Autumn Reset and Refresh

There is something really special about the onset of autumn, whether it comes a little late, with an Indian summer September, or sets in before the kids go back to school and you’re more worried about wellies than blazers.

Besides the glorious things going on in nature, if you happen to live in the countryside in the northern hemisphere, or near a large park, there’s all the autumn colours appearing in the shops – décor for your home, soft furnishings, autumn bits and bobs for the garden, sweaters and cardies and big boots appearing in shop windows, and all those online trends such as ‘cosy autumn reads’ (yes, I’m a sucker for those and spend hours scrolling on YouTube and TikTok...).

But what about autumn and the run up to the end of the year and your small business?

For many of us, this might be the most lucrative season of the year and we have been planning for at least the past twelve months. We have spent spring and summer preparing our products for an early autumn launch and are watching the seconds tick by to what we have worked out is the right time to launch the Christmas products (last month if the supermarkets near me are anything to go by!).

For others, this could be an intense time leading up to financial year end. For others, especially those of you with full time jobs, kids at school and a strong side-hustle, it can be just as intense, as you juggle the new school run, getting back to the after school activities routine and trying to keep your small business on the right track, on the path that you have spent the best part of the year preparing. This last section of the calendar year, for many small businesses, can be busy beyond belief, as we count down the days that are left to achieve those goals we set way back in January.

But we have had a bit of time this summer to rest, relax, and recharge our energy levels, right (did you read up July’s post – if not, check in here and set aside time for a break: an athlete can’t win the gold medal running on empty!)

Whether you’ve had a chance to recharge your batteries or not, autumn usually signals a return to a routine, and the start of the season is your perfect change to evaluate, check in on where you are, how far you are from achieving your goals, adjusting those goals if necessary and resetting your pathway. Here are some tips which we have shared with clients and have served all of us very well over the years:

Athena’s Three Top Tips for an Autumn Reset

Reflect

Perhaps it’s the cooler days, the darker mornings, the shorter days, but autumn is a great time for reflecting on what you’ve learned about your business, your clients, and, most importantly of all about yourself.

Do you feel fulfilled by your small business? Is it ringing your bells and making you want to leap out of bed in the mornings and crack on with your latest project?

Are there things you feel instinctively aren’t working right? Are there things you want to do more of because they are working so well?

Make time early in the autumn to press pause and just reflect on these things. Let your mind wander over this; it seems much easier in the autumn to reflect. Perhaps it is a natural part of the seasonal change, perhaps it’s that the blissful warmth of summer days are too distracting to allow this depth of thinking, but we have often found that reflection done in September, often offers much more clarity than reflection done in August!

Review

Not just your business goals, but also your personal goals. Your small business is a significant part of your life, not an adjunct to it, so make sure that your business goals and your personal goals align.

Then check in on the numbers. Cash is still king as David (Finance Director) keeps reminding us, even though he last used cash in those long-ago pre-pandemic days. You need to know where you are financially, if your business is earning what you need it to earn and how close you are to your financial targets.

What you learn from checking in on the numbers will inform to a greater or lesser extent your systems review. Is how you do what you do actually achieving what you need it to achieve as measured by the money that you are making and any other measures of satisfaction that you use?

Reset

This is your moment for tweaking those goals. Do they need to be changed? Have circumstances altered over the summer that need to be taken into account? Are your current goals taking you to the Big Vision, to what your business aims to achieve in the long run?

In life, we sometimes have to change pathways. Perhaps stick to magnolia paint for the hallway because you just can’t get that exact shade of off-white you wanted but it needs a quick freshen up before the in-laws come to visit, just as a trite example.

In business, it could be your key member of staff has decided to leave, or a key client has moved on, or you have landed a much bigger deal than expected but are wondering how on earth you can fulfil you part of the bargain.

Use those early autumn days to pick out the correct pathway for you to get through to the end of the year on the track that is best for your enterprise.

Routine

Autumn usually brings a new routine – usually associated with the academic year, getting the kids to school, after school activities and the sense you get that summer frolicking is over and it’s back to work again.

New routines can bring about a new energy, especially if you didn’t get quite the chance to recharge over the summer that you wanted to.

Think about what new routines you can create in your business that will make the day work better, that will streamline what you do and make you do it more efficiently, and, hopefully, will help you to enjoy it more. It could be anything from changing the time-blocks in your calendar to making your lunch every evening ready for the next day (and keeping it balanced and healthy to prepare for the demands of the Party Season that is just on the horizon...)

Re-ignite

By the time you’ve worked through the above, you are ready to spark up a new season for your business and for your busy life. Check out those new ideas that will bubble up in your mind as you reflect. Work on those new opportunities that you will find when you review where you are at. Set those new goals or adjust your existing goals and keep it all very realistic. Reclaim your daily routine to make it work exactly as you need it to. Re-ignite your passion for what you do and who you are.

Autumn is our favourite season at Athena. I’m heading for a pumpkin spiced latte now and leaving you to reflect, review, reset, rework your routine and re-ignite your small business. And if you want a little extra help to do that, reach out...collaboration and cooperation are key to success.