How to Holiday-Proof Your Micro Business
Photo by Chintermeyer
When I tell you that there are only seventeen days till Christmas, how does that make you feel?
If the emotions that spring to mind are excitement or sereneness, that’s great news. But if the thought of tinsel and present-wrapping has you panicking, you may want to stop and have a good think about how you’re going to handle the holidays ahead.
Running a micro business can be challenging all year round. When you’re in charge of a one-person-band it can often be tricky to know where your personal life ends and your business starts. Many micro-business owners work from home, which can make the festive period particularly hard to navigate.
No need to worry! There are plenty of things you can do to holiday-proof your micro business and ensure that things stay running smoothly despite the festive chaos.
Here are a few suggestions from me:
Find a back up workspace
Many of the micro business owners I work with are also parents. This means that over the school holidays they often lose their quiet home-based office to a flurry of child-related activities! Depending on the age of your children and the availability of childcare, there may not be a way to avoid this. In these cases, the most productive thing you can do for your business might be to find an alternative workspace out of the house. The library, your local coffee shop or a co-working space could be a real business saver!
Diarise when you’re working and when you’re not
Almost all of us will want to take a well-deserved chunk of time away from work over the Christmas period. When you run a micro business it can be tempting to aim to squeeze in a couple of hours work even when you’re supposed to be relaxing. My advice is that you shouldn’t do this! All business owners need downtime, and the festive period is an excellent time to shut up shop and while away a few chilled days with family. Decide now when you’re going to work and when you’re going to take time off, write those dates in your diary and stick to them!
Handle the Christmas shopping online
When there’s little separation between work and personal life, sometimes the only way to keep things calm on the business front is to make sure your personal tasks and errands are under control. Christmas shopping can be very stressful: so it’s wise to get it out of the way as early as possible. Buying presents and the festive food shop online can help keep seasonal stress under control and means you’re less likely to have to lose valuable working hours battling the shops.
Plan recovery days
Christmas and New Year is a time for family, and many of us will be planning to spend time with family. This may mean traveling to see them or perhaps inviting them to visit us. Whichever way round you’re planning on doing this, do remember that it’s likely to be more time consuming and tiring that you think! I advise yourself to schedule a ‘recovery day’ either side of family visits where you don’t expect to get a great deal of work done. Forgive yourself for this lack of productivity and know that in the long run you’ll reap the benefits of giving yourself that time to recharge.
If you’re a micro business owner I’d love to hear how you’re planning to manage the festive period. Are you counting the days till you sign off for the break or are you dreading the whole thing? You can share your tips and insights with me here.
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