The Christmas decorations have been boxed up and put away, everyone’s ditching the booze, the fitness DVDs are out and the masses of shoppers are nowhere to be found. As a small business owner these few weeks are seen as the worst time of the year, however there are some steps that may be taken to ensure less of a decline in sales.

Are you ready to start the 2017 ball rolling? Is so, here are a few ideas to combat possible plunge in sales.

1. Have a positive attitude

It is true that sales are known to generally hit a slump for almost all retailers in January. And because of this, a decline in sales becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Don’t allow this to happen, take a stance against it and go forth with a positive attitude.

Your attitude will do wonders in setting you apart from other business owners. Look into any offers, deals or discount you could use to your advantage in promoting your products or brand to your current customers or even some new ones!

2. Emphasise the importance of you

Your customers have been prioritising their loved ones over the holidays. This all stops in January and people start to focus more on themselves, and why wouldn’t they? Focus on the customers themselves, remind them to use their Gift cards or let them be the first to see new products or promotions.

If your products/services fit into a category of self-motivation, improvement and fitness put these in front of the customers. Let them know you are behind them in their resolutions.

3. Know who you’re targeting

A common thread across small businesses is not having focussed marketing strategy. The impact of this marketing can be weakened if it is aimed at the wrong target audience. Why do customers choose you and your business? You need to show them what they want to see, meet their needs and be strategic as to where and how you place these advertisements.

If you are unclear about who your target audience are, take a step back to rethink and re-evaluate. Start with the simple areas like demographics and then delve deeper. Think of new ways to get the information, where people will be willing and most importantly honest.

4. Get Social

Twitter and Facebook are always a good place to start, but think about your clientele and where they ‘Hang out’. Your social opportunities could be endless if Instagram, Pinterest or LinkedIn however, social media can be a waste of time if you are targeting people in the wrong place.

Capitalise on social media by being unique and creative. Share photos and videos of your team, products and offerings. Share content relevant to your followers. Use SM to respond to customer queries and host competitions and giveaways to increase awareness, the world is your oyster with social media.

5. Define the data

None of this work will have any relevance if the results of your hard work aren’t being measured. Return on investment needs to be monitored as if nothing comes back from all your efforts you need to consider what next action to take or where it all went wrong.

January however should be the ideal time to get this up and running, a fresh start so to speak. All of this made even better by the fact that your competition may be still picking up the pieces after the December rush.