Every business experiences slower periods. For some, they sell more during the Christmas season while others move at a snail pace. Some sell more during the summer and others less. The key is being aware of your seasons and alternatives available to solve the challenge and change the results.
All businesses need down time, breathing room to re-evaluate where we're going, and where we've been. What's working and what's not? What changes need to occur and where we want to go in the future?
Have you planned your breathing room time into your calendar year?
As a coach and independent professional, I know by personal experience and through the feedback of my clients, that during the slow times, stress, fears, and challenges on how to pay the bills increases. Sometimes, stress increases without any money factors because we're not used to having additional time on our hands, so our brain manifests things to fill the void. So, what are the alternatives? Good question. Let's explore the possibilities...
You can use the "save for a rainy day" philosophy by moving a certain percentage from a regular account to a money market or savings account for those rainy time periods.
You can plan out, on a paper calendar your seasonal periods. Look at your Income Statement for the past few years and you will see a pattern appearing. If that history isn't available, ask others in your field area. As a coach, I'm in the personal development field. I would contact others in this field, like speakers, trainers, who have experience and history and interview them on the question.
After you review your historical financial information, keep in mind that future economic conditions will influence your seasonal plans. This requires a strategy on who and what you are going to use for economic indicator flags. This may require a financial planner, economist, or other professional on your support team. Reading the paper or watching the news is all well and good, however, it can also add to confusion. Too many cooks in the kitchen syndrome. Choose one or two cooks and ask the others to leave the kitchen.
Remember, there are different seasons all over the world. When its summer in the United States, there is a different season in Australia and Japan. If your marketing vicinity is global, you need to plan your seasons very carefully. Each requires different marketing strategies and procedures. When marketing in the U.S. reduces, marketing in other countries will most likely increase. Especially if you are in the bathing suit business.
If your business is strictly local, you can create additional products or services that will only be available during that season. This can maintain momentum. You can use the "limited availability" technique for these products.
You can use this time for vacation, organize, plan, create new products, and use your rainy day funds for support.
As well as, establish new joint ventures, expand personnel, test new product ideas, clean up backlogs in filing or emails, send out thank you gifts, upgrade your computer, or learn new software.
Keep in mind that leaving some of these to-dos might be detrimental to your revenue generation thinking. Allowing a build up of the items that support your success, as mentioned in the above two paragraphs, can create a desire to create your own self-fulfilling prophecy. You will intentionally create a slow period when a natural occurrence wouldn't regularly happen. An indicator can be if sales don't return after the slow cycle. Pay particular attention if it occurs.
Choose to do some planning today on your seasons for the money results you want tomorrow. Identify when and where your business and industry seasons are, explore all possible solutions, and work through a plan to fill the void. The results will almost be a given.
Catherine Franz is a Marketing & Writing Coach, niches, product development, Internet marketing, nonfiction writing and training. Additional Articles: http://www.abundancecenter.com blog: http://www.abundancecenter.com
shuttle to Midway Beardstown .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareAlthough North Americans were the dominant population on the Internet,... Read More
We have been spending many hours surveying the market for... Read More
Writing a business plan for a franchised outlet of a... Read More
No matter what product or service you provide you will... Read More
( * - the word 'product' can be substituted to... Read More
There are no "rules of thumb" in the pursuit of... Read More
Is there a 'magical' way to exponentially grow your business?It's... Read More
We all agree Strategic Planning is a critical part of... Read More
From time to time there seems to be a flurry... Read More
A survey released by the American Institute of Certified Public... Read More
I'm not talking about posting the HBO schedule on your... Read More
Here is an abstract thought on studying nature and the... Read More
The current state of the available technology at the disposal... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains, former Great Plains Dynamics is excellent fit... Read More
When someone mentions business planning we have been conditioned to... Read More
Growing your own small business can be one of the... Read More
Businesses tend to avoid doing their annual business plan thinking... Read More
Many cities have home pages on the Internet. Many of... Read More
Is there really anything as a problem? Does chaos or... Read More
Remember Chux? The disposable diaper that took the market by... Read More
The University of Exeter in the United Kingdom recently published... Read More
If you own a mobile franchise business and wish to... Read More
The time when a website was just a simple set... Read More
In most business plans, no matter how striking the idea,... Read More
When developing the competition section of your business plan, companies... Read More
Green Bay Hummer H2 SUV rentals ..Six Sigma is becoming a proven approach for businesses and... Read More
I've either been involved with or held a process-related role... Read More
There is so much small business information available today that... Read More
Strategic alliances are increasing at a rapid rate. It is... Read More
Imagine an office without a desk, or lights, a computer,... Read More
Writing a business plan to help you direct and manage... Read More
If you own a mobile franchise business and wish to... Read More
Many cities have home pages on the Internet. Many of... Read More
What do Mark Victor Hansen, Robert Allen, Anthony Robbins, Andrew... Read More
It doesn't take a Terrorist Act, Tsunami or Earthquake to... Read More
Business seems to drop, slow or even stop during the... Read More
As fast as you can say business disaster, your business... Read More
Anyone who has been watching the Idaho Market Carefully for... Read More
Making money doesn't make your reputation... your reputation makes you... Read More
Many of Ohio's downtown areas are in need of upgrading... Read More
A survey released by the American Institute of Certified Public... Read More
All investors greatly desire and are motivated by a clear... Read More
Cassy was an employee of a nonprofit who had been... Read More
These may sound like no brainers, but you'd be surprised.... Read More
Businesses tend to avoid doing their annual business plan thinking... Read More
No matter what product or service you provide you will... Read More
When in doubt, cut that out! Yeah, yea, doubting Thomas... Read More
When developing the competition section of your business plan, companies... Read More
As a franchisor it is imperative that you seek, find... Read More
When looking at Akron carefully one cannot help but notice... Read More
Strategic Planning |