Episode 81 - 10 Ideas to Grow Your Business this Summer (While Still Enjoying Time Off)
As an entrepreneur, you should be able to go at your own pace in every season - even summer! Here are some ideas to help you enjoy some well-deserved time off! 📸 @allymatos
LISTEN TO THE EPISODE HERE:
As Entrepreneurs, we should be able to go at our own pace during the summer, but that doesn’t mean we need to sacrifice growth!
We are diving into some Ideas on how you can continue to grow your business while still enjoying your time off!
Depending on your business, summer might be a slow time, or maybe it’s your busiest of the year.
Regardless, you’ll be able to take ONE or TWO of these ideas to implement into your Business to see growth while still taking time off!
Evaluate Your Business Goals/Plans
Now that we are halfway through the year, it's a good time to re-evaluate the goals you may have set for yourself in January - Have any of those goals been accomplished already? Are they still aligned? Give yourself the ability to take some things “Off the list” and choose a new focus.
Create a Special Offer
This could be a pop-up event, workshop, flash sale etc. a way to bring in some cash flow into your business - run it for a very limited time!
Dive into Learning Something New
Switch out your latest Netflix binge to learn something new! Have you purchased a course that you haven’t gone through yet? Start diving in! Going on a long road trip? Download some educational podcast episodes or an audiobook to keep you company!
Network and Make Some New Connections
Use these summer months to connect with some new people and businesses. Think of things you are doing anyway - maybe a daily walk? People’s schedules are sometimes more flexible during the summer and going for a coffee and a walk could be just what you both need to get out of your “home office”
Create Systems to Save Time
If you find yourself without proper systems in your business, you could be taking much longer to accomplish tasks than necessary. Implementing some systems and streamlining your business now will make your life/business easier as you head into the fall/winter season. This is something we teach in Action Takers Club - and it’s game-changing for our students!
Reconnect with Past Clients
Check in with no agenda just to see how they are doing and how their summer is going! You’ll be surprised with how many people will come back and say, “Hey, I was just thinking of you…”
Refresh Your Website
If you have been meaning to update your website, about page, sales pages etc. but have been procrastinating, this might be a good time to update some of those materials. The clearer your front-facing materials are, the easier it will be to ultimately sell your products/services!
Batch Create Content
If you find yourself with a little extra time and you know that your fall/winter months are going to be full, it might be a good idea to batch create some content that you can simply release through your busier months.
Plan ahead for the Fall/Winter
What marketing campaigns do you want to run? Are you launching new products? Will you be hosting any special holiday sales? Pop up events/markets?
Attend or Plan a CEO Day or Retreat
This is a Pro Tip! Carve out a day where you can focus on working ON the business instead of just in this business. This is where you could actually take action on some of the other ideas of how to maximize your summer!
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TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:00] Danielle: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. I am so excited that you're here for another episode today, we have a short episode for you, and I'm super excited to dive in. We're gonna be talking about 10 ideas to grow your business this summer, while still enjoying, enjoying your time off. So I wanted to record this episode to give you some ideas on how you can continue to grow your business throughout the summer while not feeling like you have to be tied to your computer or your cell phone twenty four seven.
[00:00:29] I think it's important that, as entrepreneurs, we are able to grow and scale our businesses in a way that's sustainable, that still allows us to enjoy our life, right? So I'm excited to chat with you about some of those ideas today. And I know that depending on your type of business, you might have a really busy summer or you might have a really slow summer when it comes to your business.
[00:00:52] So regardless of where you're at, regardless of whether your business ramps up during the summer or slows down, I [00:01:00] hope that at least one or two of the tips that I'm gonna be sharing with you today are gonna help you. And so how I want you to listen to this episode is to listen to all the ideas and take just one or two ideas to actually implement into your business, okay. You're not gonna take all 10 ideas and try to implement all 10 into your business. I want you to, this will just be an inspirational episode and hopefully spark some creative ideas that you can do for the rest of the summer.
[00:01:28] So before we dive into the episode, I have a really exciting update and announcement. So you guys have been hurt hearing me tease that we are doing an in person mastermind V I P day. And I told you that we were doing something this summer and that it was gonna be really intimate and really fun specifically for our mastermind members.
[00:01:50] And we just confirmed everything last week. So I'm so excited to officially share it with you. So on August 3rd, we are hosting our very first [00:02:00] V I P mastermind day at a beautiful, gorgeous location in Mount pleasant, Vancouver, British Columbia. It's called Pavilion Cowork, which is an upscale coworking space.
