Whether this is your first summer in business or you’re an old pro, now is the time to ramp things up before the busy times hit. Dust off your equipment, prepare your online presence and get ready for summer. Here’s our checklist for hitting the ground running this season.
Set up your social media campaigns.
Give your online presence a spring clean and get your social media channels back on track. As the weather heats up, so should your online campaigns. It’s the ideal time to look at new ways you can expand. If you’re already active on Twitter, maybe now is the time to get into Instagram, especially if you’re working outdoors or at a market with plenty of photo opps to tempt customers with visuals before you open.
Get a solid SEO strategy.
If you’re coming back to your business after a quiet winter, you want people to be able to find you online when they’re searching for your services. While you’re sprucing up your social media, you can also give your search engine optimization (SEO) a makeover by adding fresh content to your blog and updating your website. Make sure your site is mobile friendly — Google changed its algorithms in April to make mobile friendliness a much bigger factor in how high your site appears in Google’s organic search rankings.
Get your equipment together.
If your business model is based on making hay when the sun shines, you want to ensure you’re fully kitted out before your busy season starts. For some of you, that means simply ordering a free Square Reader and getting going, for others it might mean trying out a Square Stand with your iPad so you can handle cash, take credit card payments and print receipts.
Hire some help.
Now is the time to get your team in place if you know this summer is going to be a big one for you. You need extra hands for the season but you want them to be dependable when the heat is on — make sure you hire the right people to ensure they stick it out all summer. Find out if they have previous experience of working seasonal jobs and are used to the summer rush. Otherwise it can overwhelm some people and leave you high and dry if they quit when put under pressure.
If you need extra help with getting ready for the summer, check out our Support Centre for advice about customizing Square for seasonal businesses and find out more about how we can help you set up for success this season.