A B2B Entrepreneur’s Guide to Coping with Holidays

In honor of Thanksgiving, I’m going to make an assertion that’s sure to get me some angry comments:

Entrepreneurs with businesses that sell to other businesses (B2B entrepreneurs) hate holidays.

I realize I can’t speak for all B2B entrepreneurs. I’m sure some of them love holidays… particularly the few whose sales increase as a result of consumer holiday spending. But, for the rest of the B2B entrepreneurial community, holidays represent two things they don’t like.

First, holidays distract potential customers. They leave work early. They have holiday parties where they’re enjoying potluck lunches instead of sitting through your product demos. They often take vacation days surrounding holidays. Simply put, whether it’s Thanksgiving, July 4th, or even Valentine’s Day, potential customers get distracted during holidays, and that makes them less likely to buy.

Since making sales is already hard enough, it’s little wonder entrepreneurs have trouble getting into the “holiday spirit.” Everyone else’s day off makes it harder for B2B companies to hit their revenue goals.

The second problem B2B entrepreneurs have with holidays is they usually prevent the entrepreneurs themselves from working, and that creates frustration and anxiety. Entrepreneurs don’t see building…