7th November, 2024
As the year winds down, many Australian small businesses gear up for their busiest season.
The peak season period encompassing Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, and New Year’s can make or break annual profits.
Success during this crucial time often hinges on two key factors: having enough hands on deck and ensuring your shelves (whether physical or virtual) are well-stocked.
Here’s how to navigate these challenges in the last few months of the year.
First, look at how you’re going to handle all the extra enquiries and sales that occur in the lead up to and around Christmas.
Here are some tips to help:
Modern accounting software solutions such as MYOB include robust budgeting and reporting features.
Use these to understand your current cashflow position, financial projections, and other financial data, and to then plan your staffing expenses for peak seasons.
Create a separate budget category for seasonal employees, factoring in not just wages, but also costs like training, uniforms, and any benefits you might offer.
This will help you determine how many additional staff you can afford to hire and for how long.
Don’t wait until the Christmas decorations are up to begin your search for seasonal staff.
Initiate your hiring process ASAP, preferably at least a month or two before Santa is due.
This timeline allows you to thoroughly vet candidates, complete necessary paperwork, and provide adequate training before the rush hits.
Remember, you’re not the only business looking for holiday help, so starting early gives you access to a wider pool of quality candidates.
When it comes to actually hiring and paying your temporary, seasonal staff, your accounting software can significantly reduce administrative headaches.
MYOB’s payroll features, for instance, allow you to easily add and remove employees from your system, plus you can deactivate and reactivate staff.
This is particularly useful for managing casual workers who may only work for you for a month or two at a time and then have a big break in between.
MYOB’s payroll software also makes it easy to calculate tax and superannuation amounts automatically and to stay compliant with Fair Work regulations and avoid costly mistakes in paying your holiday staff.
You can also use MYOB to roster your staff, set up timesheets, and calculate overtime and leave, if applicable.
Once you’ve hired your seasonal staff, invest time in thorough training.
While it might seem counterintuitive to spend precious pre-holiday time on training, well-prepared staff will be more efficient and provide better customer service during the rush.
They’ll also make fewer costly mistakes!
Create a comprehensive but concise training program that covers essential skills, company policies, and holiday-specific procedures.
Consider pairing new hires with experienced staff members for on-the-job training, too.
Plus, look at cross-training, where you ensure your permanent staff can handle multiple roles.
This flexibility can be a lifesaver during busy periods.
The holiday rush can be stressful for everyone, including your team.
So, work to create a positive work environment to keep both seasonal and permanent staff motivated.
Recognise good performance, offer flexible scheduling where possible, and perhaps implement a holiday bonus system or other perks.
For example, take advantage of the staff benefit solutions the Flare tool within MYOB makes easy to set up.
“Reward your employees with access to discounted vouchers,” suggests Beth Dowsett, a Product Marketing Manager for SMEs at MYOB.
“Christmas is expensive for everyone, but the Flare benefits take a bit of the pain away by allowing your staff to purchase discounted vouchers for a range of popular stores, such as Coles, Amazon, and JB HiFi.”
Happy employees are more likely to provide excellent customer service, crucial during this high-stakes period.
Try to give your workers as much notice as possible about their shift days and times, too.
Beth suggests, “If you’re staying open over the holidays, get your team’s rosters finalised as soon as you can, so they can plan accordingly.
“It’s also worth putting out a request for volunteers who are happy to work over the break before you automatically schedule people to work on or around Christmas Day or New Year’s Day.”
Of course, you can have all the best workers in place but that won’t mean much if you don’t have enough or the right inventory to sell.
Here are some ways to manage your stock in the lead up to the end of the year:
Your preparation for holiday inventory should begin with a deep dive into your data.
Analyse sales figures from previous holiday seasons to identify top-selling items and overall demand patterns.
Beth says, “Take a close look at your inventory levels before placing those big seasonal orders. By checking your current stock report, you’ll get a clear picture of what’s actually sitting on your shelves, what’s been promised to customers, and what’s already in the pipeline from your suppliers.
“This quick check helps you avoid both overstocking and running short during the crucial holiday period.”
However, don’t rely solely on historical data.
“Before automatically matching last year’s holiday stock levels, dig deeper into your numbers,” Beth suggests.
“Yes, knowing your year-on-year growth is valuable, but you also need to understand how products have been performing in recent months.
“Pull up a sales velocity report that shows both your current inventory levels and movement patterns – this will help you spot which items are flying off the shelves and which ones might end up gathering dust.
“This smarter approach to ordering helps you invest your budget where it counts.”
If you stay up on current market trends, new product releases, and shifts in consumer behaviour that might impact this year’s demand, you’ll also have a better chance of ordering more of the most popular items.
The holiday season is not the time to put all your eggs in one basket.
Diversify your supply chain to mitigate the risk of stockouts due to supplier issues.
Find some backup suppliers for your most critical items or even expand your range.
It’s simple to add new suppliers into your account on MYOB’s software to streamline payments for the goods you buy.
For businesses dealing in physical goods, it also pays to set up relationships with local suppliers in the lead-up to Christmas, as they can provide quick turnaround times for last-minute orders.
Ensure you invest in robust inventory management software that provides real-time tracking.
This technology can alert you to low stock levels, forecast demand based on current sales velocity, and even automate reordering processes.
For businesses with both online and physical presences, look for systems that can sync inventory across all sales channels to prevent overselling.
While ensuring you have enough stock for the peak season rush, don’t forget to also plan for what comes after.
Have a strategy in place for dealing with excess inventory post-holidays, if needed.
This might include planning New Year’s sales, identifying items that can be held for early holiday periods next year (such as Valentine’s Day or Easter), or finding alternative markets for overstocked items.
After the peak season, make some time to use the reporting features of your accounting software so you can analyse your venture’s performance.
Run customisable reports that show you which products were your best sellers, what your staffing costs were versus your revenue, and how your actual results compared to your projections.
This post-season analysis is crucial for even better planning in the following year.
Look for trends in sales, staffing efficiency, and inventory turnover and use these insights to refine your strategies for future peak seasons.
By focusing on all these key areas of staffing and inventory management, you can position your business for greater success during the crucial end-of-year period.
Remember, the goal is not just to survive the holiday rush, but to thrive in it, setting your business up for a strong start to the new year.