We know that the festive season is an extremely busy time for businesses. You and your staff are stretched thin and your customers might be stressed too. In the spirit of the Season of Giving, we’ve put together a list of essential resources in this Seller Community Festive Season Survival Guide.
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Back to Basics: Managing Your Business
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Plan your work and work your plan. Make the most of any downtime before the seasonal rush to review your operations, which can help to ensure everything runs smoothly when the seasonal rush begins.
Learn from the community. Square Small Business Evangelist Aylon Pesso gathered advice from community members that will help Keep Your Business Running Smoothly Through the Festive Holiday Season. Sellers in North America will also benefit from this article about How to Prepare for Black Friday (and the Festive Season Rush).
Do your homework 😄 Take some time to brush up on your Square products so that you and your team are ready for the rush. Review our monthly product update roundups to learn about the newest tools that will help your business, and subscribe to Product Updates to receive updates automatically.
Make the most of online sales Create a magical online shopping experience and help your customers check off items on their list in next to no time with the Square Online Guide to Holiday Selling. (Psst! If you're reading this from outside the US click 'Continue to the United States' in the pesky pop up to read the article in full.)
Hire great staff. Crucial to any busy season is having great staff on your payroll.
“Last year, I was so anxious about the holiday season, but now that I have more staff members who are all fully trained, I am so much more excited to celebrate. With more staff and more staff diversity (students, parents, post-college, etc.), it allows everyone the flexibility to leave town, get coverage when they need a day off, etc.”
@Bronze_Palms UV-free tanning salon, Campbell, California. Follow Bronze Palms on Instagram.
Check out some ways that other sellers reward staff during the holidays.
Update your business hours. Opening later? Closing earlier? Learn how to update your business hours for public holidays or the festive season.
Stay vigilant. Unfortunately, the festive season is also a popular time for bad actors to increase their attempts at duping busy business owners. Don’t miss this checklist to help identify, prevent, and report phishing scams and stay vigilant for fraud.
Survival of the Fittest: Promote Your Products and Your Business
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Establishing a marketing strategy will ensure that your customers understand the products you offer and, when done well, will influence them to purchase from you. Planning your promotions allows you to allocate more time to helping customers, serving customers, and processing sales.
Create a marketing campaign. Learn how to create an email marketing campaign with Square. Sellers in the U.S. also have the option of using Square to create a text message marketing campaign. These campaigns can be prepared in advance and used to notify customers of special offers, holiday sales, and events.
Sell products with Instagram ads Bring your products directly to customers. If you’ve spent time and energy this on Instagram this year, check out this article: Connect Square Online with Meta for Business.
Market your business. For some businesses, the holidays are the biggest season, and customers make visiting their store or restaurant an annual event.
Read this article to learn how to Market Your Business as a Festive/Holiday Destination.
If you have a new business or if this is your first festive season, learn How to Establish Your Business as a Festive Holiday Destination.
It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint: Find Time for Yourself
Photo by Max van den Oetelaar on Unsplash.
“Christmas starts in April for us — we have to have all our clothing designs and styles finished and turned into the factory to start production in June/July. We start receiving them at the end of August.”
@rtfulk, Randy Fulk, Korie's Kloset, Seminole, FL. Check out Korie's Kloset on Instagram and Facebook.
Preparing for Christmas and other busy seasons can take up more time and energy than you think. If you can organize some time off for yourself and your staff, you will return rested and ready to take on new challenges. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Make time for yourself this winter. Don’t take my word for it; learn from the experience of others: Square Champions Share Their Tips for Self Care This Holiday Season.
Skip the festive holiday season. Have you ever considered skipping the holiday season? When this business owner looked at the facts, they realized it made sense to close for the winter and return in the spring. Read more here: Go Seasonal and Skip the Festive/Holiday Season.
Connect with other business owners. Join the Square Readers Book Club to connect with other business owners who are facing the same challenges as you. What’s more, you’ll learn new business strategies and tips. Everyone is welcome (and don’t worry if you haven’t read this month’s book)!
Psst! Subscribe to the blog for more festive-season highlights during the Seller Community Season of Giving.
Helen is a Seller Community manager at Square and is the editor of the Seller Community Blog. She writes about small businesses and the owners and entrepreneurs who are part of the Seller Community.
This article is for educational purposes and does not constitute legal, financial, or tax advice. For specific advice applicable to your business, please contact a professional.