6 Tips to Help You Avoid the Summer “Slump” at Your Office

Unless your business is seasonably related to summer, any serious business owner or employee can expect to see a little dip in sales, productivity, or just overall action around the office. As a business owner, you need to plan ahead to avoid the traditional summer slump in business, or else you'll have a wasted summer. Although businesses are known to have the summer slump, this is actually a great time to get things done, so don't let the slump be an excuse for being inactive. If you want to prepare your business for summer before it's too late, here are four tips to get you started.

Address Staff Contingency Plans

Prepare a backup plan for vacation schedules and temp work replacement hiring; moreover, know who can replace or be replaced on short notice. Don't forget to make allowances for unexpected vacancies such as having babies or other family related emergencies. Vacations will likely take a lot of your employees away, so be sure you make a schedule of who is leaving and when—this way you won't end up with no one in the office if all your employees to vacation on the same week.

Update/Expand Your Company's Network

If you have lulls in business or sales during the summer, you might find you have a little extra time on your hands. Don't let this time be wasted! If you have a website, now may be the time to update/revise it making it more navigable for new or returning customers. Moreover, making a website mobile-ready today is a priority with many businesses. Keeping close contact with your web support and/or web developer staff is vitally important today.

Change Up Your Marketing Tactics

Devise a new summer marketing plan by reminding customers you are still in business--and interested in their return business. Offering summer discounts, significant discounts, never fails to lure wandering customers back to the store or website front. Be certain to contact regular and off-season customers via emails, phone calls, text messaging and fax if need be. Implement a referral/referral reward program for word-of-mouth networking. Remembering a co-worker's or customer's birthday with a post card or birthday card adds a personal touch in many cases.

Build Relationships Within and Without the Company

Summer months are perhaps the perfect time to invite a co-worker, client or even your boss out to dinner or lunch. Make the event especially casual and cordial. Cementing relationships during the less active months when people have more time and less work on their hands produces positive results during the rest of the business year. Likewise, never go anywhere without your old trust worthy, business card--with updated contact information.

Inter-Office Amenities

Summer months are ideal months to enroll in on-line or on-site campus courses for furthering one's education or job skills. Should an employer subsidize full or partial costs, all the better.

Everyone has a birthday and what better cost-effective way to celebrate than to provide monthly mini-office birthday parties to those whose birthday falls on that particular month. A birthday cake and a few moments off in the employee's lounge goes a long way in helping break the stress and help re-focus productivity.

Get All Equipment/Supplies Ready (or Replaced

No doubt servicing/maintaining your air conditioning/heating system and other equipment comes as a top priority in any business, but during the year when things get busy, this type of stuff might get neglected. Getting supply-related discounts from providers is another opportunity to both save and re-invest in other business-related areas. Having a designated outdoor area serve as a point of relaxation during employee breaks goes a long way during the sometimes boring summer months at work. The Eclipse commercial outdoor furniture range is a good example of items that you can get for your outdoor break room or lunch break area. Providing casual but functional outdoor furniture for such an area further helps workers go back to work with a re-focused and re-energized mindset of productivity.

In a nutshell, summer months can be among the most productive months during a business year—contrary to popular belief. Choosing wisely and implementing a strategy during summer many times brings long-lasting and profitable rewards during the rest of the year.