Your financial wellness playbook for the holidays

1Budget for the holidays

Create a holiday budget by analyzing your past finances. The longer you've been in business, the more data you'll have at your disposal. If you're still new on the scene, you can research typical revenues and expenses in your industry.

To determine your budget, you should calculate:

• Revenue. Combine your income sources to see how much money you earned in a specific period, such as the last two to three holiday seasons. Identify any noticeable changes in revenue over time.
• Expenses. Add up your fixed expenses (rent, payroll), variable expenses (supplies, utility bills), and unexpected expenses (emergency repairs) to see how much you usually spend during the holidays.
• Profit and loss. Subtract your expenses from your revenue to see if you made a profit or had a loss.

With this data, you can build a budget for the coming holiday season. For example, you may minimize expenses where possible and create new strategies to maximize revenue so you can turn a profit. You may also set up an emergency fund to cover any unexpected costs.

2Borrow to invest

Secure cash flow by borrowing money responsibly and investing it into your business. You may consider opening a small business loan to cover seasonal costs like employee overtime, high utility bills, or increased shipping costs.

Be sure to estimate how much money you'll need and when you'll be able to repay your loan. Since you're investing the funds in your business, you'll ideally earn revenue from that cash and use it to help pay back your loan.

3Offer digital payments

If you're experiencing the dreaded cash flow crunch, you don't have to raise your prices just yet. After all, you run the risk of frustrating customers and driving them away.

Instead, you can expand your digital payment options to make the checkout process smoother — and increase sales.

Specifically, you can:

• Offer "buy now, pay later" options. You'll get paid upfront, but customers will have more flexibility in terms of when they pay.
• Cut down the steps to checkout. Shorten those form fields and make sure pages are easy to navigate

1Diversify your channels

There's no need to put all your eggs in one basket. Try selling across multiple channels to attract more customers, reach international audiences, and reengage anyone who has already interacted with your brand.

You can sell on digital channels like:

• Your own website or e-commerce marketplace
• Third-party marketplaces
• Social media channels with "buy" buttons
• Mobile apps

2Optimize your website and streamline your shipping before the holiday rush

Getting the right people to your website or store is the tough part. Finishing the sale should be easy. That's why it's important to optimize operations ahead of time — so that when people are ready to buy, they can do so with ease. Use these three strategies to keep your business running smoothly:

3Track business performance and sales with useful metrics

Once the holidays are over and the decorations are tucked back into their boxes, you can use key metrics to see how well your season went — and plan for the next.

Here's how.

1Improve the customer experience

Consult our technology checklist to test and update your infrastructure before the holiday rush:

• Your website. Make sure it loads quickly, is easy to navigate, and is mobile-friendly.
• Your checkout process. Ensure instructions and CTAs are clear, and data entry is kept to a minimum.
• Your point-of-sale (POS) system. Adopt or update your POS system to make in-store purchases swifter and easier.
• Your self-service options. Increase sales and employee productivity by letting customers buy online and pickup in-store or curbside.
• Your integrations. Sync your POS system with your e-commerce platform to keep data updated across your business.

2Expedite shipping

Streamline shipping and fulfillment with our holiday shipping 101 guide:

• Remember important shipping dates. Check each carrier's schedule to see when your packages will be shipped and make sure they'll arrive to your customers in time for the holidays.
• Set customer expectations. Let customers know about shipping costs, arrival timeframes, and return policies before they buy.
• Practice your fulfillment process. Time and test the steps between receiving an order and getting the item out the door. Find ways to expedite these processes and streamline shipping.

3Motivate your team and hire help

Keep your team prepped, motivated, and ready to land those holiday deals with our holiday workplace checklist:

• Figure out what you need. From part-timers and over-timers to contractors, map out the resources you'll need to keep business running smoothly without overworking your staff.
• Post job listings to fill gaps. Be specific and transparent about job responsibilities and requirements. And use sites like Monster, Indeed, and UpWork to find the right talent.
• Make time for training. Prepare employees to handle increased customer traffic and busy schedules.
• Consider incentives. Keep teams motivated with incentives, commissions, and rewards based on sales fulfillment goals.

1Analyze data from this holiday season

You can learn a lot about your business by reviewing the data available on your sales channels. Start by exploring your e-commerce platform and pulling your metrics from this season.

During this process, you might ask:

• What were your biggest expenses?
• Did any unexpected costs pop up?
• Where did most of your traffic and sales come from?
• What were the most common payment methods?
• Where do you stand with your inventory? Are you running low? Or did you over-order?

These answers will help you better understand your business needs and prepare for the next busy season.

2Evaluate performance and sales

See how your sales and marketing performance stacked up against your goals by asking:

• Did you meet your sales goal or fall short? Regardless of your answer, are you able to pinpoint why?
• Did your top marketing channels deliver? Were you able to engage customers and drive them along the path to purchase?
• Were there any unexpected surprises in performance, such as major highs or major lows? What prompted them? How did you respond?
• You can then build a retrospective report to share with investors, stakeholders, and employees — or just to keep for your own knowledge.

3Identify opportunities for next year

With this data at your fingertips, you can clearly see which strategies worked and which didn't. Now you can plan to optimize your approach for next year.

If you exceeded your budget, for example, identify a few areas to cut excess spending. If a newly engaged audience segment emerged, find ways to proactively engage them next time. If inventory ran short during a busy weekend, make a note to order more supplies in advance.

Case in point: It all comes down to data. If you can access the right analytics from your e-commerce platforms, you'll be well equipped to optimize for what's ahead.