My seasonal planning process: 6 questions to help you plan your summer
Six questions I ask myself before every new season to help me make better business decisions
Summer’s your time. Whether you’re doing the summer holiday juggle or you’re planning on using the quieter months to get your ducks in a row before September rolls around, you’ll want to use the time you have wisely.
At the beginning of every season for the last few years,there’s one habit I’ve maintained that’s helped me to continue to enjoy my business, and made sure I don’t try to do all the things I want to do in one go. And that's my seasonal business planning process.
Nowadays, I've swapped quarterly planning for seasonal planning, because I realised a couple of years ago that the two don't quite align. I always feel like September is the start of a new year, and it frustrated me to have to wait for October to do some big picture planning. So I switched to planning with the seasons.
One of the biggest benefits of seasonal planning is that our energy and commitments ebb and flow throughout the year, so it’s helpful to consider this when making any grand plans for the upcoming months. It's an especially useful way for creative freelancers and solo business owners to plan for their business because when there’s just one of you, you can’t expect to work the same way throughout the year without becoming overwhelmed.
With the summer holidays fast approaching, and for some, the start of a slower period in our business, I wanted to share some of the most important questions I ask myself when I’m planning for summer.
These five questions help me make clearer decisions about where to spend my time, energy and attention over the next few months:
1. How has the last season been?
When I talk about seasonal planning, I mean reviewing the season that's just finished then planning the next one.
Before diving into thinking about my priorities for the upcoming few months, I spend a little time reviewing the season that’s just ended. This helps me to stay focused, make better business decisions, learn from things that haven't gone to plan, and celebrate what has.
This is business planning that works for creative minds – because our brains naturally try things and learn from what's happened. If we’re not spending even a small amount of time reviewing, we end up blindly moving forward and never learning from our mistakes. It also gives us the opportunity to adapt and change what we’re doing.
The key things I explore when asking myself this question are:
What’s happened? To remind myself because it’s so easy to forget
What’s been good? It’s so easy to forget our successes when we’re constantly moving forward
What’s not gone to plan – and why?
What’s been missing? So we can give ourselves more of what we need in the next season
If you’re going to do anything before diving into planning for summer, make it this. I guarantee you’ll learn a few things from asking yourself these questions.
2. What kind of summer do you want?
How do you want it to feel and what are your non-negotiables? This is a question that always makes me aware of my energy levels and personal needs when I ask it. A great example is when winter rolls around and I realise that I need to take it slower and give myself some grace.
I’ve seen a lot of people make plans over the years to do things they think they should do in their business, rather than planning for what they want.
As long as you don’t give this question a cursory glance, you’ll uncover exactly what you want from summer and be able to make your plans fit exactly that.
3. What’s your capacity for your business over summer?
Do you have any holidays planned? Are you juggling the school holidays?
I think the biggest reason for feeling beaten and tired in our business is because we expect far more from ourselves than we expect from others. We need to align our expectations with our reality. So before making grand plans and giving yourself huge projects to complete, figure out exactly how much time (and headspace) you actually have over the summer months. This is by far one of the easiest ways to stop feeling overwhelmed in your business.
4. What do you want your business to look like by September?
If you’re planning to kick autumn off in the best place possible, what does that look like for you?
Are there certain ‘jobs’ you want to have completed?
Do you want to feel rested and ready to go?
Or maybe you want some new habits in place?
Asking yourself this question, as well as knowing your realistic capacity, can help you plan the projects you want to complete over summer.
And when it comes to thinking about projects, I’ve recently started choosing which ones to focus on based on:
my most immediate needs
and my longer term goals
We all have dreams of what we’d love to do in our business, but it’s crucial we know what’s needed now and where we’re trying to get to so we can prioritise what we’re working on from there.
5. How will you look after yourself over summer?
One question I always ask myself whenever I’m doing my seasonal planning is around the habits, ways of working, self-care and boundaries I’ll have in place.
And not only that, we need to commit to prioritising these habits and enforcing our boundaries. Because it’s very easy to let these slip when we have grand plans, but it’s only possible to achieve our plans for our business if we look after ourselves.
As a small business owner, we’re the only one who keeps our business running smoothly, so keeping ourselves running smoothly too is a must. And seasonal planning is the perfect opportunity to reset and review how we’re looking after ourselves.
6. Are there any barriers that could get in the way?
What or who can help you? I’ve found that it's very easy to put a plan in place. It’s harder to be realistic about why it might not happen. So being clear on this helps us to know how to go about making it happen, and that might be by putting some clear boundaries or habits in place to support you.
Every season I use this process to decide what's worth focusing on, what can wait, and what needs to change.
It's not about having the perfect plan where everything is completed by the end of the season. It’s about making better decisions – for me and my business.
If you're planning your summer, I'd encourage you to put an hour aside, grab a notebook and a brew, and work through these five questions before diving into your to-do list. You might be surprised how much clearer the next few months feel when you know what actually matters.
If you'd like some help working through these questions, we're doing exactly that inside On Brand on 6th July.
We'll be spending 90 minutes reviewing Spring, planning for summer, and figuring out what deserves our attention over the next couple of months. You'll also get to do it alongside a lovely bunch of creative business owners who'll ask good questions, share ideas, and help you think things through.
If that sounds like your cup of tea, I'd love to have you join us here.