Deciding when to shut up shop for Christmas can be tricky for small businesses and I know that personally I have been known to still be furiously working on a design or email right up until Santa is squeezing himself down the chimney!

But that all changed about 10 years ago when I made the call to have a proper festive break – taking some well-earned time off and spending it with my family and friends.

It’s something that’s really important to me and I ensure my team has a proper break too.

We will be closing Bombshell from the 21st of December to the 3rd of January, although I will be spending some time on the business behind the scenes. You devote your working week to your clients and you spend all your time in your business, but you also need to spend time on your business. I like to sit down before business picks up again in January and work out how the last year has gone and what I need to do to grow Bombshell year on year. It’s 100% about getting ahead of the game before you become swamped by clients’ work again.

Setting boundaries is so important. If you don’t, you don’t get a break. I have in the past been answering emails and calls at 5pm, 6pm on Christmas Eve but if you do that, you have the back and forth of messages and work to sort and you don’t relax. Now I make sure I completely switch off – both the laptop and mentally. I will get in touch with all of my clients and send a personal Christmas message and ensure they have everything they need before the festive break. It’s important that everybody gets a decent amount of time off.

It’s something that SMEs talk about – should we be open 24/7? And I think not. There is a lot of talk about having a four-day working week and I know a few business colleagues in the design industry are going down that road of ensuring they have a full weekend off plus a day during the week. Being available 24/7 is just not doable unless you’re a massive corporation. You need that downtime.

I’m looking forward to my first Christmas since we got married and our second in our new home. I can’t wait to spend some quality time with my family and friends.

A very merry Christmas from me and all of us at Bombshell Design and wishing you all the very best for the New Year!