What To Do When Business Is Slow
One minute you’re booking clients and making sales right and left, and the next minute you’re wondering if the internet broke down. You tell yourself it’s just one of those days, and you keep doing your thing. But after a few days, you’re wondering what’s happening and quickly reassure yourself that next week will be better.
After a few weeks, you decide that this is getting old, and you wonder what you can do to improve things so you can get out of this so-called rut. You start to doubt yourself and wonder what you did wrong. You even bust out the pity party decorations for a minute because you’re honestly stumped. Everything was going so well; what gives?
After years of running an online business and having the data to back this up… you’re just in a season. A “slow season” will probably come again next year around this time (how’s that for predictability?), and you have two choices: you can get defensive, angry, and play the victim, OR you can do one or more of these things…
Accept the season that you’re in
Accept the season you’re in? Boo, no one wants to accept that things aren’t going the way you planned. But guess what, my friend? You have no control over it anyway. So, you can take the hard way (negatively go through it) or the easy way (smile, think positive, and keep going.)
Accepting the season, you’re in means that you can give yourself a break and just be present. I know that’s hard to hear for all of you problem solvers, but this whole process starts with acceptance. If you don’t accept it, you’re living in the past, and you’re just going to dig yourself into a hole. Do you think people will want to invest and spend time with someone who carries a chip on their shoulders, or would they rather work with someone who sees the glass half full? Show up for the people who need you.
Give your business a tune-up
Working on your business and doing the things you haven’t had time to do will keep your hands and mind busy and allow you to tune in again to what you do. Sometimes we step so far away from the work we’ve already put out there because we’re busy with clients and students we forget to pay attention to what got us here in the first place. Here are some tune-up suggestions:
Optimize your website
Go through your website like it’s your first time there. What kind of changes could you make? Would it make more sense if you did this or that? While at it, ensure you’re following the best search engine optimization practices.
Tweak your landing pages if needed
Check those landing page conversion rates and give them some TLC if needed. If you’re not sure how to start, then read this post.
Create new content and work ahead
How good would it feel to be a month ahead with social media posts? Set a goal for yourself and get plugging away. When things start to pick up, you’ll be so grateful this is all taken care of! If you’re good with social media posts, what about creating a new freebie, digital product, or working on that new launch plan stuck in your head for a while. Now’s a perfect time!
Learn something new
Whether it’s an existing course or program collecting dust on your computer, or maybe you want to immerse yourself in something, this is the perfect time to become a student. Part of being a coach is staying 5-10 steps ahead of your dream client, so education is a must! Make time for it!
Organize your systems and workflows
What if you had to take the next three months off and you had an assistant to step in for you. Do you have all of your processes down somewhere, and are they easy to follow? You may not feel the urgency to do this because you’re one person team, but did you know that laying out the steps to something you do repetitively can help you iron out any kinks so you can simplify and improve the entire process in general? I’m down for that.
Clean out and organize your inbox
Do you know that your inbox full of messages that don’t need to be there? Clean it up. Get extra credit for creating filters, folders, and labels to keep things color-coded and organized. 🤓
Update your client avatar
When’s the last time you did this? If you haven’t in the last year, consider your dream client and if they’re “still the one.” This evolution can get ahead of you before you realize it, so be sure not to neglect this work.
Prepare for tax season
The most adult thing mentioned here… preparing for tax season. Think about last year. How did it go? What do you wish you would have done differently? Were you scrambling for receipts, or was it pretty laid back? Maybe you need to create a savings plan or start recording your income and expenses better?
Brainstorm
Brainstorm, dream, plan, etc. When’s the last time you grabbed a notebook and a pen and just sat down to start writing? There’s probably a gold mine of ideas stuck up in that mind of yours!
So, you see, plenty of things can be done in a season where it’s not as busy as you’d like it to be. The important thing is, is to not be so hard on yourself. Look at how far you’ve come and be grateful for every moment up until now. You’re doing awesome!