Two business advisors, Lynn Whitman and Mike Tyler, provided Chamber of Commerce members with four main suggestions to keep their businesses operating through a long, hot summer.

About 10 business owners attended the free, one-hour “Chamber University” session June 20 to hear advice from Whitman and Tyler of Arizona Business Advisors.

The four main areas of concern are:

*Check out your financials.

*Expand or right size your offerings.

*Talk about marketing.

*Make the most of your time.

The summer is an ideal time to closely scrutinize fixed costs and determine if they can be reduced, said Tyler. A business should have a minimum of three to six months of monthly fixed costs.

“The ability to forecast the cash flow over the next few months will give you the sense of how bad is this going to get by the end of October?” he said. “That can help determine what you need to do.”

It might be the time to cut back on an employee’s time, renegotiate rent, consider co-working or review utility costs.

“It will differ for every person,” said Tyler.

Whitman said some businesses sell commodities while others sell time in the form of service.

She used the example of one participant who owned an ice cream shop. The business might consider expanding into complimentary services, such as catering birthday parties. Whitman suggested the store sell candles, balloons and cake to supplement sales.

“You’re selling convenience for your customer,” said Whitman. “Connect with your customers on what they need.

“Think about the connections you can put together with other businesses to complement your offering.

“Analyze what sells in the summer as opposed to things that sell in the winter.”

Her advice: Make your marketing work year-round. Communicate with customers on a regular basis. Make a plan. Get social. Try something new.

Tyler told the participants to make the most of their free time during the summer by establishing a playbook for the business, consider different strategies to meet goals and identify strengths and weaknesses.