Getting ready for the Christmas shut down period.
Yes, it’s getting closer. Christmas 2016 is not that far away and a lot of businesses shut down for a few
weeks over the Christmas/New Year period. Some prior planning now can ensure that your shut down
goes as smoothly as possible and your customers are not affected in any adverse way. So what things do
you need to do to ensure a smooth and trouble free shut down period.
1. Staff – Firstly make sure all your staff are aware of any shut down period and what the company
rules are in regards holidays etc. A lot of businesses make their staff take a week or two’s annual
leave during this period, but, to do that you need to ensure your staff know this and plan
accordingly. If you shut down every year, consider adding a clause to new employees
Employment Letters/Contracts so there is no doubt and everyone knows the rules at Christmas
time.
A great policy for any business is that all staff must take their 4 week’s annual leave each year.
This ensures the staff get a break and thus are refreshed for work, and the business doesn’t
carry a significant annual leave provision on the balance sheet. Also, don’t forget if an employee
doesn’t take his/her 4 weeks leave in a year, your P&L for the year will include 56 week’s pay; 52
weeks worked and 4 week’s annual leave accrued!!
2. Customers – Make sure your regular customers are advised of any shut down period well in
advance. This way they can pre-order any stock they need over the shutdown period and thus
your shut down won’t interrupt their business. If the shutdown will affect timelines for your
clients that currently have jobs on the go with you, make sure you talk to the client directly and
explain what effect, if any, the shutdown will have. Follow that meeting up with an e-mail, so
there is no confusion as to what was advised.
It’s a relatively simple task to send your entire customers list an e-mail wishing them season’s
greetings and advising the shutdown details.
3. Emergency Contact Number – Whilst hopefully everything will go smoothly over the shutdown
period, sometimes things go wrong and it is imperative customers and staff have a number they
can call. Consider spreading the burden and establishing a rooster, so a number of people share
the load of having the emergency number diverted to their mobile.
4. Telephone Message – Make sure you have an appropriate message setup on your landline or
mobile, so anyone calling knows what’s going on. They can leave a message or contact the
emergency number noted above. Make sure the message system can handle the quantity of
messages you might get. Otherwise, have someone check it regularly and reset. This can usually
be done from outside the office, if needed.
5. Clean up – Before you shut down for Christmas, take a bit of time and have a clean-up around
the business. When everyone comes back from their break they’ll be refreshed and ready to go,
so why not help that by having a clutter free environment to start the New Year off. Take the
opportunity to kick start 2017 with renewed vigour!!
6. Meeting with clients on return – When you get back in the office make it a priority to meet with
any clients whose job were put on hold over the Christmas period. Establish a new timeline for
their projects and communicate that to the customer.
7. Plan for 2017 – With the pressure of day to day business off for a week or two, take a few hours
and consider what you want to achieve in 2017. Write down your goals and the strategies you
need to implement to achieve those goals goals. Set yourself a maximum of 5 key things you
want to get done in the first three months of 2017. Put them on the wall when you get back to
the office and check each week that you are doing what you need to do to achieve those goals.
Do things differently in 2017, if you want a different result from 2016!
For advise on planning to grow your business in 2017, talk to one of the professionals at Gibsons
Consulting – www.gibsons.com.au
Written by Bruce Myers, Senior Consultant – Gibsons [email protected]