Back to School Energy: How to Harness September for Small Business Growth

September isn’t just about “back to school” it’s the perfect time to reset your goals, create new habits, and make changes in your small business that actually stick.

In this episode, I’m sharing why September is the ultimate fresh start for small business owners, how seasonal energy impacts your productivity, and the simple mindset shifts that can help you ease back into routine after summer without burning out.

Inside this episode:

• Why September beats January for new goals & fresh habits
• How seasonal energy supports productivity and momentum
• My personal experience with the “summer holiday hangover”
• The two big business changes I’ve recently made (and why they felt effortless)
• How to make small personal shifts that ripple into big business results

Free Resource: Grab The Big Day Off Planner here → https://www.amandahughes.uk/the-big-day-off-planner

So, grab a new notebook (you know you want to) and treat September as your real new year, start setting yourself up for success before January even arrives!

Sponsored by Diane at Quinn Hypnosis – helping small business owners overcome anxiety, imposter syndrome & overwhelm. For full show notes, freebies, and guest links visit: smallbusinessgrowthaddicts.com

• Connect with Amanda on Instagram: @amandahughes.uk
• Growth Addicts Show Notes: Read the blog + grab freebies + guest links
• Be Mentored by Amanda: Join Get Seen Get Sales and get the support, strategies & accountability you need to grow your business on social media with confidence. Learn more
• Free Small Business Downloads: Access all of Amanda’s freebies in one place → Get them here
• Exclusive Discounts: Exclusive discounts on Amanda’s favourite small business tools & services → See discounts

