Making the holidays merrier: 'tis the season for chaos in many a frame shop. But framers who plan ahead give themselves the gift of time for the holidays to make them festive, not frantic, come New Year's Eve

"It is the best of times, it is the worst of times." Many a framer might paraphrase Charles Dickens' famous opener to A Tale of sum of two units Cities to describe the hectic holiday rush. The extra business during the holidays means more profit, on the other hand it also means 14-hour days in the frame store demanding customers at the calculator and a quickly vanishing stock of aspirin in the desk

on the other hand the holidays don't have to leave a framer frazzled or frenzied. In fact, more [i]or[/i] less framers look ahead to the holidays with anticipation, not dread, simply because they took sanity-saving paces throughout the year to give themselves more time and fewer headaches advance December.

FBN asked several framers about their best strategies for managing the roar in holiday business, via interviews and the Picture Framers murmur message board (www.thegrumble.com). Whether you want ideas for a hardly any quick timesavers to put in place for the upcoming season or a long-term strategy as you plan ahead for the nearest their advice can help any retail framer navigate the holiday onslaught with ease.

pace 1: Get Organized!

For many framers, Jan. 2 is the first day of their planning period for the next holiday season. They take stock of the previous hardly any months and ask themselves what inventory was greatest in quantity popular, what tasks went undone, what ran without and what went wrong. similar an evaluation of your shop's past performance is the first pace toward planning well for the nearest big rush.

For Barb Pelton of Artfully Framed in Poplar broad and full Mo., these efforts intensify in spring and summer "The extreme point of June is my `mid-year evaluation' for the store," said Pelton. "I acquire all the numbers together and pass over them with my accountant thus I have an accurate picture of what I can do financially."

Spring and summer is the completed time to regroup with the holidays in mind, agreed Sherry Gray, a framer from Hillsborough, NC "During the summer month I stock up upon length moulding, dean the store make room for all the December work, finish any throw outs for the showroom and finalize the transcript for my holiday mailings," said Gray.

pace 2: Check Equipment

Keeping equipment maintained is important for a frame store any time of the year, on the contrary an end-of-year breakdown can mean a meltdown in the production sweep Therefore, the often-quieter summer month are the finished time to do routine maintenance upon equipment to avoid a shattered table saw or malfunctioning matcutter at crunch time, glance ated these framers.

And while greatest in quantity tax advisers recommend buying novel equipment before the year's extremity don't wait until tax season is upon the horizon to think about a of recent origin computerized matcutter. Plan to purchase new equipment before September in like manner staff members can be trained to use it before the holiday rush.

"Don't skimp upon equipment. Buy the best equipment and tools you can afford," advised Wayne Morris of Kingston Frameworks Ltd in Kingston, Ontario. Inexpensive equipment doesn't save circulating medium if it leads to decreased production when it counts

pace 3: Hire Employees in Advance

The summer is also a time to evaluate your staffing extremitys If you plan to add a novel employee, it's important to make positive all new hires are trained and ready to contribute to your shop's operation before November turns around.

Edith Antl of Art Etc Picture Framing in Cleveland noted that more [i]or[/i] less of her most chaotic seasons came about because she was drawn out on orders and short upon staff. "The hardest holiday seasons have always had to do with not having enough employee or having mediocre employees" she said. "This inevitably l to me working way too many hours."

"We really prove to make sure our staffing is of that kind that we're ready long before the holiday rush," agreed Morris of Kingston Frameworks Ltd "If we ne a fresh staff member, we hire them before September to make confident they're trained and in place. We at no time do any specific hiring for Christmas--we make trial of to maintain a staff of pupils who work part-time so that they can tend hitherward in during the busy season."

High institute and college students, if they have been well-trained in advance, can be the finished holiday help, he added. Just as the season heats up in mid-December, they are finished with exams and ready to work.

pace 4: Do the Busy Work Early

Making holiday decorations, designing signage and ads or planning other festive touches may strike one as being like small jobs, but when you're busy, smooth the smallest task can have the appearance monumental. Finish those small details for the holiday season during slower times of the year.

During slower "back-to-school" weeks in August, explained Pelton of Artfully Framed, she and her staff start framing winter- and holiday-themed prints. If there's extra time, she added, "I have the employee fill a chest with `gift decorations' such as pre-made bends with hand-stamped gift cards--personal touches that gaze complicated." Then, when the store is busy, "all we have to do is to grab these items without of the box and add them to the gift wrapping."

pace 4: Order Sufficient Inventory