A Social Media Managers Guide To Handling Summer Slowdowns in Business
The weather is cookin' but business isn't? Don't worry! Slumps are normal in any business, especially in the summer in our line of work. There are vacations, nice weather, and let's not forget all the summer brain fog, where people aren't focusing on bettering their business as much.
As social media managers and business owners, we have to be able to prepare for these downswings. On our agency side, when we review our business at the end of the year, summer is consistently our quietest season. So, over our SMM agency journey, we've learned how to manage these off-times for ourselves, and can't wait to share this with you to help your business, too.
Here are tips for avoiding and handling the summer slump in your business:
Forecast & Prepare
If this is your first year in business, it's perfectly okay not to see the trends of your business, yet. However, we can assure you that you'll never regret having a plan for business as a backup plan, no matter what time of year you have an unexpected or expected slowdown. Ensure that you create a budget and plan for times like these.
Focus on other aspects of your business
During the busy season, we know that things can get a little...well, shoved under the rug. During the downtime, take the time to focus on the other aspects of your business that might not usually get the attention they deserve! This could be setting up new tools, revamping your systems, getting organized, or even taking a course you've been pushing off!
Pivot
Try a new freebie, try a different approach to sales, a new promotion, or a new service offer. There's no harm in pivoting and trying new things, and it might be exactly the motivation that your potential clients need to convert.
Try Smaller Offers
As much as we love to go-big-or-go-home with large-scale projects that pay the bills, don't forget about the small things! Having a passive income stream, a smaller-scale service, or a one-off service could be beneficial during this season. Once busy season picks-up, you can even scale them into larger projects as well.
Remember, that just because you're feeling the summer slump, doesn't mean that your mindset needs to be in a slump, too. Ebbs and flows of a business are normal. You can get through this!
