The countdown to summer break has begun! As entrepreneur moms, the summer presents some challenges for us to continue to grow our businesses. There are so many things I love about summer break, especially having my kids home (and no homework!!), but as someone running two businesses, I always get a little nervous about how it’s going to go. I’m a planner, so I put together this article to help you prepare your business for summer break.
If you have been building your business while your kids are in school, that means over summer break some things are going to change. I think you can enjoy the summer with your kids and still build your business, but it’s going to require some preparation. These tips will help you use your time now to get ready for summer break.
How to Prepare your Business for Summer Break
Figure out what childcare you’ll need
This is going to look very different for everyone, but you will need to figure out what kind of childcare you need or want in the summer. If you are used to having your kids in school full time, that’s a lot of hours. Decide whether you need to cover that entire time or just a few hours a day.
Around here, there are a lot of camps for kids to go to. They are expensive and fill up fast, but it’s a way to have your children taken care of on a normal schedule.
Whatever you decide, try to plan for it as soon as possible. It’s stressful to be scrambling at the last minute trying to cover childcare for the summer!
Work ahead as much as you can
Use the last month or so of your kids being in school to work ahead in your business. If you regularly create content, see if you can get a couple of weeks ahead. Then, at least if summer hits and you aren’t able to get any new content out, you at least have some things already ready.
If you work with clients, look through all of your files and see what you can do now that you know is going to come up in the summer. This doesn’t mean you have to deliver whatever it is, but having it ready is like a little present to yourself when your summer is crazy.
Set your intentions for summer break
You have three options for summer break when it comes to your business:
- Continue as normal
- Slow down and work less
- Ramp up and work more
Where you’re at in your business as well as your kid situation will determine this. If you have little kids, but no childcare, you’re probably going to have to slow down in the summer and work less. Or if you have teenagers, maybe you continue your business as normal, except with more trips to the pool.
I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to work in the summer. It’s just what works for you and your family {and your business}.
The thing about summer is, everyone else is on summer break too, and this includes your customers. Even for people who don’t have kids in school, summer seems to be a more relaxed time. People are traveling and spending more time outside. If you have an online business, this means your customer is going to be spending less time on their computer. So, don’t be surprised if you see a decline in business and/or traffic in the summer, even if you continue as normal.
You may by choice, or necessity, slow down and work less in the summer. While this might mean you grow a little slower than if you could continue working as normal, that’s okay.
Since the summer is a slow time for business and people tend to take time off, you may choose to ramp up over the summer while everyone is working less to try to gain some momentum. If you are in a time of growth with your business, the summer can be a great opportunity to gain some traction.
Create your goals
To prepare your business for summer break, you need to set your goals now. I like to use the 12 Week Year method for setting my goals and the time frame works well for the summer.
Once you know what kind of childcare you have for the summer and how much you intend to work, list out what you want to accomplish. Make sure you look ahead to things you want to launch in the fall, because those will have to be created in the summer.
After you create your goals, prioritize them so you do the most important ones first. If you have a list of 5 goals, but only 3 of them will really move your business forward, you need to be working on those first.
Make a new time budget
I love a time budget! But, this is especially important if you’re are going to be working at home with your kids most of the time. You are going to need to squeeze as much as you can out of your work time and having a plan can help with that a lot.
If you have some hours you know are going to be available to work, put those in first. Then, add in the anchors of your day like meals, naptimes, and bedtimes. Finally, fill in all the other hours of the week.
Knowing how many hours you want to work each week helps, because you can make sure you allot time for all of those. You may have to do things differently in the summer like work early in the morning, on weekends, or late at night, but having a schedule will make it easier for everyone.
Don’t worry! With a little planning and forethought you can prepare your business for summer break! It will probably look different from the school year. It might grow slower than in the school year, but that’s okay.
Do these things now to prepare your business for summer break:
- Plan your childcare
- Work ahead
- Set your intentions
- Make your goals
- Create a new time budget
Of course you want to continue to move your business forward in the summer, but you also deserve to relax some too. Check out this post to set yourself up for some relaxing time this summer-even if your kids are home!