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Hi, hello, welcome. I'm Amanda Hughes, your host of Small Business Growth Addicts. I escaped the corporate world after 12 months of a side hustle which turned into my full-time income. Fast forward 10 years and I'm running not my first but my second small business and this time around it's with a passion to share all that I know, all that I've learned and all that I'm still learning with fellow small business owners. As the title of the show suggests, I am addicted to growing my business and I know you are too. Growth means different things to different people though and that's why we talk about a whole host of subjects on Growth Addicts, whether that's in a solo episode, just me, or with one of my many awesome guests. Between us, we share advice, tips and real-life entrepreneurial experience. So grab a pen, a cuppa and a biscuit, obviously, and get ready to grow that small business of yours. This is Small Business Growth Addicts. Hello and welcome back to another episode of Growth Panics. It's just me today, Amanda. Thank you so much for joining me. I feel like I've not done a solo episode without a guest for a while, so I'm really looking forward to just having a chat with you today. This episode is sponsored by Diane at Quinn Hypnosis. Diane helps small business owners just like us get rid of anxiety, reduce overwhelm and feel more balanced overall. Diane offers a better balance, better you programme that's tailored to your individual needs, whether that's group sessions are one-to-one, just contact Diane on Instagram at Quinn Hypnosis for a free consultation. So today I wanted to do an episode all about why I truly believe that September is a much better new year than January. September is just totally set up to be a new year, like it's back to school energy and it's been like that for most of our life. If you've been through a traditional schooling system like I have, then back to school was always around august september time so our environment is perfectly set up to encourage us shops have got back to school signs everywhere if you've got kids then they are literally back to school there's new stationery everywhere in the shops back to routine friends family are getting into new routines or back into routine after summer holidays and stuff and it's just the perfect environment to set us up to get stuff done now the seasons of course are changing too i mean we just have to look outside right now i can actually see a beautiful rain I look outside just now along with some of the leaves are starting to turn on the trees and the flowers are starting to fade you know so seasons are changing as well we're moving from summer into autumn here in Scotland so again we're completely supported by our environment which is changing all around us it's a season of change and naturally productivity and momentum is higher this time so I just completely believe we should just harness it right now and definitely not in January but I'll get into that in a second And I do want to say right enough, whilst I'm feeling like this just now, my kids actually returned to school. Well, they actually started school because they were in term time nursery before then. So this was my first experience of my kids starting school, being off the summer holidays and then like returning to some sort of routine. And the first day back, like I was really fired up and waiting to go. And like back at my desk, I had loads of ideas and just finding things out felt great. And I was like, yeah, that's good. This is good. literally the next day I felt awful I was exhausted I had a cold I had aches and pains I was so tired it was like a summer holiday hangover so my advice from my own learned experience is to transition slowly from whatever summer means for you if it's kids at home if it's holidays and socializing and barbecues and all of a sudden seasons are changing and things are going back to a more normal routine after holiday whatever there might be like I felt a bit of a summer holiday hangover so go easy on yourself next year I'll be doing it a bit differently I'll be taking it a bit slower taking time to reflect audit see where I'm at where I want to be in a new notebook of course and just easing myself back in gently and then when you're ready you can really go for it which is where I'm feeling now as I'm recording this mid-September if you know me by now you'll know that I love social media it's how I've grown my businesses and now I want to help you do the same that's why I created a Get Seen Get Sales, my mentor group for small business owners who want to get seen online and actually attract followers that convert to customers. Inside you'll get weekly content prompts, live workshops and support on everything you need to grow confidently on social media. If you're feeling stuck, overwhelmed or just ready to do things differently, I've got you. Head to smallbusinessgrowthaddicts.com to join us. I honestly think there's no better month to set new goals than September. Make changes, get realigned with yourselves, your business. Autumn's got something that other seasons just don't have. Now I can hear you saying but what about spring? January is of course the traditional new year where the calendar changes but we often think of spring, springing into spring and that has been a bit of a season for change as well but for me spring is more like a little burst of energy. We're still emerging after winter and it can take a wee while to get back to it so although when you see things starting to brighten up outside and life and the earth starting to come back it is encouraging and it does give you a bit of momentum for me. It's slow and it's not it's not as if energetic this autumn September feels for me I mean there's spring cleaning if that's your thing and getting back to it taking stock sure but it does take a while to get going again after winter and then once you actually do get up and running again in spring it's summer now summer for me is not the time to be getting stuff done or making changes now nothing to do with the fact that I have kids at home so our routine just changes completely over the summer but also it's hot and I'm not a big fan of the heat, I cannot in the heat. Also you know it's warm, there are holidays, there are kids everywhere, there's barbecues to go to, there's things happening in your community, family fun days, fun days out, you know you're socialising much more than ever. It's a warm and busy time and it's just not the time to be knuckling down and making changes and really sticking to anything in my opinion. And then of course we've got winter where the traditional new year falls right in the depths of winter in January no thank you who could possibly feel properly motivated for big change in January the depths of winter and it's cold certainly here in Scotland it's cold it's dark there's festivities going on lots of food oh just absolutely not absolutely not and of course it's not just me because there are a ton of studies to back this up and most of them find like it's only something like 10% of new year's resolutions made in January actually stick for me is just not surprising at all September is the one for me and now that I'm back into the swing of it kids are back at school and whatnot I'm really feeling it and I've actually made some changes recently that truly feel effortless because I'm just such in the right mindset for them so for example I have a mentor group it's an online social media mentor groups but the most amazing community of small business owners in there I used to operate it on a week this basis so on the week this and then