It may still be a couple of months away, but the holiday season is almost here. If you run a business, that means you need to start preparing now if you haven’t already. Either way, there are certain things you should do right away. Here’s a short guide that discusses what you must do to prepare your company for the holidays.
Set Up a Holiday Vacation Policy
It’s no secret that everyone will want to take some time off around the holidays to relax and spend time with family. However, depending on your business, there’s a good chance you’ll need some people in the office or store around that time.
That’s why you need to set up a holiday vacation policy in advance. Make sure your plan is clear for all your employees. You can base PTO (paid time off) on concepts like a first-come, first-served basis or seniority. You could also set up a PTO blackout that ensures people will be in the office between bigger holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Feel free to play around with these systems to determine what works best for your employees.
Hire Seasonal Workers
One thing you can do to help with the stress of everyone wanting to take time off is hiring some seasonal employees. Granted, this will only be helpful for some of the more menial jobs, but it will make a difference when it comes to scheduling.
Plus, having extra people will be useful since this season is, by far, the busiest all year. Even with the new employees, you might need everyone to come in to deal with the large influx of customers you’ll likely have.
Get Your Website Ready
If your company is one that primarily sells products online, then instead of extra employees, you’ll want to make sure your website will be able to handle the additional traffic. The number one thing companies fail to prepare for before the busy holiday season is greater amounts of website traffic during Black Friday. Server capacity during this time is vital. If your site overloads, it will certainly crash, leading to a massive dip in sales during the most crucial time of the year.
Begin Marketing Planning
Of course, people aren’t simply going to show up to your site or storefront without motivation. That’s why you need to start prepping your marketing plans. You don’t have to implement them immediately but having them ready to go is crucial.
Knowing where to post your ads online and what kind of branding you want to establish for the holidays are essential parts of preparation. Even something as simple as learning how to design your seasonal packaging is important to do during this time. Once you’ve planned all of your holiday marketing, all you’ll have to do is wait for the perfect time to launch it.
