Whether summer is a time of ramping up or slowing down in your business, how ready are you for the summer shift?
Will you be:
- Taking vacations and time away
- Working less during the week (Hello 3 or 4 day work weeks!)
- Shifting your working hours to spend more time outside
All too often one of two things happen in the summer...
Scenario 1:
You have the best of intentions for taking time off, but you're so busy that you fail to make plans to step away.
- You're stuck behind your computer every day, or when you are away, you're getting endless messages from your team or clients and you can't seem to shut your mind off thinking about work.
- Suddenly summer is over and without ever enjoying a real break you end up frustrated and resentful.
Scenario 2:
You are able to take time away from your business for summer, and it's great... until it isn't.
- You realize that while you were taking time off, so were your sales and all your momentum.
- You're left wondering exactly what your team was doing while you were away.
- You end the summer feeling like you need to double down and try to figure out how to make tons of sales and get twice as much done in the Fall – cue the overwhelm and a stress-filled rest of the year!
The good news is that with the right strategy and plans in place you can take time off, enjoy summer instead of working (or thinking about work 24x7), and generate revenue.
To get started, get clear on what a “successful summer” looks like:
Next, protect your time.
As in right now, because this alone will help you protect your time this summer.
Open your calendar and block out your non-working times so no one can schedule during the times you want to be away.
- Planning to end your work days at 2pm? Great - block your calendar from 2pm on.
- Planning to take Fridays off every week? Great - block out all your Fridays.
- Thinking of taking off 2 weeks? Great - block those 2 weeks even if the dates aren't confirmed yet.
Protect your future time now, because as time goes it will be harder and harder to truly step away.
Bonus tip: Have your VA / EA go into your scheduling app and do the same.
Remember to schedule time away with revenue generation in mind.
The #1 reason that revenue dips in the summer for most businesses?
It's lack of planning and preparation.
You need a plan that supports your revenue targets and goals.
Start by determining your summer offers and revenue targets.
Then consider:
- What can you sell now and deliver later?
- What can you promote now and sell later?
- What systems and team can you put in place now so things are not dependent on you to market, sell, and deliver over the summer?
- How will your clients schedules and buying patterns shift in the summer months?
Build out a crystal clear month-by-month plan:
- What needs to happen when
- Who does what
- What systems your team will need
- What insights will be measured, tracked, and reflected on
Your objective is to create a capacity-based plan to determine staff responsibilities, and a roadmap for generating revenue.
This plan is what will allow you to take time off, without losing revenue or momentum.
No matter how much you want to work this summer, leverage your time so you are as productive as possible on the most important and aligned activities.
To take time away and fully check out, you need to implement SPSTI: Strategy, Planning, Systems, Team, and Insights.
SPSTI is what allows you to reverse engineer your results, leverage your time, and ensure you are delivering on your goals and revenue targets within the summer capacity you and your team have available.
This model applies to more than just your time, it also applies to continuing to generate revenue all summer long, even if you are vacation.
Questions to consider:
- Strategy: What are the most important things to be focused on to set yourself up to not only continue to drive revenue all summer long, but also set yourself up for a successful Fall and end of the year?
- Planning: Who needs to do what when, within the capacity you have available, to achieve the goals and revenue targets that you set for success?
- Systems: What systems can you leverage to simplify and streamline how you achieve those goals and targets while continuing to deliver an exceptional experience for your clients?
- Team: Is your team clear on what success looks like and what they will take ownership of? How can you uplevel your right-hand person to set them up to successfully implement your vision and goals for you?
- Insights: What visibility do you need and what will you measure to ensure your team is on track for successful results?
Ready to Create Your Plan?
As you can see, with some planning and preparation, your business can be generating revenue while you are recharging and enjoying the summer!
Best of all, your right-hand person can develop and implement SPSTI for you. Enroll them today in Simplify to Scale, and we will train, mentor, and certify them on how to successfully scale your business and remove the dependency on you.
Want to work together to get your business ready for your next round of rest and relaxation?
Let us help you define a strategy and actionable plan to hit your revenue and growth targets while you are taking time away.
- Book a VIP Strategy Day to spend the full day deep diving into your business success, or book a 2 hour strategy session to laser focus on a specific question, idea, or challenge.
- We are now accepting Visionary CEOs and their right-hand Ops Leads into our signature Simplify to Scale mentorship program. Learn more and join us at leanoutmethod.com/scale.
- Join us for our transformational in-person business retreats and masterminds each Spring and Fall at leanoutmethod.com/retreats.
- Have questions? Want to explore partnering together to scale your business? Book a FREE strategy call to explore working together.
by Crista Grasso
Crista Grasso is the go-to strategic planning expert for leading global businesses and online entrepreneurs when they want to scale. Known as the "Business Optimizer", Crista has the ability to quickly cut through noise and focus on optimizing the core things that will make the biggest impact to scale a business simply and sustainably. She specializes in helping businesses gain clarity on the most important things that will drive maximum value for their clients and maximum profits for their business. She is the creator of the Lean Out Method, 90 Day Lean Out Planner, and host of the Lean Out Your Business Podcast.
