Seasonal businesses: make the best use of quieter periods
Ideas for exploiting off-peak periods to improve your business - from marketing to stock control.
It's important to take advantage of off-peak periods to consolidate your business. While some owner-managers may take a second job to tide them over, many use the extra time to focus on aspects of their business for which there's little or no time during peak periods.
Maintenance
Maintenance is often top of the list. For example, a caravan park owner might close at the end of October and spend the next few months repairing broken equipment, renewing facilities such as the laundry room and carrying out necessary landscaping.
Marketing plans
The extra time may also come in useful for devising new marketing plans and sales initiatives - see create your marketing strategy and market research and market reports.
Stocktaking and ordering
Quieter periods also offer an opportunity to tackle time-consuming essentials such as stocktaking and ordering. Look at the stock you have in and compare it with the amounts you ordered over the year. Can you order smaller quantities in the future? Or could you place one large order for certain supplies rather than several small ones - perhaps benefiting from a bulk discount in the process? See stock control and inventory.
Check whether you're getting the best deal from your suppliers. Shop around and get alternative quotes. You could dramatically save on costs and you may also benefit from volume discounts - see choosing suppliers for your business.