Category: Virtual support

This is the first in our winter series on stability: the idea that a business grows more easily from a steady base than from one that lurches from one deadline to the next. Christmas is a good place to start, because it is the one peak every business can see coming.

If you want to prepare your business for Christmas, plan backwards from your longest lead time. Start with the decision that takes longest to put in place, fix the dates that follow from it, and by October the plan should already be running, with only the final checks left. Then hold your nerve on price, and bring your team with you. That is what years in retail taught me, and it applies to any growing business, whether you sell products or services.

In the 1990s I worked for Superdrug. Every year the company ran a competition called Premier Crew to find the store best prepared for Christmas trading. A manager from head office was paired with an area manager, and together they visited every store in the area and picked a winner, who went through to a regional round and then the national final. I was involved in the early rounds, and it was hugely enjoyable. The effort every store put into being at its absolute best for Christmas was remarkable, and this was a time when store managers had a much freer rein over festive decorations than they do now. It wasn’t quite up there with Deck the Halls (the film, which is apparently now a Christmas classic), but some stores pushed it hard!

One image has stayed with me. It was a small store in a small town. We were welcomed with a warm mince pie, and the store was sparkling clean and beautifully decorated, with tinsel, a Santa and even a grotto. But the shelves were light, and for all its tidiness it didn’t look well stocked. I asked the manager whether deliveries were late. “Oh no,” he said, “it’s just really difficult getting the stock down. Our warehouse is on the first floor.” Was the lift broken? He pointed at the grotto. They had turned the stock lift into Santa’s grotto.

We changed that, and I still laugh about it. But it makes the point better than anything I could write: what wins at Christmas isn’t what customers see. It’s the planning behind it, right down to how the stock actually reaches the shelves.

When should you start preparing your business for Christmas?

Start with whatever takes longest. In retail, Christmas starts almost a year ahead. Buyers review last Christmas’s results in January, seasonal ranges are confirmed by spring, orders are placed by early summer and stock starts arriving in late summer. By October the big decisions are long made, the key dates are known, and the work left is crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s.

Every sector has its own longest lead time. For a retailer it is buying. In the hotels I have worked with, the rule of thumb was that Christmas planning was the first big task for the general manager on returning from the summer holiday. For a consultancy or agency it may be agreeing client deadlines before the break, or booking cover for the days you’ll be away. Find yours, and work back from it:

  • List the decisions your Christmas depends on: stock, staff, cover, pricing, client deadlines, opening hours.
  • Note how long each one takes to put in place, and the date it must be done by.
  • Put those dates in the diary now, starting with the one that needs the longest run-up.

Leave it until December and you are reacting to the rush rather than running your business through it.

Christmas is also so much longer than one day. The run-in starts with Black Friday, which falls on 27 November this year, and many clients start winding down in mid-December. In 2026 Christmas Day is a Friday. Boxing Day falls on a Saturday, so the bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December, and New Year’s Day is Friday 1 January. That is a long stretch when people are away, before you allow for winter weather and the inevitable seasonal bugs.

How busy it gets depends on your sector. Retail rarely has a quiet day now. The Christmas sales used to start on Boxing Day, but hold your nerve as a shopper and you may find that retailers have lost theirs well before the 25th! And online Christmas Day itself has become a big trading day: in 2025, it saw some of the strongest single-day growth in UK online sales, with fashion and footwear revenue up 50% on the year as the sales started early. Hospitality is flat out until New Year. Agencies and professional services are often quieter, because their clients are on holiday, and that dip needs planning just as carefully as anyone else’s rush.

What should your Christmas plan cover?

So much of a good Christmas comes down to planning, and in a store that planning is very practical. When do the price changes go through, and when do the shelf-edge labels change with them? When do the promotions change over? Who works the deliveries and refills the shelves, and who covers the late-night shopping hours? The list is nearly endless.

Then there is the stock itself. In a Superdrug store, the busiest weeks before Christmas could bring in two to three times the sales of a quiet week. All the Christmas-only stock, the gift sets and seasonal lines, had been sent out to stores by November. So just as the peak arrived, the stockroom was full of Christmas stock, and the store was selling more of almost everything else too, which meant bigger and more frequent deliveries to unpack, store and get onto the shelves. Every inch of space, and every route from the stockroom to the shop floor, mattered. Which is exactly why turning the stock lift into a grotto was such a problem.

Thinking back more than thirty years, the Premier Crew judges looked at five areas. They are still a good Christmas checklist, and each one has an equivalent in any business.

