Before you go off for the holidays . . .

IF you are the owner or manager of a small or medium business outside the retail and hospitality industries, you’re probably looking forward to the annual break.

Here’s a checklist of important things to do before you shut down for December.

1 Let your customers know when you’ll be away – don’t assume they will know when you’ll be closed – send them an e-mail or an SMS giving the dates of your holiday shutdown.

Let them know who will be available in case of emergency.

If you are in e-commerce, make sure someone keeps the online store running smoothly.

2 Calculate bonuses. If you usually pay a 13th cheque, profit-sharing or performance bonuses, do the calculations well before your December pay run.

3 Work out leave pay and leave balances.

To get it right, you must follow the dictates of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.

Also, ensure that there are no employees who owe you leave or any who have built up a huge reserve of leave days.

4 Arrange the skeleton crew. December is a popular time for employees to take leave.

While it may suit you to have most employees take their leave during the holiday slowdown, you should also make sure you are not short-staffed.

If you do have a skeleton crew running the show, it might be a great idea to award them with a day of bonus leave or a small gift to show your appreciation.

5 Get ready for the new year. When you get back to work in January, it’s generally a rat race to first meetings, wrapping up key projects from the previous year, or catching up with admin.

Ensure that you have a dedicated person to handle admin duties while you work on important tasks.

You may also be inundated with requests for loans and advances from employees who are broke after the holidays.

Be sure to contact people and businesses who owe you money to confirm when they will pay.

6 Work from the beach. Rather than poring over a spreadsheet this holiday, you could do most of your numbers with a mouse click or screen swipe, and spend the rest of the holiday season at the pool.

7 Start the New Year with a bang – long-standing customers will appreciate a New Year mailer to get them excited for opening specials when you are back in business.

Opening sales are very popular and if you want to attract new business, this could be one of the ways.