Why Summer Is A Great Time To Review Your Business

In this always on world, it’s easy to let things you should be doing to help your business slip away. With a million things you could be working on, and rarely enough time to get them all done, January becomes June, which becomes September, and before you know it you’re bringing in the New Year wondering where the last 12 months have gone.

 

If your business is established and running well, then letting things continue as they are can be a habit that’s hard to break.

 

Summer is a great time to review your market position and use the down time to tick off all those things that you never get around to doing.

 

Why August?

Despite what that ever-growing to-do list buried somewhere on your desk might tell you, it’s not unusual for you to receive less emails in Summer. With the prospect of better weather and longer days ahead, consumers and clients alike are packing up and jetting off on much needed holidays to rest and recharge after a long winter.

 

As a result, summer is usually quieter with new projects getting delayed and purchases getting put off until clients and have returned from their holidays. So how do you make the most of the summer months so that you’re geared up for the rest of the year?

 

A Spring Clean

Summer is the perfect time of year to do some deep thinking, give your business that belated spring clean you’ve been putting off, and get organised. Use this time to rethink and streamline your processes to make them more efficient. Whether it is editing your contact lists, updating your spreadsheets, or overhauling your system for managing invoices and accounts, use this down time to take care of all those administrative tasks that get shoved on the back burner to gear up for what’s ahead.

 

Don’t forget about your online presence either. Website need updating? Can’t remember the last time you posted on your blog? and when was the last time you tweeted? It’s time to revamp, refresh and renew. Canddi is a great tool that helps you track who is visiting your website and when, allowing you to figure out what is working and what isn’t, so you can focus your efforts on increasing business. Use this insight to give your website a bit of TLC, update the content, and remove everything that no longer works for you.

 

They may be time-consuming, but blogging and social media are useful marketing strategies. If keeping your blog and social media updated can be hard, why not use the summer to write up a fresh batch of blogs and tweets to last you the rest of the year? A tool like Hootsuite will help you manage all your social media in one place and this is invaluable in helping you grow your brand and audience and track your performance allowing you to stay organised and focus on growing your business.

 

Time for a Review

That holiday buzz means Summer can be the perfect moment to sit back and revisit your business goals and analyse how you are spending your time. Are you on track? Do you need to readjust and realign the day-to-day running of the business to get back on top? It can be easy to get distracted over the course of the year when life is moving at 100 miles an hour, so take a moment to weed out all of those less important tasks that pile up and prevent you from reaching your goals and come up with some new solutions to help you get on top.

 

You’ve already contacted all your client database to make sure you are compliant with the new GDPR rules so now is the time to make sure you keep in touch. Reach out to existing and previous clients you’ve been too busy to check in with properly to see how they are getting on.

 

Don’t underestimate the power of networking. Keeping in touch with clients and others in your industry will keep you at the top of your game. A quick lunch with an old client might give you valuable insight in how to grow further, expand your professional knowledge and help you remain visible in your industry. Are you turning away work during the busy months? Why not contact those clients and see if they are able to move it to August for a better rate to keep yourself ahead of the game?

 

Check in with your competitors too. Finding out where they are at is the best way to get your business moving and growing. By figuring out what works and looking at where in the industry you are currently placed, you can develop a strategy that will help you move to another level and get you where you want to go.

 

Building team relationships

Look after your employees and they will look after your business. It’s a message we hear time and time again, yet many businesses treat their employees poorly and relationships suffer as a result. Your employees are your most valuable asset and the face of your business, so take this opportunity to work on your relationships.

 

In this fast-paced business world it can be hard to stop and listen, so take some time to grab lunch or a couple of drinks after work with your employees, or even organise a team day out. Use a site like ThanksBox to help make your business a better place to work. Building relationships with your employees is a sure way of them finding satisfaction at work and your clients will benefit as a result.

 

Planning ahead

Brian Tracy says, “Every minute you spend in planning saves 10 minutes in execution; this gives you a 1,000 percent Return on Energy!”. Use the remaining down time planning and preparing for what’s next to avoid wasting time on the small stuff.

 

Trello will help you work more collaboratively, organise and prioritise tasks and get ready for Autumn and Winter and gear up to grow your relationships with clients and partners. Setting the direction now with a fresh plan and an empty to do list will leave you ready to move forward and excited for what’s ahead and My Audience is here to help you review your business and bring your ideas to life.

 

If you want to discuss how we can help you review your market position and gear up for the future, get in touch with us here