A roadmap of ideas to help you navigate the slower season

As summer has set for another year and autumn has taken hold, there is certainly a lot ‘in the air’ these days. The weather is a bit cooler and crisp with the days getting shorter. Pumpkins are appearing on porches and in lattes. Leaves are beginning their final journey; ready to burst into spectacular colors and then plummet to the ground… only to rot and decay. A sign of things to come for your sales? Not necessarily…

Ok. I know it might seem a tad morbid to say that about the leaves but it’s what happens. It’s like those insurance commercials; ‘If you’re a leaf, you change colors and fall off trees. It’s what you do’.  Plus, this issue is Halloween-based as much as it is Autumnal, so it fits. But I digress… really, what we are looking at here is change.

“Change, for lack of a better word, is good. Change is right. Change works”. I’m paraphrasing of course but as with many things, businesses included, there will always be change. An ebb & flow is simply part of the natural business cycle.

Now, this does not necessarily apply to all ECPs, but let’s be honest. Going in to the holiday season, along with the winter weather, doesn’t really bring out the shoppers in droves for getting someone the gift of new spectacles. I’m quite sure that there are some of you who may be fortunate and can keep a steady pace through the entire year including the holiday and winter seasons. Perhaps it’s your geographical location where the weather is kinder (certainly not here in the northeast) or maybe you’ve done a lot in past slow seasons to keep your customers engaged through these times. If you haven’t, then maybe this article will provide you with a few things that you can do.

Know before you go

You don’t need New Year’s to make resolutions and changes. Sure, it’s a good time to do it because it is a new year and viewed as a starting point for new opportunities… but honestly, that’s only because the year changes for everyone. The reality is, New Year’s Day is no different than tomorrow… it’s just the day after today… except taking place specifically on December 31st. My point is, you do not have to wait until then, nor should you, to start making some changes. Simply put, opportunity is always present. It is not dictated by a specific date on the calendar unless you mark it and ‘make it so’. If you are coming into your slow season, ‘that’ is the timeframe to start planning. Making a change at New Year’s is reactive; making a change now is proactive. One major key here is the planning…

Planning your time in Leisure Land

Like any road trip, vacation or adventure that you are ready to embark on, planning is a key, as I had mentioned just a moment ago. That’s not to say that spontaneity has no place here, it does. I’ve personally had more spontaneous trips than I have planned ones and they are an absolute blast. In the words of the late John Candy; “I’m just a twig on the shoulders of a mighty stream” in those moments. Great motto but not really practical for your business.

The great thing about a spontaneous trip or adventure is that there is no plan… so you do tend to meander; having a casual and stress-free time as you are out there ‘winging-it’. Sure, there is probably a final destination or goal you have in mind and the journey there is ‘half the fun’ as they say. (Not exactly sure who ‘they’ are in that context, but ‘they’ were not wrong when ‘they’ coined that phrase). If you take the spontaneous approach to planning for the slow season with your business, your execution will also meander and valuable time will be wasted. Do not dismiss the benefits of making a plan.

When it comes to planning an adventure of any sort, you certainly want to make sure that you budget ‘wiggle-room’ for things like spontaneity and for new ideas that appear from nowhere. That is no different than how you should approach your plan for your business. I am a creative problem solver. My eyes and mind are almost always on high alert. Essentially, the hamster never really gets off the wheel (poor little guy) in my head. For many of the things I design, I do a lot of planning and research before I execute anything… but I always allow for that wiggle-room and spontaneous moment (or ‘happy accident’ as Bob Ross would say) where an additional or new idea appears, and it usually happens when I least expect it.

There are, however, some pitfalls with planning. You can set tight restrictions on yourself, over planning, and micromanaging everything down to the minute. Sure, this allows you to jam a lot in there to do, but are you really enjoying anything during that time? I see that as stressful; always on the go and being more concerned about getting to the next time-slot instead of simply being in the moment, taking it in and enjoying it. Patience is certainly a virtue when making plans.

Stop and smell the decayed leaves

“Adopt the pace of nature – her secret is patience” (Ralph Waldo Emerson). Just as a leaf’s journey begins in the springtime from a bud, going through the summer as it shades and photosynthesizes, it also takes several weeks to a few months for a leaf to change its colors in autumn. Only then does it provide us the opportunity and time to enjoy them. Your approach to planning for your business should take a lesson from nature and do the same. You will have better results that can be enjoyed by you, your staff and your customers. Not just during the process, but at the end of it and beyond. You will certainly be more relaxed and open to the new ideas that pop-up along the way which become a catalyst for more changes.

To enjoy this adventure, you have to learn to let go a little bit. You have time. Could you imagine that if all the leaves change color at once with the flick of a light switch and then they all fall at once with another flick? Where was the time to savor the splendor that took so long to develop? How many would be disappointed? The same thing applies when planning for your business. I know that the tendency is to want everything right now in one swift motion but that’s not realistic.

As I understand it, the slower season for most ECP’s is roughly November through January (editor’s email listed in the back of the magazine if you disagree with me on this). This is the timeframe to start planning for your business. You do, however, need to go into this with the knowledge and understanding that you will not really be doing anything to immediately affect ‘this coming slow season’ but that you are planning for ‘this time’ next year. It will take time for ideas to become clear, to determine what will be best to do, and to execute everything.

Where to visit in Leisure Land

This article is not just about what to do for your business during the slow season, but what to do maybe for yourself. I’m not looking to give advice or guidance on how to keep yourself busy and pass the time. Just some things to do to capitalize on the opportunity at hand, that can pay dividends later on for you, your business, your staff, your current customers, and for your new customers.

Leisure Land is broken into 5 regions or areas, each with their own theme. Within each of these areas, I am providing you with some suggestions on what you can do during the slower season. There are of course, numerous ideas beyond the scope of this article. All you need to do is ‘google it’… which is in most cases, better than the good ‘ol magic 8-ball. Don’t be afraid to ask google literally either. Type-in your exact question like “what to do when I am bored” and chances are, google will finish it for you (which is a scary thought unto itself) and give you a lot of ideas.

Speaking of ideas, the idea behind providing these different regions is because there is no one region, area, or aspect of your life that has all of the answers and fulfillment of your wants and needs. Each region, although they can function individually, function better as a collective whole. It’s very ‘Gestalt’ when you think about it. These ideas are merely presented to you as catalysts and to simply begin something new; conversation starters if you will. These are conversations you can have with yourself, with co-workers, with spouses, and with customers to take your business to the next level. They are opportunities for change.

Enjoy your visit(s)!

I would like to think that you will visit Leisure Land more than once. The slow season fortunately, is not very long and no sooner will the holidays be over, so too will be the opportunity to really sit down, plan, and explore what you want to do. As I mentioned previously, patience will be important with planning. Having a big-picture overview is a great way to begin (thus the map). Remember that it only takes one thing, one single step, to embark on a new adventure.

– Lewis and Clark

---

Leisure-Land-Map