AreaWhat the judges looked for in a storeWhat it means for any growing business
Stock managementA tidy, organised stockroom; the right stock levels; fast sellers replenished during the day; a plan for where the extra stock is held before the peakCapacity: enough people and hours for the work you have committed to, and a plan for where the extra work will go
Look and feelPoint-of-sale material in place, impactful windows, end displays properly filled, every light working, the right music, even the right smell; staff making eye contact, saying hello and being helpfulFirst impressions: website, email signature and out-of-office up to date; clients getting a quick, warm reply
Operations and checkoutQueues managed, all equipment working, till areas clean and impulse lines stocked, gift cards easy to buy, everyone clear on the returns policy, no stock cages in the aislesSystems that work under pressure: bookings, invoicing and payments; everyone clear on cut-off dates, emergency contacts and policies
StaffingShifts well planned, extended opening hours covered, out-of-hours replenishment where needed, the team trained and motivatedA fair holiday rota agreed early, cover booked, and everyone knowing the plan
Marketing and communicationsPromotions, opening hours and messages clear and consistent, in store and from head officeOpening hours, response times and any offers published early; social posts scheduled in advance

Two more things are easy to miss. Set a cut-off date for new work before the break, and tell clients what it is. And send your invoices early, because January is when many businesses feel the pinch.

How do you hold your nerve on pricing and discounts?

Every retailer faces the same question in December: how long do you hold full price before you start marking down to clear before Christmas? Move too early and you give away margin you didn’t need to. Leave it too late and you are left with stock you can’t sell.

Black Friday made this much harder. I was working in ecommerce when it arrived in the UK, and the early years were scary. Argos, Boots, John Lewis and Currys PC World all had major website outages, never mind the scenes in their stores.

The bigger damage was quieter, and it was to margin.

What happenedWhat it did to margin
December sales pulled forwardInstead of creating extra sales, Black Friday largely moved full-price December sales into discounted November ones. Customers got a discount on things they would happily have paid full price for a few weeks later.
The volume trapTake 20% off an item with a 60% gross margin and the profit on each sale falls by a third. To make the same return you need 50% more sales, which strained websites, warehouses and delivery networks.
ReturnsImpulse buying pushed return rates up, especially in fashion and tech. Processing returns and writing off opened stock ate into whatever profit was left.

Some retailers came close to marking down seasonal stock they needed to sell at full price in December. The lesson was to buy stock specially for Black Friday, so the promotion didn’t wreck their Christmas margins.

The principle for any business is to decide your trigger points in October, not in a panic on 18 December. For a service business, holding your nerve means not discounting to fill a quiet week, and not taking on work you can’t deliver well before the break. Decisions made calmly in advance are better than decisions made under pressure, and they are much easier to make from a stable base.

How do you get your team behind the Christmas plan?

The run-up to Christmas asks a lot of people, so they need to understand the plan and be bought into it. Share it early, and explain why, not just what.

The rota matters more than most people think. Whether in a store or a head office support team, somebody has to be available in Christmas week and the week after, and that takes organising rather than assuming. If Christmas leave doesn’t look fair, it can demotivate a team quickly, so agree it early and make the reasoning clear. And say thank you: a busy December is a team effort.

What if there’s no team to cover you over Christmas?

For many growing businesses, cover is the real problem. If you work alone, or your small team all want the same days off, start by telling your clients your plan: when you are available, when you are not, and what to do if there is an emergency. Most clients are happy with clear expectations. It is surprises that cause problems.

This is also where flexible support helps. A Virtual Expert can answer your phones and manage your inbox, keep client admin and invoicing moving, or schedule your social media in advance. Book early, though: their diaries fill up before Christmas too.

Your Christmas preparation checklist

  • As early as your longest lead time needs: make the big decisions (stock or capacity, pricing and promotions, client cut-off dates, cover) and put the key dates in the diary.
  • October: final checks. Confirm the rota, the cover and the dates. The plan should already be running.
  • November: schedule social posts, publish your opening hours and response times, and send invoices early.
  • December: run the plan, protect your key people and keep a short daily check-in.
  • January: review what worked and what didn’t while it is fresh, and write it down as the starting point for next year’s plan.

That last step is the one most businesses miss. The best input to next Christmas’s plan is what you learned this time.

From a stable Christmas to a strong January

The businesses that plan Christmas start January in control, not recovering. A busy season handled calmly is what stability looks like in practice, and it is where our winter series, Stability: A Place to Stand, begins. Over the coming weeks we will look at the other things that can knock owner-led businesses off balance, starting on 24 November with what happens when everything rests on one person.

If you would like cover in place before the rush, talk to your local Regional Director now!

Frequently asked questions

When should a small business start preparing for Christmas?

Work back from your longest lead time. Retailers start buying for Christmas almost a year ahead; for a service business the longest lead time might be agreeing client deadlines or booking cover. Either way, by October the plan should already be running, with only final checks left.

How do I cover my business over Christmas if I work alone?

Tell clients when you are available and what to do in an emergency, set a cut-off date for new work, and arrange cover for phones, the inbox or urgent admin. A Virtual Expert can provide that cover, but book early.

Should I discount before Christmas?

Only if you decided to in advance, and know what it costs. A 20% discount on a product with a 60% margin cuts the profit on each sale by a third, so you need 50% more sales to stand still. Set your trigger points in October, and if you sell products, consider stock bought specially for promotions such as Black Friday to protect the margin on seasonal lines.

What should I tell clients about Christmas opening hours?

