The holiday season is an extremely busy time of the year in most regards. Curiously, for contractors this is usually a slower period in terms of sales volume, but this year had an unusual phenomenon that changed everything – the pandemic.
Even contractors who deal mostly in small jobs report a higher volume in work than usual for this time of the year. So between that, your personal schedule for the holidays and plans for next year, it can get a little crazy. Is it possible to juggle all that?
Well, of course. Let’s just break it down in parts and figure out what to focus on!
Plan your time off
This is one of the most important steps to sort out first, because it will more or less dictate your schedule to work around for the rest of the year.
Taking some time off is important for your mental health and ensuring you get to spend some time with your family during the holidays – and keeping your mind off work as much as possible. Before we move on to the other topics, take a look at your calendar, workload, and overall plans to decide exactly when you’ll be taking a time off.
Holiday season jobs
When taking jobs during the holiday season, there are a few important pointers to keep in mind.
Pick your jobs. With the higher volume of action than usual but very limited time to take every job, you can afford to be a little more picky with what services you’ll take on. We’ve gone in detail about choosing your ideal clients before, but the goal here is to go for the jobs that will be the most profitable.
Use your time well. Christmas and the New Year are right around the corner already. That’s not a lot of time for the intake of jobs you should be getting. Hence the importance of picking your clients, but also using your time well. Plan your days ahead of time to prevent them from overwhelming you.
Manage expectations
This is a complicated time of the year for big projects, even more so considering you have to account for your days off. When laying out expectations for your next projects, be clear with your clients in regards to setting realistic deadlines.
In clearer terms, communicate to your clients when and how you can realistically perform and deliver your jobs. This is a busy time of the year for everyone and there’s a limit to how fast you can deliver certain jobs, especially if you depend on deliveries and workers not in-house.
Take precautions regarding COVID
We are closer than ever to having an effective vaccine for the entire country, but the time for precaution is still far from over. I know it’s tempting to just relax and enjoy the holidays like every other year, but it’s crucial to stay safe while out on the job – for the safety of everyone.
The basic pandemic guidelines still apply:
Take sanitizer with you. You can always use it for your own benefit and offer it to others who might not have one handy.
Always use a mask. Masks are still the best way to decrease chances of contagion. Always use one when out on the field and always have a few extra ones in the car or in your pockets in case you need them.
Align your plans for next year
You probably already have some idea, but I highly recommend laying those out in writing to plan 2021 – at least, to the extent of what’s possible.
From 2019 to 2020 we had no idea what was happening this year. The pandemic hit us way worse than we thought and everyone had to scramble. This time, we have a better idea of what to expect – vaccines are on the way, but we still have to be careful for the following months. It’s unlikely we’ll be in the clear during the first half of 2021, so you can plan for at least six more months of this pace.
In short, the pandemic situation will get better, but it will still take months before we’re in the clear. Hopefully by the end of 2021, this will be over.
With that in mind, you can plan your investments more wisely for the start of the new year. Consider your business woes, what you want to invest in, ways to expand – write it all down and start the new year with a plan.
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