Summer Break Business Plan: How Mompreneurs Can Stay Visible Without Missing the Fun

Hey, boss mama.

Welcome back to the show.

This is the space where ambitious moms come to talk business, motherhood, and what it takes to stop doubting and start executing.

I'm your host, Manoushka Elephant, business growth and marketing coach for Mompreneurs.

I bring together 15 years in marketing and a specialization in positive psychology to help you grow with more clarity, confidence, and accountability in a way that fits mom life.

Today, we're talking about something that's not that of an easy topic, even though it should be your summer break visibility.

This is one of those topics where we tend to go all in or all out.

Either we try to do it all and keep working as usual, and then we're completely exhausted and we feel guilty because we weren't there enjoying the summer with our family.

Or we go cold turkey and basically pause our business for the whole summer.

And when it's September, we get back and we just feel like, oh my God, where am I at?

I have no idea where I left off.

And we feel guilty again because we haven't kept up with our business.

So the idea is to have a summer break strategy that lets you enjoy the summer, but also gives you enough visibility so you don't get forgotten.

And you also keep track of where you are with your own business.

So my goal is that by the end of this episode, you will have an idea of how to create your summer visibility minimum plan so that you create content and you're still top of mind with your clients and audience, but you don't create content out of guilt.

And there's a big difference to coming with a semblance of a plan, to creating shuffling and trying to get something out and churning when really your mind isn't into it.

So the big idea here is that you can slow down instead of going silent.

There's a middle ground, and it's up to you to figure out what that will look like for you this summer.

Because the truth is, if every summer your visibility falls apart and you feel bad about it and you're trying to maintain a plan like business as usual, well, it's not going to work because your summer is not the same as all the other months of the year.

It's got a special kind of rhythm.

And if your plan doesn't work for it, it's simply because it's not adapted to that summer season.

So stop feeling guilty about it.

Stop feeling shameful for not doing everything that you should be doing, because that plan is the wrong plan.

The idea here is not to be posting more the idea is to remove the pressure, the guilt, and the all or nothing thinking that make moment entrepreneurs basically disappear during the summer.

Your summer visibility plan is not about posting constantly.

And it's not about posting.

Not at all.

It's finding that middle ground that will work for you in this season while you can still enjoy your summer with your kids.

One thing I've heard that really made me pause is that we only really have 18 summers with our kids.

And when you think of it that way, you just feel like you don't want to miss any of it.

But the truth is, even if we only have 18 summers, I still want to keep track of my business and not just completely forget about it for two whole months.

So I'm thinking there's a better way.

Because if I'm going to be spending all my time with my son and just enjoying summer playing in the pool and going on hikes, well, I'm going to feel a little bit guilty that I'm not doing anything for my business.

But I also know that the other way will be the same.

If I spend all my time trying to prioritize my business, I'm going to feel just as guilty, if not more, that I'm not enjoying my time with my son.

So I thought about it and I decided there's one way where I can find a slower rhythm that will work with the summer that takes into consideration the capacity I have that also allows me for rest and enjoyment, but also keeps me on track of where my business is going so that when September comes, I don't feel like a fish out of water trying to figure out everything from scratch.

Because even if I've slowed down, I'm still keeping a little bit of my brain in the game and able to just get back in like a fish swimming in water.

When it's September, I don't want summer to feel like I'm failing in two different directions at the same time.

And that's why I felt like this episode was important, because we're all in the same boat here.

We're all trying to figure out how do I do this thing of keeping a little bit of momentum and visibility without burning myself, without feeling exhausted and ashamed because I'm not doing enough while also making the most of the summer and having a real break, too.

And I think one of the things that is quite funny here is that a lot of working moms who are in corporate jobs, they think that momentrepreneurs have the easy way out.

But when we're choosing not to be in a 9 to 5, we're actually choosing the hard way.

It's not that we have a break and we say, we'll see you in two weeks, Jim.

And we know that our out of office is programmed and that from the 9th of June to the 2nd of August, no one's going to be expecting to hear back from us.

Right?

On the contrary, when we're an entrepreneur, our brain is constantly working and it's actually harder to take a break.

So that's why I think it's really a good thing to think about summer as a visibility season where things are on a different pace so that we're able to plan for it in advance but also have our mind switch a little bit to a different pace as well.

