I remember taking a tired deep breath as I wearily locked the doors to the spa on the evening of December 24th. 

We'd just finished the busiest month of the year and I was a happy camper with a big fat bank account from the surge of service, retail and gift certificate sales that happened every December.

But, I almost couldn't enjoy this boom of business OR the holiday family gatherings that were scheduled for the upcoming week. To be honest, I would have preferred to go home and hibernate until New Years Day. 

I was completely worn out from not only running a busier-than-usual spa but was also exhausted from the fires that kept popping up (big ones: like a team member gets sick and has a fully booked week or a retail order I forgot to make + little ones: like staff going over on time or the reception desk being an insane flurry of gift certificate sales).

It felt a lot like some twisted holiday Whack-A-Mole for the entrepreneur. 

The truth was...at the time, I wasn't quite prepared for the double whammy of increased traffic and a loosey-goosey plan for what the spa and I needed to allow December to run efficiently. 

One thing's for sure, in order to make the last month of the year smooth sailing you need to think preemptively rather than allow things to happen passively and get out of control later.

Today I have 3 tips for you to have a smooth (and still busy) holiday season.