Summer Isn't Slow. Your Pipeline Is.

Every summer, I hear some version of the same thing:

“August is always slow.”

People are away. Kids are out of school. Decision-makers are on vacation. Everyone is waiting until after Labor Day.

And listen, I get it.

I run businesses where seasonality is very real. I own fitness studios. I publish local magazines. I sell advertising to small businesses. I produce events. I work with clients whose schedules revolve around school calendars, vacations, summer Fridays and approximately 47 different camp pickup times.

I know August is different.

But I’m starting to think we give “summer is slow” way too much power.

Because there’s a difference between business being seasonal andyour pipeline being empty.

And lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about that difference.

The September Trap

There is a phrase I’ve heard more times than I can count this summer:

“Let’s reconnect in September.”

September has somehow become the magical land where everyone’s children return to school, budgets reappear, calendars clear, customers come back and businesses suddenly start growing again.

Except here’s the problem:

If you wait until September to start working on September, you’re already behind.

The memberships we want to sell in September require leads in August.

The advertising contracts we want signed this fall require conversations now.

The events we want packed require promotion before everyone is back from vacation.

The partnerships we want later this year require relationships we’re building today.

A strong fall isn’t something that happens to your business because the calendar flips from August 31 to September 1.

You build it before anyone can see it.

Slow Can Become a Mindset

This is something I’ve been talking about constantly with my teams lately.

When you expect business to be slow, your behavior starts matching the expectation.

You don’t follow up quite as aggressively.

You assume someone isn’t interested because they’re away.

You don’t ask for the sale because you’ll “circle back after Labor Day.”

You accept an empty class because “everyone’s on vacation.”

You stop prospecting because nobody is answering anyway.

And suddenly the prediction becomes reality.

Of course business is slow.

We stopped asking it to move.

I’ve caught myself doing versions of this too.

That’s the uncomfortable part of entrepreneurship: sometimes the thing you’re frustrated with in your business is also the thing you need to take responsibility for fixing.

Read the full article and subscribe to Laura’s Substack for more personal stories, reflections, and business insights:https://laurasabia.substack.com/p/the-customer-is-not-always-right