So instead of the typical two options, which is option one, you're with your kids and so you feel guilty for your work, or option two, you're spending more time focusing on your work and so you feel guilty not doing more with your kids.

Let me introduce option three where you create your summer visibility minimum.

And this minimum is about creating enough visibility so that you don't fall off the grid.

But you don't go overboard here.

The word enough is really important.

And if you've listened to a few of my episodes already, you'll know that consistency is a word that I find really interesting because it's completely realistic for most mom interpreters.

And so it's a word that's loaded with guilt that we feel like we're never doing enough, that we need to create more output to churn out more content in order to stay consistent.

But the truth is it has a huge impact on our well being.

So if we don't want to end up resentful about our business, we better make sure that instead of consistency during the summer, we're just trying to do enough.

And the great thing is that we are able to maintain visibility even if we slow down, we don't have to go silent because it is the summer.

In the summer, it's not a consistency issue, it's a rhythm issue most of the time because you know it in the summer, everything that you've done, worked hard on to create a routine, well, it falls apart.

If your kids are in school or in kindergarten, well, that's off for a while.

If they're in summer camp or day camp, well, that's a whole different rhythm.

And most of the time, well, our husbands, our partners are still working most of the summer.

They don't have the same schedule or freedom that we have.

And So a lot of the responsibilities of the summer end up on our shoulders.

And that means planning snacks, planning bathing suit and sunscreen, making sure that we have everything we need for the road trip, doing the luggage, planning the family visits, and so on and so forth.

And in the middle of all that, of course, we end up falling to the back of the priority list.

And whether it's our business or our own well being, we tend to push that and shove that and say, if I have the time, I'll try to do this.

But then we end up at the end of the summer and we just feel exhausted because obviously we also needed to make ourselves a part of the priorities.

And that's not that simple.

And having a moment to reflect about this will actually be a huge help in making a better summer for us and our family.

And so if consistency is really not an issue for you, and you feel like most of the time you're on top of things, but the summer is really, really hard, well, just take a step back because your consistency plan, your visibility, posting and emails and all of that, it's not a bad plan that you have, but it's just not adapted to the summer.

So it's fine to do things differently during the summer, especially because for most people, business slows down and it's expected.

So right away, shake it off and get rid of that guilt.

So the first thing I would like us to do is to take a step back and think about last summer.

What actually worked?

What didn't?

Did you have a plan?

Did it go the way you wanted it?

Or did something derail it?

And if that's the case, what happened?

What would you do differently this year?

Having all of this in mind, the idea is not to feel guilty, whether it works or not.

It's more about being honest with yourself so you're able to better plan for this year.

And if you feel like every summer ends and you just feel exhausted, depleted and shameful because it didn't go the way that you want it for your business, then it might be the right time to notice patterns and change things so that this summer it actually doesn't go this way.

You can always do better.

But the idea is not to feel guilty about what happened before or not managing to do everything perfectly.

You can only do your best with what comes your way at that time.

This next thing I want you to do is think about your out of office dates.

If you were in a 9 to 5, you would send out an email automatically with I am out of office from June 12 to August 15, and that would be completely normal.

You can actually do that even if you're a moment entrepreneur.

By the way, have an automatic email go out with all the links to the most common questions that people might have when they're contacting you.

That's a great way to actually slow down as well during the summer.

There are times in the summer when you want to be completely offline.

Whether it's social media, laptop client calls or emails, it's okay to have a time for you and your family when nothing business related is going to happen.

There's nothing wrong with that and it's completely normal.

If you were in a 9 to 5, you wouldn't think about it twice.

So as a mom entrepreneur, it doesn't mean that because you have that privilege and responsibility of being an entrepreneur that you're not allowed to go offline once in a while.

Next, get realistic about your schedule.

There are going to be a lot of unplanned things happening, but more or less you already have an idea of what is going to be the typical rhythm this summer.

Whether your kids have activities or you have family visits planned, you kind of have an idea of what your week is going to look like.

So thinking of that, what is ideally the amount of time that you will have and then what is realistic?

So scaling that back a little for the time that you have, depending on the age of your kids, the plans that you've made, and also the rest that you'll need.

So here really, I don't want you to create a fantasy schedule because if you do that, you're definitely going to end up feeling guilty because you won't be able to keep up with it.

