We are now in the stressful period of the year. Winding up loose ends and making sure the business has enough cashflow to last through the festive period. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or unsure about what to prioritise, here are my top five business tips you should be focusing on ahead of Christmas.
1. Revisit your business plan
Are you on track to achieving your outcomes? If not, there’s still half of the financial year to go. What needs to change and what strategies need to be actioned to change the results? You should be clear well ahead of the New Year, what’s working and what’s not, and what needs to change so that you and team are on board from day one in the New Year.
2. Diarise your actions
In line with your business plan, you should diarise the strategies and actions required to really kick some goals in the New Year. Pre-plan and map out the time required before you go on break, so you and your team are reinvigorated and come back excited and with new ideas, knowing exactly what needs to be done to reach success.
3. Be clear on what cashflow will be required
Over the Christmas period there is often a cashflow gap (no sales), so you need to be clear on what sales need to be made and by what time, to meet the cashflow required to meet your financial commitments.
4. Connect with your team
Reach out to your team on a heart level before you go off on Christmas break. Often people think about their role over Christmas and consider alternate employment. Make the time to get connected with your team to make sure you’re on the same page.
5. Reward and recognise
It’s a great time to year to celebrate all the successes you have achieved in the year to date. You should thank your team, and show appreciation for their efforts and combined results. Feeling significant and part of a team is one of the top motivators at work and can amplify the success and happiness of your company and the people in it.
Suzzanne Laidlaw, business reformer and entrepreneurs’ mentor
