The Complete Small Business Holiday Checklist

The holiday season is the busiest and most demanding time of the year for small businesses. You must survive the seasonal rush, plan around employee vacations and irregular schedules, and cobble together an effective marketing strategy to keep customers hooked. Early planning and preparation can be your best friends here. Take a look at this merry checklist for prepping your small business for the festivities ahead.

Work with marketing professionals who will help you stand out.

Small business owners can sleigh their holiday marketing by hiring professionals like social media gurus, content creators, and digital marketers to sprinkle a festive touch on their brand. When collaborating with graphic or web designers for holiday-themed visuals, consider converting PDFs to JPGs for seamless sharing and optimal web image quality. A handy PDF-to-JPG converter ensures that your holiday graphics maintain their crispness, making them perfect for online sharing or festive prints. Changing from PDF to JPG is easy (and free) with this easy-to-use tool from Adobe Acrobat. This approach is the secret ingredient to make your business shine amidst the holiday sparkle!

Stay competitive with a tailored marketing strategy.

Americans spend a lot of money on gifts, expenses, and other items during the holiday season. A well-crafted, creative marketing strategy with a focus on discounts, deals, and holiday freebies is necessary if you want to carve out your slice of the pie – it’s what your competitors will be doing. Email marketing, newsletters, flyers, social media marketing, and television commercials are all excellent ways to draw in customers.

Make sure you have great accounting software.

In today's business world, it's more important than ever to have a good handle on your finances. That's why it's essential to have software that can help you with invoicing, payments, and tax deductions all in one place. There are many options to choose from, so when shopping for finance software, it's important to comparison shop to find the best fit for your business. However, even the best finance software won't do you any good if you don't keep track of your spending and income. Be sure to set up a system that works for you and make sure everyone in your company is on the same page. With a little effort, you can take control of your finances and run your business more efficiently.

Decorate and beautify.

Decorations make customers happy, not to mention they’re great morale boosters for you and your staff. If you have a physical store or office, make sure you clean the space thoroughly and put up eye-catching, vibrant decorations and lighting. If you’re an online-only business, give your website a makeover with fresh holiday colors, animations, and a new landing page. The Saturday after Thanksgiving is an appropriate time to beautify, reports OnDeck.  

Alter your business logo to reflect the holiday season.

If you’ve noticed, the Google logo always changes on holidays and other noteworthy occasions. It’s a lighthearted, creative, and quirky way of marking important days. You could also implement this approach — redesigning your logo is an excellent way to market as well as decorate. It makes a strong first impression, pushes brand awareness both online and off, and separates you from the crowd. You can save money by using a logo maker app for the redesign.

Prep for the holiday rush 

You’ll have to consider logistical and organizational details, which all depend on the nature of your business. Some examples include: 

• Updating your seasonal business hours online (on Google Business, for example) 

• Creating a holiday schedule for employees 

• Hiring seasonal staff 

• Creating season-specific content for your website and social media channels

Give your infrastructure and technology a “stress test” to ensure it doesn’t buckle under holiday pressure.

Make sure you have enough cash on hand.

Decorations don’t pay for themselves, and neither do marketing campaigns. There will be countless additional holiday expenses for you to take care of, from payroll and inventory to gifts and vendor orders. Start planning a holiday budget if you don’t have one already. It’s also a good idea to have a small additional fund for emergencies. Nothing hobbles a holiday sales strategy like a last-minute cash flow crunch!

Cater to your customers.

Be kind and considerate to your clients and plan for their needs. Most of them will be juggling overfilled schedules and various family obligations, leaving them harried and with little time. The statistics say 83% of shoppers value easy checkouts the most. Whether you’re running a retail brick-and-mortar business or an online SaaS offering, you should prioritize fast turnaround times and a stress-free experience.  

Spread the joy by giving back.

Finally, many small businesses choose to give back to their communities during the holiday season in ways both big and small. Consider supporting a local charity, organizing an event for the community, or just volunteering your time. 

It’s always wise to look back on what you did during previous seasons as a way to come up with ideas to improve your offerings this year. Ideally, you should constantly refine and hone your strategy to stay on top of market trends and customer expectations. Be sure to get into the holiday spirit while you’re at it. Seasonal cheer is contagious, and you’ll reap the rewards in the form of enthusiastic staff, satisfied customers, and a bigger bottom line!

Join the Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches for tips and tools that will help your small business succeed all year long!