Meet 4 Entrepreneurs Running a Successful Seasonal Business

Have you checked the weather forecast today? Depending what product or service you offer, the weather – and, to put it more broadly, the seasons – may be a significant factor in your overall business strategy.

Let’s say, for example, that you run a summer camp for kids, a lawn care company, a commercial fishing business or you sell gourmet ice cream from a truck. You know that when the temperature climbs and the sun shines, your business will be booming. You might base most or even all of your annual revenue goals on the income you earn during those critical few months. Maybe you need to hire extra employees during your busy season or plan to ramp up your marketing campaign for that key period of time.

For those reasons and more, you need to carefully manage everything from your budget and payroll to your cash flow and operating expenses throughout the entire year to ensure you sail through the high season – and, just as important, stay on track during the ensuing quiet times, too.

Plenty of entrepreneurs in our QB Community know firsthand the challenges and rewards of running a seasonal business. Let’s find out how they strategize for business success in winter, spring, summer and fall.

Plan ahead and maximize downtime

Alexia Burke co-founded Izza Pops in 2017. Even though she runs her new business from San Francisco, which is notoriously cold and foggy in the summer months, she did see a sales dip during her first winter in business. Fortunately, Alexia was prepared for the slower season. “We knew it could get slower in the winter months and tried to plan accordingly. We try to use that time as an investment period, and we focus on different sales channels. For example, people still buy ice cream from grocery stores in the winter but may be more hesitant to buy it from an outdoor event.”

When sales of Izza Pops are poppin’, Alexia is equally prepared: “We always make sure we have enough kitchen-time scheduled in advance and enough ingredient inventory on-hand so that we can meet increased demand.”

Does she see any advantages to the seasonal aspect of her business? “The ‘pro’ is that we have time to reflect on our busy season and plan what we want to do next,” says Alexia. “On the other hand, seasonality affects cash flow, so it's critical for us to plan and budget really well.”

Schedule smart and juggle jobs

Chris Rhodes runs his construction business in Northern California with rainy winters and hot summers in mind. That means planning his construction jobs months in advance and building out his schedule in a way that keeps his crew busy and dry, even if the skies open up. Chris explains his forward-thinking approach:

“Come August, I start thinking about what I have lined for up for the winter. I plan months ahead around specific projects. For example, if I’m building a new house from the ground up, we won’t start the foundation work in early December. If we’re remodeling, we wouldn’t tear a roof off in the winter. Instead, I think about what I can enclose now so we’ve got inside work during the rainy season. For me, it takes some juggling, and for my customers, it takes a little flexibility. They get it –  people usually don’t mind waiting for a bathroom renovation or to have kitchen cabinet work done in the wet season.”

Chris, who has been running his business for more than 30 years, learned the hard way about the importance of planning for shifting seasons. “Before I went out on my own, I worked for a guy who would just knock off if it rained. I was there expecting to work, so it kind of sucked. I realized then that in order to keep my income steady, I needed to schedule appropriately. I knew I always should have a smaller “rainy day” project I could work on, like converting a closet into a sauna. It was a learning curve, but I figured it out.”

Sacrifice sleep (you can catch up later)

Megan Corazza spends three months of every year expecting to get by on very little sleep. That’s because the commercial fishing captain spends her summers catching millions (literally) of salmon in Prince William Sound in her home state of Alaska. After each exhausting expedition at sea, Megan returns home ready to recharge and focus on motherhood, skiing, writing – and gearing up for the next non-stop summer. Here’s how she manages her business that’s seasonal (and unpredictable) in the extreme.

“Fishing is definitely a seasonal business and one that depends on market conditions and the return of salmon to the ocean. Some years are lucrative and some are very poor. On the big years, when you receive all your profits in a lump sum from the cannery in September, you have to spend very carefully, knowing that the following year or two could be extremely poor. Because of the fluctuating and unpredictable nature of fishing, I have learned to buy things like cars and property all at once rather than taking loans out on them.”

Although Megan slogs tirelessly through long, physically demanding days, weeks and months at sea, the hard seasonal work gives her flexibility throughout the rest of the year. “I don't work much in the off-season,” says Megan. “I volunteer at my son’s school and with different ski coaching programs around the state of Alaska. I really value that I can work in the summer and be a full-time stay-at-home mom during the rest of the year.”

Embrace a flexible business plan

Doug Tarr didn’t set out to run a popular San Francisco Bay Area summer camp for kids. Rather, Doug founded MVCode in 2013 as an after-school club for young computer programmers to build their coding chops. But as MVCode quickly grew in size and scope, Doug realized summer camps were becoming a critical part of his overall business strategy. Today, he’s pleased to have shifted his mindset and fully embraced the seasonal aspect of his company.

“We originally thought of summer camps as a way to fill the gap when school was out of session,” says Doug. “Now summer camps are one of our biggest offerings. MVCode runs camps in five different locations in the Bay Area. We’re always looking for products and services that complement the seasonal aspect of the business.”  

Gearing up for your own business high season? This Preparation Guide and Checklist that might help.

QB Community members, which is harder: surviving the mad rush of high season or making it through the slow times in business?

Want to weigh in but not yet a QB Community member? Click HERE to sign up in a flash!