Getting Your Freelance Business Ready for a Summer Slowdown

This post is a reblog, originally published in the Slator Tool Box. It is reprinted here with permission of the author.

My translation clients are primarily based in Europe, so my project flow tends to slow down quite a bit in July and August every year. Europeans, it turns out, take their summer breaks much more seriously than Americans. With decision-makers out of the office, only the most urgent translation projects are sent out while ongoing work is put on hold.

I appreciate the flexibility this reduced project volume brings, but have learned that I need to include the associated income dip in my budgeting.

If your freelance business is affected by similar seasonal fluctuations, you may find it helpful to prepare for them now. Here are a few things you can do if you anticipate a drop in business activity over the summer:

Check Your Project Data

Most financial software products come with useful reporting functions to help you analyze your business situation. For example, QuickBooks has a “Snapshots” section with comparative information that you can customize. When I run a monthly income comparison for multiple years, July and August are consistently the slowest months, followed by a spike in September.

Although such patterns may not be discernible for a newly established freelance business, they emerge clearly after three to five years. Understanding the seasonal trends of your own business reduces stress and helps you make informed decisions.

Run an Expense Forecast

Being financially prepared for an income drop is key. Make a list of all business/household expenses you will need to cover over the summer months. Again, your financial data from previous months or years can provide helpful insights about your typical spending. Decide how you will pay your summer expenses with your earnings from a potentially reduced project flow.

Since you may not be able to count on the same level of income, your forecast should also consider major purchases you are planning (new laptop, etc.) to avoid unnecessary credit card debt.

Manage Your Accounts Receivable

Review what your clients owe you for recent projects, and take action to collect the money well before summer vacation. Regular invoicing and other administrative tasks sometimes take a backseat to freelance work, but don’t let your accounts payable slide now. If you haven’t already done so, send out all invoices for work you’ve completed and follow up on overdue payments.

Tip: I recently asked ChatGPT to help me write a friendly reminder message to a client. The draft text suggested by the program helped me craft a courteous note in minutes.

Determine Your Summer Work Schedule

Next, think through your own summer plans. If the choice was completely yours, how much time would you like to spend working, and which other activities would you enjoy?

If your data indicates, for instance, that mid-August tends to be the slowest point of your fiscal year, it may be preferable to take a week off instead of worrying over an empty inbox in your office.

On the other hand, if you’d rather stay busy with freelance work over the summer, start reaching out now to your clients and let them know about your continued availability. Project managers in larger agencies will be grateful to know they can reach out to you when many regular providers are out of the office.

Communicate Your Vacation Plans Consistently and Often

It is not unusual for clients to send work requests while you’re on vacation, especially if you are in a direct working relationship with a company. For optimal communication, mention your vacation plans repeatedly, include OoO time in your email signature, and send a courteous reminder of your anticipated return.

Don’t forget to check back in with clients after a break. Returning from a vacation is an easy opportunity to reach out. Depending on the relationship you have with your clients, send a few lines to let them know you are available for new projects.

That can simply look like this:

“Hello, I hope you are doing well. This is to let you know I am back from my vacation in […]. We had a lovely time and I especially enjoyed […]. I am now back in the office and ready to accept new projects. Please keep me in mind for new assignments in my language pair.” (AI can probably come up with an even more appealing version.)

As always, taking action is the best way to break out of a situation that feels stressful or difficult to control. The more you know about seasonal fluctuations and other factors affecting your project flow, the more empowered you will be to reach sound decisions – based on your own business data.

This article first appeared in the Slator ToolBox monthly newsletter. Register here. 

About the Author

Dorothee Racette, CT has been a full-time freelance GER < > EN translator for over 25 years. She served as ATA President from 2011 to 2013. In 2014, she established her own coaching business, Take Back My Day, to help individuals and organizations solve problems related to workflow and time management. As a certified productivity coach (CPC), she now divides her time between translating and coaching. Her book Complete What You Started (2020) provides a blueprint for carrying big projects across the finish line. You can read her blog at takebackmyday.com/blog.