What are you doing during the “Summer Slump?” For businesses in the hospitality, construction or painting industries it is the busiest time of year, but for many others it is quiet. If you’re in that second category – don’t squander that time (please note: spending time with family and regenerating is not squandering – but don’t get used to it!).
So what do you do when things are quiet? It’s the perfect time to prepare for the coming year. Here are some things that you could be doing when things are slow:
- Holiday – yes, vacation is important. If you have staff it’s good to get them to use up some of their annual leave when things are slow.
- Update your website – write blog or social marketing posts for the next few months now so that you have a pipeline ready.
- Review your Disaster Preparedness plan. I know that this sounds mundane, but we don’t get to choose when disaster strikes. Earthquakes, wildfires, and now even pandemics ,ust be considered normal business risks and require planning in advance. They always come without warning. So dust off those plans, or write them up, and practice them.
- Write your SOPs – having documented procedures and checklists actually makes your business more scalable and valuable. Get things out of your head and onto paper! Then review it with your team and seek to improve it.
- Review your expenses – go back over the last 12 months and review your business spending. Challenge everything and ask if you could do without that item or with a cheaper alternative. This is especially true of your software subscriptions – these are now a massive part of most business spending and small things have a habit of sticking around even when not being used.
- Do staff performance appraisals – every team member deserves to know how they are doing and have a plan for growth. Spend time discussing their performance and opportunities for growth and development.
- Dust off that Business Plan and update – or, create it. Envision where you want to be 3 years from now and work backwards.
- Read – lots! Pick some books that you want to read or listen to and commit to spending some time each day expanding your mind with new ideas.
I always have a long list of “deep work” that I want to do over the summer months. I NEVER get enough of it done, and I still have a pile of books from last year (and the year before) that I want to read but didn’t get to. But I do always get some of this deeper work progressed. I hope that you do too.
