Preparing for a busy or quiet period?

Not every entrepreneur experiences a busy period during the holidays. Retailers and hospitality entrepreneurs in particular will be busy with all the dinners, drinks and gifts that are being stocked up. But of course, there are also entrepreneurs who are actually very calm in the month of December. Think of seasonal companies or entrepreneurs who consciously choose to take it easy in the last month.

Are you experiencing a quieter period at the end of the year? Then you have probably factored this in and have taken into account that you need to bridge the quiet period during the busy period. But this can also be a period in which you want to invest to make your business even better. Then you can a bridging loan be an outcome.

Dive into your historical data

Is there a very busy period coming up for you? Then it's smart to be well prepared. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What are you going to do this year to stand out during the holidays? Look at previous years.
• Which actions or activities have worked well?
• Which products or services were most popular during the month of December?
• What do I see in the purchasing and sales statistics for the past few years?

Thanks to the answers to these questions, you know exactly what worked and what did not work and you can determine the right focus this year. Also, look at what your competitors are doing. What do they advertise with and what actions do they set up?

Create an action plan and set your goal

As cool as your idea can be, you should of course know whether it is realistic and actually pays off. Make a plan that includes the budget and revenue forecast. Thanks to this action plan, you know exactly how much inventory you need or what you need to make your idea or action a success.

When making an action plan, you can also set a goal right away. Is your goal more sales or increasing your brand awareness? It is possible that you are setting up an action that should increase your turnover in the long term, but you will not immediately see the effects. Then it's an investment you're making to ultimately grow your business.

Adapting to the situation

More important than ever is that you are flexible and can quickly adapt to the current situation. Of course, we do not know exactly when we are dealing with which measures.

Imagine that your store or hospitality business has to (partially) close. Be prepared for this scenario, so you can switch quickly when these measures are implemented. Then you have the choice, do you fully switch to online orders or close the store? Both choices have an effect on your action plan and goals that you have set.

Make sure you combine online and offline

For the same reason as above, it is good to use a combination of both online and offline communication. The power of repetition is an important aspect here. Make sure that all your communication is visually recognisable. When a potential customer sees you on social media, in the newspaper, on the radio and in the shopping street, you make them curious.

Online channels

ShoppingTomorrow has a researched online purchases. This shows that since the lockdown, there have been structurally more online sales. 27% of the Dutch indicate that the corona crisis has caused the physical store to trade in for the online webshop. This is not yet a majority, but the customer journey often starts online. The orientation process and comparison are done online, and then the purchase is made in the physical store.

For the above reason, it is therefore good to have an online presence. This is your business card and, in some cases, the first contact with a potential customer. This is the stage to convince your target group about your brand, product or service. Make it easy to buy a product online or make an appointment for the quick decision makers among us. This will give you more conversions.

Offline channels

When you talk about the holidays, you think of fun, lights, shopping streets full of people doing their last shopping and eating together. It's all about the experience. So be sure to also use offline channels and capitalize on the experience.

With a store or hospitality business, it's easier to create the party atmosphere. But even without a physical space, you can create an experience offline. Send a gift or card or make sure you are visible where the target group is located. Make sure you stand out!

Are you ready for the holidays?

So you can prepare well for the holidays, even when you are in for a quiet period. There is a chance that the measures will be tightened, but even then, there are plenty of opportunities to make it a great month of December. We wish you the best of luck in the coming period.

If we can help you with extra working capital or make your bridging period easier? Then we would love to hear that. You can get a free start a request via our website or contact us by calling us.

‍