Imagine working a 9-5 job - crazy, right? Your company gave you two weeks off, and you didn’t have a vacation planned. The kids are at camp and you have the house to yourself. While you may spend a few days catching up on your favorite tv shows, you probably are making some big plans around the house. Perhaps you are going to power wash the deck, install some new light fixtures, remodel a bedroom, or spend time learning a new hobby. Now back to reality, entrepreneur! While a 2-week vacation would be nice, most shop owners don’t get that time off to work on their house. Rather, every print shop has their busy and slow seasons. Therefore those “tasks” around the house during your “vacation” can be mimicked to slow times at the shop. ----------- Try Printavo: https://www.printavo.com

1. Have Downtime?
Move Forward With 8 Tips
Printavo – Simple, online shop management software
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2. Introduction
Imagine working a 9-5 job - crazy, right? Your
company gave you two weeks off, and you didn’t have a
vacation planned. The kids are at camp and you have
the house to yourself. While you may spend a few days
catching up on your favorite TV shows, you probably
are making some big plans around the house. Perhaps
you are going to power wash the deck, install some new
light fixtures, remodel a bedroom, or spend time
learning a new hobby.
Now back to reality, entrepreneur! While a 2-week
vacation would be nice, most shop owners don’t get
that time off to work on their house. Rather, every print
shop has their busy and slow seasons. Therefore those
“tasks” around the house during your “vacation” can be
mimicked to slow times at the shop.

3. Every shop is going to be slightly different. If your business is
very school centric, you might be slow during the summers,
but if your business focuses on a lot of construction
companies, it may be just the opposite. Don’t worry too
much! A lot of shops struggle with it. Slow season is
inevitable, and it will happen. As a business owner you should
expect the best, but plan for the worst.
The number one rule to get through the slow season is to
make sure you have built up your bank. The last thing you
want to do is shut down, or let employees go that you will
later need. Instead of checking out during the slow season,
spend some time “housekeeping”. You will be surprised at
how much you can really get done!

4. Cross Train your Team
- Put on a training camp and get your office staff
pulling squeegees and reclaiming screens.
- Teach your screen printer how to order apparel and
check in items.

5. Invest in Education
- Invest in your staff and send them to training or
tradeshows.
- Help building your staff’s skills to take your shop
to the next level.

6. Contact Every Customer
- Spend an entire week visiting and calling customers,
and let them know how much you appreciate them.
- Bring them a small gift and call it customer
appreciation week!

7. Get Organized
- Have your production staff re-organize the ink
room, clean their presses, and fold all those
miscellaneous shirts that piled up over the last few
months and deep clean their equipment and bring it
up to shop standards.
- Have your artists clean out their computer from
useless files and old artwork. Maybe, have them
organize the Dropbox!
- Get yourself organized, your computer, finances,
and any office work that really needs to get done.

8. Plan
- Make a strategic plan with your team for the next 6
months.
- Make it as detailed as a Football Coach’s playbook.
- Talk openly, set goals, and spend time identifying
where you need to go.

9. Put on a Community Event
- Maybe you want to do a poster printing workshop, or
try out live printing at the 4th of July Fest.
- Go outside the box and open your doors. You will be
surprised, and your staff might enjoy it.

10. Sell Sell Sell
- Learn about Facebook Ads, Google AdWords, and
Instagram Ads and try a campaign.
- Print out flyers and leave them at a local grocery store.
- Email local organizations.
- Email your customers a coupon.
- Print t-shirts for your team to wear around town.
- Do anything you can to generate more sales.

11. Have Fun
- Enjoy yourself and appreciate your business.
- Take a break and re-energize.