When the Work Is Seasonal, Does Your Income Have to Be?

Practical ways for seasonal businesses to make the quieter months a little less difficult

For some businesses, seasonality is simply part of the job.

If you’re a gardener, landscaper, exterior cleaner, pool maintenance business or work mainly outdoors, there will be times of the year when the phone rings more, the diary fills up and there simply aren’t enough hours in the day.

Then things slow down.

And the difficult part isn’t always finding something to do with the extra time. It’s the fact that your income may slow down while many of your costs continue as normal.

Rent, vehicles, insurance, equipment, wages and everyday life don’t necessarily become cheaper just because it’s a quiet month.

So rather than simply asking, “How can I get more work during the off-season?”, it might be worth asking a different question:

Is there a way to structure my services and income differently across the whole year?

Not every idea will work for every business, of course. But here are a few practical things that may be worth considering.

Look at the Whole Year, Not Just the Next Job

Many service businesses naturally price and think about their work one job at a time.

The customer needs something. You give them a price. You do the work. You get paid.

There’s nothing wrong with that.

But for a regular customer, it may be worth stepping back and looking at the whole year.

A garden customer, for example, might need:

• Regular maintenance during the growing season

• Pruning at different times of the year

• A spring tidy and preparation

• An autumn clear-up

• Occasional additional work

Instead of thinking about those as completely separate jobs, you could ask:

How much time will this customer realistically need from me over the next twelve months?

Once you know that, you can start to work out the total annual cost of servicing that customer.

That gives you more options.

Could You Offer an Annual Service Package?

You may find that some existing customers would be happy with a clear annual plan.

For example, you might work out that a particular garden needs around 40 visits and additional seasonal work over the course of a year.

You calculate the time, labour, travel and other costs, add your profit margin and arrive at an annual price.

Rather than invoicing every time you visit, that annual cost could potentially be divided into twelve equal monthly payments.

The actual work will still happen at different times of the year.

But the customer’s payments — and your income — could be spread more evenly.

That could mean:

For the customer:

• A predictable monthly cost

• No unexpected large seasonal bills

• Regular care without having to arrange every individual visit

For the business:

• More predictable income

• Improved cash flow during quieter periods

• A clearer view of expected revenue

• A stronger ongoing relationship with the customer

It won’t suit everyone, but it may suit more customers than you think.

Work Out What Each Customer Actually Needs

This is probably the most important part.

Before putting anyone on a monthly package, you need to understand what it actually costs you to look after that customer.

That means thinking about:

• How often you will need to visit

• How long each visit is likely to take

• Seasonal work

• Materials and other costs

• Travel

• Equipment

• Additional services they may regularly need

You don’t need to predict every minute of the next twelve months.

But you do need a realistic picture.

Otherwise, there’s a risk of offering a package that sounds attractive but leaves you doing far more work than you’re being paid for.

Start With the Customers You Already Have

You don’t necessarily need to launch a completely new service and start marketing it to strangers.

Your existing customers may be the best place to start.

Look through your customer list and ask:

• Which customers use me regularly?

• Which ones need different services throughout the year?

• Which ones would value a fixed monthly payment?

• Which customers would make sense as an annual package?

You might even discover that you are already providing an informal version of this service — just without a proper structure around it.

Perhaps start with one or two customers.

See what works.

Adjust it if necessary.

You don’t have to rebuild your entire business overnight.

Could You Offer More Than One Type of Package?

Not every customer will need the same level of service.

A larger property may need regular maintenance, while another customer may only want a few seasonal visits.

That could mean offering different options, such as:

• Regular maintenance package

• Seasonal care package

• Annual property maintenance package

The key is not to create lots of complicated options.

It is to make it easier for customers to understand what they’re getting — while ensuring the package works financially for you.

Look for Related Services in the Quieter Months

Even with annual packages, you may still have more time available during certain parts of the year.

That’s where it can be worth looking at related services your existing customers might need.

A gardener might offer winter pruning, garden clearances or preparation work.

A landscaper might have more time for planning, design, consultations, repairs or smaller projects.

An exterior cleaning business may have customers who need related maintenance at other times of year.

The question isn’t necessarily:

“What completely different service can I start offering?”

It might simply be:

“What else do my existing customers need that I am already capable of providing?”

Keep in Touch With Previous Customers

People can be surprisingly easy to forget.

Not because they didn’t like your work.

They may simply assume you’re busy. Or they may not realise you offer something else. Or they’ve been meaning to contact you and never got around to it.

A quieter period can be a good time to get in touch.

Not with an aggressive sales message.

Just something useful.

For example:

“I’m planning my work for the coming months and thought I’d let you know I’m also offering…”

Or:

“I’m now putting together annual maintenance plans for customers who would prefer to spread the cost across the year.”

Sometimes a simple conversation is all that is needed.

Be Careful When Spreading Payments

Monthly payments can help smooth your income, but the maths still has to work.

If a customer pays you €100 every month but requires €1,200 worth of work during the first four months of the year, you need to think about the cash-flow implications for your business too.

You may need:

• A joining or set-up payment

• A minimum contract period

• Clear cancellation terms

• A separate charge for work outside the agreed package

You also need to be clear about what happens if the customer pays monthly but then needs significantly more work than expected.

The aim is to make things simpler — not create a new financial problem.

Use the Quieter Months to Do the Maths

This probably isn’t the most exciting part of running a business.

But it may be one of the most useful.

Take a few of your existing customers and look back at the last year.

How much time did you actually spend on them?

What services did they use?

How much did you earn from them?

Did some customers bring in regular, predictable income while others involved lots of work for relatively little return?

That information could help you design a better way of working for the following year.

You might find that a customer who seems very valuable actually takes up far more time than you realised.

Or you might discover that you have several customers who would be ideal for an annual package.

You won’t know until you look.

Use the Off-Season to Prepare for the Busy One

Of course, cash flow isn’t the only thing worth thinking about when work is quieter.

It can also be a good opportunity to catch up on things that get ignored when you’re busy:

• Updating your website

• Taking better photographs of completed work

• Asking customers for reviews

• Organising your customer information

• Reviewing prices

• Improving your processes

• Building relationships with other local businesses

• Planning ahead

You don’t need to do all of it.

Most small business owners have a list somewhere of things they keep meaning to get around to.

A quieter period can be a chance to tackle one or two of them.

The Aim Isn’t to Remove Seasonality Completely

Some businesses will always have busy and quiet periods.

And that’s okay.

The aim isn’t necessarily to somehow make every month look exactly the same.

But there may be a difference between:

having less work in a quiet month

and

having your income drop dramatically because all your customers only pay you when the work is done.

By looking at your customers over a full year, understanding how much time they actually need and considering annual packages or monthly payments, some seasonal businesses may be able to make their income a little more predictable.

And, perhaps, make the quieter months a little less stressful.

You don’t have to change everything.

But if seasonality regularly creates a cash-flow problem for your business, it may be worth looking at whether the problem isn’t the lack of work itself.

It may be the way the work — and the income — is structured.