Slow summers offer chance to regroup
NEW YORK — With the summer offering many small business owners the prospect of a slower pace and maybe even a little down time, it’s the perfect opportunity to do some planning, reassessing and catching up.
Owners who take advantage of the summer doldrums say it’s a chance to rethink the plans made at the beginning of the year.
“You can make changes to your business model, re-evaluate clients, really plan out your budget and some of the investments you want to make,” said Richard Magid, CEO of SoundBoard, a Boonton, N.J.-based company that runs support groups for small business owners.
“You can get a sense of the good, the bad and the ugly — what have we planned for that wasn’t done, what have we done that didn’t work,” he said.
One of the most important items on a summer to-do list is to schedule a meeting with your accountant. Such a session would help give you a clearer picture not just of your taxes, but of your overall business direction for the rest of this year and beyond. It can help you make those decisions on new hiring or capital investment.
Speaking of finances and taxes, did you get an extension until Aug. 15 to file your tax return? If so, finish the return sooner rather than later, so you can focus on other things over the next six weeks.
For companies facing their busiest period later in the year, summer provides valuable prep time.
At Hot Headz of America, which sells merchandise to kiosks at shopping malls as well as other retailers, summer is the time to plan for the holiday selling season, when it ships 80 percent of its products.
“We re-evaluate what we want to do for the winter,” vice president Jay Oxenhorn said.
Company executives also use this time to go to trade shows and to find new customers.
The summer is also a quiet period at Walrus Brands, a Chicago-based consumer products company, so owners Gregory Lilien and Ryan Saunders believe it’s the best time to implement a new software system.
Lilien Saunders said the summer is the time to plan for the upcoming academic year, as college bookstores are some of the company’s big customers. And some of that planning, which includes company employees, is done outdoors, to take advantage of the nicer weather and more relaxed atmosphere.
“We do kind of mini focus groups. We talk about things going on with the company,” Lilien said. “It’s nice to be thinking about work in a very non-work environment.”
Many management consultants advocate bringing a summer atmosphere into the workplace, whether it means holding a barbecue in the parking lot or holding a picnic for employees and their families. A little seasonal levity can go a long way toward lifting morale.
Anyone who gets together with a customer on the golf course knows the benefits of combining business with a little leisure time. Magid says meeting clients at outdoor restaurants is a great way to help further a relationship; he also noted that summer is a good time to reconnect with a customer who has drifted away.
This is also a good time to think about how you want to mark the holidays with your employees and customers — do you want to give gifts, and if so, what kind? Do you want to hold a holiday party?
The summer is also a good time to replace or repair equipment and get it up and running before the busy season. If you need repairs or renovations done, it’s easier to get it done when some of your staff is on vacation and less likely to be inconvenienced. And this is definitely the time to be sure your heating system is working well.
Magid said it’s also a great time for owners to improve their business skills. He suggested they look for a book on a small business topic they need to know more about, and get themselves up to speed before the fall.
Along that line, the summer is a good time to peruse the fall catalogs for local colleges that offer business courses, or to see what seminars are being offered at nearby Small Business Development Centers.