Betsy Benn is the owner and designer at Besty Benn, a successful design studio specialising in personalised prints. When her personalised bus blinds launched on notonthehighstreet.com in 2010, her Christmas season (and business) reached new heady heights. Here, she shares what she’s learned about surviving (and thriving) at Christmas.

Christmas is coming!

Well technically, like tomorrow, it’s always coming when you are in retail. Even on Christmas Day, you’ll be thinking about next year’s range (unless you’re John Lewis, in which case you’ve been talking about each Christmas 18 months in advance!).

So why am I writing about it in September?

Because now is key planning time for our logistics so you might want to start thinking about yours too.

This will be Betsy Benn’s sixth Christmas, and in that time we’ve picked up a few key facts:

Christmas happens on the same day every year, so you can plan for that (even if sometimes customers seem to forget that it’s coming)
Life is a lot less stressful if you are not phoning around suppliers, desperately trying to source the most commonly used white envelopes that everyone else also suddenly needs.
Your family will understand “petrol station gifts” once, possibly twice, but not forever. They are more important than your business, as are you, as you’ll both be around if the business isn’t one day. Look after yourselves the most in the high stress times.

So practically what does that mean?

Stock up and keep track

Well for us, it meant doing a big ol’, pretty list of the things we can’t run without. As a print business, of course that meant paper and ink primarily, but also everything we use for dispatch (tubes, bubble wrap, postage labels, etc). We stuck that pretty list on the wall, stock piled as much as we could, and checked levels every day in November and December. It almost became a religion! We print our own postage labels, and simple things like pre-printing 3000 of them meant we didn’t have to do it again in peak trading.

The big ol’, pretty list of the things we can’t run without

Then there’s the tech that we couldn’t operate without. Printers were serviced, laptops and computers had the once over from the tech clever hubby. If you don’t have a tech clever hubby, may I suggest you go and get one a bit sharpish. Hang out at Game Zone for a bit, I’m sure it’ll be easy.

Get a good team

But, most importantly, what about the people that you can’t operate without? In a small team, it can take just one person to be taken out of action (it is flu season after all) for you to be, well, screwed. And what if that person happens to be you?

Two years ago, our key admin person, who knew every process and did all the customer contact, was unexpectedly out for a week and then had a few days of random hours after that. This was late November and we were rushed off our feet. I admit I went into panic mode, I felt totally lost, and I had to go and have a bit of a stress cry in the loo for a few minutes! I soon realised, as much fun as it was sitting on a toilet seat in the dark, gently rocking, there were no tea and biccies within reach so I was going to have to leave eventually.

Everyone was waiting for me to decide what to do. I called a temp agency and they very quickly found an admin person that was free to start the next day. She was brilliant and still does a few odd hours for us to this day. Sure there was a lot she couldn’t do, but she picked up the easier tasks quickly meaning I didn’t have to do post when there were trickier things that needed my attention. It was expensive, but it was worth it for the relief, and it was only for a couple of weeks.

After that experience, we made it a priority in the business to not have all the knowledge on any particular thing in one person’s head. We can all do post and book it out, even if only one person does it day to day. We can all print, accept orders, book couriers, use every bit of kit. Things happen, people are fragile, and you need to have a contingency in place for how you cope.

If you rely on external suppliers, or outsource any part of your business, then talk to those people now too. We are currently contracting freelancers for all of November and December and understanding who else has what hours. We rely on external framers, so we have chats about their capacity and how they will cope with the increased demands and what their last working and shipping dates are.

Plan your own Christmas

Finally, plan some of the best bits of Christmas, the family bits! We have three family birthdays in December too, so that’s an added bit of pressure right there! I know already that Lego will feature quite prominently, so that’s easy to buy now and save. Stocking fillers can also be bought well in advance, and I’m guessing some of our lovely colleagues in other small creative businesses would also love to have our early orders! Just don’t forget where you hide them.

Get Christmas presents planned and bought now!

Schedule some restorative down time now, when it feels remote. A night out at a comedy gig, a family Christmas event, pay for it too if you can. You’ll be less likely to cancel it even if you are off your rocks crazy busy. You need it, you do. What are you doing all this for anyway if it’s not to have a better life for you and yours? Christmas is about love, actually, and you deserve not to miss out in the process of making it special for strangers!

