12 Ways to Get Your Small Business Ready For the Holidays

The holidays are an exciting time but for small business owners, they can also be hectic and one of the most stressful times of the year. There’s constant pressure to keep up with demand and meet sales goals. Looking for some tips to help make the holidays less stressful? We are here with 12 ideas to get you started.

Make the holidays fun for both you and your customers by making your store look especially festive. Decorate the building with Christmas decorations and play Christmas music for shoppers when they come into your space. If you have a large outdoor space, consider getting a real Christmas tree and hold a tree-lighting party. This is a great way to meet people in your community and, if you're a restaurant, sell a hot chocolate or warm apple cider!

It’s also important, though, to remember that the holidays often brings crowds. Do not make it difficult for people to walk around your store or outside space so that they’re tempted to leave without buying anything.

Every Saturday-after-Thanksgiving is Small Business Saturday, an international day to celebrate the small and independent businesses in our communities. People go out shopping with the specific intention of going to local stores, so now is a great chance to offer a special one-day promotion or coupon to redeem later.

Promote your participation in the day well in advance, on your social media channels or in any media or community forums where locals frequently get their news.

You should be marketing your business all year round, but during the holidays, you will want to increase how much you’re putting out online and in print media. Build your Google Business Profile so that correct hours are listed for your store location and advertise your holiday specials on social media.

Do not forget about print too! Posters, mailers and coupons are just as valuable as emails for people in your town who may be visiting or prefer to not shop online.

Ensure that you have a point of sale system that can handle all different forms of payments that your customers might want to use. Credit and debit cards are common, along with cash. But these days, many people prefer to pay with contactless options like digital wallets, or Zelle.

Regular gift cards, paper certificates or digital vouchers are a great option for customers to add something additional to their purchase as an extra gift. Or alternatively, they may be shopping specifically for gift cards so that the recipient can choose their own gift. No matter how you choose to offer them, you should always have this as an option.

Remember though, digital and plastic cards with barcodes are easier to track and also harder to forge, so this is likely a better option than a paper certificate.

Remember that the holidays are not just about sales for you and your fellow business owners. Giving Tuesday, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, is the perfect time to be generous and give something back to your community.

While you are doing a good deed, you can still help raise awareness about your business. Wear branded merchandise as you volunteer, or drive donations in your company-branded vehicle. Choose a local organization in Polk, Logan, Franklin, Johnson, Scott, or Pope County for a donation of time, money, or resources this holiday season.

Your business may be busier than normal during the holidays so think about hiring seasonal help on your busiest days like Black Friday or the week of Christmas. If you need some support, a small business loan can help cover the upfront costs of additional people on your payroll. Make sure you integrate the new hires with your existing team, with a cheerful and friendly environment.

Having the right products and enough of them on the shelves is vital during the busy shopping season. This can be difficult to predict, especially if this is your first year in business and you have not weathered a holiday season before! Business loans are also a great way to cover additional inventory if you need to stock up.

If you have been putting off repairs or updates to your store, make sure you take care of these before the holidays hit. You want everything to be in order when customers come to your store for that excellent first impression. Not only are the aesthetics important, but you do not want anyone to be injured by something in your store.

Make sure your website is up and running if you are planning to sell products online during the holidays. Not everyone wants to shop in store when it is so busy out, so having a user-friendly website that can handle a large volume of traffic is essential for making additional revenue from these customers.

Keep your inventory accurate for both online and instore—many point of sale systems now integrate with stock checkers that can share across the website and store checkouts in real time to help with this. You should also make sure that your website is safe and secure, with an SSL certificate so that users can see this information upfront.

All of your business systems should be updated with the latest in cybersecurity technology, not just your website. Any computers you use in your business, along with smart devices, should be updated. You do not want to run the risk of an outage or breach during the busiest time of the year. Keep customer and employee records secure and away from any publicly accessible devices.

Follow the latest in cybersecurity best practices so you know exactly what you need to do to keep your business data safe from cybersecurity threats.

Save time with online and mobile banking for business. Pay your bills directly from your online business banking checking account, use remote deposit capture for checks, and save on multiple trips to the bank during the busiest time of the year.

Running a small business in West Central Arkansas or the River Valley? Union Bank is here to help you take on this holiday season successfully. Talk to a business banker about adding merchant services and a POS system onto your business banking suite. Or ask a lender which business loan is best to help you keep up with inventory, repairs, or other operating expenses. Contact us today or visit a convenient location to get started.