Editor’s note: This article was first published in May 2013, during Spain’s economic crisis; its advice to open a Facebook business page and build a mobile web template reflects the online landscape of that time.
Summer is coming. In the past, small business owners couldn’t wait for these dates to take a well-earned break and travel the world, but because of the crisis many small shopkeepers will be hit by the slowdown in sales that comes with summer, followed by the September slump.
Since we have to assume sales will drop at this time of year, unless your business is an ice cream parlour or you are in a tourist area on the coast, we can at least use these quieter months to think and take some steps to improve our business. (Read: 10 steps to improve your business in 2013)
1. Grow your network.
If you are going on holiday, take Richard Branson‘s advice and look around you, because you may find new business ideas. Meet new people too, strike up conversations, talk business, look for strategic alliances between entrepreneurs. Go to conferences on business, social media or some of the latest developments in today’s business world. Between a swim and a mojito, take the chance to broaden your knowledge now that you have the time.
Take the opportunity to call big clients and ask whether they would like to have coffee or dinner with you, now that they will surely have more free time (just like you). Don’t be shy: the worst they can say is no. Enjoy your holiday, but always carry a business card with you.
2. Update your website and improve your online presence.
Use the time to change the things on your website that you didn’t get round to. Open a company page on Facebook or look for contacts on LinkedIn. If you are thinking of selling online, summer may be a good time to set up your online shop, and also to get a web template for mobile devices.
3. Review your goals.
Take out the list of objectives you set for the year and assess how the business is going. Are you close to reaching your goals, or are you doing worse than expected? If you have drifted away from your objectives, clearly something has to be done. With more free time, you will probably come up with some ideas to make that happen. You may also find this helpful: How to sell more in our business, where the strategy rests on three steps: more customers, more sales per customer and bigger sales per customer.
4. Above all, read and learn.
This may be the moment to take up again a habit that has largely been lost among Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs: reading. There are books that can help you open your mind with stories of successful entrepreneurs, business people today telling how they made their fortunes, and so on, and also with new developments in your sector. Anything that can give you fresh ideas.
Perhaps it is time to learn some finance to get more out of your money. But above all, if I had to give you one piece of advice for the summer, it would be to relax (though not too much, to avoid the post-holiday blues) and come back from your holiday with a more open mind, ready to take more smart risks.
Further reading
- 8 profitable and innovative business ideas from around the world
- 5 business ideas aimed at millionaires
- 9 marketing strategies for small businesses with hardly any money
Featured image: Rick Obst, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
