Every business can experience one or more slow seasons, but experiencing them doesn’t have to have negative consequences. If you can anticipate any down cycles, you can adjust costs and make changes to level out your revenue stream.
As you create a business plan for 2020, let’s review a few ways you can anticipate and manage through slow seasons.
Find the patterns
To help withstand the slow periods, first, you have to be prepared for them.
What are the predictable pauses? Maybe right after the holidays there’s a major drop off for your business. Perhaps the change in season causes changes in customer traffic? Is it possible that right after a big sale, your store gets a lot more returns than new business? Look back at your data for any patterns that can be tied to a specific event.
How are your leads shaping up? Are there a lot of:
If so, is this a sign of a coming slowdown?
What’s the buzz in your business communities? Insights from industry publications, peer blogs, and local chamber of commerce can help you see red flags. If they’ve been through this before, their advice is invaluable!
Use the downtime wisely
Once you identify the signs of a slowdown, make a plan to have it work for you, not against you.
But before you do anything drastically different for a slowdown….
This leads me to the best way you can use your downtime wisely…
Best of all, a visit with us this year will help you better prepare for the next, so you can concentrate on staying profitable all year long and in the years to come.
Additional sources
Slow Seasons: How to Lift Your Business Up During A Slow Season
What to Do When Your Business Experiences a Slow Season