Preparing Your Small Business For the Holidays

Preparing your business for the holidays means different things in different industries. For some, it is a time of slowing down. For others, it’s the busy season. Either way, success for business and holidays depends on being ready. Part of that is managing your energy bill and energy consumption.

In this guide for how to prepare your small business for the holidays, we will talk about being energy efficient. And beyond the holidays, you can use these tips to manage costs this winter and throughout the year.

8 tips to prepare your small business for the holidays

Getting ready for holiday festivities is the key to your business running efficiently. What is considered the holiday season seems to start earlier and earlier. In many places, it goes from Halloween through New Year’s Day.

1. Create a holiday marketing plan that highlights sustainabilityYour holiday marketing plan can drive more than just revenue and growth. In a time of giving, you and your customers can give to the planet. Here are some eco-friendly ideas for your business and holidays marketing:

• Encourage customers to shop local. Reduce the carbon consumed in shipping and keep more wealth in the local economy.
• Promote your sustainable or eco-friendly products. Promote responsible manufacturing, packaging, or service delivery to help the environment.
• Support recycling. Ask customers to bring back packaging or worn out products to put back into the circular economy.
• Sponsor tree planting. Ask customers to round up their bills to support greening the community. Add pictures of the trees you plant to share in your facility and on social media.
• Include a green gift. Consider adding a little extra to goods and services, like a packet of branded seeds as a thank you and an incentive to think about the community.

2. Plan your holiday hours and unplug when your business is closedIf you shut down over the holiday, unplug appliances and electronics. You’ll stop wasting energy on standby energy.

3. Stock up on holiday supplies such as an eco-friendly wrapping paperChoose gift wrap made with recycled paper. Don’t forget to choose recycled and recyclable bows and package decorations.

4. Draw customers in with lights and use a timer to save energyDecorating is one way of preparing your business for the holidays. Twinkling lights bring customers in and put everyone in a festive mood. Use energy efficient string lights on a timer set to turn off when you close to lower your utility bill. Explore small business holiday ideas for more ways to use smart technology to trim costs.

5. Update or create your website before the holidays startPreparing your business for the holidays means having a website. Technology makes it simple and inexpensive. Update an existing site to be ready for holiday sales. Customers expect to interact with your business on computers and phones, so put some thought into moving your small business online.

6. Consider hiring seasonal employees and train existing onePreparing your business for the holidays means having enough staff to handle the rush. Hiring new employees is challenging at this time. Training existing ones for the holidays can be time consuming. Plan ahead for recruiting employees for your small business.

7. Prioritize customer service and use chatbotsYour holidays and business can create stress.Yet customer service is especially important during the holidays. Get some help without hiring more people with advanced AI chatbots. Add them to your website or phone to reduce small business operating costs.

8. Lower your thermostat to save during off hoursIt is easy to get busy during the holidays and let the little things slide. Yet, if you close your business without turning down the thermostat, you’ll be wasting big money. Even if your business is busy, it is easy to forget to turn down the heat when you leave at night. It’s a little thing that adds up to big money.
Give yourself a holiday gift of a programmable smart thermostat. Set it for a comfortable office temperature for the day, then to turn down at night. A programmable thermostat is a holiday gift that benefits you year round, reducing summer cooling bills and to improve your small business efficiency.
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Save on energy and attract new customers this holidayIt is important to think ahead about how to prepare your small business for the holidays to make the most of the opportunity and cut costs. Saving energy will reduce your small business expenses. All it takes is planning ahead when getting ready for holiday sales.