Six jobs to do during quiet summer months
It’s been an unprecedented time and many businesses have operated differently in the past year. However, as travel becomes a possibility once more and many professionals choose to go away while schools are on holiday, many businesses will still experience a summer lull. Savvy business owners use this quiet time to get ahead with admin, marketing, CRM and practical maintenance so that they can hit the ground running when autumn comes. Knowing you’re up to date can also make it easier to relax if or when you go on holiday yourself.
1. Get on top of your admin
If you’ve got pages of notes waiting to be transferred to your CRM system, or your diary is a mess, now is the time to get on top of it. A quiet summer is also a great time to delete old emails and generally do a bit of housekeeping on your PC or laptop. Your computer might run faster and you’ll be able to find your files more easily.
Summer might be your excuse to enter organisational heaven, but if you’re not wired that way, don’t worry! Outsourcing your admin to a virtual assistant could be a better solution for you – get in touch to find out more.
2. Update your marketing plan
While your core business is quiet, you can concentrate on how you’ll market it when potential clients come home from holidays in the autumn. Summer is a good time to look back over the last quarter and see what worked and what didn’t. Maybe your offering has changed and you now have a different product, service or direction to tell people about. How will you go about it?
3. Content planning
In line with your marketing plan, you can also plan your social media and get your content organised. Repurpose existing content, and plan new topics to explain through blogs and videos. A social media scheduling tool can be very useful – once you’ve got your content ready to go, all you have to do is schedule it and let it roll out the posts at the time you specified. This can also be a great solution if you’re going on holiday.
4. Connect with your network
Sometimes we connect with another business owner at a networking meeting but the collaboration doesn’t get off the ground. Make the most of the gap in your work diary and get in touch with them again. You can also contact former clients and connections while you’re not under pressure from your core business – who knows what opportunities September will bring?
5. Review your policies and agreements
We all need the appropriate insurance policies to run our business safely and inspire confidence in our clients. Checking that they are up to date and right for our needs is an important job for quiet times. Quiet summer months are also a good time to check software licenses, vehicle leases, energy contracts, employment policies and any other documentation that supports an efficient business.
6. Maintain your business premises and order supplies
It’s difficult to get the office repainted when people are coming into work every day. Fortunately, the summer lull presents a good opportunity to redecorate and make repairs. Likewise, if you have corporate vehicles, service them in summer when they are in less demand.
If your staff wear uniform or use branded products, July and August are the months when you have time to check the stock cupboard and reorder as necessary.
Of course, we don’t want you to be so busy over summer that you can’t take some time off yourself! Our VAs can help you balance the load while you’re away, and we’ve got some other ideas to help you here:
Five reasons why taking time off work is important
