It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas – the decorations are up, presents being purchased, parties and holidays booked, school is nearly done for the year, the kids are excited, the anticipation is building…

Christmas is a time for family, friends, faith, togetherness, celebration, good food, helping those in need, merriment, traditions, reflection, hope, joy, wonder, magic, laughter, love … and more. It can also be a very stressful time, especially if you run a business.

This could be the busiest or the quietest time of year so getting organised early will save some stress leading up to the big event. Here’s our top tips for your business survival this Christmas.

Christmas is your busiest time

If you’re heading into a busy Christmas season you need to be prepared! Make sure you’re on top of your staffing and stock requirements now.

• Talk to your team to check they’re available when you need them.
• Make sure you’re approving Christmas leave strategically so you’re not going to be left with a labour gap.
• Consider the public holidays and additional cost of wages during those times.
• Let your clients and customers know you’re open, your opening hours, any special offers you have.
• Check your current and anticipated stock, inventory and capacity to make sure you’ll have enough to see you through.
• Contact your suppliers to see when you need to have your orders in to ensure delivery by a certain date.
• Check to see if your suppliers will be available over the Christmas period for additional orders.

Enjoy the extra profits this busy period brings, but don’t burn yourself or your team out – rotate your rosters, schedule some downtime, appreciate and reward your team for the extra effort they’re putting in.

Christmas is your quietest time

If you’re closed or coming into a quiet time over Christmas, this could be a great opportunity to have a break. But can have its own set of stressors. How can you prepare for them?

• Communicate clearly with your customers and clients so they know when you’ll be closing and when you’ll be back.
• Check with your suppliers to see if they’re closing down and maybe you need to place some advance orders to ensure you don’t run out of stock while they’re away.
• Have a conversation with your team about the shut down and make sure you’ve given them sufficient notice to take annual leave during this time.
• Budget for the lost income while you’re closed and the expenses that you’re still committed to.
• Rest, breathe and enjoy your break.

Read more: Directing employees to take annual leave during a Christmas shut down

Whether Christmas for you is manic or calm, it’s important to take some time away from the business for reflection and planning. Our business slows down a bit because there’s no BAS looming, and some of our clients close down which means there’s not so many deadlines. So we take this time to look back on my year and reflect. What worked well? What could have been better? What didn’t get ticked off my project list? (I prefer the word “projects” over “goals” as it doesn’t seem to cause as much anxiety!) What did we rush into without enough consideration? What did we procrastinate about? What opportunities did we miss because we weren’t prepared?

And then do some planning for the year ahead. What are my projects for the coming 90 days, 6 months, 12 months? Based on my reflections, what improvements can I make? What projects will my team undertake? What professional development will we do? What books do I want to read? What do I want to learn? Who do I want to learn from? How many holidays am I going to have? Where will I go on holiday? What will my income be? What will my profit be? How can I make more of a positive impact? How do I want my business and my personal life to look by next Christmas?

Whatever you’re doing this Christmas, in the lead up and the aftermath, in your business and in your personal life, remember that this doesn’t have to be a stressful time. Just take some time to plan and breathe. And remember what I said at the beginning – Christmas is a time for family, friends, faith, togetherness, celebration, good food, helping those in need, merriment, traditions, reflection, hope, joy, wonder, magic, laughter, love. From the Miss Efficiency team, we wish you all of that!

PS. Whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways we can help you eradicate financial stress in your accounting firm or professional services business – faster …

1. Sign up to our LinkedIn newsletter, published weekly. You can sign up here: Eradicating Financial Stress
2. Get our book “Wow – I’m in Business! Your journey from overwhelmed to organised.” It’s full of insights, solutions and downloadable resources you can implement into your business immediately. Click here for your copy: Wow … I’m in Business! – Miss Efficiency
3. Book a time with me privately and we’ll do a deep dive into your Xero file to help you optimise for cash flow, efficiency and growth. Click here to book: Book a time with Sarah