When the summer months roll around in any business, we rightly think about well-earned, well deserved and well needed rests and holidays.
The EdTech sector is no different with schools closed for several weeks.
However, previous experience both working in EdTech and in my old sporting days - that the summer ‘off season’ is a hugely important time for EdTech businesses and often a time where huge progress can be made.
I am not saying I go relentlessly from one day to the next without a break but I have learned that the work I do during this period is crucial in allowing me to make a flying start when the schools return in September.
The summer months are the time to make sure your ed-tech business is well prepared for the rush when the new academic year starts in September.
Leaving things blindly until September before falling back into what you did last year will yield similar or worse results, whilst the term time just slips away very quickly, leaving you chasing your tail.
To use a sporting analogy, this is the time to get ‘match fit’ and to prepare both physically and mentally for the start of term and the new year ahead. Not to just stand still, but to progress in the new year.
So, what can be done?
Well, I am sure anyone reading this would agree with me that most of us find it hard to create time for reflection. Time to look back on what we did in the previous 12 months with a critical eye and work out what we did well and what needs working on.
Grow your business
How do we scale and move into new markets to grow our business? What do we need to get there and how are we going to get there. These are the discussions and plans we are putting together for ourselves and our clients whilst schools are mostly closed. Putting together solid strategies for the year ahead.
There will also have been some things that cropped up or took place, that were out of our control as a business. With that in mind, how can we prepare for the unexpected this year? Are there any contingencies we can put in place to guard against the unexpected and were there any lessons learned last year in not predicting things that didn’t go to plan.
Thankfully, as the world slowly drags itself out of the Covid-19 pandemic, conducting business both locally and abroad is becoming a little more predictable.
From a products and services perspective, the summer also gives us time to think about how we can improve our offering and change it if necessary to make it a better fit for existing and prospective new clients.
Academic year
Few businesses want to stand still and we are no different at GEST. So, I am keen to make sure that what we can offer clients is something even better this academic year.
When I used to play sports, I remember a coach during one preseason saying to me: “The human body is capable of great things. Even more than you give it credit for.”
I guess the same can be said for businesses. They’re often capable of much more than you give them credit for.
I like to think the hard work during the summer months, when it would be easier to relax, is what will stand GEST and our clients in good stead for what’s coming up in September and onwards.
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