Get Ready for the Holidays: End-of-Year Planning for Your Business

Nov 7

We all know how hectic the holiday season can feel, but it doesn’t have to be pure chaos!

At Elevate, we help our clients execute strategic end-of-year planning that not only sets them up for an effective start to the new calendar year but also helps them enjoy the holiday season and all it brings with it!

Today, we’re sharing all our best tips for choosing client gifts, planning for the influx of holiday-related events, managing holiday travel plans like a pro, and setting your business up for success in 2025.

End of Year Gifts

Giving end-of-year gifts is a great way to show your clients, vendors, and partners that you appreciate them.

It can be hard to choose the right gift or figure out how much to spend, so our experienced Executive Assistants shared their professional advice:

Always send a personalized gift when possible. People are more likely to use something that fits their needs and feels like it was meant for them! Easy ways to personalize are with monograms, brand colors, and engravings.

Create tiered options for gifts. You can assign clients to a tier based on the impact they have on your business, the level of communication you maintain with them, how long they've been a client or any other criteria that are important to you. Having different tiers allows you to adjust your budget and give more personalized gifts where appropriate.

Think outside the box. You don’t have to send holiday-themed gifts. To make things more interesting, choose a gift inspired by the location of your business or personal interest. We worked with a client whose business was headquartered in Japan, so we sent Japanese whiskey and monogrammed decanters, and everyone loved them!

Think about taxes. You can deduct up to $25 for a gift per person per year. If you have the gift personalized and/or shipped, you can also deduct those costs. For example, if you bought a planner that was $25 and paid $15 to have it monogrammed for your client and $10 to ship it – you can actually deduct $50. ($25 for the gift and $25 for “incidentals.”) We're not CPAs, so always work with your accountant to double-check what's true for your business, state, and gifts.

Include travel in your end-of-year planning

We know almost everyone ends up doing a little extra travel during the holidays, whether you’re visiting out-of-town family or making extra shopping or holiday event stops.

Traffic can be worse, airports can be crowded, and kids can get tired of the car, so here’s how you can take the stress out of your holiday plan:

Give yourself plenty of time.
If you're flying any time between now and the new year, go ahead and assume lines will be longer, and moving through security will take you longer than usual. We suggest adding between 30 and 60 minutes to your normal airport arrival time to make sure you're not doing the Home Alone dash through the terminal to make your flight!

Plan for travel time on your calendar. Don't just block out the time an event starts or ends – make sure you include enough time to travel to and from your event in your calendar block as well.

Keep the kids entertained. If you have kids who will be in the car more than usual or for longer than they're used to, make sure they have plenty of activities and games to keep them interested. We love downloading a kid-friendly audiobook or even a kid-focused podcast for them to listen to during the drive.

Say no when necessary. Set boundaries now to avoid a stressful holiday experience. You don't have to say yes to every invitation you receive. Make time before everything gets hectic to sit down with your partner and/or family to discuss what you want this holiday season to look and feel like. If rushing around to 3 different houses on Christmas Day stresses everyone out… make a plan to avoid that this year.

Do’s and don’ts for end-of-year planning for your business

A new calendar year is often a time for businesses to reflect, reset, and recharge.

Taking some time to plan now before the last weeks of the calendar year will help you enjoy your time off more and avoid unnecessary stress. Things tend to fall through the cracks when we rush, so a planned, measured approach to the end of the year also ensures you don't miss anything important.

These are some things you don’t want to do when planning for the end of the year:

DO NOT:

Try to do too much at once
Overhaul your entire business in the last two weeks of the year
Leave your books untouched to deal with “next year”
Start the new year without a clear plan and direction

Since you’re not going to do those things, what should you do?

ELEVATE SAYS TO:

Space out tasks and delegate as many responsibilities as possible
Focus on a few key systems or processes that need to be improved, added, or changed
Make sure your books are cleaned up and ready to make this your easiest tax season ever
Invest in a Strategic Mapping Session with us to put together a direction and strategy for reaching your biggest goals in 2025

Don’t get overwhelmed by holiday events

Find yourself getting overwhelmed by holiday events and parties? You’re not alone.

Between now and the new year, there are likely to be a number of personal and work invitations and expected attendance at different events.

The holiday festivities don’t have to be chaotic and hectic! With a bit of planning and foresight, you can make time to enjoy everything… and maybe even find some time to relax.

Start by doing a sweep of your work calendar to make sure any personal events are blocked off. Get all of your kids' school calendars, your partner's work calendar, and any key dates from your family in one place so you can make sure everything is on the calendar ahead of time.

Make sure to plan for travel time! If your 3rd grader has a dance recital at 5 pm, make sure you block your work calendar before 5 pm to give you enough time to wrap up your day and leave with plenty of time to get there. Remember that holiday traffic can often be worse than usual!

Ask your team to share their holiday schedules and any PTO requests ahead of time so you can plan to balance the workload and make sure everything important is covered.

Schedule extra blank space into your calendar around the end of November and throughout December. You never know when a vendor, client, or coworker will invite you to a holiday lunch, happy hour, or gathering, and having room to move things around will make it easier to say yes and enjoy the festivities.

Convert any in-person meetings to phone calls, emails, or asynchronous video catch-ups. Giving people time back in their day is truly a gift at this time of year!