Business leaders hoping Santa brings cost-of-business relief might be disappointed come the new year. Vantage Performance Executive Director Kevin Higgins warns that another tough year for business may be on the cards. We look at 12 actions for success in 2025.

“As inflationary pressures persist for businesses and tax arrears remain at an all-time high, businesses will continue to face challenging conditions in 2025,” Mr Higgins said.

“We’re heading into the toughest time of year for businesses as the Christmas period interrupts cashflow with holiday leave and lower production.

“Compounding this, by late January, just as business ramps up again, SMEs are faced with stumping up their monthly BAS payment to the ATO with the December quarter BAS due February 28.

“It’s critical businesses use the run into the holiday period to assess what proactive measures they can take now to ensure they don’t just survive the holiday season, but thrive in ‘25.”

Mr Higgins recommends businesses undertake these critical twelve actions to set themselves up for success in 2025.

1. Confirm your debtors before customers switch off – paying the bills is the last thing on everyone’s mind heading into the holiday season, so make sure you’re chasing up payment before the break.
2. Check your balance sheet – do you have the funds to see you through a potentially unproductive period where you’ll be paying employees leave entitlements? If not, you’ll need to get any new or increased funding requests to the banks before mid-December to ensure you get through the silly season.
3. Map out your cashflow – the proof is in the (Christmas) pudding when it comes to the benefits of planning. It takes some effort but putting a 26-week cashflow in place now will highlight any holiday season working capital holes and give you the chance to fill them now.
4. Bite the bullet on cash concerns – if you see cash worries on the horizon of February’s BAS deadline or Superannuation payment due to January 28, pick up the phone now to the tax office. If you’re in arrears, talk to them ahead of the Christmas break rather than leaving tax debt looming for the new year.
5. Negotiate payment plans – if you’re at a flashpoint with your cashflow, communicate with creditors and negotiate payment plans or extended payment terms for key suppliers.
6. Consider invoice finance – this style of funding particularly suits transportation, labour hire/recruitment and manufacturing businesses. Invoice finance will bring forward customer receipts, providing you with additional funding through the holiday season.
7. Don’t pay for excess inventory – with this year shaping up to be a poor Christmas for retail, start actively running down your stock and clearing excess inventory.
8. Silly season shopping – despite the poor forecast, retail will be front of mind for many heading into the holidays. A Christmas sale to deeply discount obsolete stock can be a good option to get slow-moving stock off your books.
9. Review your customers and products – with many businesses looking ahead to the new year, the December period can be a good time to review the gross profit of your customers and products. As customer lists and product lines become bloated over many years, ranking each customer or item by revenue and profitability can be a good way to determine where to direct your focus for 2025. This is also the time to consider a price increase if you haven’t done one in a while.
10. Communication is key – before you pop that “out of office” on and switch off for the holidays, make sure you’re across your supply chain’s shut down dates and let your customers know if you’re operating on a skeleton staff so that expectations match your service ability.
11. Lock in your 2025 planning – before employees head off on leave for the Christmas period, lock in dates for an off-site strategic planning session in 2025. Make sure it’s after Australia Day, once people are back from leave and have their heads back in the business game – late January to the first week of February is ideal. Taking the time to create a one-page strategic plan and roadmap that has buy-in from the entire team will give you the best chance of success in 2025.
12. Don’t forget to celebrate the season – while there’s plenty for business leaders to be thinking about heading into Christmas including cashflow management and business planning, it’s important to remember to take time to celebrate the year that’s been. Be sure to thank your staff with a festive event, reward or activity to boost morale into the new year.