Ahh, the pleasures of downtime. The phone is not ringing, your inbox is not full of orders to be processed and sales have been pretty good. BUT, it's what you do during this "lull" that can make or break your company's busy season.

Outlined below are three areas that you should be paying particular attention to before you relax during off-peak times.

1. Inventory: What's sold? What didn't? Why? Can you get the same goods cheaper with another vendor? Will you be able to get your best sellers in sufficient quantity when your busy season rolls around again? Do you have enough stock on hand now, even though it is your "slow season?" Can/should you increase your offerings by adding complementary products/services?

Your inventory is your business. Now that you have some time, take stock of your merchandise. Examine prices, styles, quantity, vendor contacts, new merchandise offerings, etc. The effort you expend can add exponentially to your bottom line over time.

2. Advertising/Marketing: If you don't have a marketing budget, now is the perfect time to devise one. If you do have one, then you know that it requires constant tweaking.

Now's the perfect time to pull out sales charts and see: What ads worked? Which ones didn't? Which medium (newspapers, postcards, sales letters, Internet ads, etc.) produced more actual sales and/or generated more leads? What was the cost per sale/lead from each medium? Which ad programs should you expand, cut, explore more? What partnerships can you form with like vendors? How much will it cost? Etc.

You should also be pre-paying for upcoming seasonal ads. Advertising during heavy holiday periods (Christmas, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, etc.) can be expensive, and there's no guarantee that space will be available if you wait until the last minute.

You will be better able to track your ads and make better financial choices than if you wait until the last minute. Your money will go further because ad takers are much more likely to offer discounts if you pay early, and in full.

3. Work Flow/Management: Systems and processes can always be upgraded to meet the demands of your business.

For example, is your customer database automated? If not, now is a good time to get all contact information on your customers into some kind of easily retrievable, automated system. If you really want to increase sales, find out who has spent what over a period of time. This way, you can creative incentive/reward programs for your best customers.

Do you use software to keep your books? Do you update it on a regular basis? Do you have an accountant, financial advisor, representative at your banking institution?

Now is the time to catch up on paperwork you've been lax on, and to establish relationships that can propel your business to the next level.

NOTE: Every small business owner should develop a relationship with a bank. Even if you don't think that you have anything to offer them, or them you, remember, you are growing a business. Having a relationship with a banker can pay off in more ways than you know over time.