While many look forward to the fun adventures of summertime, it can present challenges for entrepreneurs. On this solo episode, Renae shares some of her own summer strategies as a busy mom of two and business owner.
Have your own work life balance strategies? Share them on Instagram and tag us @subscriptionboxbasics.
While many look forward to the fun adventures of summertime, it can present challenges for entrepreneurs. On this solo episode, Renae shares some of her own summer strategies as a busy mom of two and business owner.
Have your own work life balance strategies? Share them on Instagram and tag us @subscriptionboxbasics.
So you want to launch a subscription box and don't know where to start, girl, you are in the right place. I'm Julie ball and I'm Renee Gonzalez, your host here at subscription box basics, a podcast for new and aspiring subscription box entrepreneurs wanting to avoid overwhelm. So grab a coffee, some pen and paper, and let's have some fun.
Renae:Welcome back to subscription box basics, the podcast. I am Renee Gonzalez, your marketing coach here at subscription box basics. And today we are going to talk about finding a work life balance during the summer. This is going to be a solo episode. It is just me. We're not going to talk too much about marketing. We're really going to talk about the shift that you may be starting to have. No matter what your situation is, if you've listened to past episodes, you know, that I am a mom of two girls summer for me is right in the middle of my busy season of parenting, which I absolutely love, but. It takes some preparing for, and I know that we have listeners who are also have families and have Children. There may be some people listening who have a partner, or you are ready to hang out with friends all summer long, but you still are a box owner, and Unfortunately, we are no, no longer in elementary or high school where we have summer breaks. We're in the thick of it as adults. So this is an episode that will hopefully help you a little bit when listening and find some preparation in getting ready for the next couple of months. So you can still work on your box business, but you can also have some fun with in life too. So we're going to dive into it. If you are experiencing a summer slump, this is just a little disclaimer. If your box business is starting to dip whether it is because of summer coming up or just, Being in the thick of it and struggling finding sales. I wanted to make sure that I reminded you to go back. We have past episodes at least one or two where Julie says. talk specifically about a summer slump and slumps in specific parts of the year. So definitely go check those episodes out too, cause those will give you some more tips. And then today I'll just kind of be talking a little bit about how you can prepare and really make the most out of the next couple months, both in business, but also in life too. So definitely go check out some past summer slumps. Slump episodes. So the first thing I am going to talk about today is really in order to prepare, you need to first goal set. And this is just like any other aspect of business. If you've listened to episodes for a while, you know, I love vision boards. I love goal setting the. The beginning of the year, any new quarter just brings new life because it's, it's a new opportunity to set some goals and to get after those goals. And summer is no different. So I want you to sit down and to really think about both the business side and a life side and, and get some goals down. What maybe for your subscription box that looks like just kind of keeping an, an even keel number for subscribers. You're not going to try and stretch yourself and, and really grow during summer because you know typically the summer months do drop off, so you just kind of want to keep it even keel and get the same amount of subscribers you have that you're losing. That would be a great summer goal. Whatever your goal is for your business, maybe it is to sell excess inventory. Now is a great time to put together some summer bundles, no matter what. Type of client you have that subscriber you have their summer is probably shifting too. So if you have a craft business or a business that caters towards kids, the kids are home. So it's a great time to put together specialized bundles and really move some excess inventory. So in summer, sometimes you have to get a little creative, but before you can get creative, you need to have goals so you can help. Reach those goals. So put together some goals for your subscription box, but also put together what an ideal summer would look like. As far as life goes to, are there any vacations you want to take? Is there anywhere local you want to hike or take advantage of the good weather? Our family really loves doing the, but like summer bucket lists. So we get a big piece of poster board and we all take turns and we just write down just go to an amusement park. We have a couple amusement parks cause I'm. East of the Bay Area in California. So we have a lot of amusement parks and water parks that we can go to. So we always jot a couple of those down as goal bucket list items for summer. We like to go on hikes. We like to camp a lot. So we come up with a bucket list of what our ideal summer would look like. And that kind of gives a goal when you're planning both for work and for Summer with your family, you know, specific things that you all want to do, or you want to do. And that can help you kind of plug and play when you're looking at your calendar. So step number one to a successful summer for you is create some goals and get started on, on the bigger picture. What does the bigger picture look like? So then you can piece that together and see what you need to do for both business and for life. And then step number two is Gonna you're going to create a schedule based off of those things and based off of your summer availability. So Again, your availability during summer, no matter what life looks like for you is going to be probably