As we start the final quarter of the year, it’s the fall and for many business owners this is a busy time of the year for the final year end push. Maybe your business is seasonal with respect to your revenue flows – ex: tax consulting company, landscape business, medicare health insurance broker and retail establishments which all have extremely busy times then relax and recover syndrome may occur for many business owners. As you come to your “winter” or slower season what you have done in the fall (or prior season) will have impact during your lower revenue months. One thing is certain in any business – Winter Always Comes.

The late Jim Rohn’s famous words resonate to your personal and your business life: “Rough times WILL come. No life goes smoothly without a problem from beginning to end. Thus, you have to be ready for it, for when it does come, you are not stuck in the cold without a coat. Be ready to handle the winters in your own life.”

Have you established the necessary goals and focal point on what to improve to enhance your top line revenue during busy seasons and diversification for additional income?

During your “Fall Season” consider the following 5 Items as Winter season approaches:

1. Sales – reach out to your best 5 clients and get 20 solid referrals or introductions via a phone call – not email.

2. Marketing – increase your overall direct and indirect marketing campaigns during the fall times which will help momentum as you come out of your “winter” slow season. Implement 1-2 new marketing or tribe building messages and always consider the client first and the impact to their specific objectives.

3. Staff retooling – your business is only as good as the team around you, including your employees, partners, suppliers and professional team that handle legal and accounting. Action item – select 2-3 areas where you need the most help and determine quickly if your team (or outsourced partner) can assist and make a decision to fix the problem with the current team or start the process of finding new team members.

4. Diversification of income – if your business has more than 50% of your total revenue from 2-4 clients then consider the challenge to replace the lost revenue in the event the client leaves through a merger, acquisition, sale or just fires your company. Fall is about planning for the winter season and evaluate 2 separate income opportunities for your business with clients that will solve their biggest problems within your industry (make sure you ask and know what your clients major challenges they are concerned most about).

5. Self Education – consider the benefits of learning 1 new skill deeply that will have direct impact on the short term winter but long term summer seasons (enhanced revenue times). Keep this simple and build a curriculum around this skill necessary to grow your business. This could include self study, online course, university course or a combination of each. The key is to go deep into the learning while testing and using the skill as you prepare for your winter season. The skills could include a focus on your primary field of interest or outside into other areas that will have a cross over benefit to your business. This may include hiring a business coach that is tied to your success and not a one way communicator. Find a coach that is a partner, listener and problem solver and has “financial risk” in the relationship to ensure he or she adds extensive value during the coaching, need coaching help click here and let’s chat https://www.wayne-kurtz.com/coach/

Fall is always a special time of the year and for many it’s their favorite season. As the shorter days approach, make sure you plan for your winter season. Successful businesses approach this time with a focus on the above 5 items to make the winters more manageable even through the stress.