Seasonality: Business Survival During Off-Seasons

Seasons come and seasons go. We hear that a lot. What happens when you need a season to stay because your business thrives more in certain seasons than in others. How do you plan for the off-seasons? How does your business survive when your off-seasons can make or break you? I am sure if you have been in business for a while, you have asked yourself at least one of these questions.

Understanding seasonality is very important, especially when your business thrives in one season more so than others. Knowing which season is your businesses in-season, is very important to the longevity of your business and how successful it can really be. When is the highest demand for your services and products? What seasons/months do you receive the most revenue? Do you have a business that is specific to certain seasons, such as grass cutting, landscaping, outdoor construction, tax consultants, etc.?

There are a few strategies that can be implemented when planning strategically for seasonality. Let me share two of them.

The first strategy is one that I teach my clients called “doubling numbers.” This is when you double numbers such as goals, prices, etc., during the in-season, to compensate for the off-season. This is a great strategy for service type businesses.

For example, Theresa’s goal was to earn $200,000 in 2019. Her business was stronger from April – September, based on her numbers from the previous years and the type of programs that she offers. She had three branches of business and needed one of them to generate $100,000 in revenue. Her goal was to sell 10 programs for $10,000 each. We created two strategies for her numbers to work, even during her off-season.

1. Sell 10 programs each at $20,000 instead of $10,000, which doubles the price per program.
2. Sell 20 programs for $10,000 each, which doubles the number of programs that need to be sold. Of course, I suggested Strategy A, but we created two for her to follow.

The second strategy is creating an additional branch that meets the needs of your customers during the off-season.

We implemented this strategy in Nicole’s business. Nicole has a grass cutting service that thrives in late spring, summer, and early fall. While doing her business audit, we realized she was leaving money on the table during late fall, winter seasons, and early spring. We identified that the customers that she served needed leaf and snow removal. Therefore, we created two additional branches in her business that would accommodate both services. Nicole began to market her snow removal in late summer and throughout the fall. Now her business has a branch for every season.

These are just two strategies that can be implemented if you have a business that faces the results of seasonality. It is important that you understand that there is more that needs to be developed when it comes to implementing both strategies; more work has to be done. Major areas of development include content development, marketing, advertisement, visibility strategies, pricing strategies, etc. Once you identify the strategy, you must identify what is necessary to activate the strategy to set it in motion.

Many businesses suffer because of seasonality and my friend, I do not want this to be you. Plan ahead, be a forward thinker, and build a business that expands no matter what season you are in! To do this successfully, You Need Me.

Schedule a Discovery Session today.

Get what you need in order to EXPAND!!! #LetsGo

Shaniece M. Wise – Business Expansion Coach & Strategist