When you close and reopen, how quickly you will respond in between, the last date for new work, and who to contact in an emergency. Publish it in November and repeat it in your email signature and out-of-office message.

How do I plan staff holidays over Christmas and New Year?

Agree the rota early, make sure every working day is covered, and explain the reasoning so it feels fair. Rotating the busiest days from year to year helps.

What should I do in the quiet week between Christmas and New Year?

Review the year, and capture what you learned about Christmas while it is fresh. It is the best input to next year’s plan.

About the author

An editorial calendar is a schedule that shows what content you will publish, where and when, and who is responsible for it. For a growing business, it turns good intentions about blogging and social media into a plan you can keep to.

With so many options available to market your business online – from emails to blogs to social media – it can be difficult to keep up. But if you’re struggling to organise the content marketing for your business, there is a solution: the editorial calendar.

Editorial calendars have been around for decades. They were originally used in print media (e.g. newspapers, magazines) to keep track of articles through every stage of creation, from the initial idea to publication. Nowadays the editorial calendar can be applied to many different things, including every platform on which you market your business. In short, if you create content, it can go into an editorial calendar.

So how do you go about making one of these invaluable tools? Read on to discover everything you need to know about creating an editorial calendar.

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When the phone rings and you can’t answer it, most new callers won’t leave a message. They’ll ring the next business on the list. A telephone answering service makes sure a real person picks up in your business’s name whenever you can’t: when you’re with a client, on a job, in a meeting or, just as important, on holiday.

I have relied on a telephone answering service since 2011. It answers Get Ahead’s own number, and in 15 years we have never missed a call. When clients started asking how we did it, offering them the same service was an easy decision. In this guide I’ll explain how a telephone answering service works, what it costs, how it compares with voicemail and AI, and how to tell whether your business needs one.

Perhaps one of these sounds familiar. “I can’t take calls when I’m on site, and by the time I ring back they’ve booked someone else.” Or: “I haven’t had a proper week off in years, because I’m the only one who answers the phone.”

What is a telephone answering service?

A telephone answering service is a team that answers your business calls for you, using your business name, and passes each message on. You divert your calls to them when you can’t answer, and they pick up as if they were part of your business.

You may also see it called a call handling or message taking service, or outsourced telephone answering. It sits between voicemail, which records a message and leaves the caller waiting, and a receptionist, whom you employ to sit in your office. It suits owner-led businesses that are too busy to answer every call but too small to employ someone to do it: sole traders, tradespeople, consultants, professional services firms and small practices.

How does a telephone answering service work?

You divert your line to the answering team, they answer with a greeting you have agreed, and they send you each message by email or text. Setting it up can often be done the same day. At Get Ahead it works like this.

1. Talk to your Regional Director

Tell them what you need cover for, when and for how long: every afternoon, evenings and weekends, a busy season, or a fortnight in August. We work with two specialist UK call answering partners, and your Regional Director will match you to the one that fits your hours and your callers.

2. Tell us about your business

We agree how calls are answered, your opening hours, the questions callers most often ask, what counts as urgent and whether you want messages by email, text or both.

3. Divert your calls

Most landlines, mobiles and internet phone systems have a call divert setting. You switch it on, and your calls come to us. If your mobile is your business number, as it is for many sole traders and tradespeople, a mobile phone answering service works in exactly the same way.

4. We answer in your name

A trained call handler answers in your business name, takes the caller’s name, number and reason for calling, reassures them that you’ll be in touch, and passes the message on.

5. Switch back when you’re ready

Turn the diversion off and your calls come straight back to you.

Why go through Get Ahead rather than straight to an answering company? Because you get one point of contact who knows your business, the right service chosen for you rather than a price list to work through, and support that can grow beyond the phone. I chose our partners precisely because they are specialists: answering calls is all they do. We were already using them for our own phones, so I knew exactly what our clients would get.

What happens to calls outside office hours?

They can still be answered. If your customers ring early, late or at weekends, or out-of-hours calls are your main concern, we use a partner that specialises in out-of-hours cover, available up to 24 hours a day, seven days a week, depending on your specific needs. Callers reach a real person rather than a voicemail, and urgent calls can be passed on to you straight away if you want them to be.

If you only need daytime cover, calls outside your agreed hours can go to a personal message in your business name, and anything left is passed on first thing the next working day.

Whichever you choose, agree in advance what counts as urgent and who should be contacted, for example for a tradesperson’s emergency call-out.

What can a call handler do beyond taking a message?

More than most people expect. A good call handler doesn’t only write down a name and number. Depending on what you agree, they can:

  • answer common questions about your opening hours, services or prices
  • book appointments in your online booking system or calendar
  • find out who is calling and put the call through to you when you are free
  • pass urgent calls to you, or to someone you nominate, straight away
  • take orders and capture the details of new enquiries

Because Get Ahead is a network of more than 90 Virtual Experts, phone cover can sit alongside other support. A virtual assistant can follow up the enquiries, keep your diary in order or deal with the emails that build up while you’re busy, so the calls become work rather than a list of people to ring back.

