Let go of the reins at Christmas

Let go of the reins at Christmas

Let Santa be the one holding the reins over the holiday period while you unwind from the year that was.

In theory this is when you can ‘shut down’ from day-to-day operations, but, the truth is, as a small-business owner, you are never really ‘closed’.

You might still need to order stock, answer emails and, most importantly, think strategically and plan for the year ahead.

In spite of your business still being top of mind, it’s still critical to take some ‘down time’ over the Christmas break, says Will Irving, Group Managing Director, Telstra Business.

Will’s top 5 tips

1. Let your team know your boundaries. Commit to the time you will spend on work over the holidays, let your team know, and stick to it. It’s all too easy to allow work to eat into personal time, but it’s amazing what you can do with only a set window to achieve results.
2. Set yourself up with apps for mobility. Mobile business apps can help you to take business processes mobile, but also enable you to operate ‘business as usual’ regardless of your location. Cloud-computing technology can now seamlessly access and edit documents remotely.
3. Switch off. This family time is golden and we need to switch off occasionally – it’s important if you’re looking to start the New Year with a fresh perspective.
4. Give yourself freedom and flexibility. Beyond convenience, the beauty of tablets is the freedom and flexibility they provide to work anywhere, at any time, which means you don’t need to plan holidays around work.
5. Choose the right tech tools. Make sure that the technology tools you choose are set up specifically for you and your business. It’s easy to get carried away with the biggest and brightest options but choose what is right for you and your specific business goals.