we opened one someone for my and I've just stopped that and the reason being it is because I simply wasn't enjoying it there was far too much admin for my liking so it is gone gone and effortless like no um and an about it just gone before we dive back in I want to talk about something I know holds so many small business owners back low confidence that not so quiet voice of imposter syndrome whispering who does she think she is I've been there too but recently I had a session with Diane at Quinn Hypnosis and honestly, it was incredible. She helped me quiet that voice, boost my confidence and feel good about showing up in my business again. Diane has worked with so many small business owners to do the same, helping them move past blocks of low confidence, anxiety, overwhelm and finally feel good about being visible in their business. If this sounds like something you'd like to explore, go find Diane on Instagram at Quinn Hypnosis, check out her work and drop her a DM for a chat another thing another change I'm making which I just want to share with everyone especially every small business owner who I can get into the years of I have finally started taking a day off I have been trying to do this for years years and it's never worked out I started it just this week but I'm completely committed to this goal finally started taking a proper day off and I've actually created a planner to help other small business owners do the same planners can fully free is based on how I plan my week now I've got another planner I've got a social media planner so it's not to be confused with that it's something different and there's a few time management techniques and tools in there for you so I'm going to link it in the show notes today if taking a day off is on your radar I highly encourage you to do it I put a poll out on Instagram stories recently asking my audience who are all small business owners if it's something they struggle with too and over 50% said that they rarely take a day off And something like 12% said they never do. Other answers were like just at weekends or, you know, it's ad hoc. So I just really want to start the big day off movement. I want everyone to get a big day off. And September is a great time to do that, to make these sorts of changes. Like, why not? Why not? It's still like the temperature's okay and it's still light enough outside. We're not scorching sun of summer. We're not in the darkness of winter. It's just the perfect time. Now also if you're listening and you're thinking yeah okay I don't have anything big to focus on right now like personally or my business or whatnot that's fine just start with yourself. Totally cool but if there's anything within yourself like if you want to eat a bit healthier or move a bit more start there because any changes improvements you make to yourself have the ripple effect anyway of rippling out to your business and your personal life and just every aspect of your life so if you're going to start anywhere and you're not sure where to start to make changes and September, start with yourself for sure. And another bonus with making changes just now in September is that by the end of the year, coming December and January into the traditional new year, you've already made the changes in their habits by then. If it's changes that stuck and really worked for you, then, you know, they've became habits by now. So when you're over like Christmas and New Year holidays and getting back to a routine after that, you're not starting anything new. You're just picking up what are now old habits or just habits that you do. And how nice is that? Your changes have already been made. Your big decisions, your big changes have been made. in the autumn and then winter when you're easing back into it in the cold and the dark you can do that so much more smoothly, less pressure and I'm all for that I'm all for just slipping back in without having to think too much in January, February when it's still dark and cold and there's still after eights in the cupboard, like yeah I just want to take it as easy as possible, thank you Quick pause from our conversation because I'm wondering how you'd feel if I told you I could give you a free£50 today. Yep, if you've been thinking of moving your business bank account or perhaps you don't have a business bank account yet I can highly recommend Monzo and if you open an account with them via the link in today's show notes you get a free£50. Monzo are free to bank with I bank with them personally it's so easy to use and also the one best business banking provider in the UK in 2024. So if you don't have a business bank account yet or you're looking to change from where you are just now to free business banking and£50 in your account head over to smallbusinessgrowthaddicts.com for the link and ensure Short and sweet today, guys. I just want to talk to you about that. My love of September is a new year month. It's a month to take on new challenges, roll out new ideas. I've got the big planner there, the big day off planner. I'd encourage you to grab that if that's something you want to do. And of course, my mentor group is now open for admissions anytime. The virtual kettle is on and the virtual biscuits are out and there's an incredible community in there waiting to meet you. It's a community of small business owners. ultimately what we do on there is get seen get sales on social media social media guides content packs with prompts and hooks for content for every day of the week we talk about how to launch on social media there's social media guides for various platforms but also we just chat about everything else in between you know this week for example in our community hour we've seen pictures of Alison's kittens and been talking about Rachel's holiday to Italy so there's so much more going on in there it's a whole community and at the heart of it we help each other get seen get sales on social media and we have live workshops every month as well on various topics which I feel fill in the gaps between marketing and social media like things like email marketing branding using Canva ads you name it so much so there's lots going on there all of these links will be in the show notes today so if you want to have a look get some more information head over there if you want to ask me any questions about anything at all best place to find me is Instagram and just drop me a DM on there that's at amandahewes.uk so yes take this as permission to head out get yourself a new notebook and treat September as your new year fresh start absolutely fresh start and if you do do this or if you do the big day off or anything at all that you've learned today please share it and tag me on Instagram amandahewes.uk I am on other social media profiles again I'll link to them in the show notes but Instagram is certainly my main hub where I hang out share with me show me what you're up to I would love to see and I want to share it with as many small business owners as possible to encourage them to do the same so until next time guys happy working thank you so much for joining us today for another episode of small business growth addicts I hope today's episode has given you inspiration and tangible tips that you can use to grow your small business in a way that feels right for you if you loved today's episode please head over to smallbusinessgrowthaddicts.com and check out today's show notes where you can find details of our wonderful guests sponsors discounts freebies and so much more please also don't forget to leave a review today reviews are invaluable to us to help us get the show out there every single one is read and very much appreciated until next time