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While high-demand seasons excite small business owners, they often create additional stress that forestalls them from providing the best customer support possible. Whatever your situation, here are five ways to keep your small business and yourself afloat in the face of chaos and keep your customers completely happy.
1. Plan ahead
Poor planning normally leads to unsatisfactory results and customer dissatisfaction. Whether you are a seasoned skilled or recent to the high-demand landscape, it’s essential to rigorously consider your next steps.
Use all available resources to manage inventory and ordering needs, set schedules, consider a recent promotion or marketing campaign, and invest in customer support by reviewing protocols with your employees. If a plan is not possible due to constraints, make a list of what you may achieve with what you have. At the end of the season, use hurdles as a learning opportunity while planning for the future.
2. Maintain a positive attitude
In addition to the plan, keep employees engaged and positive by remaining calm when unexpected events arise (which they’ll!). A positive attitude in the face of adversity may be the difference between a minor setback and a complete disaster. Some additions to your vibrant routine may include:
- Celebrate small wins for you and your employees, reminiscent of verbal recognition during a team meeting or a small gift.
- Transforming negative thoughts into opportunities for improvement or additional steps to success.
- Encouraging collaboration to solve complex problems.
- Customize your workspace with items that bring you joy and peace (e.g. motivational quotes, photos of family members, souvenirs).
When practicing optimism, do not forget that rejecting negative emotions is more harmful than helpful. Continue to validate your personal and your team’s authentic emotions and experiences. Ups and downs are a part of the human experience.
3. Delegate often
A culture of success is a collective effort that rests on everyone’s shoulders. As a leader or business owner, you might find it especially difficult to share work when tasks have to be accomplished in a specific way. However, a healthy workplace should focus on teamwork.
By delegating, you leverage your employees’ strengths and provide enough space for them to focus on more essential needs. Start by establishing a system that permits your team to take pride in their success. Then motivate them to actively pursue that success. Finally, practice personal and team accountability to ensure lasting results.
Also consider outsourcing tasks beyond your immediate team to the community, reminiscent of other small businesses. For example, in your area, a UPS Store is a convenient, one-stop shop for those items missing from your to-do list – from printing marketing materials to wrapping and shipping thank-you gifts for select customers or returning online purchases.
4. Balance rest and productivity
If you are a business owner, doing the right thing for your small business requires doing it yourself. As UPS Store President Sarah Casalan would say, “If you don’t listen to your body, it will eventually speak for you.” By recognizing that being productive requires setting aside time for rest, you’ll experience greater amounts of lasting success than if you prioritized results alone. Some other useful suggestions on how to start combining your free time with your responsibilities:
- Take short breaks to reset and recharge your batteries.
- Focus on one or two large projects at a time, or several small ones.
- Delegate less essential tasks to your team members.
- Set clear, firm limits on when you propose to finish work (e.g. I have to be home by 7 p.m. and is not going to respond to texts or calls until tomorrow). Continue by setting a physical boundary, reminiscent of turning off notifications or devices.
- Schedule time to be with family and friends during off-peak times.
5. Express gratitude
When stability is restored, and even during busy times, make certain to say thanks. A study conducted by scientists from the University of Miami found that gratitude is strongly associated with people feeling happier, healthier, and more grateful. It may even improve relationships and make stressful times easier to manage and overcome.
Not sure where to start when the busy season comes to an end? Write letters to co-workers expressing your appreciation, call your former boss and share how he modified your life, or take a moment to think about what you are grateful for in the last yr. To take it a step further, make gratitude a regular a part of your personal and skilled life. Keep a gratitude journal or spend one day a month sharing your thanks and observing what these recent traditions will bring to you and those around you a yr later.
The hustle and bustle of peak business seasons can come with a mixture of emotions and priorities. To achieve lasting success for yourself, your small business and the people you serve, plan early, rely on co-workers, family and friends and, when possible, prioritize self-care. When the final checkbox is marked complete, say hello and thank those that helped you get there.