Summer is almost upon us, and it’s time to make some crucial alterations for the success of your small business. The season can bring specific challenges and opportunities, from staffing issues to cash flow management, which needs prior attention. If nothing else, it’s a seasonal excuse to execute on improved plans.
Plan staffing better
Arguably, a unique challenge associated with summer is staffing. This can happen for three reasons:
- Time for holiday: When the sun is shining, more of the workforce is likely to request time off. This calls for appropriate management of staffing requirements during the time to ensure that the customers are well managed.
- Demand changes: Businesses like garden centers, terrace bars and restaurants, swimming pools and air conditioning services can see a demand uptick in summer. This calls for preparing for increased workforce requirements. Alternatively, if the business caters to winter requirements like heaters or blankets, there might be fewer staffing requirements. These need to be prepared for as well.
- Time for a break: But most importantly, it can be time for you as an entrepreneur to take a well-deserved break. While you might feel even more responsible than usual when the staff is on break to step up, you need a break too. Appropriate planning in advance can allow you to enjoy the beach vacation and have the business running smoothly as well.
Increase efficiency
If nothing else, a seasonal change can be a good time to do some regular stock-taking on business processes. This in turn can help to create efficiencies in the business for the next season. Specifically, three processes can be considered:
- Declutter and reorganize: Considering that running a business can feel like always being on a treadmill, there’s little opportunity to reorganize on the go. This is why, you can use seasonal changes to schedule for exactly these activities. Decluttering and reorganizing can be big productivity boosters that free up time to grow the business faster. It can also be a time to upgrade existing products and processes. Examples can include anything from more powerful accounting software or even simply getting pre-printed 1099 tax forms that increase efficiency.
- Plan ahead: It can also be a time to make plans for the next season. This is particularly true for seasonal businesses. From staffing requirements to cash flow management, there’s much to consider. The better planned your business is, the more likely it is to run smoothly.
- Support customers: But perhaps more importantly than anything else, this can be a good time to reach out to more customers. With more employees across businesses likely to take leaves at this time, business development can take a back seat. This is why, your business can gain more customer attention at this time than any other. Also, you can go the extra mile to ensure that underserviced customers can get the support they need. This can build up brand reputation and even make your business their port of call.
Manage cash flow
The lifeblood of any business is cash flow. Ensuring that it’s flowing smoothly through the year is then of the highest importance. This aspect comes into particular significance in summer if the business is a seasonal one. For a summer-oriented business, this could be a time of significant surplus cash flow. It’s important to plan how to save the excess income for lean seasons instead of amping up expenses, which can happen otherwise.
Get summer ready
The key takeaway is that summer is an opportune time for any business to get prepared for the next level of growth. If your business caters to summer requirements, it can even be a time for a bonanza. Ensuring that you have planned for increased demand can go a long way in garnering extra business during this time. On the flip side, if you see a business lull during summer, it can be a time to plan well for peak demand in the months that follow. But even if your business isn’t season dependent, you can still take advantage of the seasonal change. It can mark a time to declutter, reorganize, create greater business efficiencies and even amp up business development.