Every year the festive season tends to creep up quicker than expected - before you know it people are planning Christmas jumper days, organising office parties and scheduling holidays.

This may be particularly true for time-pressured small business owners, who face additional pressure over the festive season, to capitalise on the extra footfall, whilst juggling staff holidays and planning for the year ahead.

With this in mind, it is saddening, but perhaps not surprising, to learn in a recent survey that almost a quarter (23%) of Britain’s SMEs say that they do not enjoy the Christmas period at all.

Most SME owners would jump at the chance of bringing in new customers and increasing trading.  However, our research reveals that 36% of SMEs find the Christmas period “too busy.”

With some forward planning, and strategies in place to take advantage of technology to allow for remote management, SME owners can make the most of Christmas.

Preparation is key

It is alarming to find that 52% of independent retailers make no special business plans to cover the Christmas period. Whatever sector your business is in, be it hospitality, retail, construction, IT, education, health or any other, the run up to Christmas can be hectic.

But it doesn’t need to be. Having solid plans in place can mean the difference between a successful festive season and a manic Christmassy mess.

Lets say your business is in the retail or hospitality sector and you have the ability to dive into data and view your trading history.  You can view which products sold particularly well or what service was in high demand in which period. This can be particularly useful for devising offers and schemes to promote products which are being missed or periods which are quiet.

Christmas sales are a good time to assess what sells well

In addition, if you have access to live stock levels and you can view which products you are likely to run low on, you can make sure to place orders with suppliers ahead of time to avoid having to tell customers you have run out. There is arguably nothing worse than having to say “I’m afraid we have sold out” to a potential customer who is ready to part with their hard earned cash.

However, it’s not just the hospitality and retail sectors that find the Christmas season particularly strenuous. If you are in an organisation providing a service rather than selling a product, you can dive into your data to find what made the Christmas period such a manic one.

You can then use these insights to plan in advance, possibly think about hiring temporary staff or implement different strategies to relieve the pressure of the next busy season.

Find that work/life balance

Balancing your work and personal life is essential in being able to enjoy the Christmas season.

Whether you are planning to go out for drinks with friends after work, decorate the tree with the family or snuggle up on the couch to watch a Christmas film, having some ‘me time’ is important so you can feel refreshed from the busy work schedule, and ready to go again for a productive 2016.

Some 18% of those who say they don’t enjoy Christmas is because they “struggle to prioritise their business over their family”.

By implementing cloud-based technologies that allow for remote working, balancing your work/personal life can become easier.  By investing in an integrated ePos (electronic point of sale) you can see the goings on in your business from the comfort of your sofa.

Cloud software helps you work from home when you have to

You can wave goodbye to working long nights at the office or spending time counting stock on the shop floor – tasks like this can be done from home.

For example, if you are looking to increase footfall into your store and hoping to drive revenue by offering deals and promotions you can easily dive into your data through your ePos and add on an offer from home.

Avoid being a Scrooge

Managing staff holiday requests can be a tricky task for businesses at any time of the year. However at Christmas, with many people hoping to spend it with their friends and family, SME owners are often faced with high demands from their staff to have time off.

Our survey revealed that over a fifth (21%) of SME owners report that they struggle with managing the increase in holiday requests from staff. But by, again the magic word, preparing in advance they don’t need to feel like Scrooge when giving out holiday allowance.

Business management apps can help you keep holidays records all in one place – a much slicker and more efficient solution than relying on a calendar hanging up in the staff room or endless paper request slips lying around.

A business management solution such as a smart ePos not only allows you to fulfil the primary function of payment acceptance, but can also allow you track employee hours and transactions. Why not incentivise staff by implementing a rule that the best performing staff get first pick of holiday dates?

The Christmas season should be a great time for SMEs to benefit from extra business. And preparation is vital in order to combat the stress the season can sometimes bring.

It is important for businesses to embrace new technologies which can offer a wealth of data about the business’ customers and staff, as well as freeing up time for some much needed light relief through remote management capabilities.

A Point of Sale is not just a “till” – business owners can and should be demanding more from this technology that takes centre stage within their store, to help them take advantage of the great potential the festive season can bring for business. And it should go without saying, an ePos is not just for Christmas…