QuickBooks Countdown Calendar Giveaway: 12 days to Small Business Saturday
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QuickBooks Countdown Calendar Giveaway: 12 days to Small Business Saturday

Up to 65% of your annual revenue could be generated within the next two months, according to recent QuickBooks data. Nearly 80% of small businesses expect this holiday season to be even busier and more successful than last year’s. 

No doubt about it, the upcoming weeks will be a whirlwind of delighting customers, managing inventory, shipping orders, and (hopefully) spreading some holiday cheer. While you’re busy creating holiday memories for your customers, don’t forget to treat yourself to a bit of holiday magic too. We can help!

This holiday season, we’ve created an advent-style calendar to help small business owners count down the days to our favorite holiday: Small Business Saturday, November 26. The calendar includes 12 unique products sourced from a diverse group of QuickBooks customers to provide moments of delight, diversion, and indulgence each day. 

Follow us on Instagram @quickbooks to find out how you can win a countdown calendar and join us on the unboxing journey.

Check back here each day, starting November 14, as we reveal the small businesses and gifts behind all 12 doors. In the meantime, check out the QuickBooks Holiday Hub for resources to help you prepare for a successful holiday season.

See terms and conditions below.


Something spiced

We’re kicking things off with a pinch of spice. The gift behind door number one is Mulling Spice from Spiceology! The Mulling Spice blend contains hints of orange, vanilla, and cinnamon—perfect for any mulled wine or cider. Be bold and add Mulled Spice to your holiday desserts, syrups, and brines.

It’s easy to prepare brag-worthy meals this holiday season when you use a spice blend. But if you don’t have the energy, just extend that holiday happy hour! From mulled wine to a turkey brine, let this versatile Mulling Spice do the work.”

Spiceology began as a booth at a Spokane, Washington, farmer’s market in 2013. Over the past decade, Spiceology has grown to become the fastest-growing spice company in the country. Its founders, executive chef Pete Taylor and food blogger Heather Scholten, started Spiceology to help chefs and home cooks alike access unique ingredients and bring an extra dose of flavorful magic to their dishes.


Something spiced

We’re kicking things off with a pinch of spice. The gift behind door number one is Mulling Spice from Spiceology! The Mulling Spice blend contains hints of orange, vanilla, and cinnamon—perfect for any mulled wine or cider. Be bold and add Mulled Spice to your holiday desserts, syrups, and brines.

It’s easy to prepare brag-worthy meals this holiday season when you use a spice blend. But if you don’t have the energy, just extend that holiday happy hour! From mulled wine to a turkey brine, let this versatile Mulling Spice do the work.”

Spiceology began as a booth at a Spokane, Washington, farmer’s market in 2013. Over the past decade, Spiceology has grown to become the fastest-growing spice company in the country. Its founders, executive chef Pete Taylor and food blogger Heather Scholten, started Spiceology to help chefs and home cooks alike access unique ingredients and bring an extra dose of flavorful magic to their dishes.


Something sweet

Door number two will transport you to a cozy evening sitting by the fire and toasting marshmallows. The Garcia Nevett S’mores Bar is made with homemade marshmallow on a graham cracker base wrapped in premium 60% dark chocolate—all made in-house by Master Chocolatiers Susana and Isabel Garcia Nevett. 

With more than a decade of experience in fine chocolate, Susana and Isabel opened Garcia Nevett Chocolatier de Miami to bring self-indulgent surprises and sophisticated gifts to the people of Miami. All of their confections are crafted by hand using 100% fine chocolate and local ingredients. Their hard work has earned them the title of Most Awarded Chocolatier in Miami.

"The holidays are our busiest season, effectively a make-or-break situation. Our advice is to take notes of what worked and go over them in January. Start planning early and use Quickbooks to create accurate projections that will help you get organized."

