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
premium house cleaning Wilmette ..Whether you are seeking capital for your company or are... Read More
A well known, national chain of restaurants discovered that certain... Read More
"Rubbish!" shouted the large, aggressive man in the red-striped shirt... Read More
Writing a business plan is no easy task, sure you... Read More
Succession planning requires the owner of a small or medium-sized... Read More
Strategic planning is vital while starting a new business or... Read More
What gets measured gets done.How do you keep your business... Read More
Remember reading "Alice in Wonderland?"She asks the Cheshire Cat, "which... Read More
Writing a business plan is not an easy endeavor, nor... Read More
I love the excitement of starting up a new home... Read More
The decision to sell, or not to sell your business... Read More
We have been spending many hours surveying the market for... Read More
While writing an article recently on effective ways to bridge... Read More
1. Attempt Succession Planning Without Other Strategic Plans. Succession plans... Read More
Many business start-up kits or consultants will tell you one... Read More
The first task before hiring a contractor for home remodeling... Read More
The boom of the dot-com era in 1999 brought the... Read More
Most companies that are worthy of raising venture capital have... Read More
Canada's lean leaders need to look beyond the horizon and... Read More
A focus group is a group of employees or current... Read More
I recently took an organizational behavior class where my professor... Read More
Remember Chux? The disposable diaper that took the market by... Read More
The trick is to determine what uniquely identifies your best... Read More
The format of a Business Plan is something that has... Read More
If you are looking for a partner, funding, angle investor... Read More
personalized cleaning services Deerfield ..Do you work in or own a business that's affected... Read More
If you own a mobile car wash business or auto... Read More
For many consumers and producers, MSP is an acronym for... Read More
We all know that nothing runs without a plan, and... Read More
So what makes a vision successful? Everyday companies try to... Read More
Is there really anything as a problem? Does chaos or... Read More
Experts estimate that 90 percent of Australian businesses are overspending... Read More
What do Mark Victor Hansen, Robert Allen, Anthony Robbins, Andrew... Read More
I'm not talking about posting the HBO schedule on your... Read More
Every business experiences slower periods. For some, they sell more... Read More
When looking at Akron carefully one cannot help but notice... Read More
1. Attempt Succession Planning Without Other Strategic Plans. Succession plans... Read More
In 1989, Sony founded its Institute of Wisdom at the... Read More
Canada's lean leaders need to look beyond the horizon and... Read More
When in doubt, cut that out! Yeah, yea, doubting Thomas... Read More
Many of Ohio's downtown areas are in need of upgrading... Read More
Every new business owner knows that a business plan is... Read More
There are no "rules of thumb" in the pursuit of... Read More
What gets measured gets done.How do you keep your business... Read More
I am surprised how few sales professionals, independent consultants, and... Read More
How important is a vision statement to your company or... Read More
No matter what product or service you provide you will... Read More
Many very successful business owners may never have had a... Read More
The trick is to determine what uniquely identifies your best... Read More
Growth through acquisition should not be considered an option reserved... Read More
Strategic Planning |