Four things summer seasonal businesses should start thinking about now

Are you one of those businesses that does the bulk of its trade in the summer months? To deal with the seasonal upsurge, there are four main areas that need to be thought about now:

1. Staffing

If business is significantly higher in the summer months, this will probably require hiring and training more staff. The company needs enough managers to supervise them.

Seasonal staff will be on short-term contracts and they need to be clear about how long the job lasts. As the employer, a business owner needs to be up to speed on part-time worker regulations and minimum pay rules.

2. Maximising income

When demand is high, income needs to be maximised in order to build up cash reserves to be able to stay afloat during the leaner winter months.

It is worth considering extending opening hours in the summer, especially if the business sells to members of the public.

Though marketing for most business is a year-round operation, it can make sense to increase marketing in the summer months to attract the maximum number of customers. Marketing needs to be multichannel, including press, social media and point of sales materials. Now is a good time to plan the summer marketing campaign.

3. Stock

If a summer seasonal business sells goods , it’s important to plan stock inventory. One of the issues faced with a summer seasonal business is that stock may have to be ordered well in advance, which often means during the low sales season where cash flow is limited. Extended credit or bank borrowing may be needed to secure enough stock for the summer season.

4. Plan for the winter

Many summer businesses start planning several months before the summer, and focus their whole attention on the summer period. What is often neglected is the issue of what happens after summer. How will the business cope with the winter lull?

When summer comes, a business can be so busy that there is no time to plan for the winter, which is why it helps to plan for winter early in the year.

The main thing a summer business should be looking at is how to diversify their business so that winter is not a lean time, but a prosperous one.

To help manage cash flow, an accounting service can provide help and expert advice to keep a company’s finances healthy no matter when their busy season is.