- Susana and Isabel Garcia, Founders of Garcia Nevett Chocolatier de Miami


Something colorful

Ready to add some color to your life? The gift behind door number three is Rainbow Pop! Sprinkles by Supernatural (as in supernaturally good and made with super-natural ingredients). These sprinkles are soy and gluten-free, 100% vegan, and certified Kosher. They’re made with clean ingredients, without confectioners glaze, and naturally colored by plants and spices. They’re the healthiest sprinkles around, but they don’t skimp on color or taste.

Supernatural’s founder, Carmel Hagen, has always loved decorating cakes. But she hasn’t always loved the ingredients. Sprinkles, food coloring, and frosting options were filled with artificial flavors, preservatives, and other ingredients that have ties to cancer, ADHD, allergies, and more. So she got to work creating confections free of artificial dyes, soy, and palm oil. The result is Supernatural: super-fun sprinkles, syrups, and food colors made with healthy, clean ingredients. 


“During the holiday baking season, we get to play a small part in our customers’ baking traditions and memories—that's pretty special.”

- Carmel Hagen, Founder and CEO of Supernatural


Something calming

We get it, the holidays can be stressful! Today’s gift is a little something to take the edge off (no, not that). Enjoy an Aromatherapy Mist from Asutra, maker of self-care products intended to refresh, re-energize, and replenish. 


“We hope you enjoy our Aromatherapy Mist. At Asutra, we think of it as a mood boost in a mini bottle. We know it can be a hectic time; taking care of everything and everyone. So breathe deeply and take a moment to take care of you. You've got this! Wishing you wellness this holiday season and into the new year.”

- Stephanie Morimoto, Owner and CEO of Asutra


CEO Stephanie Morimoto started with Asutra as a customer. She was big into yoga and came across the company online. The passionate reviews on Asutra products persuaded her to give them a try—and she was hooked! When she heard that the founders of the company were looking to sell, she jumped at the chance to buy the business she loved so much and take it to the next level. Since then, she’s curated a team of certified wellness advisors (including Serena Williams—yeah, that Serena Williams) to build the self-care brand Asutra is today.


Something chocolatey

Today’s gift is best enjoyed on a snowy day (or any day, really). Curl up with a cup of Mexican Drinking Chocolate by Cultura. This traditional Mexican-style chocolate is made with organic ingredients, including cacao, cane sugar, and cinnamon, and ground up to make it easy for you to make at home.

Cultura

Owner/Chocolate Maker Damaris Ronkanen was inspired by her childhood trips to her family’s hometown in Mexico, where her Abuela made the best chocolate atole around. She’s dedicated to making chocolate that honors the ingredients and techniques used in Mexico—and that dedication led her to open Cultura, a Latina-owned bean-to-bar chocolate company in Colorado. Today, Cultura holds the title of Colorado’s premier award-winning chocolate-making company. 


"The holiday season is our busiest time of the year. My advice to other small businesses is to make sure to start preparing for the holiday season early. We start our production for the holiday season in June and make sure to get our packaging and ingredients ordered in advance when possible to avoid supply chain issues and distribution delays."

-Damaris Ronkanen, Owner of Cultura


Something indulgent

Indulging without guilt or consequences? That’s what you’ll get behind door number six. Seriously Good Gummy Bears by Behave are made with only one gram of sugar and contain only 60 calories per pack (along with an explosion of flavors like raspberry, passionfruit, and lychee). Founder Mayssa Chehata worked with a world-renowned chef to create better candy that’s low in sugar, made without artificial ingredients, and still tastes amazing. 


“The holidays are all about indulging, I thrive by letting myself give in to every indulgence and desire.”

- Mayssa Chehata, Founder of Behave


Mayssa grew up in a “no sweets” household, which led her to develop an unhealthy obsession with candy and sugar as she grew. As an adult, she saw healthier snacks popping up all around the grocery store, but the candy aisle remained full of sugar and artificial ingredients. She created Behave as a way to make eating candy fun and guilt-free again—just like when you were a kid.


