What to Do When Business Is Slow: Tips for Entrepreneurs
While every retail business is insanely busy during this holiday season, other small businesses (my freelance writing company included) are experiencing the opposite at the end of the year.
For B2Bs, the end of the year is often when things grind to a halt. Projects wrap up. People go on vacation. And for an entrepreneur, this can often mean one of two things, if not both, happen:
- Full panic mode. With fewer clients and revenues, we start to freak out about where the money will come from.
- Sloth mode. With nothing better to do, we retreat into our fuzzy PJs and essentially forget about our businesses until we have to reemerge in the new year.
Now, certainly, the holidays are a great time to take advantage of being able to take a break without disappointing your clients, but I’d like to give you a few strategies for making the most out of this slow period.
Dust Off Those Forgotten Projects
There’s a reason I and other business writers continue to quote Michael Gerber’s book, "The E-Myth": he rightly accuses business owners of too often working in their businesses rather than on them.
You know what I mean: you’re too busy handling the day-to-day tasks of running a business to deal with the bigger, long-term stuff like strategy or planning for the future. You likely have a list of projects you’ve been telling yourself you’d get around to…only you never seem to find the time.
That time is now, when business is slow!
For me, that “thing” is writing an ebook I’ve been putting off for an entire year. It’s something that could potentially bring me profits, so why haven’t I taken the time to write it? Because I’ve been too busy working in my business!
A slow season is the ideal time to refocus on those parts of your business that may not directly result in instant sales, but which could still help bolster your business for the future. Market your business. Spend time networking. Analyze your current products or services and determine if you need to make changes, like raising your prices or modifying what you sell.
If you haven’t spent a lot of time trying to find new customers, now is a great time to develop your marketing strategy and set it up for next year.
Next year, when you’re busy again, you’ll thank yourself for taking the time to work on these projects!
Do a Year-End Analysis
I’ve always been a fan of New Year’s resolutions, both in my personal life and at work. Looking back at the past 12 months can help you determine where you want to take your business in the new year.
Spend time looking at key areas of your business:
- How is traffic to your website? Has it gone up or down? What could you do to improve it?
- How are sales? Are there opportunities your competitors are missing that you could take advantage of next year?
- What about your employees, if you have them? Are they happy? What does turnover look like? Where can you find more talent?
- How are your expenses? Are they all justified, or are there some you could cut to increase profits?
The objective here is to take a hard look at the reality of your business, not simply to give yourself a pat on the back. Acknowledge any mistakes you and your team have made this year, and find solutions to ameliorate them in the future.
This will also give you a better understanding of what goals you should set for next year (goals/resolutions = potato/potahto!).
Now…Take a Break!
Once you’ve invested the time to take on those forgotten projects and assess how your business fared this year, you’ve earned some time off! Now, I don’t mean “take time off” as in constantly checking your email and taking a few work calls from home. I mean completely unplug from work. Trust that when you return in January, your business will still be there. It can survive without you for a few days or weeks. (Plus, as you know by now, everyone else is taking a vacation, so you’re really not missing a thing!).
Don’t underestimate how beneficial taking time away from your work can be for your work. When we step away from our desks, our brain cells regenerate, we relax, and we often have better ideas about our businesses than we would have if we hadn’t taken time off. I do some of my best thinking on walks or in the bath, when I’m doing anything but working!
When things slow down for small businesses, it can be jarring, especially for new entrepreneurs. But with the right mindset, you can actually use that time to improve your business, as well as enjoy a little well-deserved respite!
