5 proven tips to keep your business running smoothly during the festive break
Christmas is fast approaching. Although this is an exciting time of year for business owners, it can also be an extremely stressful one. Not only do sales often pick up over Christmas, but you also have loads of loose ends to tie up before you can take that well-deserved break. Add friends and family into the mix, and everything can become overwhelming.
Nevertheless, taking a break during this time should not be seen as a luxury. You’ll never have time to relax and recharge your batteries if you're constantly working. Not only is taking a break good for your mental health, but it also helps to boost your productivity as well!
But how do small businesses prepare for Christmas? And is it possible to take a long Christmas break without the added stress?
You’ll be happy to hear that I’ve perfected this preparation process throughout the years! Read on for my 5-step plan for a stress-free Christmas break, and I’ll take you through how I prepare and organise my business for the festive period so that you can too! You’ll be sitting back, relaxing, and enjoying a mince pie (or five!) in no time.
How to prepare your business for a Christmas break
When Christmas comes knocking each year, it can often seem like a desperate scramble to organise your business and get all your work done before the holidays. This soon becomes overwhelming and can make it difficult to get into the festive spirit. Fear not, though. With my 5-step plan, your stressful days will soon be a thing of the past!
1. Keep your customers in the loop
The first step is to work out when you want to close over the Christmas period and then inform your customers so that they know in advance. You can do this by contacting each customer directly via email or by sending out a general notice in your newsletter. It’s also a great idea to add closing dates to your website's “contact us” section and your email footer.
Once you’ve chosen your dates, don’t forget to set an out-of-office automated email response for that period. When writing your response, try to include information that could help your clients during your absence. For example, I often add links to my online booking system, blog, newsletter signup, and any freebies I have on offer at the time.
2. Prioritise your workload
Plenty of blogs suggest that you should use the run-up to Christmas to organise your office in readiness for the new year. For many, though, December is the busiest time of the year, and fitting all that extra work in just isn’t possible. Instead, try making a list of everything that needs to be done and prioritise it.
As well as your typical workload, think about social media, networking, newsletters, tax returns, payments, and invoices. Poor planning over the festive period can damage your business, so take the time to sit down and really think about what needs to be done now and what can wait until the new year. You can always use this info next year anyway, so it’s time well spent!
3. Plan ahead
Now that you’ve prioritised your work and figured out what needs to be done before the Christmas break, it’s important that you follow through on that plan of action. You can use tools such as Mailchimp, HootSuite, and Buffer to schedule emails and social media posts in advance, and you could even employ a call-handling service for when you’re out of the office.
If you do nothing else, though, I recommend sending all your invoices early this month to increase your chances of being paid before Christmas. Ensuring you have adequate cash flow during and after the festive period is essential because January can be a long month financially!
4. Step away from the phone
For many freelancers and small business owners, it can be hard to switch off from the digital side of the business over the holidays. Nowadays, our phones have emails, social media accounts, and apps that all support our day-to-day running of the business. Being able to switch off from these is just as important as not going to the office or turning on your laptop.
If possible, try to get into the habit of not checking your phone outside of office hours. Turn off any business notifications, and fight the temptation to log in and see what’s going on. If you really can't stay away from your business emails, set aside a little time each day to check them. The rest of the time, you should have a no-phone policy.
5. …and relax
It may seem like a lot of hard work to put in all that effort now, but it will ensure that you can properly relax over the Christmas break. Spending quality time with the people you care about most is precious, and being able to do so over the festive period is one of the main perks of running your own business.
If you’re feeling guilty about this time off, try and put things into perspective: many businesses are closed this time of year or operate on shorter hours because the workers are spending time with their friends and family too. Plus, a well-deserved break will do amazing things for your health and productivity, meaning you’ll come back in the new year feeling better than ever!
Use the above steps to get to a position where you are confident that your clients know when you’ll be available for work again and what they can do for help in the meantime, and then relax. You deserve it. And, from one business owner to another, happy holidays! I hope you enjoy the break!
TLDR: Christmas can be a very stressful time of year, but it doesn’t have to be! Keep your clients informed of when you’ll be available, prioritise your workload, plan for the break in advance, and take time away from the screen. You’ll soon be relaxing in no time!
