Seasonal businesses, such as sports recreational facilities, vacation rentals, and landscaping services, face similar challenges. They have problems maintaining cash flow, generating demand, hiring qualified employees, and maximizing their selling window.
For a seasonal business to thrive, it’s crucial to implement a strategic plan to become more ready and generate more leads and sales for the next sales season. Learn how to stay profitable as a seasonal business by reading below.
Create Your Next Marketing Plan Off-Season
Off-season business operations are one of the biggest challenges seasonal businesses face due to marginal operational cost reduction and significant decline in sales. Sustaining seasonal businesses can be challenging if there’s a lack of knowledge on effective planning and strategizing. So why not take advantage of the off-season to strategize your next marketing campaigns?
For example, if you sell Christmas decorations in your online store, you can start strategizing your seasonal business as early as Ma1rch. As you analyze your year-end sales and track your metrics from January to February, you start a new business cycle by March.
Base your future marketing campaigns on the data you’ve gathered from the previous season. This step is crucial to reassess your marketing strategies and determine what increased your sales and those that didn’t progress much. This way, you can stop ineffective marketing tactics and improve effective ones.
Launch Marketing Campaigns Off-Season
Once you have a marketing plan, you can launch the activities off-season to trigger excitement. Take advantage of the off-season to boost your brand awareness. This is the perfect time to run a trial and error or split testing of your marketing tactics.
For instance, starting in August, you can launch your social media marketing campaign for your Christmas décor business. Upload teasers about the latest interior design trends for the holiday season. Come September, you can offer exclusive deals to first-time buyers.
Launching email marketing off-season is advisable for travel and tours, landscaping services, and other service businesses. A compelling email message makes interested consumers anticipate the big day once the peak season strikes. Furthermore, you can offer irresistible discounts through email voucher codes to improve your sales off-season.
Offer Employee Incentives
Offer incentives to your employees during the off-season to retain their loyalty. Most often than not, seasonal employees receive less compensation because of sluggish sales during this time. Find a way to utilize your employees’ talents and services off-season to continue to bring in income to your business.
You can ask your employees to create and handle a booth in supermarkets and crowded areas to promote your products and services. For example, they can hand out flyers or brochures with discount coupons redeemable online or in store.
For every sale they make, give them a higher percentage commission than what you give during peak season. In addition, hold your company outing and other employee engagement activities during the off-season to relax and boost your employees’ morale to prepare them physically and psychologically for the busy season. Employee get-togethers make a great incentive or treat they’ll never forget.
Seek A Loan From A Business Loan Agency
First time borrowers can seek loans from a loan merchant. Business loan agencies are loan merchants that provide business owners with a more flexible and quicker loan option without focusing too much on their credit scores.
A business loan agency can offer seasonal businesses a business software loan. If you need new business software, you can use this financing option to make your seasonal business more profitable. Automating your business processes using advanced software can help you generate more sales.
Consider Invoice Factoring
If taking a loan isn’t a good idea for you, you can consider accounts receivable financing or invoice factoring, which means receiving a cash advance on your accounts receivables or customer invoices. This financing option makes a huge difference in improving a seasonal business’s cash flow situation.
With invoice factoring, you don’t need collateral or a good credit standing. Therefore, invoice financing approval is easier than bank loans or traditional financing. Send your customers’ invoices to one of the best factoring companies, and get the payment within 24 to 48 hours upon approval. The factoring company collects your customers’ payments.
You can use the invoice factoring payment to have consistent cash flow. Invest the money in buying new equipment, launching your marketing campaigns, or paying your bills. Moreover, you can fill up your inventory while the raw supplies are cheap to prepare for the busy season.
Conclusion
For-profit establishments are always looking for ways to maximize their financial gains. The same holds true for seasonal businesses, although it seems challenging during off-season. Stay profitable as a seasonal business by knowing the perfect time, using effective marketing strategies, and regularly conducting market research. Sustain your business operations and improve employee relationships by finding innovative ways to make them busy. These steps help align your business objectives with consumer and market demands.
