The holiday season is a time of joy, celebration, and reflection, but for many entrepreneurs, it can also bring unique challenges. Balancing personal and business demands while maintaining momentum during potential slowdowns is no small feat. Here are a few strategies to help you thrive through December, along with an inspiring story from a GroYourBiz member who mastered this seasonal transition.

1. Strategies for Managing Business During Holiday Slowdowns

  • Plan Ahead: Use early December to focus on wrapping up key projects and setting goals for the new year. This ensures you start January with clarity and purpose.
  • Communicate with Clients: Inform clients about your availability during the holidays. Use this opportunity to offer promotions or early-bird incentives for January services.
  • Focus on Relationships: Slow periods are ideal for strengthening client relationships. Send personalized holiday greetings, thank-you notes, or small tokens of appreciation.
  • Maximize Productivity: Review and optimize internal processes while business is slower. A little housekeeping now can pay off in the long term.

2. Balancing Personal Time with Business Demands

  • Set Boundaries: Block off time for family, friends, and self-care. Communicate these boundaries to your team and clients.
  • Delegate: Let go of the tasks you don’t need to handle yourself. Whether it’s assigning holiday marketing to a team member or outsourcing mundane tasks, delegation is key.
  • Combine Work and Festivities: If appropriate, include your business in holiday activities. Host a small client appreciation event or participate in community holiday markets to stay engaged while celebrating.

3. Real Stories: How One Member Found Balance and Success

Lisa, a GroYourBiz member and owner of a boutique gift shop, used to dread December. Holiday rushes followed by post-Christmas slowdowns made it hard to stay on top of her business while enjoying the season with her family.

Last year, she took a different approach. In early November, she met with her GroYourBiz advisory board to brainstorm strategies. Together, they helped her design a plan:

  • Streamline Holiday Promotions: She created a simple yet effective “12 Days of Gifting” campaign, offering daily specials leading up to Christmas.
  • Pre-schedule Social Media: To free up her time, Lisa pre-scheduled all her holiday content. This allowed her to focus on in-person customer interactions and spend Christmas week with her family.
  • Plan for January: Knowing January was typically slow, she offered customers holiday gift cards that could be redeemed for discounts in the new year, ensuring a steady flow of post-holiday business.

The result? Lisa not only maintained her business momentum but also enjoyed a stress-free holiday with her loved ones. She credits her GroYourBiz board for helping her find the perfect balance.

At GroYourBiz, we offer the gift of Empowering Dreams. You can’t buy happiness but you can support someone’s dreams, and that’s kind of the same thing!  Give a gift to a daughter, a special client, a friend… it’s endless who could benefit.

We know when women grow their business, good things happen!  The GroYourBiz Holiday Promotion*, includes:

*Limited time offer for first-time members. Expires December 31, 2024. To be paid-in-full at time of registration.

By planning ahead, setting boundaries, and seeking support, you can make this holiday season your most successful yet. Whether you’re looking to overcome a seasonal slowdown or balance business with personal joy, there’s no better time to start than now.

Need fresh ideas and support? Learn how a peer-to-peer advisory board can help you!

Register to join a 1HR Free Trial Advisory Board and see how a peer-to-peer advisory board can help you stay ahead year-round. Sign up here.

Contributing writer: Prowl Communications