Talking Cents

Tips to survive the Christmas Period

As any small business owner will be aware, the period leading up to Christmas can be a frantic struggle to get cash in the door. Many small businesses close down over this period and with many consumers going on holidays cash flow can often be at a premium.

There are a number of things that small business owners can do to ensure their business comes out the other side of the festive season in good shape.

As your small business accountants we suggest a couple of things:

1. Ensure you chase your outstanding debtors in December. If not, you may not see this money until February of the following year.
2. Make sure any jobs/projects in progress are completed and invoiced before Christmas.
3. Where possible, plan workflows to ensure that staff have work to do as soon as they return from annual leave, otherwise cash flow will be even further drained as you wait for customers to return from their leave.
4. Stagger leave for key staff, thus ensuring somebody is always available to satisfy customer requests.
5. Start budgeting for the quiet period, including extra staff costs for leave entitlements, NOW!

By following these few simple steps your small business will be in a much healthier position to survive the festive season and then hit the ground running once the new year rolls around. The planning must begin now.