Ensuring Your Small Business is Summer Ready

May 19, 2022

Summer is fast approaching bringing with it both challenges and opportunities for small businesses of all kinds. Whether your business heats up during this season or experiences a slowdown, now is the time to prepare so you can play it cool in the months ahead.

To help, Chris Hackney, BayFirst’s SVP, SBA regional sales manager and small business expert, has compiled a few simple steps you should take now to take advantage of the summer season.

1. Evaluate Your Staffing Needs. Can you anticipate a need to adjust your company’s staffing for the summer? Businesses such as garden stores, lawn care providers, waterfront restaurants, AC repair and pool supply companies may have to increase their staff. Some businesses may need to decrease staff based on customer demand. Others will consider taking on interns while high school and college students are on break rather than hiring full or part-time employees.
2. Review Your Cash Flow. Predicting your business’s cash flow is always a challenge, especially if you’re a seasonal business. Now is the perfect time to review last year’s summer numbers to try to identify stretches of times that were noticeably busier or slower than others. This will allow you to plan for anticipated expenses or deficits and develop a backup plan, such as setting up overdraft protection, seeking a small business loan, padding a business savings account, or obtaining a line of credit.
3. Review your Emergency Plans. In many areas of the U.S., summer weather means hurricane season, flash flooding, tornadoes, droughts and more. But regardless of where your business is located, disasters can happen at any time. Therefore, it’s critical to have a contingency plan in place for the months ahead. And, if your business typically experiences a lull in the summer, now is the perfect time to use your downtime to plan for the unknown.
4. Change up Your Marketing Efforts. During the summer, many plan vacations and spend more time outdoors. So, be sure to adjust your marketing efforts accordingly. Do you sell products that might be popular on vacation or during car rides? Is your service something consumers will want to take advantage of on a summer Friday? If so, be sure to mention this in your promotions.
5. Focus on Online. If you expect foot traffic to dwindle, make sure that the online side of your business is in great working order to allow people to purchase from you online to make up for any loss you may see in in-person sales.
6. Consider Summer Hours. During Summer, there are more hours of sunlight, which means people are likely to stay out later. If possible, try to take advantage by extending your hours. Or, if summer is a slow season for you, consider changing your hours to ensure your best staffed only when there is the most demand.
7. Analyze Your Business Plan. A business plan serves as a roadmap to success and should be revisited on an annual basis. The slower summer months are the perfect time to review the first half performance and adjust plans going forward. Is Q4 the time to find an investor, expand or purchase real estate? Have your goals or target audience changed? If so, now is a great time to review your plan and revise accordingly.

If you need more ideas or are planning to make some big moves, contact a small business expert at BayFirst or fill out the form below today to learn how we can help take your business to the next level any time of the year!