Something puzzling

Here’s a puzzle for you: No, really—today’s gift is a little puzzle thing® by Areaware. Areaware is a gift and home accessories brand that believes everyday objects should be as fun as they are functional. They work with independent designers to create unique pieces that bring delight and charm to your home—in your case, lots of little pieces that make up a little puzzle thing®. A little puzzle thing® can be completed in just 20 minutes—the perfect amount of time to relax your mind and body (without staring at a screen) before diving back into the holiday madness.

For busy business owners, the founder of Areaware has another suggestion to help you relax during the holiday season.


"If you’re like us, the holidays start in the summer, so the bells are ring-ting-ting-a-ling for almost half the year! Once the mayhem of Q4 simmers down, it’s important to find time to get together as a team and congratulate one another for an amazing year over a cozy cocktail.”


Something soothing

Door number eight holds a magical elixir that not only boosts your mood and improves cognitive function but helps with digestion and reduces puffiness. This elixir is real, and it’s a Black Tea Blend from Aesthete Tea. This mint and coco flavored tea detoxifies, wards off colds, and reduces stress—superpowers we could all use around the holidays.

But Aesthete Tea is more than just tea. It’s a brand with a mission and a community that believes in a more conscious way of living. This community holds a deep respect for nature and the lands that provide for us. Aesthete Tea connects with the community through workshops, classes, and events that promote a less impactful way of living. 


Aesthete Tea was created by Briana Thornton and her mom, Maggie Cassidy, in a small kitchen in Oregon in 2015. Today, Aesthete Tea is blended, packed, and shipped all over the world from their 3,000 sqft production house in Portland.


"The holidays are such a busy time. I often find myself stuck in a constant state of motion, and people are kind of just expected to be totally okay amidst the holiday chaos. I always try to take a least one moment a day to be still and present with myself, even if that’s just taking the time to brew myself a cup of tea. It allows a moment for reconnection with myself, and that, in turn, helps me to be present with those around me in these busy times." 

- Briana Thornton, Founder of Aesthete Tea


Something snacky

Go nuts for door number nine! This GIGANTIC! Salted Peanut sortasweet candy bar was created especially for adults. With only seven grams of sugar, it’s nuts on flavor but not on sweetness. Plus, it’s made with clean ingredients like Madagascar vanilla, almond butter, and coconut milk—100% vegan, so all can enjoy!

Founder Stu Davidoff launched GIGANTIC! to make people fall in love with candy bars again. “As a kid, there was a certain rush of excitement just looking at a candy bar wrapper… a feeling I’ve never rekindled with a granola bar, protein bar, or latest ‘healthy bite,’” he said. “So I set out to create a candy bar geared to a more mature, sophisticated palate and a more health-conscious consumer that still delivers the old-school, gotta-have-it experience.”


His advice for small business owners this holiday season? “Don't forget to take care of yourself during this humongously hectic time! Get enough sleep and have the occasional treat.”


Something celebratory

Cheers to another successful holiday season—door number 10 holds the perfect drink to raise a glass. With liquor or without, the Craftmix variety pack is a cocktail (or mocktail!) mix that’s health-conscious and delicious. Made with real fruit juice powders, Craftmix products are low sugar, dairy-free, fat-free, and cholesterol-free—so you can enjoy your drink guilt free! Just mix with water (and alcohol, if you like) and serve over ice.

Former bartender turned business owner, JT, founded Craftmix to bring healthy, conveniently sized, and delicious cocktail mixers to the masses. No syrupy sludge in these packets—he and his (brave) roommates and friends spent six months testing different flavor combos and formulas to create the perfect mixers. 


“Though the holidays are most businesses' busiest time of year, it's also the best time to create memories. Enjoy spending time with friends and family, hopefully with a cocktail (or mocktail) in hand!”

- JT, Founder of Craftmix


Something hot

It’s nearly Small Business Saturday—let’s turn up the heat. Today’s gift is TRUFF Mini Original Hot Sauce, a delicious blend of chili peppers, agave nectar, black truffle, and savory spices. This mini bottle is perfect for carry ons and handbags, so you’ll always have flavor wherever you go.