That is what happened for the Leeds office of Sanderson Weatherall, the national estate agents. We set up telephone answering to handle calls and pass on messages, and alongside it an administration Virtual Expert who booked property viewings and checked prospective tenants were suitable. Within eight months her role had grown from one hour a week to a full day, and that gave the office the business case to employ someone permanently. You can read the case study here.

Should you use a telephone answering service when you go on holiday?

Yes, if your phone is how customers and new enquiries reach you. A recorded message saying you’re away until the 14th tells a new customer to try someone else, and tells an existing one to wait. A person who answers, takes the details and says when you’ll be back in touch keeps both.

It’s also better for you. A proper holiday is one where you don’t take work calls. You need time to recharge and to reconnect with yourself and the people you care about, and you can’t do that while checking your phone by the pool.

Headline Design & Print, a Guildford design and print business, uses our service in just this way. When staff are on holiday or off sick, they divert their line, each call is written up and emailed to the right person, and they switch it off again when the office is fully staffed. Their managing director, Mark Warner, puts it like this: “The service Get Ahead deliver allows me, as the director and sales front end, to take time out of the business safe in the knowledge my clients are able to communicate with us and are not going elsewhere.” You can read the case study here.

Holiday cover works in the same way as everyday cover, for a set period. Give your Regional Director your dates and tell them what counts as urgent, set your diversion before you leave, and come back to a clear list of who called and why rather than a full voicemail box. It’s worth doing for bank holidays and the Christmas closedown too, when many owner-led businesses close but their customers still call. Our bank holiday guide covers what else to think about when you close.

Telephone answering service, voicemail or AI: which should you choose?

It depends on how many calls you get and what your callers need. Voicemail costs nothing but loses callers. An AI answering tool is cheap and always on, but struggles when a call doesn’t fit its script. A person can deal with the unexpected.

 VoicemailAI call answeringTelephone answering serviceEmployed receptionist
Who answersA recordingSoftwareA trained person, in your business nameYour employee
Handles the unexpectedNoPartlyYesYes
Typical costFreeLow monthly feeA monthly fee plus a charge per callA salary plus employer costs
Holiday and sickness coverNot neededAlways onYesNeeds cover of its own
SuitsVery few callsHigh volumes of simple callsOwner-led businesses that can’t afford to miss a callBusy offices with constant calls

AI answering tools are improving quickly, and for some businesses they will be enough. For most of our clients, though, the calls that matter most are the ones that don’t fit a script: a worried customer, a complaint, an urgent job or a new client deciding whether to trust you.

How much does a telephone answering service cost in the UK?

Most UK services charge per call answered, per minute, or a monthly bundle that includes a set number of calls. Published 2026 price guides from UK providers put per-call charges at roughly 60p to £2.50 and monthly bundles from about £25 to several hundred pounds, with set-up fees of up to around £150. Out-of-hours cover usually costs more.

At Get Ahead we have a couple of models depending on your specific needs – you either pay a small monthly service fee plus a charge for each call answered, or block buy a number of minutes per month. Either way, prices start from as little as £15 per month. There is no long-term contract, so you can use it for a few weeks over a holiday and stop when you are back. Your Regional Director will agree the cost with you before anything starts.

When you compare quotes, look at the whole cost: what counts as a call, any monthly fee, minimum term or set-up charge, and what your mobile network charges for diverted calls. Then set that against the work you lose when a new enquiry rings someone else.

How do you choose a telephone answering service for a small business?

Ask these six questions before you sign up. Good answers to all of them are a sign the service will work for a small business, not just a large one:

  • Who will answer my calls, and will it be the same people each time?
  • What hours do you cover, and what happens to calls outside them?
  • How quickly will I get each message, and how?
  • How do you handle urgent calls?
  • Is there a contract, minimum term, monthly fee or set-up charge?
  • Where are messages stored, and how do you look after my callers’ personal data?

The last question matters more than it used to. Every message holds a caller’s personal details, so your provider should handle them in line with UK data protection law; the Information Commissioner’s Office has more information on what that means. The call handlers we work with are trained, based in the UK and handle your callers’ details under UK data protection law.

Never miss the call that matters

A telephone answering service is a small cost that protects two valuable things: the first impression a caller gets of your business, and your own time away from the phone.

Want your phones covered?

For a holiday, the Christmas closedown or every day, your local Regional Director can set it up, often the same day. Or ring us and hear the service for yourself: it has answered our own number for 15 years.

Find your Regional Director Call 0330 223 7580

Frequently asked questions

Can I use a telephone answering service just while I’m on holiday?

Yes. Many businesses use it only for holidays, bank holidays or the Christmas closedown. At Get Ahead you can use it just for holiday cover and switch it off when you’re back.

Will callers know they aren’t speaking to my own team?

Calls are answered in your business name, with a greeting you agree. To most callers, your business has simply answered the phone.

How do I divert my calls?

Most landlines, mobiles and internet phone systems have a call divert setting you can switch on and off. Your phone provider may charge for diverted calls, so it is worth checking. Your Regional Director will talk you through it.

