The September Blues... or.. how not to freak out when sales dip..

[DinaLRosenberg]

September has always been a soft month for us. I see it in my current business. It was terrible when I owned a birthday party store... and I'm even seeing my husband slump (he owns a driving school).

I KNOW September is soft... but now- compounded with the daily negative beat of the newspapers and television news.... I'm trying my best to not freak out.

We've been in business 4 years- and while we have great data- we were on a growth trajectory most of that time and our #s haven't leveled off.. yet (maybe this year?)..

What are some of your best tips to not freak out? I try and shake it off and keep doing what I know works, but every once in a while in this entrepreneurial game I get that crazy swing of emotions ..

anyone else?

[Doran]

I always schedule a vacation during my slow months.  Jan/Feb/May are ALWAYS super slow for me.  So I book time off then.  Keeps me from worrying about the numbers and instead I just relax.  

[_Violet]

Just wanted to pop in here and say that I love that you do this, @Doran 🙂💕 Self-care is key when being a business owner, I'm sure! 

[DinaLRosenberg]

thats a great idea!!!

a little self care to get your mind off of things doesn't hurt.

[mksavage]

I love this @Doran !! This is something I'd like for us to begin doing more in future years too. A great reminder!

[sugarlab]

September always has a dip for us too. We try to use the slower times we try to experiment with new offerings and plan for the next busy season. I like what Doran said about taking vacation during slow months!

[JUYBoutique20]

For me it's usually Aug but when I'm in my feelings about the slowness I actually catch up on classes I haven't had time to watch.  During the down time pick something you want to be better at and work on it, catch up on emails, plan events for the next months, etc.  It's ok to feel crazy during a slow month just don't stay there.  

[Lovewell]

Hey! 
The anxiety is real when it’s slow. We drop off late summer a little bit. I caught myself asking my sister and co -owner, “are we doing something wrong?” And proceeding to slightly freak. But then here we are and business is picking up just fine! There’s always going to be seasons. Sometimes it’s great to take those moments to dig into any creative ideas you’ve been toying with and see if they work or even looking at what you are already doing great and build on that. 

sending our marketing emails have helped too! Shooting out a little 10 or 15% off coupon gives people a nice reason to stop in and puts you in their minds. 

you are not alone! Keep going. 

[DinaLRosenberg]

the marketing emails are amazing...

we were also thinking of adding a 2nd live sale on instagram on Tuesdays which is shaping up to be a slow day..

[mksavage]

Mid/late-summer is our slowest time too. After 5 years, I know it's coming, but it's still really hard not to stress. 😬

It has helped me to track quarterly financial goals and our year-to-date averages, in addition to weekly/monthly goals, because the busier months always tend to balance out the slower ones. Just looking at one specific week can be very stressful when you're in the midst of a slow month.

We also similarly use this time to try new things, catch up on projects we've been wanting to get done, plan for the future, take a little break -- all things that are harder to do when it's super busy. We did better this year at having a plan for the "slow" time, which helped -- I knew we were accomplishing set goals and working towards something concrete is always helpful. I'd like to do more of that next year -- make a plan in April for what June-August look like, including set time for all of us to take some substantial breaks!

[QuokkaCoffee]

I'm just realizing this for ourselves now! I've started to get more comfortable with the idea of these really big swings and am thinking about how we can really maximize that offset every year. 

Daily, weekly and monthly Square reports have their place but I almost exclusively look at quarterly P&Ls for our forward planning now. The drop in anxiety levels has been a godsend!

[TCSlaguna]

I try not to look at the numbers every day when I know it is slow. It will drive you crazy. Better to focus on planning for the busy season and creative ideas, as @Lovewell said. 

The last two years were really good for us as people were headed to the beach during lockdowns, but now things have returned back to the pre-COVID trajectory. Frustrating to see negative percentages in the Dashboard app, but have to remind myself that the previous years were abnormally good. 

We are using Square Email Marketing to do category discounts, like 20% off candles. It's a good way to get people to come in and look around, hopefully spend more. 

[GourmetOnWheels]

My business slows down in June and picks back up by October.

That's why during these months I do alcohol sampling at Wholefoods 3 days per week.$29/hr

René

[QuokkaCoffee]

I've definitely moved away from checking our daily sales because it kept compounding my stress. 😬 I also set boundaries around when and how long I can read the news for. (In the morning, but not first thing, and only to check the headlines!)

Unsure if you're the same but I'm very routine-based and have managed to lock Friday nights to switch off for a few hours and do something for myself. It usually means catching up on a movie/TV/books over a tasty wine. 

Simple yet effective!

Good luck finding your groove,

Kat

[Twiggy]

After 31 years in retail we’ve learnt to close for 2 weeks in September - get some me time - this might be a different 2 weeks stateside - most of Europe shuts for a month in August - obviously not if you’re beach wear - we’ve promoted workshops to help us through October September is a good time to clean the store - retouch paint all that stuff you couldn’t be bothered to do when it was hot. Do your bookwork ready for your IRS in January. Our sales are showing excellent growth but our overheads have increased. We like to use retail to full effect but as we sell variable priced goods at the rate of exchange that change daily -  it’s very difficult to use retail to the max. The £-€ is getting lower - top tip. Turn your electric off at night - change to LED bulbs - look at costs - our biggest expense is our Internet / mobile / phone / we look at getting good deals especially as new iPhones are released etc people are definitely requesting experiences more than product at the moment. 

[mksavage]

I love that you take two full weeks off during your slow season. That's such a smart way to take care of yourself, and to take advantage of the quieter sales days. You have me thinking about how we could do that -- one week for rest/recovery, one week for all those little projects you mentioned (painting touchup, catching up on bookkeeping)... definitely an interesting idea!

[ReginaRMT]

@DinaLRosenberg  All I can say is after 20 years in my line of business is, you will have busier times of the year. With that in mind I take time off and enjoy all my free time. Take up a new hobby that changes your mind set and possibly leads to new business ideas or routes to take your current business. Expose yourself to new people or options to branch out inside what you do on daily basis. Stressing about the business never works in your favour.