The founding duo (Nick and Nick) behind TRUFF say their original hot sauce sounds crazy until you try it—it’s the perfect partner for everything from pizza to avocado toast. Imagine if truffle oil and Sriracha had a baby. Their focus is flavor, so TRUFF is a mild heat hot sauce—but if you can’t take the heat, TRUFF offers truffle-infused mayo and olive oil too. 


The team at Truff has two pieces of advice for business owners this holiday season. First, there’s no such thing as too much truffle. Second, “as hard as you may work, don't forget the important things! Enjoy the family time this holiday season.”


Something flavorful

All good things must come to an end, and that includes our countdown calendar full of delicious and exciting gifts from business owners across the country. Tomorrow is Small Business Saturday, and whether you won a calendar or not, we thank you for following along and hope you come away with lots of gift ideas and small businesses to support. 


Day 12 holds a dreamy, creamy Chai Masala from Diaspora Co Spices. Rich in cardamom and ginger, sweet with fennel and cinnamon, and spicy with a touch of pepper and cloves, this chai mix is a dream blend for chai lovers.

Founder and CEO Sana Javeri Kadri build Diaspora Co. after learning that the spice trade hasn’t improved much in the last 400 years. Spices typically change hands upwards of 10 times before reaching the consumer, and by the time it makes it to your pantry, it’s a dusty shadow of what it once was. No one wants a dusty spice, Sana booked a one-way ticket to Mumbai to conduct market research and learn all she could about the spice trade. In 2017, she launched Diaspora Co. with just one spice—today, they source 30 single-origin spices from 150 farms across India. 


“My biggest advice to fellow small business owners in the thick of the holiday rush and Q4 madness is to acknowledge that it's going to be really darn hard, and you're going to make a ton of mistakes. Give yourself little doses of joy and work like hell to find ways to make next year less painful, one step at a time!”

-Sana Javeri Kadri, Founder and CEO of Diaspora Co.


Holiday Countdown Calendar Sweepstakes

(the “Promotion”)

OFFICIAL RULES

No Purchase Necessary. Open LEGAL US Residents, who are 18 YEARS OR OLDER. Employees (and their immediate families [parent, child, spouse or sibling and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside] and those living in their same households, whether or not related) of Intuit Inc. (“Intuit”), and its respective parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, franchisees, and participating advertising and promotion agencies are not eligible to enter or win. By participating, you agree to these Official Rules and the decisions of the judges and/or Intuit, which are binding and final on matters relating to this Promotion. Promotion is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws.

  • Follow @quickbooks on Instagram
  • Tag your favorite small business(es) - or your own - in the comments section.

to enter: The Promotion begins [November 1, 2022 at 5am PT, running through November 3, 2022 at 11:59pm PT (“Promotion Period”). To enter, follow the directions on our Instagram post to 1) follow @quickbooks on Instagram and 2) tag your favorite small business(es) in the comments section. Intuit is not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, inaccurate or misdirected entries or entries not received for any reason. Limit one (1) entry per person/email address for the duration of the Promotion Period. One (1) entry will be entered for the chance to win one (1) prize. Entries using macro, script or other forms of automatic entry will be disqualified. All entries become the property of Intuit and will not be acknowledged or returned. No entries may be submitted on behalf of another person.

RANDOM Drawing: Potential winner(s) (“Potential Winner(s)”) will be selected by “Intuit” in a random drawing held on or about November 4, 2022 from all eligible entries received. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received.

WINNER NOTIFICATION/REQUIREMENTS: Potential winners will be notified through Instagram direct message from @quickbooks and may be required to complete an Affidavit of Eligibility, Liability and Publicity Release (unless prohibited by law) and any other documents required by Intuit, which must be returned within 3 days of date appearing on prize notification. Return of prize or prize notification as undeliverable, failure to sign and return requested documentation within the specified time period, the inability of Intuit to contact a potential winner within a reasonable time period or noncompliance with these Official Rules by any potential winner will result in disqualification and, at Intuit’s sole discretion, the prize may be awarded to a runner-up.

