Seasonal businesses can be very challenging to navigate. In the Midwest particularly, landscaping season generally lasts only six months of the year at most. Maximizing your money, time, and marketing throughout the year is what will really keep your landscaping business afloat throughout the off-season. By being strategic about every area of your business, you will allow your business to be more productive and more profitable during the peak season.
Maximize Profits
“During your peak season, every single dollar counts,” said Dean Bjorkstrand, owner of a Minneapolis landscaping company. “Watch your money carefully as it comes in. It will take some discipline and self-control to not get over excited and want to spend all of your newly earned money. The wisest thing you can do with your money is to save it, as it has to get you through six more months of slowness.”
Maximize Time
Being a seasonal landscaping business doesn’t necessarily mean that you completely stop doing any type of work to expand your business. Use the off-season time to create plans and search for new clients. The winter months are the real time to be working on landscaping architecture and “wowing” potential clients with how amazing their property will look the coming summer. As you are gathering new clients, you will be able to better evaluate the work force you will need for the next season and prepare the logistic to make all of these new plans come to life. By doing all of the planning you can possibly get done in the off-season, it will allow you to be more productive during the busy time. This will minimize the time you spend planning when it’s “go time”, so that you can maximize your profits during your peak season.
Maximize Marketing
“In order for a landscaping business to win over potential new clients, you have to have a great marketing plan,” said Chris Ochs, spokesperson for a St. Paul, MN landscaping company. “Following-up with your previous clients and asking them about their reaction to your landscaping services will give you a great idea of what client’s value most about the service you provide. Using quotes from testimonials and writing customer success stories in your marketing plan will help your potential clients know that you are the real deal in the landscaping business. Making your online presence known will be the primary way to be recognized in the winter months. Taking pictures of your landscaping work during your peak-season will allow you to show off your skills and past jobs, and help your business to grow again for the next season.”
Seasonal businesses, like landscaping businesses, have to be not only great at what they do, but with planning and time management as well. With the poor use of time and money management, it’s not likely that your landscaping business will last long. If you spend your precious peak season time planning landscape design, then you are not going to maximize the profits of your big moneymaking months. Use the warm, non-snowy months to be out doing the landscaping and use the winter months to be planning for it. Utilizing your marketing plan in the winter months will help you reach those new clients and “wow” them before the start of the next season. Gearing up for a new season is done with a lot of behind-the-scenes type of work in the winter months.
