If you run a seasonal business like landscaping, you are probably all too familiar with the dread that can creep in as your slow season approaches. Maybe you have fantastic spring and autumn seasons each year in your business, and then when winter weather hits, you’re pinching pennies every day, just trying to have enough cash to get through the slow months.
If you’re concerned that you’re alone in this scenario, rest assured you aren’t. This is actually an all-too common experience, but it shouldn’t be the norm for business owners. The off-season is difficult for so many business owners – you can’t control the weather or when your customers give you the most business! So while you can’t do anything to change the reality of the off-season, you can change the way you respond to it.
Handling the off-season is all about establishing a system during the next busy season that will set you up for success. But if you aren’t intentional about creating a process for your money, you’ll default to unhelpful patterns that put you in a tough financial spot year in and year out.
Today we’re going to examine those patterns and systems to evaluate how they could be improved – so that the next slow season finds you confident and prepared for what’s to come.
Establishing a proactive off-season plan:
Preparing for the off-season comes down to one thing – saving money.
The Profit First method is one of the most foolproof ways to begin setting money aside – even when it feels like there’s no way you can.
The usefulness of Profit First is its flexibility. You get to determine what kind of savings you can afford to implement. This means that if you can only afford the smallest percentage possible for your new off-season savings account, you can still start somewhere. That small percentage is so much better than nothing at all.
Beginning to save in this way means you may have to operate for a few years with less disposable cash than you’re used to, but this will give you the freedom in the long run to pay your employees, maintain equipment, and pay other operating expenses – even when jobs aren’t as consistent.
In other words, starting small is better than not starting at all. If it feels overwhelming to try to fully prepare your finances for the next slow season, save at least some of what you know you need.
Now, if you begin saving and find that you don’t have quite enough to get you through the slow season, here are areas in the business to take a closer look at.
Expenses
Even if you’re a smart and careful business owner, certain expenses can pile up that aren’t truly necessary. Whether it’s forgotten subscriptions, overspending for company events, or renting a building that you don’t fully need, dig deep and truly evaluate if there are any expenses you can cut back on.
Pricing
When was the last time you raised your prices? Price increases are hard to make and it can be even harder to communicate with your customers about why your pricing is rising. But it’s a necessary part of owning a business, and the “worst-case scenario” of raising prices is often much less severe than you may imagine. Even if you lose some clients because of higher pricing, the money you will make from the customers that stay will almost always offset the losses.
Even though making these changes can feel difficult and scary, it’s a much better alternative to getting stuck in a cycle of borrowing money to make it through the slow season, running ragged during the busy season to pay off your debt, and continuing to do the same thing year after year.
So when your busy season starts up again, head into it with a newfound mindset that the money you’re making for the next 9-10 months needs to last you for the entire 12 months of the year. Take a deep breath, figure out how you’re going to start saving, adjust accordingly. We’re cheering you on!
And if you need some extra guidance for how to change your businesses’ financial patterns for more freedom year round, we’d love to help.
