Dog Days of Summer

As the 'dog days' of summer are upon us in the Midwest, one common complaint we hear from many business owners and business development professionals is the lack of new business growth. Whether it's the increased heat and humidity, summer storms or vacations, business tends to slow down during this time period. Here are some suggestions of things to do until these days have past:

• Look ahead to September: We see a lot of business activity happen in early to mid-September when the weather has cooled down and the kids are back in school. What do you need to do to be prepared for the influx of activity that comes with this occurrence?

• Review your processes: As business owners, we should review how we're doing things within our business and making sure they are both efficient and effective. This could be a great time to make tweaks and help you and your team develop new habits.

• Refresh your relationships: You aren't the only one experiencing a slowdown; so are your customers, team member and referral sources. Take some time out and be intentional about scheduling time to grow relationships over a cold beverage. 

• Take a break: Slow times are a great opportunity to rely on your team to run things while you take some time out to go play in the sun or sit in the shade with a good book.

We hope some of these ideas will help get you past the 'dog days' of summer and lead into fall ready to do more business.