Planning Your Summer as a Mom and Business Owner
One of the biggest challenges of being a mom and a business owner is finding a balance, especially during the summer months. By March, many moms are already enrolling their kids in summer camps, planning vacations, and setting up family schedules–but, how many of us are putting the same level of planning into our businesses?
I’ve been in this business long enough and as a mom for the last four years to know what the trend is. The trend for so many mom business owners is that you are busting your butt quarter one and quarter two. You are hustling hard from January to April, maybe May, but then you let things fall behind in the summer.
I don’t mean just taking a step back and working less. I mean you ghost your own business.
I am not here to tell you that you have to bust your butt, that you have to hustle, that you have to work the same in the summer as you work in the other times of year. Your kids are home, you’re taking vacations, the weather is good, I know that you want to be living your best summer life.
You Need a Summer Business Plan
March is the time to start putting pieces in place in your business so that you can go in a maintenance-slow-down-mode in the summer, and enjoy it. Enjoy that time without completely going backwards, without ghosting your own business, without having to come back in September, having lost all momentum and starting from scratch.
Don’t tell me this doesn’t happen, because I watch it happen every year and then I work with those women in the fall to try to pick up the pieces, and by the time they’ve gotten their momenta back, they fall off again for the holidays. Let me tell you, you are no longer going to be that woman, and this is why:
You want your business to run smoother now and into the summer.
You are going to be proactive.
Realistic Considerations for Your Summer Business Strategy
- What Do You Want Your Summer to Look and Feel Like? Really think about what it looked like last year, because unless your family is going through a big major change, your kids are going through a big major change, it’s probably going to look fairly similar.
How can you marry what you want your summer to look like and what is realistic? - Maintain Support and Accountability: A big mistake I see happen in the summer is business owners also slow down their support. They get out of their programs. They stop working with their mentor. If I’m 100 percent transparent with you, this is a mistake. This is part of what negatively affects your business, because having the accountability and the support to help you focus and stay in it, is really, really important to keep up that momentum.
- How Much Time Will You Really Have?: Assess the time you’ll have to work. Will you only have quiet time to work? Will it be just quiet time on weekends? Will your kids be home full-time? Plan your work hours accordingly.
It doesn’t have to be hustle, but it also doesn’t have to be chaotic. You don’t have to be pulled in a million different ways and different directions. It’s not going to be perfect. It’s going to be a little bit hard at times, but you are capable of having a summer that you really enjoy and you can slow down without throwing everything out the window–all of your hard work that you’ve done. - Utilize Content & Offers You Already Have: What do you have in your back pocket that is already self paced, evergreen, that you can continue to offer? Whether it’s paid or free, this means you don’t have to create something new. You don’t have to run an in real time program in the summer, if you don’t want to run a live program.
How is your offer suite set up so that you can still show up and make money in the summer? - Lower Your Content Minimum: Maybe you are going to post a little bit less and this is a time to be repurposing your content from earlier in the year if you don’t want to be creating something new every single week. This way, you can stay active without the pressure of creating new content every week.
The Best of Both Worlds
Now is the time to start brainstorming and writing down your plans. Think about what you need to execute, what your timelines are, what you need to have ready, and how you can align your summer, your lifestyle, and your business goals. This type of thinking and planning will help you enjoy your summer and keep your business on track. You just need to do it.
Individualized Support for Planning Your Summer Season
To support you, I’ve created Hustle House, a hybrid-style program designed to be the home base for female business owners who want to grow long-term, but also sustainably, while making a profit, and using specific and actionable strategies.
Hustle House is for you if you want:
- Monthly Vision Planning: Get an individualized outline of your goals, growth, and knowing very clearly where you want to go.
- Group Calls: Two group calls per month for personalized support and brainstorming; this is not a general conversation with everybody that’s there. This is where you get to ask a question, and you get an individualized answer from me. We dive deep into your goals. We brainstorm your offers. We dig into your content and you leave with your plan.
- Slack Access: Ongoing access to me via Slack for reviews, troubleshooting, and support. If you have a really great post you’ve written, but you can’t seem to get the hook quite right, you post your content in Slack, and I will help you come up with a hook. This is really an all encompassing supportive place to help you be proactive and grow in your business.
Being in Hustle House means that you’ll have a clear understanding of the seasons of your business, feel prepared to ride the highs and the lows, anticipate the things that are going to come your way, so that you can be proactive, and have actionable strategies tailored to your business and lifestyle.
Final Thoughts
Your summer doesn’t have to be all about hustle and chaos. With the right planning and support, you can enjoy your time with family and keep your business thriving. Start thinking about what you want your summer to look like, plan accordingly, and consider joining Hustle House for the support you need to execute your plan.
If all of this sounds like something you’re like, “Yes, Giana, I need this in my life. Tell me less.” You can find more information about Hustle House here.
Make this summer a balanced and productive time for both your personal life and your business.
