You’ve been running your personal styling business for a little while, and it’s going well. All of a sudden, you hit the summer months, and your market has gone a little quiet. You need a monthly income, argh! What do you do?
First of all, let me reassure you that it IS normal for your summer months to be slightly less fruitful than other months, especially if you’re targeting parents or people who like to take holidays during the most popular months of the year: July & August.
When I’m mentoring personal stylists, I often speak to stylists who have imposter syndrome from not having client work consistently throughout the year, so I’m here to reassure you of what’s normal for our industry and what you can do about it.
Business planning requires a look at your figures annually, not just by monthly income. That type of linear thinking will cause you a lot of stress at certain times of the year. EVERY business has peaks and troughs, especially in styling, because much of what we do is seasonal. There are ways you can keep things moving at quieter times of the year. So, how do you manage your expectations differently? Here are some ideas:
Analysing your target market
If you’ve found that the summer months bring little income, the chances are, you’re targeting the type of people who take holidays during this time. If you’re having success with this market at other times of year, consider what their movements might be this time of year. How can you help them? What solutions can you provide to help them through the summer months?
Or is this a time to re-assess your target market and your ideal client, are they the people you really want to work with or do you need to take a shift in a different direction. Something to think about.
Planning ahead
Looking at your business with an annual mindset will help you manage your expectations this time of year. By planning your business and looking at the high and low months will help you plan what to offer in those months that are usually less fruitful. Or it might be the ideal opportunity for you to also take some time out and look at what you can create passively for the quieter months.
For example,
A style guide; perhaps you’ve already created a document like this for your existing clients that you can tweak and offer as generic download, automate the process and you won’t have to do anything.
Online colour/wardrobe sessions; If working remotely is a better solution for you, perhaps you can conduct your sessions online?
Quick-fire style sessions; this could work well for you if you want to do short bursts of client work, ideal for people who are short of time or in the process of discovery
Travel capsule wardrobe video guide; something you can prepare before taking leave and automate as a download
Mood board; create a series of mood boards by colour / style / shape etc automate the process and sell to your clients.
Shopping board; choose your ideal picks of the season and share the link with your audience.
Some of these will require planning, some you may already have stored in the archive and just need to pull them out, make some tweaks, automate the process, pop out some marketing material and voila! Summer is yours.
Longer term strategy
It’s always a good idea to look ahead with your business plans in mind, considering the direction you want your business to move in. So building solid foundations and getting clarity on your strategy is always a good idea. By working on this you’ll be more confident of your business income all year round and be able to take the time out that works for you and your target market.
Does building a business strategy sound too corporate or overwhelming for you? I get it, in the infancy of business (I’m talking under 3 yrs. old) it’s not always clear that strategy is needed and it sounds like the kind of thing for larger corporations who turn over millions. This is where I want to bridge that gap of thinking; that your business isn’t at the stage of needing such grand plans. But let me tell it to you straight, if you want to make profit from your business and see this as a long-term income, you’ll need to treat it as a business and every business needs a strategy.
So, have a think about whether you would like to be a freelancer or an entrepreneur/CEO of your business? Low key or making waves? Profitable or plodding along? There’s no right and wrong here by the way, but it’s a good place to start so you can build the business you want and have the freedom you choose.
And the good news is that I have two solutions for you!
Join my 3-month Business Mastermind in September and let me help you create your business foundations for success. This program guides you through a series of exercises to make sure your business is at its most profitable.
Let’s get together for a Power Hour, where I can audit your business and help you decide what the next steps are. Perfect if you’re unsure how to move forward or, in two minds, whether the mastermind is for you. If you book on to the business mastermind after our power hour session, you’ll have the power hour cost deducted from the mastermind cost.
Need further help? You can book a quick-fire call with me anytime, head to our contact page for all the info.
For now, I hope those quieter times become more profitable for you.
Emmeline :)
