ImagesMagUK_December_2020

www.images-magazine.com DECEMBER 2020 images 25 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ■ Update your website Having an online presence has never been more critical than in 2020. Set aside time to overhaul your website, content and artwork now, ready for a new year or seasonal update. ■ Update your product listings One of the more labour- intensive tasks for a garment decorator is updating product listings. Use this time to remove any discontinued end-of-line items and add in some new styles, ready to promote in 2020. The Christmas and new year period is a tricky one for small business owners to navigate, but with the year just gone, every sale helps. Make the most of any downtime by preparing for the year ahead – it’ll give your business every chance possible to have a successful 2021. I t may have been a year like no other, but Christmas and the new year are approaching fast as usual. The festive period and January can be a daunting time for small businesses, especially for those with more of a B2B focus, with many planning to accept there will be a quiet period. For some, the rest might well be needed after this year – but you do not have to accept seasonality. Careful planning will ensure your garment decoration business ticks over right up until Christmas Day and beyond. ■ Seasonal shops and products It may not be your core focus most of the year, but personalised ‘one-offs’ for customers make great gifts. Look into the potential items – both garments and products such as teddies, bags and mugs – you can offer in store or online. ■ Seasonal discounts Hold flash sales online on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. Provide discount codes and special offers specifically for these days. ■ Focus on social The core target market for most garment decorators consists of business owners. More often than not, those running companies of any size rarely manage to completely switch off. With social media at their fingertips keeping them informed at all hours, it’s an ideal way of communicating with them. Create scheduled content for your platforms and monitor the response. Getting ready for Christmas 2020 and beyond Andrew Langridge is from ETrader, one of the industry’s leading suppliers of websites to garment decorators across the UK. www.etraderwebsites.co.uk H arbouring regrets is unhealthy – I get that. But if I were allowed to harbour one regret, it would be that I didn’t routinely schedule whole days off from my business for recreation. That’s where the fishing friend (or cycling friend or hiking friend or music gig friend – you get the picture) comes in: a character who embodies a commitment to time off from your small business. I now know that one day a week from my business would have alleviated a lot of accumulated stress. Working excessively can become a bad habit, even to the degree that you feel guilty if you’re not at the office or staring at a spreadsheet on your computer. And I can’t claim that those days when I worked when I should have been spending time with my fishing friend (or family or Jack Russell terriers) were productive. In fact, my presence on those days didn’t do me or my business any good. It wasn’t that I never took a day off with my fishing friend; it’s just that I wasn’t committed to the day, and consequently it happened far too infrequently. You might not think you need a fishing friend, but think again. Couldn’t you benefit from more time away from your business? Wouldn’t a fixed date with a friend be a relief to look forward to, especially on those days when you wonder what on earth made you think that running a small business would be fun? And even if you’re fortunate enough to run a business that’s more fun than one person can handle, don’t you think a break now and then to do something completely different would Fishing friend: why every business owner needs one be rejuvenating and lead to a more balanced life? Find that fishing friend or preferred equivalent and spend a day a week (or at least a day every couple of weeks) with them as far away from your small business as possible. For that day, occupy your mind with something recreational, anything recreational – anything other than business. Do it for yourself, do it for your employees, do it for your family. Do it for everyone who will benefit from being around a less stressed, less uptight you. Michael Best is a print industry veteran, accountant and author of Characters Who Can Make Or Break Your Small Business . Through 39 characters, Michael covers all aspects most small business owners can expect to encounter in the life of a business from inception to disposition. It is available from Amazon and www.smallbusinesscharacters.com .