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Summer’s the time to chill out and assess first quarter results

05/31/07
Ian M. Berkowitz

    If you have not noticed yet the heat is settling in, the kids are done with school and hurricane season has begun. These are all the telltale signs of summer. For all you business owners, different seasons mean different things. This is definitely true for certain businesses and industries such as tourism and hospitality. However, no matter what business you are in, you should take advantage of what each season may bring to you, your family and your business.

    In my many years of practicing law and counseling businesses in Florida I have seen how different business owners and their families have dealt with the many seasons that come and go. However, I believe that summer brings the best time for you, the business owner, to recharge your own batteries and evaluate how the first half of the year has gone.

    Summer, for most businesses, is a time to take advantage of some downtime due to many factors such as the exit of our part time neighbors who have gone back up north for a few months. Summer also brings you free time to be with your kids who need to go places and do things during their time out of school. Summer also brings vacation time for many of your employees as they have probably planned some family time during the summer.

Business is 24/7

    As a business owner, you already know that life is 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Even if you are fortunate to have great staff and management in place, you, the business owner, are still responsible for the overall direction, execution and risk management of your business. Summer should be used to check out your goals and see where you are with them. Are you where you expected to be? Are you ahead of your plan or very behind? Answering these types of questions is best done during the summertime so that you can make the changes you may need to make in order to stay on track for a successful year.

    An important opportunity that I believe summer provides is the ability to take advantage of some down time. Summer creates many options for time alone, time with your family, the opportunity to take time off for a vacation or two and the good weather all over the country to travel without obstacles. Although many of you may prefer a winter vacation, summer gives us the maximum opportunity for taking it easy or just staying home and catching up on your own home improvement projects.

    Let’s also examine the other seasons and what opportunities they may have for you.

Seasonal opportunities

    Spring is your time to “spring” forward. In business terms, springing forward is a way to take those New Year’s resolutions and give them the boost that they deserve. How many of you go full force for the first few weeks of January with your New Year’s resolutions but find yourself losing steam with your actions by February and petering out by March. Spring time is the best time to give yourself that shot in the arm and recommit to those business development plans and operational improvements that you painstakingly put to paper prior to the New Year.

    Fall and winter is your time to gear up for season, tweak your plans and execute, execute, and execute. For those of you in the hospitality industry and the retail industry, you all know what I mean. For those of you who support those industries, you are in the same boat and definitely feel the heat as well. These seasons should make you think back to that summer break, what you planned and why. Revisit the goals that you made during the down time and how you adjusted your plan to execute them. Seasons may not be about the temperature adjusting and the color of leaves changing in Florida but it can and should be trigger for action for you business owners.

• In my many years of practicing law and counseling businesses in Florida I have seen how different business owners and their families have dealt with the many seasons that come and go. However, I believe that summer brings the best time for you, the business owner, to recharge your own batteries and evaluate how the first half of the year has gone.
• An important opportunity that I believe summer provides is the ability to take advantage of some down time. Summer creates many options for time alone, time with your family, the opportunity to take time off for a vacation or two and the good weather all over the country to travel without obstacles.

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Ian M. Berkowitz is a former attorney/advi - sor with the United States Small Business Administration in Washington D.C. During his tenure with the Federal Government he speci - cally worked in the areas of disaster relief for homeowners and businesses and government contracting. He is currently a p- racticing busi ness and real estate attorney in Boca Raton. In addition to his law degree, Ian also holds a Masters Degree in Government from The John Hopkins University.