How to use September’s Back-to-School Energy in your Business

Want to know how to use September’s back-to-school energy in your business? Maybe you personally took some time off or went on holiday in August. Maybe you are a parent who is getting your children ready to go back-to-school. Maybe you are just picking up in the shift of energy as September hits. Regardless of why, if you have that September back-to-school energy, you might as well use it to your advantage. Keep on reading to find out how to use September’s back-to-school energy in your business.

 

 

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HOW TO USE SEPTEMBER’S BACK-TO-SCHOOL ENERGY IN YOUR BUSINESS.

 

Create a new or check in with your current annual plan 

 

Your annual plan doesn’t have to run January to December. In fact, as the Annual Planning Queen I help business owners create annual plans that start all across the year. In ‘Annual Business Planning Outside the Calendar Year’ I share a wide variety of start dates that business owners use, including September. In fact, September is the third most popular time for business owners to plan, and it makes sense. If for a large amount of time the year started in your head when you went to school or education in September, then it makes sense you might continue to think that way. If that is you, then use that back-to-school energy and create a new annual plan. You can find out more about how I can help you with annual planning here.

 

If you already have an annual plan, then you can use the back-to-school energy to check back in. Look at your progress to date against the goals you set and the timeline you created. Work out whether you are on track, ahead or behind for each goal. Then decide what actions need to be taken to maximise your chances of ending your year (whenever that might be) having achieved all your goals.

 

CREATE A STRATEGIC ANNUAL PLAN TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS OVER THE NEXT YEAR – IN JUST ONE DAY! I’m the Annual Planning Queen and I specialise in helping solo and micro service-based business owners plan for the year ahead. Success in business is a result of having clear goals and a plan to achieve them and my annual planning day will help you to have both. By booking a Strategy Day with me I’ll ensure you have a powerful and productive annual planning day where we consider all the major elements to ensure you can achieve your goals for the year ahead. All you have to do is secure your date, block it out in your diary and get ready to be guided through my signature annual planning framework that guarantees by the end of the end of our time together you’ll have a clear roadmap to achieve your goals and be excited for the year ahead. For all the information and to book a Strategy Day click here

 

 

Get creative

One way you can use September’s back-to-school energy is to embrace the fresh start and get creative. If you feel like you’ve got a clean slate in your business, use that to go wild. It might be that you harness your creativity and use it to create a new offer for your business. It might be that you channel your creativity into your marketing and think about different ways to market an existing offer. It’s easy in business to get stuck in your ways and keep on selling the same offers in the same way. But use that back-to-school energy to channel that. Could something be done differently? Could something be done better?

 

Create your Q4 plan

 

In an ideal world, I always recommend that you create your plan ahead of time. So September, is the perfect time to plan for Q4 (October to December). For many businesses, Q4 is THE most important quarter of the year and is known as The Golden Quarter so it isn’t a quarter you should be leaving to chance. Between Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday and Christmas, Q4 is a busy quarter from a marketing perspective. Even if your business isn’t a business that is going to do a seasonal campaign because it is such a busy period of time, you’ll want to be clear on what your marketing approach is so that you don’t get lost in the busier marketing period.

 

 

DON’T LEAVE YOUR SUCCESS IN Q4 TO CHANCE. GET A PLAN IN PLACE. Whilst I’m known as the Annual Planning Queen, I help business owners with annual, 6-month and quarterly plans. So if you’d like support to plan for Q4 for maximum success, don’t do it alone. Work with me. DM me on LinkedIn or  Instagram saying QUARTER.

 

 

Upgrade your CEO habits and routine

Another useful way to use that fresh, September back-to-school energy is by looking at and upgrading your CEO habits. You already know that your habits make or break you. It might be that across Summer you’ve been on holiday and already broken up your routine. That actually is an opportunity. It means now, when you are getting back into usual work mode, you can closely look at your CEO habits and routine and see what needs upgrading. This can be a mixture of personal habits and routines that will help you to perform better in your business, and CEO habits and routines.

 

Personally, you might want to look at

• Your morning routine
• Exercise
• The media you are consuming (books, podcasts, social media etc)
• Meditating
• Journalling

 

In the business, you might want to look at:

• Regularly reviewing your finances
• Tracking and monitoring key data in your business
• Your planning routine (weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually)
• Committing regular time for CEO sessions

 

Hire a business mentor or coach 

If September really does feel like a fresh start for you, then why not amplify that energy and commit to the future of your business by hiring a business mentor or coach. I’ve already spoken about using the fresh back-to-school energy for planning purposes and working with a business mentor or coach will help with that. But also it ensures that the fantastic energy you have now and enthusiasm for your business in this moment continues. The right business mentor or coach will not only help you to get clear on where you want the business to go and what you need to do to get there. But they’ll also be by your side, giving you support and accountability, to ensure those good intentions continue. They’ll help as the months roll on to ensure that you continue to make strategic decisions that move your business in the right direction, even when curveballs are thrown your way.

 

The September feeling won’t last forever. You won’t feel as great as you feel right now all year round and a great business mentor or coach is there to help you through the highs and lows of business, so you keep moving forward.

For more information about my one-to-one business mentoring services, click here. 

 

PERSONALISED ONE-TO-ONE MENTORING TO HELP YOU SUCCESSFULLY GROW YOUR BUSINESS ON YOUR TERMS   If you’ve got that back-to-school energy why not make the most of it and set yourself up for success with one-to-one mentoring? My one-to-one mentoring is tailored around your business and lifestyle goals. You come with your goals and I’ll provide the strategy, training and accountability to ensure you are the best CEO you can be, so that you can achieve your goals. For all the information and to apply click here.

 

Audit your online presence 

If you have taken some time off in August, then September is going to be a great time for you to audit your online presence. When you are looking at everything you create day in and day out, it is hard to have the distance to be subjective. Arguably, it is always best to have someone external to your business audit your online presence if you really want to understand how your business is perceived on the outside (and this is a service I offer to clients). But the next best thing you can do is look at it when you’ve had a break.

 

Imagine someone has recommended your business. They have the name. They type it into a search engine and what appears? If they then click on the links, what do they find? Is there a coherent message across your website, social media and anything else? And is the message correctly represents the business today? All too often, especially as a business gets older and evolves, it’s easy for an online presence to become out-of-date and not give an accurate representation of the business as it is today.

 

 

That’s it. You now know how to use September’s back-to-school energy in your business.

 

When used well, the September back-to-school energy can really help to take your business to the next level. There are multiple ways you can use that energy productively. You can use that new year energy to look audit and review parts of your business with fresh eyes. You can use it to think creatively and come up with new ideas for your marketing, offers and business as a whole. And, of course, you can use that energy to dream big and plan for the future.

 

If you’ve found this blog post useful please do let me know over on Instagram or LinkedIn.

 

 

 

PERSONALISED ONE-TO-ONE MENTORING TO HELP YOU SUCCESSFULLY GROW YOUR BUSINESS ON YOUR TERMS If you are serious about growing your service-based business on your terms, then my one-to-one mentoring might be the perfect support. My one-to-one mentoring is tailored around your business and lifestyle goals. You come with your goals and I’ll provide the strategy, training and accountability to ensure you are the best CEO you can be, so that you can achieve your goals. For all the information and to apply click here.