Finance – Stressmas is here

Christmas is fast approaching and this signals for a lot of business owners a stressful time of the year. Customers want things done before Christmas and many shop owners have long hours and a large amounts of customers and sales prior to the day.
Thankfully for most it also eventually signals a break from work where you can relax and re-energise.

If you are worried about your business, the period up to Christmas is not the time to make rushed decisions as you are already under stress and may not be in the right frame of mind to make important decisions regarding the state of your business .

When you have the break , I find the first week is used to destress, wind down and relax. By the second week you are usually in a better state of mind and this is the time to review what has happened in your business for the past year. Think about what has been good and what has been bad and what needs to be improved.

This will help form the basis of your business plan for the next year and though you may not complete this until after the holiday has ended, you will find that as you have completed this at a time when your mind is clear and relaxed, the points you have noted will help improve the business for the coming year .

Your accountant can help you with cashflows and budgets which can be loaded on to an accounting programme so that you can monitor the progress during the year.

Other things that should be reviewed are employment contracts to ensure that they meet current legislation, insurance requirements for the business, and terms of trade to improve cashflow. Make sure all building compliance requirements are up to date.

The key though over the Christmas break is to look after yourself , relax and enjoy the break as you are the most important asset of the business and your health and wellbeing is important to the ultimate success of the business .

Have a great Christmas break and prepare for a prosperous New Year.