In the run-up to Christmas we’d hoped to be sharing lots of good news but this week’s stories show a challenging time for smaller businesses. From reports of corporate bullying to figures showing that HMRC may actually target them, it seems times are tough.
There’s also news that 76% of business owners work through the holidays, so we look at the best ways to ensure you get that well-earned break.
Top news stories
Small businesses singled out by HMRC?
UHY Hacker Young has been compiling figures on the outcome of compliance investigations into small businesses’ VAT accounts.
76% of small business owners work through the holidays
Almost half spend as much as three hours per day on tasks, 15% will spend more than half a day working and 17% take no time off at all.
Small businesses facing ‘bullying’ by corporate customers
One in five firms suffer some form of supply chain bullying, according to research by the Federation of Small Businesses.
72% of UK online retailers are not secure
Research by Sophos found that most retailers failed to implement proper security measures, putting both themselves and their customers at risk. Only 31% said they had anything more than a firewall for network protection.
Sales increase by £36m for second Small Business Saturday
Independent businesses made £504m in sales during this year’s Small Business Saturday.
Key dates for your diary
No important dates this week.
Getting a break for Christmas
With less than two weeks to go before Christmas, how can you ensure you get to take a break? If you’re worried that you may need to work over the holidays, there’s still time to take control of your workload and free up enough time to take a breather.
Prioritise
Although you may have work lined up for the holidays, it’s possible that everything doesn’t need to be done over that period. Rank all your work in order of importance and see if you can defer some of it until after the holidays. It may mean a busy start to the new year but at least you’ll get a break.
Be flexible
If you run regular tasks like payroll and paying invoices, make sure to complete these before you go on holiday. That way, you can have a break knowing all your transactions are up to date and you won’t be chased for late payments while you’re away.
Let your customers know you’ll be closed
If you followed our advice from October’s Monday Motivation, you should have already told your customers when you’ll be open - and therefore when you’ll be closed. If not, it’s not too late to do so.
If you’re B2B company, you’ll often find your clients are closed as well, which means you can take a break without having to worry about not being available.
Book the time off
If you work for yourself or own the business, book in your leave as you would if you were employed. If you know when you’ll be out of the office, it’s easier to set boundaries and you’ll be less likely to check up on emails, make phone calls or pop into work.
Allocate specific times to check work
We know ‒ as a business owner it’s very hard to turn off completely. If you know that taking a complete break will cause you more stress than being at work, set specific times to check your emails. That way, you won’t be connected all day and you’re more likely to get a better break.
Automate actions where you can
Look at your software and see if there are actions that can be automated. Use online banking to schedule any payments that you haven’t made before the holidays. There’s also a host of social media tools (like Hootsuite and Tweetdeck) that allow you to schedule social media updates during the holidays and your website may also allow you to schedule blog posts.
Take time to relax
Christmas comes but once a year so make the most of it. A good break should leave you refreshed and set you up for a great 2015.