Time for a Mid-Year Tune-Up

PUBLISHED JULY 2025

For many entrepreneurs, summer is a season of fluctuation and one that can set the tone for the rest of the year. This makes it a crucial time for business owners to review their finances and prepare to capitalize on upcoming seasonal opportunities.

Some businesses may see an influx of traffic during the summer, especially those in the tourism or hospitality sectors, while others may notice a decrease in customers. Either way, the seasonal transition provides an opportunity to stabilize finances and prepare for future growth. To ensure success, business leaders should plan to optimize their cash flow, strategically manage their inventory, and make data-driven decisions at the start of the summer.

Solidify cash flow. Cash is king, and business owners need to meticulously manage and monitor cash flow to remain liquid. Beyond just seasonal check-ins, it’s important for entrepreneurs to project cash inflows and outflows weekly. This summer, business owners can proactively manage cash flow by:

• Forecasting budget: Summer can bring unique cash-flow challenges depending on the business industry. Anticipate potential dips in revenue due to staff vacations, slower customer activity, or seasonal changes in demand, and adjust your budget accordingly.

• Negotiating with suppliers: If there are any new suppliers you will be working with in the summer months or agreements up for renewal, plan to negotiate those vendor contracts as appropriate. Ask for extended payment terms, discounts for early payment, or volume discounts. If you can’t come to an agreement, don’t be afraid to shop around for better deals and partners.

• Accelerating receivables when possible: Offer incentives for early payments and consider a small summer discount to encourage customers to pay early. You can also stay on top of receivables by invoicing promptly and not being afraid to kindly follow up on late payments.

• Proactively exploring financing options: Don’t wait until you’re in a cash crunch to seek financing. If you don’t already have one, use the summer to establish a relationship with a bank or credit union. A line of credit can be a valuable safety net as we enter the second half of the year.

Optimize inventory for summer demand. As part of the business cleaning, business owners should examine physical inventories and make adjustments as needed to streamline for the summer months ahead. Summer demand can be unpredictable,
so it’s important to optimize inventory to avoid costly overstocking or missed sales opportunities. Some tactics to manage inventory include:

• Analyzing sales data and adjusting: Identify your best-selling and slow-moving products during the summer months. Reduce inventory levels for slow-moving items and increase stock for popular summer products.

• Implementing just-in-time inventory: If possible, work with suppliers to implement a just-in-time inventory system to receive items when you truly need them. This will help minimize storage costs and reduce the risk of overstock.

• Considering seasonal promotions: Run promotions to clear out excess inventory before the end of the summer.

Think like a CFO and make data-driven decisions. Every season, small-business owners should use data to identify trends in customers’ behaviors, forecast revenues and plan ahead. Business owners can start planning summer strategies by looking at the past 3 to 5 summers to determine the specific revenue dips and expense spikes. From there, it is crucial to identify the why behind these numbers. Having a deep understanding of performance metrics will help entrepreneurs better prepare for the future. To do this, start by:

• Segmenting your customer base: Understand which customer segments are most active in the summer and tailor your offerings to them. Are local customers more likely to spend, or are you reliant on tourists? These considerations can better inform marketing spend.

• Developing Key Performance Indicators and tracking them consistently: While overall revenue is important, a variety of other metrics can help measure the success of your business. Track KPIs like customer-acquisition cost, average transaction value, and Website traffic. These will provide early warning signs if things aren’t going as planned and help you better track towards progress.

Owning a business is no small task, and it can be challenging to keep up with changing consumer needs and costs during the summer months. However, there are steps you can take to set up for a successful and stress-free summer.