The holidays are extremely busy for almost everyone, but for small business owners, it may feel like there just isn’t enough time in the day, and the plates you are juggling are about to crash around you. You aren’t alone! You want to take time to enjoy family, do your shopping, and still serve your customers and clients. It’s possible to it all. Here are some tips for keeping those plates in the air!
Organization
With all the additional activities and responsibilities that arise with the holidays, it can be hard to fit everything in, but with properly executed organization, you will be able to work and play! Make sure to write down all of your obligations in one place or keep a digital planner. Color coding them can be a great way to remember what you are doing when-one color for social events, one for important meetings, one for client consultations, one for shopping, and for sure one for breaks for yourself!
Now might be a great time to hit up a virtual assistant company who has real live humans who can handle callbacks, schedule appointments, and just provide customers with a human voice to hear their needs.
Set aside time during vacation days to complete urgent orders and projects, check messages, return calls, and go through your email. Choose a time that is most productive for you and times when your family won’t be vying for your attention. Stick to the times you have set for yourself and let your loved ones know when your set work time is and when they get you all to themselves.
Delegation
Ask for help. Divvy out the work, the phone calls, the emails to the people in your business. You might even consider hiring some seasonal help for tasks that can be done with minimal training. There are often a lot of college students who are home for a very long winter break, and they could provide you with some much needed help. You can even consider turning the position into an internship opportunity where they get work experience; you get help!
Notification
One way to avoid hurting your business and losing customers is keeping them informed and in the loop. If there are set days and times no one will be in the office, it is a good idea to post it on your website (big and bold), on social media, on your newsletter, and at the end of every phone call or email, remind people when you will and won’t be in the office.
For your peace of mind and your customers/clients’ peace of mind, provide an emergency number. Assure them that someone will get back to them within 24-48 hours. There is nothing worse for your business than a lack of response. Make sure that you have people in place to ensure that any customer needs and issues that arise are handled in a timely manner.
Celebration
Use the holidays to celebrate and share with your customers what you and your business are all about. Post pictures that are seasonal and that promote your brand. Share all the ways you give back during this time of year and ask your customers share the ways they give back as well. On your social media platforms, you can even invite your loyal followers to share with you and others how they stay organized and sane during the holidays. A problem shared is a problem halved!
Dedication
While you want to celebrate for the holiday, you don’t want your customers and followers to forget you exist. Plan for the future by preparing social media content and posts for the remainder of the month. If you don’t have time, consider hiring an agency to keep up the work while you enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Vacation
Be sure to schedule in some time to vacate your life during the holidays. Go for a long walk. Turn off your phone for a day. Go do some activities that really make you happy, and of course, spend time with family and friends without any distractions. One way to stay in love with what you do and be able to genuinely care for your customers the way you want to is to treat yourself to some time away from the business and give the gift of time to yourself.