But if you're being realistic and even maybe pessimistic about your time, then higher chances that you'll be able to follow through and just get some of the work done in order to maintain your minimum visibility make it good enough.

Next thing I'd like you to do is ask for help.

And it's easier if you plan for this in advance because that way, well, everyone's schedule will work out, but also because it's easy for people to make excuses when it's last minute.

And it's harder for you to actually create your plan if you're not really sure that you'll be able to get some support or not.

So even if your partner or husband is working, you can definitely talk with them in order to create some space for yourself.

Whether it's in the evening or on the weekends, you're allowed to have your space as well.

So please, if it's something that you felt bad asking for because you have more flexibility with your time than he does, don't.

It's normal.

Your business is not just a small thing that you're doing for fun.

It is something serious and you're allowed to ask for help with your time.

So personally, I like to ask for one evening a week.

It doesn't always happen, but most of the time we're able to make it work.

And once in a while I'll also ask for a Sunday.

Typically, my partner will go and have a family day with his family.

And our son is really happy to spend the day with his cousins and aunts, but it gives me a little bit of breathing room and usually I will fit in some me time as well as some work time because one cannot be sustained without the other.

Another great source of support here is asking your own family members, such as the grandparents or if you have siblings in the summer, they usually usually have a little bit more time themselves too.

And so it's the perfect time for them to spend with their grandkids or nephews and nieces.

And if it's not planned in advance, well, they might make other plans and you might miss out on some great family fun for them to actually connect together, maybe help them a little bit plan for an activity.

It actually makes it easier and the day will go a lot smoother because if they're not used to spending time with little kids or grown up teenagers and they basically aren't sure what's the best activity, well, making suggestions will make things a lot easier and everyone will be happy at the end of the day.

The third great option, and one that I think is really cool, is partnering up with another mom entrepreneur and supporting each other by giving each other an afternoon or two during the summer.

The way I see this is another mom entrepreneur with kids around the same age.

One day you take all the kids and she's going to be working on her business.

And one day she takes all the kids and you get to focus on your business.

That's just a great exchange because not only you have that time, but you're supporting each other and developing that kind of sense of belonging and community that we all need now think about the things that you're going to keep doing and the things that you're going to be pausing during the summer.

And I think this is actually a really valuable exercise and not just for the summer, but for even back to school when you get back into your regular Random because we tend to cram in a lot more than what actually makes a difference for our business.

So from your social media to your newsletter, to the freebies that you're giving out, to the calls that you're trying to make all the time, what actually makes a difference for your business?

So what are the things that you want to keep for summer?

Draft a list.

What are the things that can be paused and at the end of the summer, go back to that second list and see what actually needs to be reinstated or not.

But going back to the must do during the summer, keep it simple.

Because here the idea is not to do as much as you can, is to do as little as possible so that it's enough.

My next tip is to choose one conversation topic that you want to maintain during the summer via all your communication channels, so that when you're thinking about a conversation with your typical audience or ideal clients, you're not going through all the themes that you're usually talking about, but one core theme that you want to maintain during the summer when you're keeping the same theme across, then it's a lot easier for people to remember you.

And I think something that is quite important here is that especially in the age of AI, people really don't care at all about tips to do list or checklists.

What they want is an opinion.

They want to trust you for your opinions.

And when you say something that is really resonating with what you think, that comes across and people will trust you even more.

So what I really suggest here is to choose a conversation theme that will bring together your audience, your ideas, and just get that visibility on minimum.

But going your next step is to take a look at all the old content that you have and repurpose as much as you can from it.

Because you have actually a big database of content that you might not even realize.

Whether it's old workshops, calls that you've recorded with clients, emails that you sent out, social media posts, even client questions, or your offers.

All of this is content that you own.

And there's a lot in there that you can find that will match the conversation that you're trying to have this summer.

Remember here, the idea is not to create as much as possible from this, but to do enough visibility enough.

So if you're looking at old emails, maybe there are some where you just need to write a new introduction, but the rest of the email is already pretty good.

And so you don't need to do extra work, repurpose that you have old carousels that have great images, had good engagement.

Repurpose that you have freebies that you haven't used in a while.

Repurpose that you have a Goldminder.

You just need to go and sort through it and reuse as much of it as you can as is, and tweak a little bit in order that it matches your season and your clients for the summer.

