|
THIS WEEK
Can Your Business Survive Christmas?
ALSO IN THIS EDITION
| Business Mentoring - Can Your Business Survive Christmas? |
This is a recent article I had published in the "Business Mums Magazine". Yes Christmas is rapidly approaching - is your business ready for the silly season?
In Australia for some reason many businesses go through a very quiet period from about mid December until the end of January. It is when people go on holidays, focus on Christmas parties and generally do anything except think of work.
Many small businesses close down after Christmas because they failed to adequately plan in terms of cash-flow or how to maximise the use of their time. Instead of planning and taking action, they sat and worried
about their lack of customers.
The time to start planning for this quiet period is now! Unless you take some action now your kids could be living on instant noodles by the end of January as you undercut Indian freelance operators with your fees to try and make ends meet until business picks up again.
 So what can you plan to do over the 6 week quiet time?
- Take a holiday of at least 2 weeks. If you can’t beat them, join them. Work out how much you need to cover at least 2 week’s worth of income, plus money for a holiday and start saving a little each week into a separate account you won’t touch. Plan something fabulous and put pictures up of where you are planning to go (to help keep your focus and to help you not to spend your money).
- Do a free on-line course. Work out what skills you have that need brushing up and find a free or low cost on-line course. Get all of the material ready and dedicate at least one week to fully immersing yourself in finishing that course! Don’t be tempted to start it early – keep it aside for your quiet time to get the most out of your course.
- Take a casual job. Businesses start hiring their Christmas casuals about October – so dust off your resume and look for casual work to tide you over if you need to.
- Drum up business. Work out what sort of jobs or services people need to have done ready for the new year and offer strong incentives for people to “lock in time in your diary” for the quiet time. If you do this well you may not have a quiet time at all!
If you intend to do this you need to start thinking now in order to design your Christmas promotions, to get your marketing collateral together and ads designed ready to roll out in November. Planning now means you avoid rush jobs and premium fees when people try and cram you into their diaries.
- Work on your business. You know all of those things you have been meaning to get to like editing your website or creating new marketing material - all of these are perfect for the quiet time. Book out at least 1 week in your own diary to work on your business over the quiet time.
- Write a book. It’s amazing how much you can write in 6 weeks of focussed effort. Write a book or e-book for your business, or record some podcasts. Create products for your business that you can then sell throughout the year to generate passive revenue.
- Work on you. This is a great time to take advantage of all of the other quiet businesses like massage therapists, personal trainers or naturopaths. Spend some serious time getting your body and mind rested and relaxed ready for the New Year. Download a pile of motivational podcasts from some of the world’s best teachers and save them for the quiet time to work on your mind.
- Send your technology on holiday. The quiet time is perfect to send your computers away to be serviced, defragged and have all the virus stuff done and your hard drive rebuilt if needed (combine this with your holiday so you don’t feel as if your computers are missing you while you are gone – sort of like a high tech dog kennel).
- Fix your filing and admin. We all have the horror pile of filing. The last working day before Christmas I warm up the shredder, wheel in the wheelie bin, pour myself champagne and go through every file and every folder both electronic and paper based. It is a wonderfully therapeutic way to close the working year down.
- Plan for the coming year. Remember the business plan you wrote a few years back for your business? The quiet time is the perfect time to sit down with someone and re-think your plan. Spend serious time refocussing on your goals and your vision both for you and your business. Ink it – write it down into a business plan that you reread regularly.
The quiet time could be the most productive time of your business year if you plan for it. So – first sort out your cashflow requirements and put money aside now to cover the period in as much the same way as you do for tax, and then start to block out time in your diary for all of the brilliant things you want to do to grow your business.
You need to start planning your Christmas marketing campaigns now. If you would like help with writing Christmas words that not only make you feel good (but also sell), then call Heart Harmony - (07) 3351 8844.
| HR Tip - Plan for holidays |
Christmas and school holidays are peak times for employees to want to take holidays. Unless you plan it early this can create major challenges in your workplace.
Big companies ask employees to "put in for" holidays during two holiday planning weeks in the year - once in the first half and once in the second half of the year. This allows teams to work out staff coverage, to ensure not too many people will be away at any given time. They also have on the team one or more "holiday employees" whose sole job is to cover for holidays across teams or locations.
Smaller companies can learn from this by asking employees early if they want to take holidays during peak times. They can also form a relationship with a regular holiday casual - someone who only wants to work during holiday periods such as students or teachers wanting extra pocket money.
Remember, you are under no obligation to grant holidays at that time if it will significantly interfere with the running of the business. However, think very carefully before refusing a reasonable holiday request from someone who has given you long lead time. You may end up with a morale (and sudden sickness) problem.
I love people who are passionate about what they do - so passionate that they can talk for hours about their area of expertise and their passion if you get them started.
Recently I met Nuwan the owner of Spick & Span Office & Commercial Cleaning. What really impressed me was the fact that his business uses only non-toxic, organic products.
 He has searched the world and sourced hospital grade commercial cleaning products that don't harm the environment!
He has also sourced steam cleaners that only use 15ml of water per room compared to an average 7litres of water per room, as well as microfibre cloths that reduce the need for cleaning products even further.
How many other cleaning companies do you know that offer free lunchtime sessions to their clients employees on how to use Green Cleaning processes in their home, as well as a hotline they can call for their personal cleaning challenges?
Nuwan is so passionate about green cleaning he is the pilot company for the Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE new Green Cleaning course.
... and he doesn't charge more than regular commercial or office cleaners for his service!
If you know anyone who needs commercial or office cleaning, then give Nuwan from Spick and Span cleaning a call on 1300 762 699.
The business lesson from Spick and Span is to allow your passion to help you find your unique niche.
One of my writing mentors Troy White wrote a brilliant piece on the business lessons of Gordon Ramsey that I shared this week in my blog. It helps you look beyond the "f" bomb and find the brilliant lessons that can turn any business around in 7 days.
Features vs Benefits 101
exuberantly yours
Ingrid
Heart Harmony
PS: This week's blog also included posts about a locking coffee mug and how to write a book in 2 days (or less).
|
email