Do you offer out-of-hours call answering?

Yes. We work with a partner that specialises in out-of-hours cover, so evening and weekend calls can be answered by a real person, up to 24 hours a day if you need it. Your Regional Director will match you to the right service.

Can I divert my mobile to a telephone answering service?

Yes. Mobiles have a call divert setting, usually under Phone or Call settings, and you can choose to divert every call or only those you do not answer. Check with your network whether diverted calls are charged.

About the author

You Don’t Need More Pressure – You Need the Right People in Your Corner

If there’s one thing I see consistently in growing businesses, it’s this: the people running them are carrying more than anyone realises.

On the outside, things look steady. Momentum is building, opportunities are increasing, and from a distance the picture looks encouraging.

But behind the scenes, decisions are stacking up, and with growth comes weight.

The Quiet Weight of Scaling

Enhancing your offering, creating a new revenue stream, stepping into a new market, hiring for the first time, delegating something you’ve always kept close – none of those are small moves. And even when they’re exciting, they can feel slightly exposing in a way that’s hard to articulate.

Because growth isn’t just operational. It’s personal. You’re putting something new out into the world, trusting someone else with your reputation, shifting from doing to leading. That transition can feel heavier than most people admit, and it rarely comes with a manual.

Pressure Isn’t the Same as Progress

At busy times, the instinct is almost always to push harder. Work longer, take on more, keep control, just get through it. It’s a deeply familiar response, and for a while it can feel like the right one.

But pressure doesn’t always create progress. What it more often creates is hesitation, indecision, and – perhaps most insidiously – burnout disguised as productivity. In my experience, growth rarely accelerates because someone applies more pressure to themselves. It accelerates when the right support is introduced at the right time.

The Power of Having Someone Beside You

Earlier in this series I explored why buying decisions are still fundamentally human, why community builds the trust that makes those decisions easier, and why bespoke fit matters more than a list of features. This final piece is where all of that comes together.

Because when growth feels heavy, what business owners really need isn’t another system or another process. It’s someone beside them; someone who can ask the right questions, offer an outside perspective, sense-check decisions before they’re made, and translate a feeling of overwhelm into a clear and manageable next step. That’s not soft support. That’s one of the most strategic investments a growing business can make, because confident leaders make stronger decisions, and supported leaders move faster.

What My Role Actually Looks Like

As a Regional Director at Get Ahead, I don’t see my role as simply matching skills to tasks, though that’s part of it. I see it as standing alongside a business owner as they navigate change, being a consistent presence through the moments that feel uncertain.

Sometimes that means helping to identify where the real pressure is coming from, which isn’t always where it appears to be. Sometimes it means suggesting a different approach, or simply reframing a decision that’s been made more complicated than it needs to be. And sometimes it means reminding someone that bringing in support isn’t a sign of weakness but a mark of leadership. Knowing when to ask for help, and being willing to do so, is one of the most mature things a business owner can do.

AI, Automation and the Human Gap

We’re operating in an increasingly automated world, and the pace of that change shows no sign of slowing. Systems are smarter, processes are faster, and information is more instantly accessible than ever before. All of that is genuinely useful, and at Get Ahead we embrace it where it adds real value.

But none of it replaces encouragement. None of it replaces the kind of considered judgement that comes from experience. And none of it can sit across the table from someone and say, with conviction, “you’re on the right track, let’s simplify this.” Technology enhances businesses, but people steady them. And steady businesses, in my observation, grow more sustainably than those running purely on pressure.

You Don’t Have to Do It Alone

There’s a quiet narrative in business that says you should have it all figured out, that you should always know exactly what to do next, and that asking for help means you’re somehow behind. It’s a narrative that does a lot of damage, often silently.

The strongest businesses I see are invariably the ones where leaders are willing to build the right support around them, have honest conversations about capacity before things reach breaking point, and bring in expertise while there’s still space to use it well rather than waiting until everything feels critical. That’s not weakness. That’s maturity, and it makes an enormous practical difference to how a business grows.

In Your Corner

This series has been about the human side of growth, because while the tools, platforms and systems will continue to evolve, the fundamentals don’t change. Trust drives decisions. Fit drives performance. Support drives confidence. And confidence, more than almost anything else, drives sustainable growth.

If you’re building something, evolving something, or simply feeling the weight of doing too much alone, then you don’t need more pressure. You need the right people in your corner. And sometimes, that starts with a single conversation.

I’m always happy to talk through where your business is right now and what the right next step might look like. No hard sell Just clarity, perspective, and support where it counts.

kristy@getaheadva.com or book in a chat –  Calendly – Kristy Roff

About the Author

Learn more about Kristy here

In Your Corner – The Human Side of Growth

A four-part series exploring why human connection, community, and the right support still define how growing businesses succeed – even in an age of automation.

