What does your Q3 and Q4 Planning Look Like?

Q3 for us is all about refining what we’ve already built rather than adding more. We had a huge first half of the year with dorm season, commercial growth, and a lot happening behind the scenes, so my focus is making sure our systems can support the next level of growth.

A few priorities:
• Continuing to strengthen our leadership team so the business becomes less dependent on me.
• Expanding our commercial division in a way that’s sustainable, not just fast.
• Fine-tuning our client journey and automations to improve the experience without adding more manual work.
• Continuing to build our coaching and educational content while documenting more of our internal processes.

I’ve learned that every year I become less interested in chasing more new things. I’d rather optimize the systems we already have and let those improvements compound over time.

This is actually something I’ve been thinking about a lot. During the first half of the year I focused on building a solid foundation instead of just chasing more work. I invested in better equipment, organized my customer information and scheduling through Jobber, and created systems that make quoting, invoicing, communication, and follow-ups more consistent.

For the second half of the year my focus is growing smarter, not just bigger. I want to add more recurring residential and commercial accounts, continue building relationships with realtors and property managers, and become more involved in my community. Some of our biggest opportunities have come from giving back—offering free Father’s Day cuts, helping after storms, working with schools and assisted living facilities, and simply treating people with respect.

One thing I’ve learned is that customers may forget the price, but they rarely forget how you made them feel. If you build trust, stay reliable, and consistently deliver quality work, referrals start to come naturally. I’m excited to see where the rest of the year takes us. Wishing everyone a successful second half of the year! 

This year has been full of challenges and growth. My focus for Q3 and Q4 is to keep improving our customer service, stay consistent with marketing, strengthen our online presence, and continue building systems that help our small business grow. Every project is another opportunity to earn trust and build something bigger.😃

I am planning to rewrite some of our goals and redo our VTO a bit.  I am just not happy with the goals we have now and I don't think they are tracking. 

I’m in a similar spot with realizing that being busy and actually moving the business forward are not always the same thing.

For the second half of the year, my main focus is getting more intentional about where the business is headed. I run Metal Relic, where I create custom metal art, sculpture, and higher end handmade pieces. The smaller items have helped keep things moving, but I’m trying to shift more of my focus toward larger custom work, fine art pieces, gallery opportunities, and projects that better represent the long term direction of the business.

I’m also stepping into some opportunities that most people do not get the chance to experience. Those opportunities did not just randomly show up. They came from years of dedication to the craft, putting in the work, showing up, learning, improving, and trying to take the business seriously even when things were chaotic behind the scenes.

Q3 is really about tightening up the front end of the business. Better communication, better follow up, cleaner quoting, better photos and documentation, and making sure people understand the value of the work before we ever get to price.

Q4 is going to be more about positioning for next year. I want to build better systems instead of constantly reacting, especially around customer inquiries, custom project tracking, content, and keeping my time focused on the work that actually moves the needle.

Right now, it can feel like 90% of my time goes into the business side of things so I can enjoy the 10% where I actually get to create. The goal is to get that ratio closer over time, so the business supports the work instead of constantly pulling me away from it.

As a solo business owner, it’s easy to stay buried in the work and not step back enough to work on the business. That’s the part I’m trying to correct going into the back half of the year.

You're Awesome! Thanks for the reminder that we are quickly approaching the Q3 & Q4. 

I'm taking the summer to learn some new tools so I can service my customer more efficiently. I signed up for click-up, but I don't think its enough alone to support our business activities and improve productivity. I like the layout of click-up so far.  I believe we will see more applications grouped together instead of hundreds of app on our phones.