. That’s the lowest percentage since the mid-1970s. This situation creates a huge supply of unemployed people. Combine this with the fact that a high percentage of these unemployed have been that way for months or years and the opportunity to find talent at an affordable price increases.

Congress recently failed to approve an extension of long-term unemployment benefits that expired last month, meaning several million people can no longer count on that support. Hiring now can be good for your business and good for people in need.

Buy New Furniture

January is an ideal time to buy office furniture for several reasons. First, most furniture manufacturers time their production so new designs arrive in February or August. That means retailers need to make room for this inventory in January and July, leading to deep discounts and aggressive pricing. January is also a time when many people choose to start a new business and furniture retailers time promotions to coincide with the influx of newly minted entrepreneurs joining the world of business.

Buy a Television or Three

According to Daniel Butler, vice president of retail operations for the National Retail Federation, January is a great time to buy big-screen televisions and digital cameras. He indicates that many retailers are extending Christmas sales from December 2013 into January 2014 to clear out inventory. This coincides with what Jim Barry, spokesperson for the Consumer Electronics Association, said about an oversupply of plasma and LCD flat panel televisions, forcing manufacturers and retailers to offer incentives to get inventory out of stores and into offices and homes.

Remodel Your Office

Large appliances, flooring and carpeting are just some of the items you can buy at a deep discount this January. Many sellers raise prices in anticipation of holiday and end-of-year remodeling projects. Yet sales this past season were weaker than expected due to weather and other factors. This means sellers are offering attractive discounts on large purchases for remodeling.

(Source: Openforum)

“Opinion pieces of this sort published on RISE Networks are those of the original authors and do not in anyway represent the thoughts, beliefs and ideas of RISE Networks.”