How to Prepare a Business for the Winter

The weather has been turning quickly, as temperatures across the United States are plummeting. For businesses of all types and sizes, wintertime brings about a lot of changes to store policies, hours, maintenance and inventory. It’s good to begin prepping your winter business practices now so you’re fully prepared for all that winter brings — good and bad.

1. Prepare Your Online Store

An estimate of around 190 million people, half of the United States’ population, shops online. This number rises in the winter, particularly around the holidays, as people are less inclined to face the storms to conduct their shopping. It’s a much quicker process, as you are able to see a variety of more available products and can do it in the comfort of wherever you are. That’s the consumer thought process and you have to be familiar with and listen to your audience in order to make sales and connections. If you want to make the most of wintertime sales, it’s highly encouraged to prepare your online store and marketing strategy so you can garner as many online customers as possible.

2. Choose Your Seasonal Product Lines

As you prepare for winter, you also need to begin bracing yourself for the holidays. During the holiday season, you’ll likely be updating your inventory to offer more seasonal gifts that cater to Thanksgiving and Christmas shoppers. Begin scouting out the latest seasonal trends so you can choose an inventory based around the hottest-selling items.

3. Prepare Your Parking Lot

This is one of the most important cold weather safety tips for merchants with brick and mortar locations. The parking lot of a business must always be maintained, especially during the snowy months of winter. Potholes and cracks in the asphalt can be dangerous at any time of year, but when the temperature drops, the roads can turn icy which makes for a bad combination, especially if it snows. Scan your parking lot for any holes or cracks and have them paved over before the first snow.

4. Stock up on Needed Office Supplies

This is essential knowhow to prepare for winter. Come wintertime, businesses are much more likely to face late shipments than in the summertime, due to poor road conditions that limit travel abilities for truckers. As such, it’s better to be overstocked on necessary supplies than understocked on items, to prepare in case a shipment arrives late. Take stock of all supplies that are used daily, particularly office supplies, and be sure to purchase more than enough in advance.

5. Have a Disaster Recovery Plan Ready

Disaster recovery plans are even more vital in winter since there is a greater chance of the building falling victim to structural or technological damages. Have a plan in place that details what to do should your business lose power or be impacted by structural damage due to an intense storm. It’s wise to also have all the essential software and technology backed up to the cloud so your business can continue to operate, even in the middle of a power outage.

Understandably, businesses are more susceptible to issues and obstacles in the wintertime compared to the summertime. The business you operate will have higher utility costs, you’ll have more maintenance tasks ahead of you, and you might even see the number of clients decrease. Don’t worry, though, you can brace your company for the worst possible circumstances by making the necessary precautions. You’ll then be able to create more wintertime sales while avoiding the potential disasters that cost businesses money. Start stocking up on the supplies your company needs, so you always have enough on hand. Visit DollarDays today and start browsing.

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