It's February 18th, last week that pesky, furball groundhog predicted six more weeks of winter. The official first day of spring for 2015 is Friday, March 20th. Thirty days from now. With spring time comes cleaning for most. Out with the old and in with the new. In many homes, it's time to replace pillows, sheets, and towels. In businesses, it's often the time when the current year budget spending starts. Or perhaps you are one who believes that summer bodies are created in the winter and use this time of year to workout so that you are beach ready come summer?

In August last year here on the blog, we had a post "Christmas in August". At the time of the launch we discussed 126 shopping days left until Christmas and we gave suggestions on how to get your website ready for the impending holiday shopping season.  In December on the blog, we discussed Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales figures. We also discussed how it's not just about a single day anymore, as Matt Shay, CEO of National Retail Federation stated "Everyday will be Black Friday. Every minute will be Cyber Monday."  What Mr. Shay and the analytic's from the holidays tell us is that e-commerce and mobile have changed the playing field for shopping. And what all of this should be telling business owners is that it's time to make changes, and the sooner the better.

So, as winter is taking its toll and you start planning for spring, plan on how you can do some spring cleaning for your business as well. Below are some ideas on how to embrace "out with the old and in with the new" mantra and put some muscle behind your web presence and utilize technology.

1. E-commerce. Don't loose out on a single minute or second of sales. If you learn anything from Mr. Shay, it's that every second counts. Don't turn away sales because you don't offer e-commerce.

2. Mobile. Mobile goes hand in hand with e-commerce. As we stated on the December blog, 52.1 percent of Thanksgiving traffic was from mobile devices!

3. System Integration. Keep your e-commerce system fully stocked and ready for any sale. Have your systems communicate with each other. Let your inventory management and online order management systems work hand in hand with your shopping cart.

4. Utilize new technology. Apple is constantly using its creative team and new ads to show us all just what you can do with an iPad. Take for instance their latest ad that aired during the Grammys. It was shot entirely by an iPad and the tablet was also used to create the music. Talk to an Apple Developer today to see how to embrace the latest technology whether it be by creating an app for a smart phone or iPad or perhaps you can be a pioneer with an app for the up and coming Apple Watch.

How will you use your mop and bucket and spring clean your business? Maybe while you work on being beach ready you can also get your business on track and ready for the next holiday rush. Don't procrastinate and wait until next fall. Start talking to developers today to make plans and implement ideas so that in the summer you can launch new systems and have them fully tested and ready for the rush. What are your business plans for spring?