The holidays are approaching; is your small business ready for the Christmas season? As a business owner, you have much to consider during the holiday season. For some businesses, December is time to slow down and wrap up the end of the year; for other companies, the month of December puts the business under very high pressure to meet customer expectations and reach sales goals. Whichever type of business yours is, here are some things to keep in mind as you prepare your business for the holiday season.

Start Early

Long before the holiday season begins, you should be thinking of the concrete and specific steps you will need to take to prepare for the holidays. Ask yourself questions such as:

• Will you need to hire more staff for production?
• More staff for packaging and shipping?
• Will you need to downsize your staff?
• Will you need to increase overtime hours?
• Will you be giving gifts to clients? To employees?
• Will you be hosting holiday events for clients or employees?

Some of these answers will indicate that your business needs to begin preparing for Christmas as early as June or July, while other answers will have you planning as late as the week of Christmas. Make lists, itemize, step by step, the things you need to do to prepare. A successful holiday season is often reliant on successful planning. Read more »