Your 90-Day Christmas Plan – Getting Your Small Business Ready for the Busiest Weeks of the Year

Christmas trading doesn’t start in December. Here’s a simple month-by-month plan to help you get organised, get found and get through the silly season without burning out.

If you run a small business in Australia, you already know the end of the year doesn’t creep up. It sprints. One minute it’s spring, the next you’re juggling late orders, rosters, school holidays and a customer asking if you’re open on Boxing Day.

The good news? Most of the stress comes from decisions left too late. Break the next three months into three simple stages and December gets a lot calmer.

October: look back and plan ahead

Start with what happened last year. Pull out your sales for October to January and look for the patterns. Which weeks were busiest? What sold out? What sat on the shelf until February?

Then make your big decisions now, while you still have time to act on them:

• Stock and supplies. Order early. Suppliers get stretched in November, and freight gets slower and pricier.
• Your trading hours. Decide when you’ll open, close and take a break. Write it down so you stop re-deciding it every week.
• Staff and rosters. Check your award for public holiday and weekend rates, and lock in who’s working when. The Fair Work Ombudsman website has pay guides if you’re unsure.
• Your offer. Will you run a Christmas special, a gift bundle, or join in on Black Friday? Pick one or two things you can do well rather than five you’ll rush.

November: make sure customers can find you

This is the month people start searching. “Gift shop near me.” “Mechanic open over Christmas.” “Catering for a work party.” If your details are out of date, those customers go to whoever shows up first.

• Update your holiday hours everywhere. Your Google Business Profile, your website, your social pages and any directories you’re listed in. Mismatched hours are one of the quickest ways to lose a customer’s trust.
• Sell gift vouchers. They’re perfect for last-minute shoppers, they bring cash in now, and they bring people back in January when things are quiet.
• Talk to your existing customers first. A short email or social post to people who already know you will usually beat any paid ad. Tell them what’s on, when you’re open, and the last day to order.
• Team up locally. Cross-promote with a business next door, bundle products with another local maker, or share a stall. Small businesses supporting each other reach more people than any of us can alone.

December: deliver, then switch off

By now the planning should be done. December is about delivering well.

• Know your delivery cut-offs. Australia Post and the couriers publish their Christmas cut-off dates. Put them on your website and in your emails so customers aren’t disappointed.
• Keep things simple. Trim your menu, product range or service list if you need to. Doing fewer things well beats doing everything badly.
• Plan January before you close. January is often quiet for many small businesses. Book in a few things now — a sale, a follow-up email to Christmas customers, a reminder to use those gift vouchers — so you open the new year with momentum.
• Actually take a break. Put an auto-reply on your email, change your voicemail, and switch off. You’ll make better decisions in 2027 if you start it rested.

Don’t do it alone

Christmas in small business can feel like a solo sprint, but it doesn’t have to be. Other owners are working through exactly the same questions right now — about rosters, stock, pricing and how to take a break without the business falling over.

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At Small Business Connect, that’s what our community is for. List your business so local customers can find you, swap ideas with other owners, and get through the busy season with people who get it. Join Small Business Connect