4 Ways to Navigate Slow Seasons in Your Design Business

Have you ever had a moment in your business when things are just slow? When you feel like you’re spinning your wheels, but not really going anywhere? Don't worry, I've been there too! We all go through slow seasons no matter how experienced or established we are. And as much as slow seasons suck, they don’t have to be a bad thing. Sometimes they come at just the right time and give you space to work on things that you never would have had the time for if you were busy. So to help you feel more prepared and less stressed, here are my 4 tips on what to do when things are slow for your business.

01 / Do a passion project.

Passion projects are THE BEST way to build your portfolio, improve your skills, and attract more of the work that you really love. If this slow season came about because you’re struggling to find work, then I HIGHLY recommend doing a passion project!

A lot of times passion projects can feel like a waste of time since you aren’t getting paid, but if you do them intentionally with a target client in mind, they’re so worth the time and effort that you put in! And it doesn’t even to be a huge, elaborate project (although those a fun too). I’ve added passion projects to my portfolio that I only spent a few hours working on. You can literally do whatever you want — total creative freedom to build the portfolio you want to have and show potential clients. Have fun with it and then share it like crazy wherever those potential clients are hanging out!

I wrote a whole other blog post about why I love passion projects so much, so if you want to learn more about them, go check it out!

02 / Invest your time (and money) towards the things that you've been putting off.

There is always stuff in our businesses that we tend to put off when we’re busy. Some examples are:

Automating our onboarding process with tools like Dubsado
Organizing + updating files
Updating our website (new photos, copy, projects, etc.)
Finding new ways to streamline our process
Setting up better strategies with our marketing

Use this downtime to finally check those things off your to-do list! You’ll be glad you got them taken care of when things get busy again.

03 / Seek out new partnerships + collaborations.

Feel like your slow season is connected to not having a big audience or not being able to reach the right people? Spend this time to actively reach out and build relationships with others either in your industry or in your target audience’s space! Some ways to do this are:

webinars / live workshops
guest blog posts
joint Instagram lives
podcast interviews
speaking at online summits

Anything to connect with someone else, be introduced to their audience and share some value! Collaborations like this can quickly help you expand your reach and get your ideas and services in front of more people. It's a great thing to do during a slow season to give your business a little jumpstart, but it's also something that you should prioritize all the time as part of your marketing.

04 / Rest!

Sometimes the most productive thing that you can do for your business is rest! Especially if this slow season is coming after an extremely busy one, you owe it to yourself to take a little break. Embrace this time to relax and reset before things pick up again. Because they WILL pick back up again and when they do, you want your cup to full so you can get back to doing your best work!

Slow seasons happen and that's ok. The important thing to focus on is how you navigate them and give your business what it needs during that time! I hope that these tips help and if you have your own experiences with things that got you through a slow season, I would love to hear about them in the comments below!