Prize(S) AND APPROXIMATE RETAIL VALUE(S): 100 Holiday Countdown Calendars. Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) is $50. Total ARV of all prizes: $5,000. Winner may not substitute, assign or transfer prize or redeem prize for cash, but Intuit reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to substitute prize (or any portion thereof) with one of comparable or greater value. Winner is responsible for all applicable federal, state and local income taxes. Winner is responsible for any expenses associated with prize acceptance and use not expressly specified herein as being provided. All prize details are at Intuit’s sole discretion. Prize is awarded “as is” with no warranty or guarantee, either express or implied.

GENERAL CONDITIONS: By participating, you agree: (a) to abide by these Official Rules and decisions of Intuit, which shall be final and binding in all respects relating to this Promotion; (b) to release, discharge and hold harmless Intuit, and their respective parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, and advertising and promotion agencies, and the respective officers, directors, shareholders, employees, agents and representatives of the forgoing (collectively, “Released Parties”) from any and all injuries, liability, losses and damages of any kind to persons, or property resulting, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from your participation in the Promotion or any Promotion-related activity or the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any awarded prize; and (c) to the use of your name, voice, performance, photograph/video, image and/or likeness for programming, advertising, publicity and promotional purposes in any and all media, now or hereafter known, worldwide and on the Internet, and in perpetuity by Intuit and its designees, without compensation or additional consents from you or any third party and without prior notice, approval or inspection, and to execute specific consent to such use if asked to do so. By participating, you also agree not to release any publicity or other materials on your own or through someone else regarding their participation in the Promotion without the prior consent of the Intuit, which it may withhold in its sole discretion. If there is a dispute as to the identity of an online entrant, the prize will be awarded to the authorized account holder of the email address and s/he must comply with these Official Rules. The “authorized account holder” is defined as the natural person to whom the email address is assigned by an Internet service provider, online service provider or other organization (e.g., business, educational institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted email address.

OWNERSHIP/USE OF ENTRIES: By submitting an Entry, you agree Intuit shall own all rights to the Entry and that it and its designees may edit, modify, and distribute the Entry and all elements of such Entry, including, without limitation, the names and likenesses of any persons or locations in it, in any and all media now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity without compensation, permission or notification to you or any third party.

MISCELLANEOUS: Released Parties are not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, damaged, inaccurate, stolen, delayed, misdirected, or undelivered Entries; or for unavailable network, server, Internet Service Provider, website, or other connections, availability or failed transmissions, or any other errors or difficulties of any kind or otherwise relating to or in connection with the Promotion, including, without limitation, errors or difficulties which may occur in connection with the administration of the Promotion, the processing or judging of Entries, the announcement of the prize(s), the incorrect uploading of the Entry or in any Promotion-related materials. Released Parties are also not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by site users, tampering or by any equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Promotion. Persons who tamper with or abuse any aspect of the Promotion or website, who act in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner or who are in violation of these Official Rules, as solely determined by Intuit, will be disqualified and all associated Entries will be void. Should any portion of the Promotion be, in Intuit’s sole opinion, compromised by any means, which, in the sole opinion of the Intuit, impairs the administration, security, fairness or proper play, or submission of Entries, Intuit reserves the right at its sole discretion to suspend, modify or terminate the Promotion and, if terminated, at its discretion, select the potential winner(s) from all eligible, non-suspect Entries received prior to action taken using the judging procedure outlined above.

Governing Law/Jurisdiction: All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules or the rights and obligations of participants or Intuit in connection with the Promotion shall be governed by the laws of the state of California, without giving any effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules. Any dispute shall be resolved in a court of law in Santa Clara County, California.

Severability: If any provision(s) of these Official Rules are held to be invalid or unenforceable, all remaining provisions hereof will remain in full force and effect.

ENTRANT INFORMATION: Your information will be collected in accordance with Intuit’s privacy policy available at https://www.intuit.com/privacy/

Intuit Inc., 2700 Coast Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043


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