Small Business Boomers

5 Ways to Spend the Holidays Productively

by Jean on December 24th, 2008

I remember when many companies did not shut down over the holidays; these days lots of larger companies do. But what about small businesses? Shutting down is not an option for many small businesses, particularly in the current economic slowdown.

The Wall Street Journal reports that many “solo-preneurs” are not planning to slow down or shut down over the holidays. I’m certainly not going to sit around and drink egg nog and watch old movies. This is a slow time, when many of your customers may not be working, but it is also a perfect time for thinking back and thinking ahead. Here are some tips for spending your holidays to get more business or to prepare for 2009:

Review Your Business in 2008
Run the numbers. How did your business do this year compared to last year? Are you ahead of where you were last year at this time? If not, why not? If you are ahead, why? Figuring out “why” is just as important as looking at how much.

Hold a Year End Clearance Sale
Yes, it’s time to clear out clear out old inventory and get some cash while doing it. Promote a year-end clearance sale to your preferred customer list. Give great bargains. Tell your customers “I don’t want to count this stuff.” They will appreciate the savings and you won’t have the inventory on the books at year end.

Clear Out the Clutter
Now’s the time, while the phone isn’t ringing, to clear out your files. That includes email. If you tagged your email, that must have meant you wanted to do something with it. So do it. Or delete it. I have really been making an effort not to print out stuff, not only for environmental reasons, but because it just piles up. If you have those print-outs around, decide if you must have them. If you don’t, turn them into note pads (make sure there is nothing confidential on the back) or shred them for box filling.

Get Ready for Tax Season
While you’re cleaning out, be sure to save receipts and invoices and any bills associated with your business. Capturing the information is the most important part of a business record-keeping system. You might also need to print out some items that you need for documentation (but keep this to a minimum - see #2 above).

Network Online
The world is online these days, and that means you need to be too. It’s a great time to get your Twitter account moving, by finding new people to network to. Or get LinkedIn with more people; find some people to work on joint ventures with next year.

Network Locally
If your business is local, get out there and talk to people. Holiday parties are a good place to do that, with your business card in hand. If there are no parties you can go to, maybe it’s a good time to meet your business neighbors.

Plan Your 09 Sales and Marketing Strategy
After you have reviewed your business in 08, think about what you want to do differently…and better…in 2009. Create a clear and specific strategy for 09. Not just, “I want to sell more stuff,” but how much and what products. Then decide the best ways to do that. Read about marketing. See my “Holiday Presents for Home Business Owners” post over at HomeBizNotes for ideas. Plan now and get those planning strategies in motion. One tip: Don’t spend any more money on marketing until 2009, if you think you will have higher income from these strategies next year. Spend the money in the year of higher income to lower your business tax bill.

Making your time productive can be fun and you’ll be ready to start your business up full blast again on January 2.

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POSTED IN: Boomer Businesses in Difficult Financial Times, Business Improvements, Business Plan, Small Business finance and taxes, holidays