How to get ready for the Summer family & business juggle
Family holiday to Hunstanton, Norfolk. Photo credit: Ben Lister Photography
The Summer holidays are fast approaching and you may be thinking ‘what on Earth is my plan for juggling my business and family in the Summer?!’
Don’t worry, I’ve got you! This blog is all about getting ready for the Summer holidays and giving you the headspace to start thinking about what you want your Summer to look like in your life.
Yes, I said your LIFE, because I am a business coach, but I want you to have a life you love and be thriving in all areas. There’s no point in having a brilliant business but feeling overwhelmed at home. Or having a successful business but feeling lost any our relationships.
So, here is my recommended approach and thought process for you to get the best out of balancing that crazy business and family life over the Summer months.
What do you actually want?
We spend WAY too much time doing what others or society thinks we should be doing in our life and is that really fulfilling us? To get the best out of life you really need to dig deep and understand what YOU want your life to look like. Let’s take the Summer months… What do you want your Summer to look like? Here are some questions to spark your ideas:
Do you want to be working your business throughout the Summer in your normal routine?
Do you want to take the whole Summer off your business?
Do you want to take a holiday during the Summer?
Do you want to have a staycation during the Summer?
What experiences do you want to have during the Summer with your family?
Are there any festivals or events you want to prioritise in the Summer?
This Summer (2025) is a special one for me, as its the first year that my daughter has been at school, so the Summer holidays seem like this precious 6 week block that I need to properly think about and plan. But equally, I don’t want to over-plan and be regimented - the best moments are when you go with the flow sometimes. I definitely want to continue working my business this Summer, but I want to make sure I have a dedicated time off of work (1-2 weeks) and build in some fun celebrations as it’s mine and my daughter’s birthdays in the Summer! I also absolutely LOVE music gigs so we have some really fun gigs planned for the Summer too.
Take the time out to write down what you want your Summer to be like in your world, and make the time to talk to your family members to bring together all your priorities and ideas. You can even ask the kids and create a ‘Summer bucket list’ - all the fun ideas you could do together during the holidays.
What will Summer be like in my business?
This is a really tough question to answer as every business is different. If you have your past financial data, the best thing to do is to look at that to see when your peaks and troughs in sales are throughout the year. Some businesses are more seasonal than others. And with a service business like mine, your revenue can be linked to the marketing efforts you are putting in. So what happened the past few years won’t necessarily translate into this year, if you want to approach your business differently.
Some people feel like the Summer is quieter for service based businesses, and we know that a lot of people go on holidays during the school holidays. However, if this is the case, your consistency and being out there on socials will mean you get better visibility to any potential clients online.
What are your targets over the Summer?
Take the time to think about what you want to achieve over the Summer. Here are some examples and ideas:
What are your revenue & profit goals for the Summer?
Is there an offering in your business you want to put out over the Summer to bring clients in?
Is there a marketing campaign you want to launch in the Summer to warm your audience up ready for the Autumn when you want to make more sales?
Is there a project you’d been wanting to pursue but not had the chance? The (hopefully) gorgeous summer weather is conducive to being outdoors with your notepad and pen and thinking creatively - kick off that project this Summer!
Do you want to spend the Summer planning for the Autumn/Winter season so you are ahead of your competition?
For me, Summer is going to be about consistency in my business and I will be launching my Summer Strategy Challenge - keep an eye on my socials @jenlisterstrategy for that. I’ll also be getting ready for my Get On It with Jen Strategy workshop in September!
Have the conversations
So this may be the most important part of thinking about and planning your Summer - the conversations you have with the people in your household. If you have a family like me, then you will know how much there is to think about when it comes to kids, school, childcare, etc. Communication is key to minimising that overwhelm for you. Hopefully you are a team with your partner or you have family to support you, and having conversations with them about the Summer and what you and they need can really help your plans come to fruition. These conversations can be really positive and give you the chance to listen to what everyone else needs - and that includes the kids! What do they want from the Summer? What adventures do they want to go on with you? What are their ideas for having fun as a family?
Once you’ve had the conversations, grab the family calendar (I really recommend Good Tuesday for planning and stationary) and use colour to designate family and business days so it’s super clear what’s going on each day.
Final thoughts
Lastly, I want you to have FUN, the Summer is such a great time of year with so many community events going on. Time for family and friends and holidays! Don’t forget why you started your business and that you need balance to really be successful in your business!
If you want to have a chat about how to elevate your business with Strategy I am here for you. I want to take you out of the day to day overwhelm in your business and life and help you create YOUR life by design. It is possible - you can book a chat with me here on Calendly and we will do a deep dive into your world and create a plan for you going forward (yes, all in a free 30 min call - I love to be efficient!).
