GOING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS...

Already I can feel it, that sense of loads of people downing tools and stopping work for Christmas and in the world of small business things can just stop. Now if you really need to stop and it's best for you to do so, that's great.

Some people might be travelling to spend time with loved ones who they don't see very often and that's fantastic. What a wonderful way to spend your time productively.

However I see Christmas as a super busy time in my world, often even when my own clients are taking a step back. This isn't something new for me. I still consider that I'm working in the media and news doesn't stop happening just because it's the festive period. The news cycle goes round and round. Even simple things like weather could be something the media wants comments on.

When I worked on a newspaper, we worked shifts and some of us always worked over the Christmas festive days. Often this fell to those of us who were single and had no children, we were expected to step up and frankly, I never agreed with this. Anyone can have people they want to spend time with, it's not just about children.

Once I worked over a Christmas period and a work colleague invited me to Christmas lunch at her house near the office so I could enjoy a turkey dinner. In between writing up stories, I went around for dinner to find her completely pi**ed and passed out on the sofa. I quietly left and it was never mentioned again. Christmas dinner was from a vending machine!

Many people work really hard over Christmas to ensure that most of us can have a great time off. I'm not talking particularly about the media here. I'm talking about our emergency services, our retail staff and those in hospitality, many of whom might get just one day off over this period of time. If that. Yet we largely take them for granted.

For me Christmas itself is about family - it's not about any kind of religious belief or dogma. It's a time to spend time together and to give presents if we want to and to watch tv and eat good food and play some silly games. This was how I was brought up by my family and this is what Christmas feels like to me. It's warm fires, good food, Brussels with bacon, pigs in blankets (which I don't like), Christmas pud, a family film, warm and cosy, wintry dog walks, family phone calls, having a sparkling mad house for our toddler grandson to run around, giggling.

I don't enjoy working Christmas Day and even when I had no choice - and then got paid triple time - it was never worth it. I also don't see it as an excuse to down tools totally and sit around, that's not my style. I'd rather save that for periods of the time in the year when I can go on holiday with my husband and visit new people and new places. Next year, we're off to Spain and Germany and that's already in the planning. In 2026 we'll be doing a tour of America, more on that in due course.

For those of you who run a business and who are not off on a family trip or are working anyway or, like me, have a 48 hour tolerance before I'm bored and I want to do other things, here are ten things you can do for your business over the festive period:

*Reflect on what went well in 2024 and can you do more of it? If so when and how and how much? Can you start selling it now? With an early bird offer while others are sat around thinking? Can you do a 'flash sale' especially if January or February tend to be a bit quiet?

*Reflect on what you wanted to do but couldn't for various reasons (let those reasons go if possible). What can you do of that in 2025? Can you start planning that now?

*Reflect on what you tried to do and it failed - was this because it wasn't ever going to work or was the timing or price point wrong? Really think about it and if it's the former, ditch the idea and let it go. If it was the latter consider how to make it better.

*Plan content and story-telling for your business in 2025 right now. Use a planner or even ChatGPT or similar but don't rely on it to provide anything other than ideas. We can tell if it's not 'you' speaking and that's worse than not bothering at all.

*Look at your numbers. This is one thing I hate above all others but it's really important. Too many of us in business work from hand to mouth and we don't save and we don't plan when it comes to money. Doing this one thing will help your business to grow. Plan for a marketing and/or PR budget now and spend on that task for the whole of 2025. It won't bring sales in now and probably not in Q1 but it will over time.

*Think about your professional development or self improvement - what do you need to do to be better either personally or professionally. Invest in this. The benefits will help you if you are feeling stuck, stagnant to simply unmotivated. Sometimes even investing in some self care such as massage, or hypnotherapy or something like that can lift you into being more productive.

*Consider your circles - are you mingling in productive places online and in the real world? or have they or you got a bit stale? I'm not talking about the 'right' room, I'm talking about your personal decision to get 'out' more in business. Are you missing opportunities by simply not making the effort because it takes too long? With this attitude it will always take too long because you'll never reach the point where people will want to routinely buy from you? Or are you not mixing it up enough and trying new opportunities?

*Increasing your visibility - there are many people who think about doing this and the many ways they can do it and then they do nothing. There's almost so much choice that they get stuck in deciding which thing to do and end up doing nothing or doing multiple things badly or without consistency. Working with someone like me can really help with this. In 2025 I'm launching a year-long programme for anyone who wants to get PR Ready and wants to do more at £150 plus VAT per month for a year and I'll 'kick your arse' into doing things. This is not the media outreach offered to my other retained clients at a higher price point, this is mentoring you to get things done and to get ready for that stage down the line. Drop me an email if you are interested - fiona@fionascott.co.uk - remember you must be prepared to take action for this to work.

*What are you bad at doing? - really think about this one. What is taking you ages, what do you put off and what do you let mount up? what mistakes do you keep making? Now is the time to consider this and consider outsourcing and then go back to your numbers. Do you need to commit to paying a book-keeper, an admin assistant, a coach or something else? Is time now your most precious commodity and do you need to work smarter? If so, then now is the time to invest so you can move forward, smartly.

*Embrace gratitude - look at all of the wins and the good things - write down all of the good and great things that have happened. Go through each month and write them down, however small. Having an attitude of gratitude is the best thing you can do for your business and for you. Why? Because when you do this, you attract more of it. There are both spiritual and scientific reasons why this happens yet so few of us even take a moment to be grateful. We lose ourselves in the 'should have been' and the 'could have been' often because things came along that blindsided us or that could not have been predicted. Instead of wallowing in that, think of the tiny good things, the lovely glimmers which kept you going. You will be surprised how many of them there were and how many people helped you with those 'glimmers'.

Do all of these things and before you know it you have a business plan if you want to call it that. I'm more likely to call it a 'vision' yet it boils down to the same thing.

Happy Almost Christmas!