Aug 20, 2018

Christmas is Coming! It’s Never too Early to Start Preparing Your Small Business

The Holiday season is when the majority of retailers make their money. Now is the time to start preparing for what should be the most wonderful time of the year for your business (and we don’t mean busting out the snowmen and jingle bells before Halloween). Here are a few things you need to start thinking about now to put you on sleigh ride to success.

Hiring Holiday Help – It’s not just a matter hiring the right people, you also need to hire the right number of them to get you through the busy season. A Human Capital Management system can provide you with historical data to determine the number helpers you’ll need to hire. Once you determine the ideal number, an HCM can also assist in the hiring process by sharing your open positions across online job boards and filtering through applications for ideal candidates.
Keep Those Lines Moving – With increased customers comes longer lines for the register. To keep people from dropping their items and leaving or, worse, yelling at your employees it is important that your POS systems are up to date. Make sure you can accept all major credit cards and that people have the option to swipe, dip, or tap to pay. Having all POS peripherals such as scanners, weight scales, cash drawers, printers, and check readers behaving properly will speed up transactions and keep people in the Holiday spirit.
Don’t Neglect Your Website – As we’ve previously discussed online shopping has been growing in popularity year after year with 2017 being its biggest yet. You can cash in on this by creating an online shopping experience the makes it easy for customers to find what they are looking for and even easier to purchase through your online shopping cart. This includes a web host and server that are prepared for increased demand to prevent your site from crashing on peak ecommerce days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Protect Critical Data - Even a small business needs to think about its infrastructure and data storage. While you may have all of your data backed up, is it stored in a secure facility? Is there a plan in place to recover it should disaster strike? A thorough disaster recovery plan can ensure business continuity and keep your business data safe from loss or corruption.
Beware the Grinches – As much as the Holidays are about cheer and goodwill, there are those who will add their names to the naughty list. Be it theft of cash or inventory, a data breach, or injuries from people fighting over this year’s must have toy, if you don’t have the right insurance coverage, paying for claims out of pocket could make this a blue Christmas for your business. A thorough review can highlight any gaps in your coverage due to increased inventory or staff. It also couldn’t hurt to ask if about a special event policy for any holiday parties you may host for employees and/or clients.

As a business development company, NewtekOne is in a unique position to offer solutions in all of these areas. We can even assist with small business loans or lines of credit if you need financing to make improvements in preparation for your busy season. Reach out today to see how NewtekOne can be your Not-So-Secret Santa.