  1. In a World of Artificial Intelligence, Human Connection Still Wins the Buying Decision
  2. Community Is a Commercial Strategy (Not Just a Nice Idea)
  3. Bespoke Beats Off-the-Shelf: Why Fit Matters More Than Features
  4. You Don’t Need More Pressure – You Need the Right People in Your Corner

When your business is going through a period of transformation, you need the right support in place. Maybe your schedule is busier and you need virtual PA services. Or maybe you have new products and need to expand your marketing department. Whatever kind of help you need, it’s a good idea to consider flexible business support.

In this blog, we help you identify what to look for when you’re choosing new business support. We’ll also look at why flexible business support is a great solution for both the short term and long term.

What should I look for when I’m choosing business support?

During your business transformation, it’s important that any support you receive is flexible. If you’re starting a new department, you might not know how many hours you need your new team to work. Or if you’re changing your workplace culture, you might need support in the early days but let the support go once the new culture is embedded. Whatever type of transformation your business is going through, looking for flexible support makes sense. 

What does flexible business support look like?

Flexible business support can take different forms. Consider:

  • Regular or flexible hours

 

Do you have to use the same number of hours every week, or can you extend or reduce the number of hours depending on workload? Or can you choose to always use the same number of hours so you stay within your budget? Decide which option you need so your support will be as cost effective as possible. 

  • Contract length 

Do you have to lock into a long contract or can you end the arrangement whenever you need to? This is an area where outsourcing is a great alternative to recruitment. 

  • Options to change type of support

If you’ve asked for marketing support (for example), do you have to keep using it or could you use your budget to cover the cost of another service instead? Working with an agency like Get Ahead means you can change services whenever you need to because there are so many different experts available. 

  • Continuity 

If your business transformation has included restructuring, you might find yourself with gaps to fill. Fully flexible business support allows you to maintain continuity with your internal and external clients while you draw up new job descriptions or recruit permanent team members. 

Flexible business support from Get Ahead

During business transformation, you deserve to receive outstanding support that works however you need it to. Get Ahead’s model means all our support is fully flexible – best of all, you only pay for the support you receive. 

Explore our site to find out more or follow us on social media. When you’re ready, you can reach out to your local regional director here – they’d love to hear from you. 

Hiring your first employee is an exciting milestone. It means your business is growing and you’re ready for extra support. But it also means stepping into the world of HR, and that can feel overwhelming if you’re not sure what’s legally required. 

The good news? You don’t need a huge HR department to stay compliant. But you do need a few key documents in place before your new team member starts. 

Here are the five essential HR documents every small or new employer must have. 

1. A Legally Compliant Employment Contract 

Every employee must receive a written statement of terms and conditions on or before their first day. This is usually provided as an employment contract. 

A clear, up-to-date contract protects both you and your employee. It sets expectations, reduces misunderstandings, and ensures you’re meeting legal obligations around pay, hours, leave, benefits, and notice. 

Many small businesses rely on outdated templates or copy something from the internet, but an inaccurate contract is one of the most common HR risks. A tailored contract gives you peace of mind from day one. 

2. An Offer Letter 

The offer letter confirms the basics: job title, salary, working hours, and start date. It also sets a positive, professional tone and helps your new employee feel confident joining your business. 

It’s also useful if someone needs written proof of employment before their contract is finalised. 

3. Core HR Policies 

You don’t need a full suite of policies at this stage, but you do need the basics in writing, including: 

  • Disciplinary and grievance 
  • Equality and diversity 
  • Health & safety 
  • Data protection/privacy notice 

These are required by law and form the backbone of your HR compliance. They are also a key part of your employee handbook… 

4. A Basic Employee Handbook 

A handbook doesn’t need to be long or complicated; it simply outlines how things work in your business. The essentials usually include: 

  • Sickness and absence 
  • Holiday and time off 
  • Data protection 
  • Health & safety 
  • Code of conduct 
  • Basic well-being or workplace expectations 

This gives employees clarity and ensures consistency. It also helps you, as the employer, handle issues fairly and legally. 

Think of it as the “how we do things around here” guide. 

5. A New Starter Checklist 

When you’re new to hiring, it’s easy to forget the small but essential steps. A checklist helps you stay organised and cover things like: 

  • Right-to-work checks 
  • Payroll setup 
  • Collecting emergency contacts 
  • Sharing company policies 
  • IT or system access 

It also gives your new employee a smooth, structured onboarding experience, which boosts confidence from day one. 

Need Help Getting These in Place? 

Many new employers don’t realise these documents are required or worry about getting them wrong. That’s where our HR Foundations package can help. 

It includes: 

  • A 30-minute HR consultation 
  • Customised employment contract template 
  • Offer letter template 
  • Basic employee handbook, including a set of core HR policies 
  • New starter checklist 

Everything you need to hire confidently, professionally, and legally, without the stress. 

➡ Find out more about HR Essentials

➡ Book a free HR consultation 

There are always lots of things to do at work before taking a holiday, particularly if you run your own business. Fortunately, when we know what they are and we manage our time well, we don’t have to bookend our holiday with two stressful weeks. 

We’ve caught up with virtual PA Amanda who shares her list of things to do at work before taking a holiday.

