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What To Do During Your Business' Quiet Period
Words Hannah George
FashionStock.com / Shutterstock Every industry and business has a slow season where it experiences a natural dip in sales and activity. In many cases, this can be seen as a good time to rethink your strategies and plans. So how can you keep things moving, and your team motivated when there’s less work to be done?
Tip 1
Get up to date with the administrative side of your business! Quiet periods give you a chance to breathe, to reconnect with others, and to do some remedial admin that you might have been putting off. Many administrative tasks can be seen as boring and frequently get pushed to the bottom of your “to do” list. Use this time to get back on top of everything and put systems in place to make your admin tasks less tedious.
Tip 2
Continue engaging with your customers! During quiet periods, you need to remember that there are still people out there who love your business and who will pay for your products or services in the future. Right now, they might just be watching their pennies or waiting for the right time to make a purchase. If you go quiet on them, they might end up forgetting about your brand and put their money with someone else when the time comes.
Tip 3
Network! Professional networking isn't about walking into a room full of strangers and trying to charm them into being your best friends. Nor is it about identifying the most senior people in the room and hanging off every word, it’s about consciously and gradually building up a list of contacts.
Tip 4
Get creative! Your business should be constantly evolving otherwise you will stagnate and lose relevance in your market. Use your quiet times to better understand your ideal customers and their changing needs, and think about how you can better solve their problems. Take a little time out to dream, play and explore those crazy ideas that you’ve had on the back burner for a while! You may just stumble upon the perfect idea to take your business to the next level.
Tip 5
Make noise when everyone else is silent! It’s generally understood that there are periods in the year when no one wants to be on social media like major holidays and events. Utilise this idea during slower seasons, they work the same way. Zig when everyone else is zagging!