Is a Seasonal Business Right for You?

What do Christmas trees and campgrounds have in common? They are both products of a seasonal business! And while they share a common trait of generating revenue during a specific time during the year, they differ in that the Christmas tree lots can be closed after Christmas while the campground has operating costs throughout the year. If you’re thinking of running a seasonal business to take advantage of short term revenue opportunities, make sure it’s more the ‘Christmas tree’ kind of business.

Seasonal businesses have been around for years and encompass all sorts of immediately recognizable ventures from pumpkin stands and fire works stands to ski resorts. Each has a particular reason for being and a defined time of year to generate sales. With the exception of the ski resort, which has to be maintained year round, many seasonal businesses take advantage of limited time opportunities and have little long term obligations once the season is over.

If you’re the entrepreneurial ‘purist’ and like to make money without being tied to ongoing established operations, finding a seasonal business maybe a good direction for you.

Seasonal businesses have their challenges which include having enough cash, advanced planning and getting through the maize of municipal approvals and paperwork. So, if you have the design to try a seasonal business, make innovation the cornerstone of your business plan. As a small business advisor, I can’t emphasize enough the need to thoroughly work through the business idea to insure it’s viable.

Most seasonal business opportunities rely on some holiday period, major event or recreational activity to create demand. Many major seasonal event hosts don’t have the bandwidth to provide a product or service for every ancillary sales opportunity. As long as the product or service is legitimate and adds value to the event in question, you stand a good chance of getting support.

Seasonal businesses also provide a great way to test drive your business building skills or a small business marketing strategy without incurring long term commitments should the venture not be a good idea. If you think the idea through, plan well in advance and create a system that will optimize the day to day running, you will insure the greatest degree of success.

If you have a small business success story, tune into blogtalkradio this Friday where Cash Miller from SmallBusinessDelivered.com and Steve Smith, Orange County Business Coach for OneCoach will discuss what it takes to be successful running a seasonal business.