What should we do at work before going on holiday?

Tell people

Amanda: If you do nothing else, tell the people you work with that you are going away and when. Even if you own the business and you don’t have to apply for annual leave, it’s a good idea and common courtesy. Telling others means that they can manage their work accordingly, whether that’s asking you about matters now before you go on holiday, or taking the initiative so they don’t interrupt your break. Let anyone outside your business whom you’re collaborating with know too. 

Set up email management

 Amanda: We’re all used to out-of-office replies now – they’re a very handy invention. If you’re in danger of forgetting to set yours, write it now and schedule it for your holiday period. 

While you’re automating emails, take the opportunity to set up the “focused” and “other” inbox system that Outlook provides (if you haven’t already). This can make things smoother when you’re back from your holiday – the messages that need your attention should be easy to find.

Some of my clients ask me to manage their inboxes while they’re on holiday – it’s a great solution. I create folders for different types of email and I can even field them out to others in your organisation. You won’t come back to thousands of emails and you will be able to pick up where you left off. 

Test your automation

Amanda: If you’re going to use, say, social media scheduling software to cover you while you’re away, test it out first. If you trial it while you’re still in the office, you’ll have time to iron out any wrinkles so the system runs perfectly in your absence. 

Write a to-do list for your return

Amanda: Writing things down is a great way to get them out of your head, even if you can’t deal with them immediately. I always encourage my clients to write their to-do list for their first day back. Not only does it mean a more organised return, but it gives them more freedom to enjoy their holiday!

Plan for core work and big projects

Amanda: How you cover bigger projects depends on many factors. However, it’s important to remember that everything won’t grind to a halt without you. You might choose to put work on hold while you’re on holiday. Or you might choose to set it up in advance so it can run well in your absence.

 If you’re a good employer or collaborator (and I’m sure you are!) your team should feel empowered to carry on without you and act on their own initiative. Maybe the team could use your holiday time to address the areas that don’t need your specific input, like the actual printing of a new publication. Or maybe you could set up a task in your last week and they could use your holiday to put it into action. 

Virtual PA services from Get Ahead

Get Ahead has built up a team of nearly a hundred virtual PAs, VAs and sector experts to support your business while you’re away on holiday. We’re here for when you get back too! Follow us on social media to find out how we work, and get in touch whenever you’re ready. 

If you’re planning to outsource PR to enhance your marketing, you might be wondering, “how do I gain national press coverage?” National press coverage can really increase your visibility and it’s great for brand awareness.

In this blog, we look at how to decide if national press coverage is the best PR strategy for you, how to get the press’s attention and when to send out your press release.

Is national press coverage the right strategy?

Having your products featured in Good Housekeeping or your story told in the Financial Times both feel like big wins. If you’re looking to have everyone talking about your products, services or business journey, the national press is a great way to increase awareness of your brand.

However, before you throw all your energy at getting your business in a national publication, take time to consider whether it’s the best place for your story. Remember, if your story has a niche audience, like a new product aimed at a specific industry, national publications are unlikely to take it up.

If that’s made you decide to target your PR specifically and promote yourself within your industry, read our interview with PR expert Caroline here: PR ideas for small businesses – maximise your marketing 

And if you’re confident a national campaign is right for you, read on.

How to get the attention of the national press
Understand your lead times

Different publications have different lead times. In general:

Remember to factor these timings into your PR operation.

Forward planning is essential for magazine coverage – if you want your business to feature in a Christmas edition, you need to share your story in July.

Equally important: be ready to share your breaking story. If your business is responding to an unfolding crisis and mitigating against disaster, send your press release out immediately. This should get you the coverage your business deserves.

If you’re sharing a news story, it’s generally agreed that the best times to send out a press release are Wednesday and Thursday. There’s often a big rush at the start of the week, with journalists catching up on everything that’s happened over the weekend. Friday, on the other hand, can see offices winding down. Aim for the middle of the week instead.  

Think about readership

Not all national publications are equal. Before you start reaching out to them, think about which ones your target market reads. If you don’t know, buy a copy or check the website. For example, if you’re hoping to build awareness of your product, check whether a publication promotes luxury items or budget solutions. And if there’s a political angle to your story, target the broadsheet that will consider it good news.

Build a relationship

The first time you reach out to a publication, you might not hear anything back. Don’t take it personally – instead, think about how many communications a journalist receives every day and accept that they can’t reply to them all.

It’s also important not to be discouraged. Keep going! Send out your next press release or product sample just like you’d planned – it might get picked up next time.

If you succeed and a journalist responds to you, keep a record of it. You can connect with them on LinkedIn and start to build a professional relationship or use them as your first point of contact for that publication. Don’t just advertise – network as well.

Outsource PR to Get Ahead

PR can be a highly effective way of promoting your brand. However, it’s also complicated and time consuming, especially if you’re running a business as well. If this blog has made you think about harnessing the power of PR, our PR experts would love to help. Explore our site to find out more, or contact your local regional director today.

