We’re just a week away from Halloween. The one day where it’s socially acceptable for kids to go knocking on doors asking for free candy. I’m not cynical about Halloween actually, it’s fun to see the kids excited about the night and see how much sugar they can accumulate in one night. I always enjoyed. I don’t agree with all the humbugs out there that it’s begging or a general nuisance brought over from America. We’ll be making an effort with the pumpkins and decorations!

But Halloween is also the start of the build up to the Christmas period. Those last six or seven weeks where we’re all rushed about like idiots trying to fit in the those last few customers who left it too late to order their new windows and doors. Yes, it’s the beloved Christmas rush period!

Always left until the last minute

It always baffles me why people leave things like new windows and doors until the very end of the year. For some, it will be a case where they might not be able to afford to buy them right at the point of when they want them, so they have to save up before they do. But for others, they can afford it, yet decide that they want them done before Christmas.

As businesses, we always try to accommodate everyone don’t we? We’ll find a way to fit them in before we say no to them. But we can’t always do that. Indeed I am seeing companies online saying that they are now scheduling in jobs for January 2015. Whilst that is impressive, that’s about a 10-12 week lead time depending on the time of month. I do wonder if that sort of lead time is too much? Would it not be worth getting another fitting team in to shave that down a couple of weeks?

Logistical headaches

A rush at the end of the year can leave installers with logistical problems to get around. Firstly, delivery times have to be considered. Suppliers will quite often shut down a few days before installers do, so they have to make sure all materials required for the last few days of fitting are in before their manufacturers shut down.

Then there are fitting in the customers in the right order, depending on the size of job. Juggling a couple of house fulls of windows and doors, in with a roofline job and half a dozen doors can be quite a task in the last ten working days or so. Add to that Christmas parties, hangovers, days off and lets face it, a lacking in effort, the last few weeks of the year can end up being quite stressful.

It’s not all bad though!

For me, the last few weeks can also be a fun time. We always try and make a bit of an effort to make the last few weeks in the office a bit more festive. We all muck in when it comes to putting the trees up in the office, showroom and outdoor conservatories. Christmas CDs are on in the background and there is always plenty of food a drink to go round when we’ve not got that much to do!

I guess the point here is that although the end of year period can be a headache sometimes, and customers don’t always make life easy, remember to enjoy this time of year. It’s a period to reflect on the hard work carried out by you and your staff. A time to see how much progress you have made as a business and sit back and reflect on what you have achieved in the past 12 months.

I don’t buy all this humbug stuff from some people!