Minimizing The Impact of Public Holidays On Your Business

In all the years I've lived on this earth, I had never heard of a 3 day Sallah holiday. It has traditionally been a 2 day holiday. Enter 2016. The moon refused to show up as expected. Therefore, the public holiday was extended.

While those in paid employment rejoice and dive under duvets, not everyone is jubilant. Ifeoma Malo asked a poignant question that inspired this post "With all the numerous and often unplanned holidays we have in Nigeria, please how do entrepreneurs and SMEs survive in Nigeria".

My response was " Find ways to work around public holidays (planned and unplanned). The holidays are not going away".

I gave it more thought so I asked my friends "How can a business owner minimize the impact of public holidays on his/her business?"

Dionne Obodo had this fantastic tip. "I usually include it in my 3-5 year Business projections when doing Company Business Planning. That time can be used for Team Building/Cohesion Exercises or Staff Training programs... all value added".

Someone shared how a "trade by barter" deal has helped. Person A needed to sell airtime. Person B wanted to buy the airtime but couldn't pay till after the holidays. Person C had some goods she wanted to buy from Person B and offered to pay Person A for the airtime and pay the balance to Person B once the goods are delivered. Look out for such opportunities.

I thought some more about it and came up with this I think you'll find these tips helpful as well:
1. Consider motivating your employees to work remotely, even on public holidays. This will work well, if you have set up your business in a way that employees can work remotely.
2. I'm not sure if this should have been #1. Put as much of your business as you can online (without breaching confidentiality). The benefits of making it easy for your team to collaborate online without being in the same physical location far outweighs the costs. Use technology to your advantage.
3. With respect to cash, withdraw as much cash as you can on the day before holidays begin because for reasons that elude me, ATMs run out of cash, though they are supposed to be essential services. As much as possible, carry out electronic transfers and cashless transactions. Stock up on essentials (including diesel/PMS. Just ensure you store them safely).
4. Except you're using power supply from the national grid, turn on your alternative source of power only when ABSOLUTELY necessary.
5. If you don't have a deadline to meet or customers to attend to, find other things to do during the holiday.
6. As much as possible, have a database with the contact details of your regular customers and ensure your customers have your contact details. Let them know they can reach you by phone or by email on holidays.
7. Consider planning events around holidays to appreciate your customers (and have some goods/services on display).

Please share helpful tips that can help Nigerian businesses survive inspite of our love for public holidays. As much as I love holidays, I also realize there's a need for thriving businesses. You can leave a comment here or send an email.
Enjoy your day.