If you’re a start-up or a family enterprise and you’re mindful of the bottom line, it can be hard to think of giveaway ideas for small businesses. But the good news is that you don’t have break the bank, or leave yourself out of pocket when you give something away.

In this blog, we share our top five giveaway ideas for small businesses.

Why does giving matter to small businesses?

Giving is an essential part of any business’ marketing strategy. When we give things away, we reinforce our brand with our customers and clients. We interact with those people in a different way from usual, strengthening the professional relationship. This can be a very effective way of getting customers further down the sales funnel. It can also help you appeal to different markets who respond to different approaches.

Think of giving as lighting one candle off another – the second candle gains but the first candle loses nothing.

Top five giveaway ideas for small businesses:
  1. Promotional items

An on-message promotional item can be a great addition to your marketing toolkit. Trainers and coaches can give out branded pens and paper so their clients can take notes. Trades often prefer a branded fridge magnet to a business card – their customers don’t have to rummage when they need a plumber quickly! Events organisers sometimes give out branded bottle openers while travel agents give out branded luggage labels.

Get Ahead has a number of suppliers in our network of contacts – if you need a recommendation for branded items, please ask!

  • Your own products or services

Obviously, we’re not suggesting that you just give away all your hours and stock! Instead, think about how you can use a giveaway strategically. Who is likely to respond positively to a free software trial – will it make them more likely to buy a subscription at the end? Yes, they’re using your software for free for a month, but if they turn into loyal customers then the freebie was a valuable investment. Remember to research likely groups and target them strategically so you get the best outcomes from giving away your own product or service.

  • Expertise

Yes, it is possible to write a blog or a newsletter without giving away your trade secrets! Instead, give away a small amount of useful knowledge that will help your clients get more from what they already buy from you. For example, letters from your bank often feature a market or finance update. By sharing these insights, banks can help customers to make their money work harder, in turn promoting more of the bank’s products.

Think about what ideas you could share that would help you and your customers at the same time.

  • Discounts

Even if you can’t afford to give something away completely free, consider whether you can afford to offer a discount. Do your sums and work out what percentage you discount from the price of your product or service. You can also give a discount in exchange for something, like signing up to a mailing list. Discounts like this can be excellent investments: once customers or clients have joined your community, they’re more likely to buy from you again in future.

  • Referrals

This one isn’t a traditional sort of giveaway, but it makes a real difference to others, grows your network and establishes you as someone worth working with.

When you’re networking, be ready to praise others in the network whom you’ve worked with. And if there’s a request for a recommendation on LinkedIn, for example, don’t be afraid to put others forward – they’ll really appreciate it!

Marketing strategy support with Get Ahead

If you think that giveaways could play a bigger part in your marketing strategy, Get Ahead would love to help you make it happen! Explore our marketing pages to find out more, or contact your local regional director today.

 

Many businesses share a monthly newsletter with their client community, but we’ve seen a great engagement rate from sending out a different kind of message at Christmas. Instead of the usual combination of “hero” theme, tips and discounts, Christmas is a time to engage on a more human level.

For this blog, we talked to our digital and email marketing expert Claire about how to write a business Christmas message to strengthen your business relationships for the coming year.

What do we mean by a Christmas message?

Claire: Most monthly newsletters follow a standard format. Business owners have considered what works best for them and share a great combination of product promotion, top tips and special offers.

However, Christmas is not the time for a hard sell. It’s not really the time to talk about business either. Many businesses have their golden quarter in the run-up to Christmas…but by the time Christmas actually comes, it’s time to stop talking shop and connect on a more personal level.

What should I include in my Christmas message?

Claire: The best Christmas messages include a strong awareness of the reader, appropriate emotion and gentle humour. They’re a good opportunity to invite your clients to recognise your team members who have made a particular contribution. You can also show empathy by referring to challenges you know your clients have faced in the last year.

You can show emotion in your seasonal message with phrases like, “we’ve all found X tough this year…,” “I’m really proud of Y…,” and “Z was really exciting – such a privilege to be part of it!” Referring to your feelings will help your readers see you as a person and not just a business – this will reinforce your connection.

It’s easy for clients to overlook contributions made by individual members of your team. It’s not that they’re selfish – they just don’t know what goes on behind the scenes. But giving them some new insight has two benefits. Firstly, it shows that the service or product you offer doesn’t just magically appear – this helps your clients to understand its value. Secondly, it reinforces the fact that a real person has made something happen – a real support to the message that “people buy from people.”

Lastly, your Christmas message is the time to write about your clients and not about your business. Write about industry highs and lows, and praise your clients for how well they’ve coped with any recent storms. Thank them for supporting your business, including making referrals, being understanding in times of stress and remaining loyal.

Email marketing from Get Ahead If our blog has inspired you to write a different sort of Christmas message this year, Get Ahead are here to help. Our experienced marketing team includes content writers like Claire as well as graphic designers and email automation experts. Explore our site to find out more or follow us on LinkedIn. And if you’re ready to outsource your email marketing or any other back-office support, contact your local regional director here.