Book in some food shopping deliveries now. Yes now. Waitrose are currently taking delivery bookings up to 29 November, so in the next month all the December ones will be ready. Make some delicious meals and freeze them for when life just becomes too hectic, or find some lovely “just cook” type meals that will nourish you in super quick time. Personally I overload on entertaining friends in September and October and they, lovely beings that they are, understand and reciprocate in November. And why not book a goodies delivery to the office, all the essentials, whatever yours are. It will be an amazing gift to yourselves.

However you plan for this festive season, start now. Once you start, you’ll feel more confident that you’ve got this, and that can only be a good feeling!

***

A note from Jenny: If you’re in need of support over Christmas, check out my Group Mentoring package, or get in touch to discuss one-off and one-to-one options. Let’s make this your best Christmas yet!

I’ll be honest – I’ve been working myself up to this one. Because it might not be entirely what you think.

Let’s start with what’s happening.

Lots of people, like glossy magazines, marketplaces, retailers, and PR and marketing people of all kinds are starting to plan for their Christmas content and collections and campaigns. It takes them a long time to put things together and, especially for print, it’s important to plan ahead.

Nothing new here.

But it filters back to designers and makers who suddenly get into a flap in April about not having their entire Christmas range planned and made and photographed and the rest of it.

If you’re sat at your desk right now feeling totally organised and wonderfully placed for Christmas 2015, I am so pleased! It is a huge effort to get things done, especially if this is the first year you’ve met the deadlines and timetable of all these other people. You may not need to read the rest…

Because, for the rest of you, I want you to receive this message loud and clear: it does not matter.

I say this with love and respect for the big marketing wheel, for the PR industry, for everyone who mistakenly believes that creating exceptional products is a conveyor belt process.

I say this because I have seen products created and launched in November that have sold beautifully – exceptionally.

I say this because the brave new world of the internet, of digital marketing, of reactive marketing, of the unplanned and unseen opportunities – they have all made it possible for less planning, less insanity, and less fear-based craziness.

Do you want to know what will make your business a success at Christmas? Lean in a little closer, because it’s a big deal.

Great products. Really, really wonderful unique products that people are going to love.

And if you don’t yet have them, it’s not the end of the world. I also implore you not to rush something out in a day or two weeks in order to meet someone else’s deadline. Create something magnificent (which requires an unfixed amount of time) and people will love it, buy it, want it.

So here’s the thing:

I propose a new Christmas master plan for you.

Concentrate on what you do best: making new, wonderful, delightful, want-able products. Give yourself time (lots of it) to create, to play with ideas, to percolate and see what feels good and interesting and right to you. Be inspired by whatever inspires you. Emerse yourself in the creative process. This is the best investment you can make, because it will give you the best results in the end.
Share your creations. Once they’re there, once they’re ready (FULLY ready), tell people. Send out lovely press releases. Take wonderful storytelling photos. Share them online. Send samples to people who might like to feature them, sell them, or promote them. Even if it’s too late for print, it’s not too late for everyone else.
Stop thinking short term. Worried about not having a million billion pound turnover this Christmas because you haven’t got 100 products to market yet? You’re thinking too small! Products have a lifespan. When they’re especially new and exciting, it can take a couple of years for them to build up traction and excitement, especially if they’re seasonal. Your trend-setting, thought-leading product might not sell a million billion units this year, but you’re investing in the future. Have a good Christmas this year. Create products full of integrity and interest. And see what unfolds.
Stop dancing to other people’s tune(s). Collaboration is important. Working with people who will help you get more sales is important. But please realise that you’re the boss of you and your products. You do not need to meet other people’s (sometimes unreasonable) demands in order to succeed. If you can, without too much effort or compromise, then do. If not, walk your own path.

I know that, to some of you, this may sound crazy. Maybe it sounds like I’m off my rocker, never to have a commercial thought in my head again. But, seriously, it’s not about meeting deadlines or being influenced by fear-mongering.

It’s about creating something really good.

There are buyers, seekers, your dream customers out there who look for products like yours, even that one you haven’t even made yet. They’ll find them. But allow yourself to create them first.

Guest post: Betsy Benn on Christmas preparation

Christmas is coming!

So practically what does that mean?

Here's the thing: Christmas in April

So here’s the thing:

Enter The Forge