Enjoying The Holidays Is Good For Business

With Christmas just a couple of days away, the entire Synergy Merchants team wants to extend its warmest holiday wishes to everyone! We hope you all have an amazing Christmas weekend, no matter how you choose to celebrate. Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, here’s hoping you’re able to enjoy the holiday season with the ones you love. We also hope you keep safe! Sadly, the pandemic is reaching a new state of seriousness. Let’s all work to stop the spread of COVID-19.

As a business owner, you may have a few things on your mind other than celebrating the holidays. Believe it or not, that’s not necessarily good for business. Sure, you have to be mindful of satisfying the needs and wants of your customer base. But don’t forget that your needs are important too!

Are you planning on being busy over the holidays?

It’s important to take some time to relax, rest and recharge. One of the top reasons to enjoy the holidays is to avoid FOMO or “fear of missing out”. No matter how much work you may have on your plate, the holiday season is a time to participate in family fun. Don’t miss out on it! As Marla Tabaka points out on Inc.com, the sheer guilt and disappointment of missing out on the joys of the season only add to the stress of running a business.

“You already have enough stress and, in the long run, this added stress will very possibly make you a less effective business owner,” she writes, “It may also lead to more serious issues. Tabaka goes on to reveal that many medical studies have shown there are numerous benefits to taking time off of work.

What are the benefits of taking time off of work?

“Vacations are proven to reduce stress, lessen the odds of heart disease, decrease or eliminate depressive tendencies, and increase productivity,” reports Tabaka, “The largest and longest-running study of cardiovascular disease, the Framingham Heart Study, revealed that men who didn’t take a vacation for several years were 30 percent more likely to have heart attacks compared to men who did take time off.”

The study also points out that women who took vacations only once every six years or less were almost eight times more likely to develop coronary heart disease. They were also more likely to have a heart attack compared to those who vacationed at least twice a year. Certainly, the risk of heart disease is not worth putting in extra work over the holiday season instead of enjoying time with your family.

How can you communicate your holiday plans to customers?

Be honest. Send emails. Post on social media. Let everyone know your holiday hours. They will understand. After all, they may wish to simply enjoy the holidays themselves. “Tell your customers, vendors, and employees that you are slowing down for the holidays, there’s no shame in it,” insists Tabaka, “Use tools like an email responder and temporary voicemail messages to keep everyone well informed of your absence and what steps they may take for urgent matters.”

Happy holidays everyone!