Heading into the holiday period without confirming your critical systems are working creates unnecessary risk. Discovering your website is down, your payment processor has stopped working, or your contact forms are routing to deleted email addresses whilst you are trying to enjoy time off forces stressful emergency responses. Running systematic tech checks now means you can actually take your break knowing your business systems will function reliably without constant monitoring.
In this episode, Charly covers:
✅ Setting up website uptime monitoring and email delivery verification
📌 Testing payment systems, contact forms, and automation workflows
🔗 Creating proper backup systems with off-site storage before you leave
✅ Checking SSL certificate expiration dates to prevent website errors
📌 Ensuring team members have appropriate access to critical systems
🛡️ Configuring auto-responders, email forwarding, and calendar blocks
Small oversights compound during holiday periods when response times are slower and technical support is limited. An automation that failed a month ago but went unnoticed suddenly matters when it was supposed to handle customer enquiries whilst you were away. An SSL certificate that expires on December 28th prevents your entire website from displaying. A backup system that stores files only on your hosting server becomes useless when that server experiences problems. These scenarios are preventable through systematic verification. The episode walks through practical checks for website stability, payment processing, email systems, backups, and team access to ensure nothing critical breaks whilst you are unavailable.
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Music and Credits to:
Paradise Found is covered under Creative Commons.
"Paradise Found"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/licenses/
https://rumble.com/v71xtps-what-tech-checks-should-you-complete-before-the-holidays-2025640.html
Life is busy and there's just so many things to remember. What tools do you use to help you keep on top of ALL the things?
Heading into the holiday period without confirming your critical systems are working creates unnecessary risk. Discovering your website is down, your payment processor has stopped working, or your contact forms are routing to deleted email addresses whilst you are trying to enjoy time off forces stressful emergency responses. Running systematic tech checks now means you can actually take your break knowing your business systems will function reliably without constant monitoring.
In this episode, Charly covers:
✅ Setting up website uptime monitoring and email delivery verification
📌 Testing payment systems, contact forms, and automation workflows
🔗 Creating proper backup systems with off-site storage before you leave
✅ Checking SSL certificate expiration dates to prevent website errors
📌 Ensuring team members have appropriate access to critical systems
🛡️ Configuring auto-responders, email forwarding, and calendar blocks
Small oversights compound during holiday periods when response times are ...
Customers assume your website information is accurate. When your site displays standard operating hours during holiday closures or reduced schedules, you create frustration, damage trust, and risk negative reviews. People arrive at closed shopfronts, encounter unanswered phones, or receive no email responses because they relied on outdated website information. Automating your holiday hours across all touchpoints prevents these problems whilst saving you from last-minute scrambles.
In this episode, Charly covers:
✅ Where to update holiday hours for maximum visibility and impact
📌 Automating schedule changes on WordPress, Shopify, and Squarespace sites
🔗 Using Google Business Profile to update maps and search results automatically
✅ Coordinating auto-responders, voicemail, and contact form messages
📌 Scheduling announcement banners to display and remove automatically
🛡️ Planning welcome-back messages now to save time when you return
The consequences of incorrect business hours extend beyond ...
Overwhelmed by tech buzzwords like SAP, AI, or cloud computing? Chris Carter breaks it all down for small business owners in plain English — and even throws in a few jokes about alcohol, travel fails, and cybersecurity nightmares.
📌 In this episode, you’ll learn:
✅ What SAP actually is and why small businesses might need it
✅ How using your own data (and not others’) improves AI performance
✅ The real risks of AI-powered apps and why security should come first
✅ Practical tips on passwords, data storage, and migrating systems
🔗 Check out Chris Carter’s books on SAP, AI, and tech:
https://askcharlyleetham.com/chriscarterbooks
Connect with Chis:
https://www.Christophermcarter.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-carter-885159/
📢Join the discussion in my community: https://askcharlyleetham.locals.com
Follow us:
Locals:
https://askcharlyleetham.locals.com
Rumble:
https://rumble.com/askcharlyleetham
Odyssey:
...