No one knows better than I do how crazy the Christmas period can be. I get so many last minute requests from clients in a complete panic of tasks they have left to the last minute. Here are some tasks you might want to think about getting organised now to make your Christmas less of a rush.
1. Plan your holidays and time away from your business: this is not as simple as it sounds. There are several public holidays over the Christmas period. Look these up and decide what other days you are planning to take off.
2. End of month tasks: remember that if you take off the time between Christmas and New Year’s Eve you will need to consider tasks around End of Month, such as invoicing, reconciliation, payroll and other monthly admin tasks. Decide how you will manage these now so that you are not panicking over your break.
3. Switching off: when you run your own business, it is hard to turn off your phone and email but you need to do this if you truly want to have a break. Consider outsourcing this so that you will come back relaxed knowing your phone has been answered.
4. Marking the silly season: Will you have an event for your clients – if so you need to get organised NOW. Booking a place for lunch and sending out invitations should be your first priority.
5. Season Greetings: If you want to send out cards and gifts, then you need to get organised. A good place to start is making a list of everyone who needs a card and collecting their postage details.
6. Managing your social media: consider how you will keep your social media up to date whilst you are enjoying some downtime. It is important to keep your social media covered whilst you are on leave.
7. Hit the ground running: take some time out now to think about 2014. Planning and setting some goals will allow you to come back from your break ready to charge in to the New Year.
8. Plan your diary: Christmas functions can often start at the end of November. Try and allow some downtime for these events so that you can attend and enjoy yourself. There is nothing worse than worrying about your business when you should be out enjoying yourself.
I hope you have found these planning tips useful. Remember that we are able to assist you with all of the above tasks and are happy to have a chat about how we might be able to help you and your business.