October is the last calm month of the vendor year. November arrives with the first markets. December is a blur. January is spent recovering from both. Which makes right now the moment to make the three decisions that determine whether Christmas is your best month or merely your busiest: what you'll stock, who'll be serving, plus which requests get a polite no. Kettle on. Let's plan it properly.
Order stock like December, pay like October
Christmas trading breaks your usual ordering rhythm in both directions at once. Sales volumes jump, so you need more of everything. But suppliers close over the holidays. Their delivery slots fill from early December. Prices on seasonal lines creep as the month goes on. The vendors who cruise through December ordered their dry goods and packaging in October at October prices, leaving only the fresh stuff to the weekly gamble.
Packaging deserves its own line item. Festive cups and branded boxes sell the same product for more, and they run out at the wholesaler exactly when you need them most. Order the fun stuff now. And if you took our advice about gift-angle products, those need labels and jars, on lead times that don't exist on the 1st of December.
The December rota is a chess problem
Every vendor needs extra hands in December. So does every shop and pub and delivery firm in the country. They started recruiting before you did. Three moves to make this month:
- Book your regulars first: the trusted helpers from summer have Christmas plans forming right now. Confirm the big dates with them this week, in writing, before their diaries fill.
- Recruit one spare: someone will drop out on a big weekend. This is a certainty, not a risk. A trained backup who wants occasional shifts is worth more than an extra heater.
- Train before the rush: a new helper's first shift should be a quiet November Saturday, not the 19th of December. An hour with your allergen matrix and the till comes first; the queue can teach the rest.
💡 Pro Tip
Write December's rota now with one rule: nobody works every date, including you. The vendor who staffs themselves seven days a week from late November serves their worst food, makes their worst decisions and starts January ill. Your best trading day protected by rest beats two extra days survived on fumes.
The December discipline of saying no
From mid-October the requests start. The corporate do that wants you Tuesday lunchtime an hour's drive away. The market that would love you for one quiet midweek slot. The friend's work party, mates' rates implied. Each one is flattering. Together they're how vendors end up exhausted in mid-December, having filled the diary with the season's worst-paying work before its best-paying work arrived.
The fix is deciding your December priorities in October, on paper, before anyone asks. Which days are bankers? Which are reserved for rest? What's your minimum worthwhile booking for the season, given every date now carries peak-season opportunity cost? We've written about saying no and minimum booking values before. December is the month those two posts pay for themselves. A polite template helps: "We're fully committed for December, but we'd love to look after you in the new year." Send it without guilt.
The one-page December plan
By the end of October you want a single page that says: confirmed events with dates and fees. Stock orders placed and expected. Rota drafted with the reserve named. Minimum booking value written down. January's cash cushion figure agreed with yourself. One page. Everything after that is execution, and execution in December goes to whoever planned in October.
Plan it on our templates
The Multi-Event Packing List and Staff Training Record cover the kit and the crew, and the Event Profit & Loss Calculator keeps every December booking honest.
Browse All TemplatesStock ordered early, staff booked and rested, weak requests declined kindly. That's the whole difference between the vendors who love December and the ones who survive it. Choose your camp in October. Sorted.
