As summer school holidays are about to begin, many people will currently be in the process of planning their holidays with friends and family. The summer holidays provide an opportunity for many to relax and take time out to recharge. With staff away on holiday, summer can be a quiet time for many businesses, with business slowing during this period. This can be quite nerve-wracking if you’ve never experienced quieter periods, but once September starts, business activities will more than likely resume as normal. 

How does seasonality affect my business?

You may be aware that some sectors may see significant changes depending on the season, or certain phases of the year, whilst others are less impacted by this. Take the Christmas rush for example for turkeys or Christmas trees. Regardless of the size or industry, seasonality plays a significant role in business performance and is sometimes the cause of an unexplained increase or decrease in profits. As a result, considering seasonality as part of your business strategy is essential in developing a clear understanding of business performance.

For SMEs, it’s really important to be able to adapt to business slowing in summer and other seasonal fluctuations in order to remain profitable throughout the year. As summer can be a quiet period for many businesses, your business may not see an increase in profits. Despite this, you can use this period to thoroughly prepare for when business gets back to normal in September. 

Tips for preparing for September

Below are some tips you could consider when preparing your business activity for September. 

1. Plan ahead

Seasonal fluctuations mean that there are times when your business will be busy. Most seasonal fluctuations are predictable, so it’s a good idea to have a firm knowledge of the cycle and plan your business strategies accordingly. For example, if your business is busy in September and relies heavily on the support of seasonal staff to manage increased demand during that particular period, you may wish to hire temporary employees or freelancers. By doing this, your core members of staff will be able to continue developing business operations without service levels falling during busier times. This also ensures that your staff are not overwhelmed with having to take on too much work. 

2. Stay in touch with your clients and customers

You could use the summer holiday to communicate with your clients and customers about what’s going on with your business, such as promotions and new products as well as your plans for the future. You could also send out a survey or email asking for feedback to further improve your business as well as approaching them to ask if they’re interested in receiving newsletters on a regular basis. 

Emailing your clients and customers and the use of newsletters and social media are essential ways to inform them of the current state of your business and plans for the future.  

3. Monitor your cash flow

With business slowing, cash is one of the easiest ways to monitor seasonal fluctuations. Despite the changes in your business cycle, there will always be staff or suppliers, if applicable, to pay throughout the year. Keeping a record of the sales from previous years will facilitate the management of your cash flow and could also help you to identify revenue growth opportunities. 

When it comes to cash flow for small businesses, the three items worth considering are cash liquidity, revenue and expenses. If you have high revenue, it’s worth considering increasing your production to increase profits. This will result in higher expenses, but that shouldn’t be a problem provided the profits increase. It’s also very important to maintain cash liquidity as it helps you to deal with business emergencies or where you run into unexpected investment opportunities. 

4. Plan your marketing strategy

Irrespective of the season, you should always plan your marketing strategy. You should ensure that your social media platforms are active and that everything is up to date. As many individuals will rely on social media for updates, you will need to use the summer to plan your online marketing strategy. For example, if you work for a stationery company, you’re likely to be busy due to children and teachers returning to school. During the summer, you could come up with any discounts or promotions on social media to ensure that children and teachers have the necessary stationery in place. If you’re in the process of recruiting staff for September, you should advertise the job position in advance to avoid any shortage of staff during this period.

Whilst seasonality seems challenging for many businesses, the above strategies can help you to prepare for the fluctuations. Although it’s difficult to anticipate every obstacle, using the summer season productively and keeping touch with your clients and customers will help promote and develop your business.