Is Summer Your Slow Season?

The official start of summer is about two weeks away! For most Canadians, it’s an exciting time of year. However, for many Canadian business owners, summertime is a bit of a downer. Depending on your industry, the summer can represent your slow season. If you happen to sell winter sports equipment and clothing, you know exactly what we’re talking about.

If summer is your slow season, it doesn’t mean you can’t be productive.

In fact, it can be an opportunity for you to grow your business! For example, it may be the perfect time of year to renovate your store. As we’ve pointed out in numerous blogs before, renovations can work wonders in reinvigorating a business.

A newly renovated place of business both intrigues consumers and re-energizes employees. If you believe that this forthcoming summer will be a slow season for you, it may be the perfect time to shut things down for a few weeks, renovate your store and plan to have your most successful fall and winter seasons ever!

“Use your slow weeks to take on a couple of those big improvements that always seem to get pushed to next week or next year,” advises Ty Kiisel on OnDeck.com, “Overhaul your landscaping, update the interior, install new equipment, decide on new inventory or product lines, revamp the menu, reset the prices, or redo the showroom.”

Step up your online game.

Never let it be lost on you that the majority of Canadian consumers go online to research brands, products and services before making their buying decisions. And by “go online”, we mean surf the internet on their smartphones. Nearly everyone uses their handheld mobile devices to go online. Is your company website mobile friendly? To get through your slow season, you’ll want to optimize your website for mobile use.

“As consumers increasingly rely on their mobile devices, it’s even more important that your business has a mobile-friendly website,” says Kiisel, “Without one, you’ll be missing from search results and missing out on potential sales originating from mobile devices.”

What portion of the year is your strongest season?

If you’re of the mind that the summertime will be slow, no matter what you do, you may want to take time during the summer to plan ahead. Go over the books with your accountant and figure out what your top selling items are and what times of the year sales are at their highest. Devise a marketing strategy that will help to capitalize on those past successes.

“Spend some time with your entire team thinking about the year ahead,” suggests Quill.com, “Plan out your marketing calendar and budget for the year. Think about your content schedule and plan. Dream about goals and think about the rewards you will have upon reaching those goals.”

Whether you choose to launch a new marketing campaign or renovate your store this summer, Synergy Merchants’ unique merchant cash advance program can help you to afford it! For more information, please don’t hesitate to call Synergy Merchants at 1-877-718-2026 or email us at info@synergymerchants.com. You can also apply online for a free, no obligation quote!