There’s no denying that the year tends to start off slowly for a lot of businesses, and business owners.
Our clients are in recovery after a big month of spending in December, or are on holidays and not in need of our services. For many business owners, January can be a real struggle to get the wheels of momentum turning again after a mammoth end to the past year.
The slow down that we face at the start of the year is not a bad thing- in fact, it is a fantastic opportunity to take stock, evaluate our business and make changes that always seem to get pushed to the backburner during the busier months.
We’ve compiled our list of the top tasks to tick off during business downtime so that you come out of it feeling more prepared and ready to tackle the busy months ahead.
Plan your social media
You can plan you social media content MONTHS ahead! Sit down and brainstorm a list of topics that speak to your potential customer’s pain points and /or highlight you as an industry leader. From there, you can batch create content. For each blog topic there are a couple of Facebook posts highlighting key takeaways, an infographic for Pinterest and some conversation starters for LinkedIn for example. You’ll have a whole heap of social media posts ready to roll. Or, go one better and schedule in your posts for the foreseeable future (you can use a scheduling app like Planoly or Hootsuite to do this) so you really don’t have to think about it. Now that’s time well spent!
Update your website
We all know the importance of fresh content on the website but, lets be honest, how often does that task get pushed to the backburner? Take the time to rewrite and refresh the content, and make sure all your information is up to date and your SEO will love you for it.
Set measurable goals
This goes hand in hand with reviewing your business plan (because we all know a business plan should be a living document that should be constantly reviewed and tweaked).
Touch base with past and potential clients
Now’s the time to reach out to all of those warm leads- even if they’re not ready to purchase you’ll be staying front of mind.
Polish up a business skill you are weak on
If there is one positive that has come out of the dreaded virus it is that we, as business owners, have access to experts across the world in the form of webinars, short courses, LinkedIn summits, etc. often for little or no cost. Perhaps you need to brush up on your networking, presenting or sales skills… guaranteed there are resources out there to help you so now is the time to utlise them.
Find a collaborator
Reach out to a business in a different field and plot how you will help each other grow. Perhaps it’s referrals, maybe you can value add to each others offering or perhaps it’s just a new connection to chat all things business about- whatever it is, it never hurts to grow your community.
Get feedback from past clients
Both in a public forum (those Google, Facebook and website testimonials are always beneficial) but also just take the chance to constructively listen to what your customers are trying to tell you they need, or what you do well or, even more importantly, where you can improve.
The biggest takeaway? Business downtime is the perfect opportunity to work ON your business rather than IN it.
And, as always, if you need assistance with any big picture problems, processes or goals contact us to chat about how we might help you.
