Nail pros, here’s why opening your Christmas diary too early can cost you

Nail business mentor, Hannah Clayton, shares lessons learned from Christmas diary chaos…

Every year, as the summer sun is still shining, clients start asking the same thing: ‘When are you opening your Christmas diary?‘ For years, I used to cave at the pressure of releasing appointments, thinking I was clever. In fact, each year I was an exhausted mess, fell ill by Christmas Day and didn’t want to return to work to create New Year’s Eve nails, having only given myself a few days off.

I used to tell myself that I was building an empire, so I had to book in as many clients as possible, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. Having a full client base was miserable, and I felt like a service provider (not a human) making everyone look pretty for Christmas. Meanwhile, I walked around wanting a hug, two paracetamols for my back pain and a mince pie to feel festive.

It was only after a sharp talking to from my husband that I realised how unhappy I was. I made the promise to never do it again, and I’ve stuck to it!

Here’s the truth nobody really talks about: opening your festive diary too soon can lead to unnecessary stress, diary disasters and in some cases, burnout before the season has started. 

It’s August. Your clients are still in flip flops, enjoying holidays. You decide to open December bookings now to ‘get ahead’. Within a week, your diary is full. Great news, right? Not in my eyes!  

Fast forward to November and suddenly your well-planned diary doesn’t look so perfect. Clients have swapped shifts at work, family plans have changed, and you’re already looking at your diary with panic. You’re juggling reschedules, turning away your best clients because you’ve ‘no space’, and mentally carrying the stress of Christmas for months on end. 

The hidden problems: 

• Unpredictable schedules: In August, most clients don’t actually know their December commitments. This means more changes, more cancellations and more admin for you.
• No flexibility: Your loyal clients who usually book last-minute? They miss out, or you feel pressured to squeeze them in, which eats into your personal time.
• Burnout before December: Carrying the pressure of a ‘Christmas rush’ for months takes its toll. By mid-December, you’re exhausted and less able to enjoy the festive build-up.
• Overpacked diaries: With so much time between booking and the appointment, you may fill more slots than you can realistically handle. 

Instead of rushing to open your diary in late summer, try holding off until late September or early October. This gives clients enough notice to plan, but keeps your schedule flexible.

Make sure to:

• Release appointments in stages: Give your VIP or regular clients first access before opening up to everyone else.
• Set deposits: Protect your income and reduce cancellations by taking a deposit at the time of booking.
• Block your rest days: Before you release slots, decide when you’ll take time off and mark it in stone. Do NOT cancel it because a client can only make that slot!  

December is busy, but it’s also a time when you should feel festive, spend time with friends and family, and reflect on the year and what you’ve achieved. Build in buffer time (small gaps for last-minute fixes or no-shows); limits (decide how many hours/days you’re prepared to work and stick to this), and self-care (a short break, proper lunch or early finish once a week can help keep your energy up.)

Your diary should work for you – not the other way around. By being intentional about when and how you open your Christmas bookings, you can be in control, serve your clients better and still enjoy the season. 

So, this year, resist the pressure to open too soon. A thoughtful, strategic approach will make December far more manageable.

As a side note, my mentoring spaces are filling up fast for the last quarter of the year, so if you’d like to work with me and cover this and more, pop over to www.studiobyhannahbeth.com. You can also DM me on Instagram: @studiobyhannahbeth for information on how I can help you reach your goals.