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20 Jun 2016

Take Advantage of Summertime

It’s hard to stay focused during the summer – from vacations and pool-side Saturdays – and as a business leader, you can actually use that to your advantage. For this blog, we talked to Growth Coach Michael Neuendorff, who owns The Growth Coach franchise in San Mateo, California.

Michael said that summer is definitely the season of relaxing and recharging and that’s a good thing. It’s vital for all hard-working people! Ideally, plans for vacations and staycations were set prior to the beginning of summer, which means you won’t have any unplanned disruptions to the business – or the activity necessary to keep the company going and growing.

“You see, the truly strategic business owner who has great work-life balance will calendar their life at the beginning of the year, then work around the life events. This is because of the clear understanding that a business’ appetite can never be satiated. If you work, then look for downtimes to relax, they will be far and few between. Looking for ways to fit in relaxation rather than plan them ahead is also a way to create stress for the family of the business owner who are looking for increased leisure activity during the summer. The key is to plan ahead! By doing so you’ll focus on work when it’s time to work and play when it’s time to play,” Michael said.

However, when you’re not enjoying your downtime, it’s important to stay on your game. The fact is that a business should always be active – activity creates momentum and that leads to growth. Stifling that momentum by reducing activity beyond an understandable rest period may impair the business’ opportunity for next stage growth. Momentum is as important in business as it is in athletics and, sometimes, you have to make a concerted effort to keep it up.

You can also look at summer as a time to get ahead. Is your competition taking it easy because things have slowed down? This is an excellent opportunity to seize and double your efforts! When your competition is getting lazy, each extra effort on your part will count for even more.

That said, if your business has seasonal patterns and summer happens to be your slowest time, then this is the time for the owner and their team to focus more energy on strategic activities. There’s no rule that strategic planning should just be an end of year or beginning of year activity. Do it now. In reality, many people do little strategic planning at any time of the year. So, you’ll gain a competitive edge by reviewing former plans, measuring progress, then updating those plans to meet what the marketplace is telling you.

Your slow season is also a great time to get trained on new skills or reinforce existing skills to prepare to be even more competitive during the next busy cycle. Again, most small businesses don’t invest in real training for their employees. Many feel they don’t earn enough to warrant training, may leave before an ROI is seen, or there’s just no budget for it. This type of thinking or planning keeps a business small and employees from growing to their full potential. Great people want to learn and grow. They are seeking opportunities to contribute to the business in a significant way. Involve them in planning exercises and put them in to training programs during slow periods.

Implement these ideas and you’ll have a summer that’s fun and productive.

Learn more about Michael’s business and read his blog here: http://www.buildandbalance.com/.

Filed under: Business Coaching

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