Dog days of the summer

How much is summer really costing you?

See below for our weekly text tip and we’re excited to announce one of our first speakers at the 40 Strategy Growth Workshop, Trey Taylor, Author of  A CEO Only Does 3 Things. 

Summers are great! Especially when you are enjoying time on a pontoon boat, on a lake in the middle of North Carolina. There is something about having an opportunity to be on an innertube, cooling yourself off from the 95° heat, which feels like about 105° due to the humidity. 

Hey, with this type of weather, it’s easy to be a little lazy and not want to work on the project you need to! But the problem with that, it might be costing you more than you think.

If you are actively working in the summer, like I am, you realize it is much tougher to get meetings with people, prospects, suppliers, etc. because this is when people are taking vacations. They are enjoying the holidays, starting on Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. 

Of course it makes sense, the kids are out of school and it’s great to get out and enjoy some outdoor activities in the hot sun.

It’s very important to recharge and to be ready for your next steps. Or perhaps, do you have got to your level of business, where you can fully enjoy it.

However, the cost on your business may not only have an impact in the summer. It also has an impact on your fourth quarter.

Around 36% of U.S. workers say they are less productive during the summer, according to a survey of more than 890 U.S. working adults from HR software provider Dayforce (Fortune, 2024). 

According to another study, people say we’re getting less with our money Rising Prices: We're Getting Less For Our Money.

And what’s interesting, is that a lot of companies were going to just say well, this is why we have vacation, paid time off, and everything’s fine.

But this is why everything is not fine.

Your fixed costs, your rent, salaries, utilities have not gone away. 

It is relatively easy to calculate when you lose one day of productivity.

Let’s say, you have $10 million in operating expenses. In an average year of 220 working days, one lost day of productivity, costs you $45,455. Yikes!

This is Why we Rely on our Weekly Sprints

Regardless of the vacations that are going on, there should not be any problem with your team members meeting once a week to gauge progress in the company. This is especially true for your strategic initiatives, as well as weekly operational issues.

Why weekly reviews as opposed to monthly or quarterly reviews? Well, it is that much faster, you can catch your team before going off course.

And you never get back that lost time and those expenses. One week is equivalent to $227,273 of losses.

We have talked about the practice of conducting sprints many, many times and so we’re not going to go into detail today, but here is a pass post, Make Your Strategic Plan A Roadmap to Success, a how-to do 40 Strategy sprints.

But there’s another big thing that really matters. Lets say your company sales cycle averages 4 months. That means to have a great fourth quarter, you need to start working on those leads today!  Losing momentum in the summer can have a significant impact on your fourth quarter sales.

This requires taking those marketing leads that you paid so much to develop. To actually turn them into prospects because you’ve actually had contact with them. You have to turn them into opportunities  for them to see where you can help to create value. The momentum for you to close those deals that you need in the fourth quarter starts right now. 

And of course, will it hurt if you happen to sell those deals earlier in the third quarter? Of course not. We can help accelerate our sales processes to cover those sales, and fixed costs that we need to cover to pay for all of our expenses. That is what we need to do, to stay ahead of the game.

40 Strategy Growth Workshop 

We are pleased to announce our 1st speaker for the workshop, November 3rd & 4th in Phoenix, AZ, Trey Taylor. 

Trey Taylor is the CEO of Taylor Insurance Services, Managing Director of Threadneedle and trinity | blue consulting, Founding Partner of Ascend Partners, and best-selling author of A CEO Only Does Three Things, with frequent appearances in INC., Entrepreneur, and SHRM, and as a keynote speaker at events like the Human Capital Institute and Ascend Conference.

In 2020, Trey published his first book, A CEO Only Does Three Things: Finding Your Focus in the C-Suite.  Since that publication, he has appeared on 60+ podcasts and been featured in publications like

INC., Entrepreneur, SHRM and others.  He speaks frequently as a keynote speaker,

addressing attendees at the Human Capital Institute, the Ascend Conference, and many other engagements; challenging audiences to be more intentional, find more focus and get the right things done. Trey just published Un Ceo Solo Hace Tres Cosas: Enfócate en lo que Realmente Importa (Spanish Edition)

Breaking Down the One Big Beautiful Bill Act - One Week at a Time

Tax Tip of the Week

The so-called SALT, State and Local Taxes, limitation has been raised from a $10,000 deduction to a $40,000 deduction. This is BIG news!

That means many people who have been unable to use the itemized deductions, will now be able to because they will no longer be limited by this limitation. You can now deduct those pesky state income and local property taxes up to $40,000. 

Therefore, many people who were held to the standard deduction will be able to add the SALT to their mortgage interest deduction and charitable deductions to start itemizing their deductions again.

It is estimated that the average taxpayer making $200,000 per will save X dollars.

A key thing to consider: If your income is above $400,000 those itemized deductions begin to phase out. The effective marginal tax rate above $400,000 can be as high as 50%. It is time to consider deferring your income if you are near this income level.

Contact us at

accounting@40accounting.com or your local tax preparer, if you have any questions.