The two times that I came closest to giving up on running an online business both occurred during the summer.
The summers of 2018 and 2019 respectively.
On both occasions, it was unknown to me that online businesses are affected by seasonality.
Instead (naively), I thought that my sales were simply plummeting for no reason other than my business was perhaps no longer viable.
Online Business Sales decrease during the summer months
If you’re involved in online business, it’s good to be aware that the following happens pretty much across the board:
– website traffic decreases
– eCommerce sales drop
– newsletter sign ups decrease
– less B2B deals get across the line as projects get postponed during the summer
This dip makes sense. People are out enjoying the sunnier weather and thus, spending less time on their devices.
How I deal with the slower Summer months?
Nowadays, instead of thinking the world is ending when the summer dip arrives, experience has thought me to:
- anticipate this drop in revenues and provision financially for this dip throughout the rest of the year.
- be aware when the dip is happening that it’s temporary. It just lasts a few months and shortly it will be all systems go again.
- experiment to get new sales during this slower period. Some of these experimentations can be successes and become integral to your future business growth.
- get out, enjoy the sunnier weather and recharge. The better you recharge during the summer, the better you’ll be able to perform throughout the rest of the busy year.
Conclusion
Knowing that it’s normal for online sales to dip during the summer months will allow you to channel your energy into experimentation and recharging, rather than needlessly worrying about business viability.
If possible, try to only question your online business’ viability during the September – May period 😉
As always, thank you for reading!
