Holiday seasons are great for some businesses like party planners, craft-makers, and gift-related businesses, but not so good for others such as business consultants and training professionals.

When Business is Slow During the Holidays

You can anticipate these periods.  So if you find holidays are routinely slow for you, build up your cash several months in advance. You can then use this time to  to initiate special marketing efforts to attract business. What are some of the marketing activities you can do? Remind them of  what you do and find a way to personalize it, such as printing a special offer on the back of your business cards. You can include a sample as a special gift along with thank you notes or holiday cards.  You can give them something that you make or sell and better yet, deliver them by hand.  You can also invite to a meal or if you know they value information, you can gift them with a subscription or a book that is relevant to their interests or business.

When Business is Brisk During the Holidays

Even when Christmas is a busy time for your store or business, it can be tempting to take off at special peak shopping times along with everyone else and it is difficult to always cover the phones when demand is high. But there are ways  that technology and some planning can help meet these challenges without losing local business or worse disappointing potential customers who won’t come back and may tell others about a bad experience in not being able to reach you..

 Guests in Your Home

 If you have guests staying with you for the holidays, you face the challenge of hosting while keeping up the business while your guests are there. In some homes with a family room or den, the living room is actually anything but a “living” room. It’s reserved for holidays or the arrival of special guests. If this is your situation and you don’t need a more isolated office area, the living room can be an excellent choice.

What if you have employees?

Since not all people celebrate holidays at the same time, consider giving your employees the option to pick the holiday times of their choice.

You can make the holidays a time when business is good or you can make it better.