Oh no! Are you facing a post-Christmas lull?

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Although the start of a new year brings fresh promises and resolutions, many businesses face a sluggish January and need to develop strategies to deal with this.

The few weeks leading up to Christmas often bring a rush of sales with them, but for retailers and the hospitality industry in particular, January can be their slowest month. The Christmas period is when people spend lots of money on shopping, eating, entertainment and drinking. Afterwards, many bank balances are low or people are faced with a large credit card bill. This makes January a time when people spend usually less in order to recover from their Christmas spending spree.

Discounts and special offers

The challenge for businesses is to achieve a level of sales in the New Year that does not wipe out the extra earned over Christmas. This can be done through special offers. Restaurants and bars often offer discounts at the beginning of the year to entice customers to visit their business. Retail shops traditionally have Boxing Day and January sales to boost after Christmas trade, although there have been suggestions that online, these sometimes start before December 25th itself.

Resolutions

The New Year is also a time when people want to change their life. Any product connected to self-help, fitness or dieting tend to sell well in the aftermath of Christmas.

This could also be a time to introduce new products and services that appeal to people who feel that they want a new start in the New Year, such as anything to do with career or lifestyle changes.

Promotion does not have to be expensive

Companies don’t necessarily have to spend a lot on marketing their special offers or new products. Social media can be used to connect to customers.

It’s important to obtain existing customers email addresses. This can be done through offering loyalty discounts that provide reductions for repeat sales. During quiet periods, an emailed special offer announcement can be made. Like with social media, emailing customers is inexpensive.

Strategic planning

A quiet period can also be a useful time to step back from the day-to-day running of your business, and concentrate on strategic planning for the coming year. It could be the time to catch up on bookkeeping and other administration tasks. Perhaps your business premises could do with a facelift, so isn’t this the ideal time to redecorate and refurbish?

Seek advice

If your business is experiencing a post-Christmas lull, why not talk to an accounting service? At Sollertia, we’re on hand with advice on how to cope with a decreased cash flow after Christmas.