[00:02:13] And, oh my goodness. You guys, I am so excited about this. So this is gonna be a day full of vision casting, goal setting, masterminding, strategizing, creating an action plan for the rest of your year, all while networking with an incredible group of entrepreneurs. Now, this is specifically, like I said, for our mastermind members and it is just an awesome and incredible way to get our mastermind members together.
[00:02:42] So I have been thinking and dreaming of a way to bring our mastermind together in person, because over the past, you know, two and a bit years we have been meeting virtually. And if you guys don't know about our mastermind, basically what it is, it's an intimate group [00:03:00] of experienced entrepreneurs who are all there to support one one another and we meet bimonthly for strategizing calls. And basically what we do is we have rotating hot seats where we'll have two people in the hot seat for each call and they'll come with, whether it be a challenge or an opportunity that they wanna work through, and then by the end of the call, they leave with like a specific plan on how they are going to move forward with that, you know, action plan to overcome that challenge or to capitalize on that opportunity.
[00:03:34] So it has been so amazing to be able to have this group of women. We open it up a couple of times a year for new members, but we have members that have actually been a part of our mastermind since we launched over two years ago, which is so, so cool. So I'm so excited to bring these women together.
[00:03:52] And as you guys know, applications for our mastermind are currently open. We are gonna be closing down applications very, very soon, cuz we are [00:04:00] almost full we're almost at capacity. We still have a couple of spots left. You can go to businessbabescollective.com/mastermind to apply. And if you apply by the end of this week, you can get an invite to our mastermind day, which is gonna be just so incredibly inspiring.
[00:04:19] And we're also gonna be having a rooftop lunch, overlooking Vancouver. It's honestly, just gonna be so beautiful. We have the beginning of the day, that's all gonna be on strategizing masterminding, coming up with the plan for the rest of your year, and then ending off within networking lunch, which is going to just be absolutely stunning and also just really inspiring to be able to network and connect with the other mastermind members and special guests that we have coming. So I cannot wait to see your application come in and to meet you in person. So let's go ahead now and get started with our episode today.
[00:04:55] Welcome to the business babes collective podcast. I'm your host, Danielle Wiebe. [00:05:00] In this podcast, you'll learn tangible business tips and strategies on how to grow successfully and sustainably. We'll also interview seasoned entrepreneurs. So you can listen in on their stories and see behind the scenes of what it took to grow and scale their businesses. Let's dive in, as we discussed the wild, exciting, crazy, challenging, rollercoaster ride of entrepreneurship.
[00:05:26] All right. So 10 ideas of how you can grow your business this summer, while still enjoying your time off. Let's get started with idea number one, which is evaluate your business goals and plans. So now that we are halfway through the year, it's a good time to actually sit down and reevaluate the goals that you may have set for yourself in January and really looking into these goals like, maybe have you already achieved some of these goals?
[00:05:54] If so, awesome. It's time to celebrate and get excited about that, but [00:06:00] also are the goals that you set still aligned with where you wanna go? So giving yourself the ability to take some things off the list, maybe and choose a new focus for what you wanna focus on for the rest of the year. Often, what ends up happening with goals and plans that we set out for ourselves is that we set them out in January and then we do not look at them again until the end of the year. And so I want you to take this opportunity now that we're halfway through the year to go back and actually reevaluate.
[00:06:29] This is actually somewhat of what we're gonna be doing during our mastermind day. And I think it's so, so important to do this as a business owner every single year. And, ideally, you'd actually check in with your goals somewhat on a regular basis throughout the year, whether that be monthly or quarterly, just to kind of recheck in, see where you're at and either continue on with the goals that you set, or maybe switch things up, choose a new focus.
[00:06:54] So that's number one. Number two is to create a special offer. This is really [00:07:00] fun, especially if you're wanting to inject some cash flow into your business. Maybe you need to make up some money within those summer months to kind of carry you through into the holidays. So this is something really fun that sometimes I like to strategize with clients about is how could they do something that's a limited time special offer that is somewhat of a popup?
[00:07:23] So it could be like an in-person popup event. Maybe you have a product based business and, and you're gonna pop up at a, a vendor show or a market, or maybe even at a store or host like a V I P event for some of your clients. This is a really cool opportunity to do that in the summer. Or you can do something if you're say a service based entrepreneur, maybe you host an online workshop. Or maybe you have a flash sale for your products or services. So a way, again, to bring in some of that cash flow and that extra money during the summer months. And what my advice for this is, is to run it for a very limited [00:08:00] time and have a little bit of a lead in period, and then have it run for maybe like, Two to three days and then have it close out. So that is another idea that you could do during the summer.
