Whilst we might not have had the best start to the summer, things are certainly hotting up this July. Hot on the heels of last month’s Brexit vote, England crashing out of the Euros and the triumph of the England rugby team in Australia, we have just enjoyed the hottest day of the year.

Amongst the many surprises that this summer has already sprung upon us, there is one key takeaway for me, and that is…planning.

For many businesses the summer is a quiet time and, as such, this is a great time to review where you are now, think about where your business could be and start putting a plan in place to help get you there.
As the old adage goes; ‘failing to prepare is preparing to fail!’ My advice to SMEs would be to use the summer months to get ahead with your gameplan.

• Invest time in knowledge sharing and undertake that all important staff training that you’ve been too stretched to do since the start of the year. Use the quieter period to invest in staff development and take time to ensure that you have a happy and engaged workforce.
• Get ahead with seasonal activity – it may seem crazy to talk about Christmas when we’re in the midst of a heatwave, but now is a great time to get your seasonal plan in place. Whether it’s planning the mechanism for a seasonal sale, getting ahead with creative and content planning or deciding what you’re going to do for clients and prospects over the festive period, use the summer downtime to plan ahead.
• Hold a strategy day with key members of your team. Spend time looking at what’s worked well so far this year and what could be improved upon in the latter part of the year. You could even take this back to basics and run a SWOT analysis session to apply to your ongoing business plan.
• Last but not least, plan in some time to have fun. Planning a team building day, staff BBQ or family fun day is a great mechanism for making your team feel valued, showing how much you appreciate their hard work, getting people to socialise and see beyond the boardroom.

With a new Prime Minister in place and the Rio Olympics just around the corner, there’s certainly lots for UK businesses to look forward to.

If you’d like help getting your business in tip top shape over the coming weeks contact me for more information