In Australia many small businesses go through a very quiet period from about mid December until the end of January.
It is when people go on holidays, focus on Christmas parties and generally do anything except think of work.
Many small businesses close down after Christmas because they failed to adequately plan in terms of cash-flow or how to maximise the use of their time.
Instead of planning and taking action, they sat and worried about lack of customers.
The time to start planning for this quiet period is now! Unless you take some action now your kids could be living on instant noodles by the end of January as you undercut Indian freelance operators with your fees to try and make ends meet until business picks up again.
So what can you plan to do over the 6 week quiet time? 1.
Take a holiday of at least 2 weeks.
If you can't beat them, join them.
Work out how much you need to cover at least 2 week's worth of income, plus money for a holiday and start saving a little each week into a separate account you won't touch.
Plan something fabulous and put pictures up of where you are planning to go (to help keep your focus and to help you not spend your money).
2.
Do a free on-line course.
Work out what skills you have that need brushing up and find a free or low cost on-line course.
Get all of the material ready and dedicate at least one week to fully immersing yourself in finishing that course! Don't be tempted to start it early - keep it aside for your quiet time to get the most out of your course.
3.
Take a casual job.
Businesses start hiring their Christmas casuals about October - so dust off your resume and look for casual work to tide you over if you need to.
4.
Drum up business.
Work out what sort of jobs or services people need to have done ready for the new year and offer strong incentives for people to "lock in time in your diary" for the quiet time.
If you do this well you may not have a quiet time at all! If you intend to do this you need to start thinking now in order to design your Christmas promotions, to get your marketing collateral together and ads designed ready to roll out in November.
Planning now means you avoid rush jobs and premium fees when people try and cram you into their diaries.
5.
Work on your business.
You know all of those things you have been meaning to get to like editing your website or creating new marketing material all of these are perfect for the quiet time.
Book out at least 1 week in your own diary to work on your business over the quiet time.
6.
Write a book.
It's amazing how much you can write in 6 weeks of focussed effort.
Write a book or e-book for your business, or record some podcasts.
Create products for your business that you can then sell throughout the year to generate passive revenue.
7.
Work on you.
This is a great time to take advantage of all of the other quiet businesses like massage therapists, personal trainers or naturopaths.
Spend some serious time getting your body and mind rested and relaxed ready for the New Year.
Download a pile of motivational podcasts from some of the world's best teachers and save them for the quiet time to work on your mind.
8.
Send your technology on holiday.
The quiet time is perfect to send your computers away to be serviced, defragged and have all the virus stuff done and your hard drive rebuilt if needed (combine this with your holiday so you don't feel as if your computers are missing you while you are gone - sort of like a high tech dog kennel).
9.
Fix your filing and admin.
We all have the horror pile of filing.
The last working day before Christmas I warm up the shredder, wheel in the wheelie bin, pour myself champagne and go through every file and every folder both electronic and paper based.
It is a wonderfully therapeutic way to close the working year down.
10.
Plan for the coming year.
Remember the business plan you wrote a few years back for your business? The quiet time is the perfect time to sit down with someone and re-think your plan.
Spend serious time refocussing on your goals and your vision both for you and your business.
Ink it - write it down into a business plan that you reread regularly.
The quiet time could be the most productive time of your business year if you plan for it.
So - first sort out your cashflow requirements and put money aside now to cover the period in as much the same way as you do for tax, and then start to block out time in your diary for all of the brilliant things you want to do to grow your business.
It is when people go on holidays, focus on Christmas parties and generally do anything except think of work.
Many small businesses close down after Christmas because they failed to adequately plan in terms of cash-flow or how to maximise the use of their time.
Instead of planning and taking action, they sat and worried about lack of customers.
The time to start planning for this quiet period is now! Unless you take some action now your kids could be living on instant noodles by the end of January as you undercut Indian freelance operators with your fees to try and make ends meet until business picks up again.
So what can you plan to do over the 6 week quiet time? 1.
Take a holiday of at least 2 weeks.
If you can't beat them, join them.
Work out how much you need to cover at least 2 week's worth of income, plus money for a holiday and start saving a little each week into a separate account you won't touch.
Plan something fabulous and put pictures up of where you are planning to go (to help keep your focus and to help you not spend your money).
2.
Do a free on-line course.
Work out what skills you have that need brushing up and find a free or low cost on-line course.
Get all of the material ready and dedicate at least one week to fully immersing yourself in finishing that course! Don't be tempted to start it early - keep it aside for your quiet time to get the most out of your course.
3.
Take a casual job.
Businesses start hiring their Christmas casuals about October - so dust off your resume and look for casual work to tide you over if you need to.
4.
Drum up business.
Work out what sort of jobs or services people need to have done ready for the new year and offer strong incentives for people to "lock in time in your diary" for the quiet time.
If you do this well you may not have a quiet time at all! If you intend to do this you need to start thinking now in order to design your Christmas promotions, to get your marketing collateral together and ads designed ready to roll out in November.
Planning now means you avoid rush jobs and premium fees when people try and cram you into their diaries.
5.
Work on your business.
You know all of those things you have been meaning to get to like editing your website or creating new marketing material all of these are perfect for the quiet time.
Book out at least 1 week in your own diary to work on your business over the quiet time.
6.
Write a book.
It's amazing how much you can write in 6 weeks of focussed effort.
Write a book or e-book for your business, or record some podcasts.
Create products for your business that you can then sell throughout the year to generate passive revenue.
7.
Work on you.
This is a great time to take advantage of all of the other quiet businesses like massage therapists, personal trainers or naturopaths.
Spend some serious time getting your body and mind rested and relaxed ready for the New Year.
Download a pile of motivational podcasts from some of the world's best teachers and save them for the quiet time to work on your mind.
8.
Send your technology on holiday.
The quiet time is perfect to send your computers away to be serviced, defragged and have all the virus stuff done and your hard drive rebuilt if needed (combine this with your holiday so you don't feel as if your computers are missing you while you are gone - sort of like a high tech dog kennel).
9.
Fix your filing and admin.
We all have the horror pile of filing.
The last working day before Christmas I warm up the shredder, wheel in the wheelie bin, pour myself champagne and go through every file and every folder both electronic and paper based.
It is a wonderfully therapeutic way to close the working year down.
10.
Plan for the coming year.
Remember the business plan you wrote a few years back for your business? The quiet time is the perfect time to sit down with someone and re-think your plan.
Spend serious time refocussing on your goals and your vision both for you and your business.
Ink it - write it down into a business plan that you reread regularly.
The quiet time could be the most productive time of your business year if you plan for it.
So - first sort out your cashflow requirements and put money aside now to cover the period in as much the same way as you do for tax, and then start to block out time in your diary for all of the brilliant things you want to do to grow your business.
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