[00:08:10] Number three is to dive into learning something new. So I think that summer is just such a fun time to switch it up. So for example, if you are used to binging stuff on Netflix, not that there's anything wrong with that, but if you're used to watching a lot of TV in your evenings, maybe switch it upand instead of watching TV instead of binging the Netflix or a movie, maybe dive into a course that you have recently purchased that maybe you haven't had the time to go through yet, right? Or maybe if you're going on a long road trip, download some educational podcast episodes or an audio book to keep you company during that drive.
[00:08:52] Number four is to network and make new connect. So utilizing these summer months to connect with [00:09:00] some new people and new business owners. So think of things that you're already doing anyways, maybe you go out for a daily walk every day.
[00:09:08] So maybe you connect with someone that lives in your local city. Often some people have their schedules are a little bit different during the summer. So sometimes they're a little bit more flexible where they could go, you guys could go for a walk, you could grab a coffee, do a little walk and talk. And, um, you know, this is, this could be exactly what you both need to get out of your home offices instead of being cooped up inside all day.
[00:09:31] Like what better way to refresh yourself and connect with someone new than going for a walk and a coffee and connecting with that new person. I know some of my best connections business connections have started through a simple coffee date.
[00:09:47] So number five is create systems to save you time. So if you find yourself a little bit less busy during the summer months for your business, this could be an amazing time to [00:10:00] implement some systems and do some streamlining in your business that will make your life and business so much easier as you head into the fall winter season if that is kind of your busy months.
[00:10:12] So, this is something that we teach inside of action takers club, and it's been so game changing for our community and our students just to create those systems, those workflows for yourself. So you can stay super, super organized so that when you do go into a busy season, You know exactly what action steps you need to be working on and you're not wasting time.
[00:10:34] So that's number five. Number six is to reconnect with past clients. So I love this one so much because it's often something that we don't do as business owners that we maybe forget to do, or we don't think about doing, but checking in with your past clients with no agenda, just to see how they're doing, see how their summer's going. And often you'll be surprised with how many of them will come back and say like, Hey, I was just thinking of you, [00:11:00] or I was thinking of ordering this product, or maybe I want to book another session with you, whatever that might look like.
[00:11:06] So just checking in, no agenda attached, but just following up with some of the clients, some of your favorite clients that you've worked with, or favorite customers that, you've been able to service and just see how they are doing.
[00:11:17] Number seven is to refresh your website. So if you have been meaning to update your website, the about page or the sales pages, et cetera, but you've been procrastinating. This might be a good time to update some of those materials. And the clearer you are with like the front facing aspects of your business, like your website, where people go to your website to, you know, figure out who you are, what you do, what your services, or what your products are, the clearer and more concise and the easier it is for people to just go on your website and be able to click through and know exactly what you do and how they can potentially work with you or how they can buy your products or services, the better.
[00:11:59] So I [00:12:00] highly recommend if that's something you've been procrastinating on, you have a little bit of extra time this summer. That's what I would recommend working on for sure.
[00:12:07] Okay. Number eight is to batch create content. Now this can be really easy to do. And I think a lot of people don't think about how they can do this in a way that actually allows them to still enjoy their time off.
[00:12:22] So for example, this weekend I was away, I actually had my phone on airplane mode. I didn't even bring my computer at all. And we were just hanging out with family. So it's a private property on a lake in the States. And it's actually where I grew up. I learned to water ski there, all of that kind of stuff. So it was just really a nostalgic, it was super fun to bring Rosie there.
[00:12:44] And we were there with family and it was just such a relaxing weekend. So amazing. But what I find sometimes is that when I'm away, I have these ideas that come to me, I have these inspirations. And so what I do is that on my phone, I have my notes app, so if I [00:13:00] think of ideas of things that I can create, like content creation or ideas for podcast episodes, I will just write them out in my notes and this is a really great way that like, I can still enjoy my time off, but then if I have that inspiration, I can write it out.
[00:13:18] It takes me like five minutes to do, I just write it out. And I, I put those little ideas that I, that I've been thinking of. And then I can just like put my phone away and forget about it. And so that is a way that I would encourage you that even when you're away, even when you're on vacation, if you think of something or if you have this like idea or inspiration for your business, write it on your notes. Or if you have just like a journal with you, write it out in your journal and then put it away and then continue to enjoy your time.
[00:13:47] so that's what I would say is that use your notes to your advantage and, um, you can still have your phone on airplane mode. You can still be without a computer and. Still have creative ideas that you can batch for for future times.
[00:13:59] Another thing [00:14:00] that I like to do as well, when it comes to batch creating is, for example, the other night I was on a walk with Rosie and we were on the sea wall, um, in Vancouver, which is really close to where we live and we were walking and just enjoying.
