Christmas is a time for rest and reflection, for spending time with friends and family, but have you ever considered it is a great time for working on your business? Trade businesses generally take a break for a few weeks over Christmas and the New Year and even if you don’t get a break, no doubt you are far less busy. Which makes it the perfect time to work on your business. Let’s explore a few things your can do for your small business during your Christmas break.
5 Things To Do For Your Small Business During Your Christmas Break
1. Rest
The most important thing you can do for your small business during your Christmas break, is to rest. I don’t think we fully appreciate how exhausted we become, until we take a break. The biggest problem with taking a break at Christmas, is that we are all so busy with the busyness of the Season.
Carve out some time for you to simply relax. Take a bush walk, go to the beach for the day, read a book, or indulge in a day time nap, find what relaxes you, and do it.
2. Reflect
Once you are feeling rested, it’s time to reflect on the year you’ve had. Make a list of what worked and what didn’t. Take a good look at your financials and see if you ended up where you wanted to. What made the list of what worked, needs then to be pulled apart to see why. Likewise what didn’t work needs to be fully understood to ensure that your business is able to avoid those mistakes in the new year.
3. Dream
I love this time of year in business. Yes the Christmas rush is stressful, yes by the end of the last day at work, I’m scratching my head wondering why we do what we do, but once it settles, I get to feel good about what it is I do. The year ending and a new one beginning, allows us to look forward to what it is we wish to achieve.
We make inspiration boards as a visual reminder of what we are working towards. Perhaps it’s a family holiday, more free time to spend with the kids, or paying off some debts, whatever it is, create a visual reminder to help you actively visualise that dream until you reach it. Pop it on the fridge or somewhere prominent at work, so you see it every day.
4. Plan
Now that you have done the dreaming, it’s time to get planning. Regardless of what made your list, you need a map to get you there. Use this quiet time in your business, to begin planning for the new year. Do you need to take on staff, or open a shop front? Create a step by step plan to get you there.
Need to improve cash flow, find a way to plan it in. Plan out the next 12 months of your business with some firm goals to be achieved along the way. This plan will keep you on track for the year to come.
5. Find Help
We cannot do all we need in business without help. For some it will mean a cleaner, others it will mean a business coach. Remember always in business, to play to your strengths and outsource your weaknesses as soon as you are able. Bookkeepers, social media marketers, business coaches, accountants, mentors, there is a multitude of ways you can find support in business.
Being a business owner means our brains never really switch out of business mode. Instead of seeing that as a stress point over your break, why not take some time to implement the above list and get your business primed and ready for a prosperous 2019!
We recently launched our Tradies In Business website, you can find it here. If you are looking for support for your tradie business, you’ll find a mountain of information, podcasts and blog posts right there. If you want further support for your business, you can join us in our Trade Desk where month by month we will deliver you all the lessons you need to take to start to get you off the tools and into true business ownership.
Nicole xxx
