Is Your Business On Vacation?

It’s so tempting.

The weather’s great, the days feel lazier, the kids are out of school, there are so many fun things to do … and you think, “Well, why not take some time off in June, July, and August and really kick back into gear in September? Nothing much happens in the summer anyway.”

Great plan … except for one thing. Momentum. Lost momentum to be precise.

Think about it. There are two times a year when people are fully engaged and seriously looking to do business … to make decisions and take on new commitments. From Labor Day to around the second week of November and from the start of the new year to “summer,” which means when school lets out, it gets warmer, and families go on trips.

You kinda have to gear up to be ready to take advantage of those times, to get your plans in place and your logistics handled. You can really only do that if you’re engaged during the two times leading up to those windows. Instead, a lot of small business owners effectively take those times off.

Look, there’s natural tendency to ramp down during the “holidays” and summer. I get that, and it’s fine. In fact, it’s critical to take some time off or you’ll burn out. Life can’t always be about work. You have to have some fun and take time to relax, but it’s a question of degree.

Take a couple of weeks. Throw in a Friday or a Monday here and there, but be careful not to go into sleep mode for extended periods … as in the entire period from November 15^th to Jan 1 and June 15^th to Labor Day … or you risk losing your mojo.

If getting back up to speed in September causes you to lose three weeks or a month of prime time, what do you have left before we all get wrapped up in the holidays? One and half months … tops. That’s doesn’t give you much time to make things happen.

Is this tendency to take the summer off a widespread phenomenon? Yes!

Both Denise and I have been noticing that a surprising large number of people just go on autopilot during the summer. I think it comes from wanting that summer vacation we got used to during our school years.

That’s understandable, but I’m concerned, because it just doesn’t work from a business perspective.

I’ve noticed a couple of things about the folks I work with. The most successful business owners are those who are working consistently on their plans and consistently toward their goals, regardless of the time of year.

And when they take time off, they really get away. When they’re off, they’re really off, so they can get refreshed and re-energized. No work!

So, here are my modest suggestions. By all means, take some time to really get away and enjoy yourself. Block the time and be completely off.

And … don’t go on hiatus for the entire summer or even most of it. Use the next 60 days or so to position yourself to be ready when the fall comes.

The less successful folks have this tendency to “disappear” for weeks at a time in both the summer and holiday time. Some will check out for a full three months in summer and another two full months at the end of the year and then wonder why they’re having a hard time sustaining any momentum and a harder time reaching their goals.

Bottom line: It’s really hard to be as successful as you want to be if you’re effectively dormant three to five months out of every year. You’re kidding yourself if you think “going under” for extended periods doesn’t matter.

It does.

So, enjoy summer. Take a lovely, relaxing, fun, vacation. And … keep the mojo workin’.

Warmest Regards,
Barbara