The festive season can affect small businesses in different ways. Retail companies may see their busiest time of year with record sales while other businesses may suffer a slow production and a difficult recovery into the new year. Here are a few tips to keep your business in festive spirits this holiday season:

Reward loyalty

If you haven’t done so throughout the year, now is the time to reward loyalty to your customer and client base. Gratuitous marketing is a great way to say thank you as well as build business in the new year. The level of reward and how it is presented will vary depending on the size of your business.

Smaller companies have the advantage of sending personal greetings in which they can include a voucher for a service over the January period. For larger companies where physical gifts are not possible, can offer a greeting in the form of an email and discounts on online purchases.

Now is the time for advertising your products or service. Large retail companies harness into emotive and warming values to sell their product. Thought provoking campaigns that reinforce the retailer’s emotional connection with consumers can be equally as effective for small business without the billion-dollar budget.

Keep your customers in the loop

Update your website with any changes to your hours over the Christmas period. Notify customers and suppliers if delivery times or payments will be affected. Inform all staff of their entitlements to time off.

Stay on top of your finances

Most importantly, stay on top of your cash flow and know exactly what is going in and what is going out. If you are giving Christmas bonuses, ensure that any tax deductions are accounted for. Suppliers may have changed their payment and delivery dates over the festive period so check all invoicing. CashManager will give you clarity and visibility over all your accounting.