For many entrepreneurs, the change of seasons means a lot more than just swapping out summer attire for warmer winter wear or vice versa.
Rather, it can mean lean times for seasonal business owners dependent upon only a few months out of the year to make their yearly income.
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And given the current economic climate, it's even more important for seasonal entrepreneurs to plan ahead and make the most of their offseason to help increase their chances of survival, say experts.
"Running a seasonal business requires planning, a strategic focus on who your customers are and developing the right solutions to meet their needs throughout the year," explains Beth Goldstein, author of "The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Toolkit" and president of Marketing Edge Consulting Group in Holliston, Mass.
There's little room for error or excess when running a seasonal business, she says.
"You have to budget and forecast and be prepared for when business is going to pick up and when it's going to slow down," adds Rosalind Resnick of Axxess Business Centers Inc., a small-business consulting firm with offices in Centerport and Manhattan.
You don't want to take on more than you can handle, she says. For instance, you may not want to rent office space that you have to carry 12 months out of the year or take on too much permanent staff. Instead, you might consider using temporary workers you can let go in the offseason, she notes.
You may even see if there's an opportunity to sublet space from a seasonal partner, where perhaps they're busy in the summer and you're busy in the winter and can split office costs, suggests Daphne Gordon, project administrator for the Entrepreneurial Assistance Center at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood.
Of course, this arrangement doesn't always work for every business, she notes. For instance, a restaurant in the Hamptons needs to cover its rent and expenses year-round even though its peak season may be in the summer.
If that's the case, you might try to find ways to lure customers in during the offseason by offering motivational incentives like discounts, notes Goldstein.
This has worked well for Pat Mannix of MX Concrete in East Northport, who operates a concrete resurfacing business from about March to early November and then runs a complementary kitchen countertop resurfacing business primarily in the winter months. If he's working on a concrete job in the summer and discovers a customer needs kitchen work, he'll offer a 2- to 3-percent discount if they put off the kitchen project until December or January. Most people don't mind waiting, but if they do he'll do the job on demand.
"All summer long, I'm booking jobs for December and January," says Mannix. "You have to think ahead and look for ways to expand your season."
Like Mannix, you can make your business less seasonal by finding a complementary service to offer customers during the offseason.
Don Mahoney Jr. of Mahoney Associates Inc., a landscape development and management firm in Southampton, does this by offering snow and ice clearing to commercial accounts in the winter.
"It's a way to generate cash flow through our offseason as well as keep key employees working during our downtime in landscaping," says Mahoney, noting that the offseason business has now grown into a separate corporation. "Whether you're busy or not you still have to carry your overhead."
You also still have to connect with your customers, says Mike Marchev of Michael Marchev & Associates in Delray Beach, Fla., which specializes in marketing, sales and employee motivation.
"What you don't want is to only be visible during the peak season," notes Marchev, author of "Become the Exception." "When you're out of sight, you're out of mind."
Keeping in Touch
Connecting with customers in the offseason:
-Send a handwritten card thanking them for their business - they probably don't see that very often.
-Send out an informational-tips piece or post an informational white paper to your Web site. Make sure it's something of value to them.
-Extend an invitation to grab a cup of coffee and discuss some ideas. Even if they can't make it, you'll still get credit for the invite.