[00:14:12] And I thought to myself, this surrounding is just so beautiful. And I just wanna remember these moments. And so I took out my phone and I took out my video and I just like videoed the surroundings. So I videoed the ocean and there's a few spots where I stopped and I just started filming with my, for, with my camera, just different aspects of like the sun was like beating through the trees and, um, the sun was reflecting off the water and it was just stunning.
[00:14:37] And so I just recorded a bunch of little videos and I was thinking to myself like, Hey, this is really cool because I'm not only recording these videos for my own memory, right? I just wanted to remember this moment and how peaceful I felt in this moment. We saw some, you know, uh, geese in the water and I was showing Rosie, and then, so I, I was filming the geese, and anyways, I was just thinking about it and I'm like, Hey, this is really cool because I'm [00:15:00] filming these videos to remember it for myself.
[00:15:01] Also, I can repurpose these videos that I'm using and I can repurpose them for my content, cuz I have been thinking like, Hey, I want more content that just is really natural and easy to create. So I just wanna go on my video, you know, I'll go on my camera, roll, find a video, put some words to it and be able to just create, create content that's super simple, but still provides a ton of value for my community.
[00:15:28] So that was just a quick example of something that I did that was like batch creating content, but it didn't feel like I was like, I wasn't sitting down at my computer or I wasn't like staring at my phone trying to create content. I was out and about doing fun summer things while being able to batch this content. So that's number eight.
[00:15:47] Number nine is to plan ahead for the fall and winter months. And again, this is something that doesn't need to be on your computer or on your phone. You can put those things away. You can take out a notebook and [00:16:00] just start putting down ideas, brainstorming things that you wanna do in the fall, in the winter.
[00:16:04] What maybe ways do you wanna promote your business? Do you wanna run any marketing campaigns. Are you gonna be launching any new products? So just kind of, any holiday sales, maybe. So just visioning out what you want, your fall and winter to look like, just brainstorming and having those ideas down on paper. Okay.
[00:16:22] Number 10, which is the 10th and final idea for how to grow your business this summer is attend or plan a CEO or day retreat. So this might sound like, oh my gosh, Danielle, that sounds like a lot of work. But it doesn't have to be. So let me give you an example of two different ways that you could do that.
[00:16:42] So you could find one in your area. You could attend one. There's a lot of people who host to these retreats or a day or whatever, where you can go and you can actually plan out the rest of your year. Obviously we are hosting that with our mastermind day. So you can find one that you can actually just attend [00:17:00] yourself, or you can host one for yourself, or maybe you ask one other person, maybe either your business bestie or someone who also has a business where you're like, Hey, let's get together on this one day, and let's instead of working. In our business let's work on our business, right.
[00:17:19] So that's actually creating a plan and visioning out what you want your business to look like. Whether that be two years from now, five years from now, and then like breaking it down into like really, really tangible goals that you can implement and take action on.
[00:17:33] So I actually recently just did this with a friend of mine. This was a few weeks ago and it was actually kind of a practice for what we're creating for our mastermind day, but it was on a Saturday and we just took a few hours out of the day. And Brent was with Rosie at the time. And it was just so amazing how much we were able to get done within that timeframe.
[00:17:53] We were able to actually break down all of our dreams, all of our goals, and then create an actionable plan to [00:18:00] make all of those goals happen. And it, it was so much fun. And so I highly recommend doing this. And if you can do it with another person, that is ideal, because you can help keep each other accountable and you can also brainstorm together. So when you, when you have someone that you can actually bounce ideas off of, it becomes so much easier to strategize on some of these things. And also it's just so much more fun to do it with someone else.
[00:18:26] So there you have it. Those are my top 10 tips on how to grow your business this summer. Again, like I mentioned at the beginning, take one, maybe two of these things and implement them into your business.
[00:18:40] This is just an idea. These are just fun things that are hopefully sparking some inspiration for you. So if you were inspired by this episode, if this was helpful for you, and if you plan on doing any of these, please let me know about it. Tag me over on Instagram @danilivinglife or @businessbabesco. I would love to hear what you're working on and also be able to [00:19:00] cheer you on.
[00:19:00] So don't forget also about our free training that we have available for you. It's over on our website and you can go to businessbabescollective.com/masterclass to get access. And I can't wait to see you again on Thursday for our next episode of the podcast until then I hope you have a fabulous day and we'll talk to you very soon.
[00:19:24] If you love this episode, make sure you screenshot, post and tag us on Instagram @businessbabesco. Want to know when the next episode goes live? Subscribe on your podcast app, and while you're there, give us a review. Until next time, keep dreaming big, setting goals and taking action.