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DQ News: Do You See a Summertime Slump in Your Small Business?

For a lot of businesses, or so I thought, summer means slower days and less work. Blame it on the kids being out of school or people taking more vacations. I know a lot of my mom blog and mompreneur work-at-home friends usually have slow summers, due to the kids being out of school (I’m glad my son is in year-round school and is out for just six weeks!)

But the statistics prove otherwise. Manta, an online community for promoting and connecting small business, polled more than 1,000 small business owners about their business during the summer months. I found the results a bit surprising.  A whopping 85 percent of the small businesses surveyed said they do not experience a slump in productivity due to increases in employee vacation time in the summer. And nearly three in four small businesses keep the same schedule through the year with no changes during the summer months.

I’m sure this varies, depending on your industry. And like I said, I believe work-from-home business owners see more of a slump (sometimes self-imposed) than those who make arrangements for their kids to be elsewhere in the summer.

It’s been a few years since I had a summer slump, but I tried to use the time to work on things I didn’t have time to work on during any other part of the year, like:

• Reviewing my marketing plan and making changes
• Organizing my office
• Taking a vacation
• Reassessing my website and marketing and making changes
• Writing! Summer is a great time to write an ebook, book or whitepaper if you have slow days.

If you do have a slump and need to keep building sales, use the summer to find new networking groups and conferences in your town. Schedule coffee or lunch dates with new contacts, and work to build relationships online and off.  Summer is also a great time to plan your promotions for the rest of the year. I usually find myself waiting until a few weeks before a holiday or event, with no preparation. Use the summer to get organized!

What’s your story? Slump or steady sales? How do you fill your time during down periods? Do you take off and head for the golf course, or do you use this time to grow your business?

From Small Business Trends

Do You See a Summertime Slump in Your Small Business?

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