a little different than your availability the rest of the year. So for me, I Every other time of the year. I do the majority of my work from 9 a. m. My time to 2 p. m. Because that is when I'm home. I'm all alone except for our lovely dog that that likes to make sure I take a little lunch break to take her for a walk. But I have a pretty decent chunk of time in the morning where I can get. All of my work done. And then I'm done for the rest of the afternoon. I become mom taxi or Ruber as Julie likes to call it Renee Uber. So I know that most of the year I work in the mornings, my summer. It gets flipped on its head. We wake up early. The, I take both my girls either to swim. Or to gymnastics because both of those, both sports that two of the three sports they do move up to the morning time. So until from 7 15 until two o'clock, I am a ruber. I'm going to Sport events for practice. And then my chunk of time that I have to work shifts back a little bit. I try, I try to work in between that, but I really have a good set of time in the late afternoon where I'm able to sit down and then do my work or do any office stuff I need. So my schedule and my availability during summer is shifted completely. As far as time each day goes, so I have to schedule calls a little later or be available if I'm keeping schedules that are the same. I have to make sure that I am in a set spot that I am able to take a meeting. So your schedule is going to look a little different. Maybe you want to go places on specific days, so you have to block off that day completely. So really look, sit down and look at what your availability looks like. From day to day, but also within that day, and then you can start to plug and play. All of your tasks as a business owner. When will you write emails? When will you pack boxes and make sure all of those important things that have to get done this summer are still getting done, but your have a plan. So when the day comes, you're not like, Oh, I'm supposed to go hiking today, but it's also packing day and you're not scrambling last minute. So really adjust your schedule. schedule for what works for you. And then my next tip is to have some flexibility in that schedule too. So really there are things that are going to come up that you want to be able to do, or there might be spontaneous invitations to go places. If you have flexibility in your schedule within the week, you will be able to shift things over if something comes up. If not, if you're just absolutely killing it and working all week, if Friday comes around and that was your spontaneous open ended extra time, then you can dive even further into your business and really conquer those goals. So give yourself some grace this summer, cause things are going to Be unpredictable sometimes, but if you have that flexibility already worked into your schedule as some flex hours or a flex day, then you'll be able to say yes to more things, both business wise and life wise, cause you'll have a plan around it. And then this is going to be a short little episode because I want you to jump in after. And getting your head wrapped around what summer will look for you, like for you. I want you to be able to really dive deep into ways you can get creative and in your business and in your life. So my last little tip today is just to remember your why a lot of times as business owners, you create this business to free up time for yourself. But when we get stuck in the grind of daily being a business owner, It is so easy to forget that lie and so easy to just get stuck in your work and have to say no to things and have to, to put your box business as a priority. And I'm not saying they're That you shouldn't never do that. There are definitely times where you have to do that, but if you can be prepared and you can remember your why that you started this business, probably to give yourself a little flexibility, like now is the time to take advantage of that reason and that, that urge in your heart to be your own business owner. So you want to. Be able to live life to the fullest as your own business woman, but, but also as yourself too. So really remember your why, if that is to free up time for yourself, for your kids, this is the time to do that. If that is to, Be able to take some staycations or vacations because you don't need to throw a lot of money at whatever you're doing this summer It can still be done in your own town then take some time and really do that connect with people In the sunshine get yourself out there Julie and myself have said so many times that we both Find so much creative freedom when we are removed from the workplace and we're not in our office where we're going for a walk or going for a hike or poolside at the beach, which we both love. You will find creative freedom in stepping outside of your day to day hustle. So if summer provides you nothing more than an excuse to get outside and get and limit your work hours or shift your work hours so you still have time to do other things. Just think of it as a possibility that creativeness will spark and give you an idea for your box business that you wouldn't have had if you were stuck doing the grind. So, That is my short little spiel for you to definitely take time to plan for summer, but also to not feel like you have to miss out on summer completely because you can go outside Even if it's just taking a walk for the day give yourself some, some time to really step outside your business. And myself and Julie are both here for you. I know, businesses are difficult from, from the day to day, and I know summer Can feel even heavier when subscription unsubscribes get higher at some point. So if you need any one to talk to Julie and myself are here. If you need anyone to bounce ideas off of, we are here. You can find us at subscription box basics on Instagram. That is the easiest place to get ahold of both of us. And we will talk to you soon. Definitely. Stay tuned for a next episode of subscription box basics and have a great rest of your day. Bye.