By the way, a lot of moment entrepreneurs are actually scared of repurposing content because they feel like they've already published this.

And so people are going to notice and they're going to feel bad because they're not creating new things and keeping it fresh.

Well, the truth is, most people don't actually see the content that you post, and if they did, they've seen so many other posts since then that they completely forgot about it.

And so we spent a lot of time creating all that, so we were really close to it.

But if we stepped back and we thought, oh well, what about the content that we're following from other creators or business owners?

Most of the time we don't remember it.

And so don't feel bad about repurposing, it's fair game.

And especially during the summer, even on your favorite podcast or shows you're going to see, they're going to reuse old episodes.

Sometimes they'll record a new intro, but not even all the time.

And that's completely fine.

So again, the idea is creating content for good enough visibility.

Now, I want you to think about creating a visibility buffer, because chances are, before the summer starts, you're not going to have time to repurpose and schedule and plan everything.

Once you get that plan into motion, create a bit of a buffer so that you have some elements that if you end up not having enough time, you're able to use them with just a few clicks.

And the thing is, you're going to be planning for the best scenario.

But we know how things go.

Kids get sick, the weather gets bad, family visits impromptu, and we end up making meals and cleaning the house instead of working on the things.

And something else that can happen that we tend not to plan for is that we might just be more tired and exhausted than we thought we would be.

And so having that buffer, in terms of the content, it will be really helpful to know that you don't need to overthink it.

You already have a couple of posts, a couple of newsletter ideas that you can simply send out without thinking too much about it.

And the last thing that I want you to think about is protecting your summer Fun, because yes, we've been talking about keeping enough content so that you stay a minimum visible, but it's still the summer and it's still time for you to enjoy your family.

And if you're constantly thinking about what to produce, you're not going to be completely offline.

And you need those times for yourself too.

So whether it's planning for days where there's no laptop, no social media, I love to delete the apps once in a while, to be honest.

And just having time when you decide.

I don't respond to emails, I'm really offline and I'm disconnected.

That's great.

If that doesn't work for you, then what's the next version that works?

Is it not looking at my phone, not bringing my laptop with me at all, or bringing my laptop, but not looking at it except during nap time or in the evenings?

There's no right or wrong answer here, but it's really, how do you want it to look and have that idea in advance?

Not a last minute thing of oh, no, but maybe I should, maybe I shouldn't.

If you decide in advance, then it will just make sense when you're actually doing it and that you don't feel bad for deciding that you want to put those boundaries and protect your summer.

Take a second and promise me that no matter what happens this summer, you will not feel guilty about it because you're going to be planning for your best case.

But then reality happens and you're going to be doing your best with what you have.

So whether you manage, whether you don't, whether you spend a lot of time with your kids or you manage to have all the time that you wanted for your business, I want you to feel content.

Think about the things that are working and the things that make you happy and just do the best that you can.

But don't feel bad when it doesn't go according to plan, there's always another summer where you can do things better.

One day your kids won't be at home anymore and you miss those times when you actually had to fight for an hour for yourself.

So let's give each other this promise that no matter what happens this summer, we're going to do it guilt free and we're going to enjoy as much as we can.

September is going to come and we're going to be ready for it, no matter what.

Because it's our business.

It's our baby too, and we want to make it fun.

All right?

So just to recap the few things that I would like you to do for your summer is have an audit.

What happened last summer, what worked, what didn't, and what do you want to do differently?

Choose your summer dates.

When do you decide to be offline?

Third, have an idea of your rhythm.

What is a realistic time that you're going to have every week to do a little bit for your business?

4.

Ask for support now.

Don't wait until last minute.

5.

Decide on what you pause and what you actually want to maintain during the summer.

Doing just enough.

6.

Choose what topic, what conversation you want to maintain throughout the summer to make your life easier and also be more memorable.

7.

Repurpose as much content as you can.

8.

Build your visibility buffer so that you have something just for the in case when things don't go according to plan.

9.

Protect your fun and when you want to be offline completely.

And 10 refuse the guilt.

All right, I hope that you've enjoyed this episode and that you have clarity around your summer visibility minimum.

Take the time for reflection.

It's really a good exercise.

And until then, please rate the show.

Give me five stars.

It really makes my day, but it also helps other mom entrepreneurs find a show and feel less alone.

So until next time, Boss Mama, you've got this.