What to Do While Everyone Else Is on Vacation

It’s mid-July. Your inbox is quiet, your calendar suddenly breathable, and half your network seems to be in Italy. But for entrepreneurs — especially those of us building in industries like flexible real estate, health innovation, or mission-driven nonprofits — this isn’t a lull. It’s a draw-back-the-arrow moment.

When everyone else is coasting, it's your chance to set the pace.

1. Recalibrate Strategy with Precision, Not Panic

Mid-year is a perfect time to reassess your goals for the rest of the year. What’s working? What’s noise? Whether you're managing Class A office space, scaling advocacy tech, or running a lean nonprofit team — clarity wins.

I spend this time asking: If I were starting today, what would I do differently? From there, I cut dead weight, double down on winners, and reset expectations — internally and externally.

2. Upgrade Your Infrastructure While No One’s Watching

At Firmspace, July is when we modernize — tech stacks, member onboarding flows, broker engagement strategies. It’s easier to experiment when traffic is slower and pressure is low.

In the nonprofit space, it’s the same play: automate donor funnels, revisit CRM flows, clean up your data. In healthtech? Rebuild your website with new landing pages and clarify your messaging.

This is builder season.

3. Invest in Quiet Relationships

While the spotlight’s off, I reach out to people who usually don’t have time for calls — founders, brokers, donors, policymakers, even past colleagues. Mid-summer is human time. No pitch. Just reconnect.

It’s amazing what comes from, “Hey, just checking in — how’s the year shaping up for you?”

4. Train Like You’re in Preseason

This is when you go deep on the things that make you dangerous: read the boring market reports, enroll in a course, tighten your AI workflows, get feedback from your team. You don’t have to be loud to get better. You just have to be intentional.

Right now, while others are distracted, you can quietly become the most prepared person in the room come September.

5. Respect the Pullback

There’s a reason archers pull the arrow back before they fire. That tension? It builds power. July isn’t downtime. It’s resistance training. If it feels hard or lonely, that’s a good sign — it means you’re not on autopilot.

In flexible real estate, this is the lead-up to fall leasing season. In nonprofit, this is the prep for year-end campaigns.

Use this time to aim deliberately, and maybe have an Aperol Spritz.