We all have those lulls in business especially during school holidays unless your business has services or products that thrive during these periods, but what do you do when it goes quiet?
Do you shut yourself off from work or do you look at other activities that you have been putting off i.e. business admin, updating templates, archiving old files?
If you find yourself lost during these lulls, here’s a few things to consider to keep your business developing with when it’s not paid work.
Review files
How often are you reviewing your files and even archiving those that are no longer needed? Probably not that often if you are flat out during busy periods, and when it comes to chilling, you just want to completely forget about work. Set yourself some time to look through your files, start with key documents like your booking form, policies and accreditations and check if they are all up to date. If not set some time in the diary to fix this, I would recommend breaking it down into document chunks if you dislike doing this kind of admin. Or you could ask your amazing VA to help you with this!
Automations
Wanted to look at automations for your business but not had time to do so, well in a lull period it’s the perfect time to. Start with thinking what tasks you would like to automate, i.e contacts in CRM, filing to your preferred drive, automated emails for signups, the list can go on and on. Once you know what it is you want to automate, then look into which automation programme you prefer, I like Zapier but there are plenty of options to consider. To break it down and make it doable, get at least one automation done and go and enjoy your day!
Finances
A word a lot of people shudder at, and a task a lot of us will put off for closer to the self-assessments deadline. If you are notorious for not collecting receipts or updating your financial info, now is the time to do. Trust me when I say you will feel slightly smug when yours is completed before the end of January. As I mentioned before break it down into monthly chunks to complete instead of doing it all in one unless you are motivated to do so. Look at what apps can help, Xero and other finance systems have easy apps for collecting your expenses. Or if you do lose paper, why not take a photo for later use and send it to a file you set up with your automations.
Social media
Struggling to get your social media planned in, during a lull is the perfect time to collect ideas and get some posts scheduled in. Review your previous posts and consider how you can reuse them going forward, testimonials are an obvious one to reuse. Blogs can also be a source for breaking down posts into carousels or weekly posts across a month, decide what fits your strategy and roll with it. If you need some tips I would recommend booking a one to one with Clare at Sunshine Digital if you are at a loss.
Get snapping
Need some photos for the season or just a new headshot, well you have time to get snapping! Also look through your photo library anything you can reuse or style for future posts. Having a clear idea of what you want photos of will make it much easier so if you fancy autumnal leaves, new pics of the pets or something seasonal plan it in. If you cant get the angle you need, always ask for help or seek out a Professional Photographer who will be able to get the pics you need.
Business plan
Where do you see your business going, and what do you need to work on to get it there? Spend some time reflecting on the past and plan for the future a great one for Twixmas if you haven’t already planned in for the New Year. You can also do this for your networks and connections too, think about are they working for you or do you need to build relationships further. Knowing where you need to focus for the future months will help you get on track and working towards the goals.
Training courses
Been meaning to learn about a programme, or complete a course then during your quiet period is a great time to get on it. I like to look at various programmes or apps to see what could benefit my work and help my clients, but learning about them can take some time. I book myself some time, dedicated to learning about them and playing around with them, but it can be overwhelming if your not sure which to look at. So, what are you putting off learning, do you need to learn more about cyber security or refresh on professional accreditation you require for your profession?
There you have it a few tasks to sort during a lull, and even though you may have considered them as boring it’s worth it. If you haven’t outsourced them or not in the capacity to do so then its best to use the time wisely to get the tasks done. I know it can be hard to motivate yourself but allocating your time to do so will benefit you when you do get business again and you have all the tasks scheduled or completed.
If you struggle with time, I would highly recommend giving the Pomodoro technique a try. It’s one of my favourites for focused work. I give myself a big coffee and play classical or reading music to keep me going. Once my 25 minutes are up I go and do something away from the computer to give myself a break and celebrate completing the jobs.
Or if I have you running for the hills after reading this, then maybe you need to speak to a VA or expert in which ever field you want to avoid. The majority of the tasks listed above are things I help out with and i enjoy doing them, so there are always options to outsource, but you need to decide what is right for you.
I hope this helps and give some clarity on what you need to do to keep you business developing even if its not paid work. Good luck and if you need help, please drop me a message.
Take care
Rachel x
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