Did you struggle to switch off over Christmas?

If you struggled to switch off over Christmas, you weren’t alone! Research by Aldermore bank showed that 23% of business owners only took two and a half-days off. Senior decision makers in SMEs took an average of five days off.

A lot of businesses closed on the 21st December, and didn’t reopen until the 2nd January, which was a total break of eleven days, so taking just two and a half days or even five days wasn’t a very long break at all.

More than half of business owners felt pressured to work during the holiday period, while 28% would like a better balance between home and work, so that they can spend more time with their families.

It is certainly true that more time off allows business owners to be more productive, but current economic uncertainty has reportedly worried 30% of business owners, with 25% worrying about cashflow and 24% worrying about competitors.

The problem is that through not taking a break when the majority of the nation was able to do so, business owners haven’t had the opportunity to recharge before what is bound to be a tough year, with Brexit and MTD hitting at around the same time.

If you didn’t feel able to take any real time off over Christmas, and would like to talk to us about cashflow worries or other concerns about how your business is performing, do get in touch. We’ve worked with lots of different businesses over many years and have seen most situations!

There is plenty of opportunity to make the changes necessary over the coming months, to ensure that you can choose how much time you take off next Christmas and New Year. Choosing to spend some of the break working on the areas you want to is a very different prospect to having to work because you’re worried about getting sales out, what your competitors are up to or anything else!

You have the chance to put yourself in control for Christmas 2019…please do get in touch if you need a sounding board or some help to do so.