The holiday season is one of the most exciting times for most businesses because it means sales and more sales. According to statistics, holidays account for more than 30% of the company's annual income.

But, after the holidays are over, and the flow of customer traffic comes to a halt, most companies tend to suffer cash flow blues, to the point of even looking for some start-up loans in order to keep their businesses afloat.

This shouldn’t be the case, and with some simple strategic planning, these inevitable cashflow blues can be avoided altogether. Here's what you should do:

Take it as a normal occurrence:

It is important to remember that this is a normal thing, and almost all businesses are probably facing the same challenge. Do not be overly emotional about it and take some drastic measures such as closing down the business or getting into some unwanted debt.

From the vThanksgiving period all the way to the New Year, businesses will see a pick up in sales. And after that, there is usually a huge drop. This is completely normal, and what you need to do is plan for this period in advance.

Keep a cash reserve:

Having a cash reserve is always a good idea. Small businesses are likely to experience highs and lows all the time especially when it comes to cashflow, having a reserve will help you cover expenses when the revenue stream is low.

The reserve is sort of an emergency fund that you can be able to access for your business when it's short of cash and be able to deal with some pressing bills such as rent, electricity and even salaries.

Think of it as a savings account that is only accessible when needed.

You can also build on this by cutting down the amount of bonus you give yourself and your employees at the end of the year so that you ensure you do not end up closing down the business when things are tough. your stress levels will also be low as a result of the planning. If you don’t have a chance to save for a cash reserve, start up finance could provide the well-needed capital instead.

Offer discounts and sales:

This is yet another way you can be able to deal with the post-holiday blues, and you must have seen them all-over especially in the month of January. Most businesses offer their customers discounts and sales options such as "buy one, get one free," so they can be able to make some sales.

Offering discounts on your products such as "25% off," will go a long way in motivating them to buy things they probably hadn’t planned on buying.

You could also offer coupons and vouchers during the holiday season that they can only use after the holidays are over. This also helps to bring in traffic into your business which is very beneficial at attracting other customers to come and shop.

You should also remember that after the holidays are over, most people are normally low on cash, and therefore discounts and sales are a perfect way of motivating them to spend some money.

Be ready for some returns:

After the holidays, there is usually a very high number of customers who return products they got during the holidays.

Also, the holiday season is filled with too much excitement and this leads to impulsive buying.

Research actually shows that almost £70 million worth of products is returned after the holidays, and therefore you must be prepared for this.

It will definitely make an already challenging situation to be even worse, and this is why you need to be psychologically prepared in advance for this.

Take it as a positive and an opportunity for you to gain some new customers, since those who come to return gifts are not the same ones who bought them, so, engage with them politely and try to make some sales out of them.

You could also try to upsell to your customers, by making them exchange the products rather than returning them, but let them exchange for higher priced products so they will need to add some cash on top of what was already paid initially, and in the process, you make sales out of it.

Start thinking early about next year:

Yes. The next holiday season maybe 1 year away, but its never too early to start planning. You may wonder why as a business owner you should start this early, but, when you plan in time, you ensure to have what you need when the challenging season arrives.

Planning early means that you need to take advantage of any high-seasons, and keep some money aside for the low-seasons.

Conclusion:

Managing your business and keeping it afloat is not always easy, but many people have been able to keep their businesses running, in good and in bad times, and you can too. The simple points outlined above will go a long way in making your business continuity plan a reality, and every business should try to utilize them.