Minnesota
Seasonal businesses are unique in the business ownership world. They require a different approach and come with a distinct set of business benefits. According to leading business coaches, seasonal businesses can allow you to take more extended time off, motivate you to manage your time and money more effectively, grant you large chunks of time to work out new business strategies and can have lower overhead than a year-round business.
But ensuring your seasonal business is profitable enough to serve your needs year-round is all about careful planning and creating a strategy to keep you going long after peak season. Whether you’re gearing up for the winter peak or slowing down after your summertime rush, here are a few solid ways to improve your business and keep revenue coming in throughout the year.
1. Understand And Manage Offseason Expenses
As a business owner, you always need to understand how to manage cash flow and expenses, but this is especially important for seasonal businesses. A big challenge for seasonal businesses is finding the right balance of full-time and seasonal employees. Your off-season may require you reduce your team by more than half. That’s okay. There are ways to streamline your training processes to onboard newcomers next season.
You should also look for ways to expand your sales into slow periods. Look through your inventory at the end of your peak season to see if anything can be sold off. Recoup some of the money you spent on inventory by selling or renting equipment when it would otherwise go unused.
2. Use the Offseason to Strategize And Plan
Just because it’s your offseason, that doesn’t mean you can’t accomplish tasks and improve your business. Businesses should use this slow period to strategize, plan and train employees.
The offseason is a great chance to study what worked successfully and what did not. What should we start doing differently as a result of last season’s performance? What should we stop doing, and what should we continue doing?
Use the offseason to think about the business’s needs and set goals and profit targets for the next season. This might include calculating ideal number of clients to retain, adjusting the training process, ordering new equipment, conducting pricing evaluations, updating marketing materials, etc.
3. Look for Other Business Opportunities and Diversify Services
The best way to stay profitable year-round is to meet a demand for a product or service in an industry with an offset busy season. You can even find opportunities to employ the same people and equipment you have for your core business. Having an employee that can perform a variety of tasks for all seasons means you don’t have to spend as many resources on training.
4. Work With a Seasoned Small Business Coach
You don’t have to figure any of this out alone. Companies like AdviCoach train expert small business coaches to help entrepreneurs like you get a leg-up on strategies to make the most of your seasonal business without overworking yourself. Our goal is to empower you to find solutions within your business that help you improve your life outside of it. A cost-free conversation today could be the start of a life-changing relationship with a small business coach at AdviCoach.
What Does a Small Business Coach Do?
A small business coach can help you make adjustments and improvements to your business.
AdviCoach small business advisors have the tools, strategies and business coaches to help you get your business growing and keep it growing year-round. To get matched with the ideal business coach for you, reach out today.