Go Seasonal and Skip the Festive/Holiday Season

[Pesso]

While the festive/holiday season can be an extremely busy season for some sellers, it’s also the slowest time of year for others. You may decide that staying open isn’t worth it, and closing up shop may be the best course of action if staffing is extremely limited or your sales are too low. 

@TheRealChipA, owner of Piper’s Ice Cream Bar, decorates the shop for the winter and hangs a “Closed for the Season” banner announcing their re-opening date. 

First, take a look at your sales information. You can see your data pretty easily if you use a digital point-of-sale system. With Square, you can access Square POS Analytics & Reporting on Dashboard or through the app. Find out your true sales numbers for the season in years past and compare that to both your fixed and variable expenses for the same time period to decide if it’s worth it for you to stay open or close up shop for a little while.

It could be just closing on or around particular holidays (US resource) to give yourself and your employees some time off to spend with family and friends, or it could be closing for anywhere from a week to a few months. 

My ice cream business in New York started seasonal, and then we switched to being open all year for 10+ years. We were constantly reassessing to see what made the most sense. One year we looked at our numbers and saw that it was worth it to go back to being closed for four months of the year, and we would actually save money by doing so. We spoke to a few other business owners in the Seller Community who have gone seasonal, and it was really encouraging. We made the switch and never looked back!

A fellow ice cream shop owner, @TheRealChipA, from Piper’s Ice Cream Bar in Covington, Kentucky usually closes for the season and takes time off for vacation and travel. He explains, “though this year we are considering a trial run of being open for frozen treats all winter … I still am ambivalent about this but a few of my employees are psyched so I’m indulging them! We will do business as usual, if we are open. Otherwise our banner will say ‘see you when ice cream weather returns!’”

There are a lot of things to consider before making a big decision for your business, and it can have far-reaching impacts, so carefully weigh all of the pros and cons first. It’s definitely not the right move for every business. You should do your research, think hard, and consult with any partners and stakeholders beforehand.

See More Articles in this Series:

• Establish Your Business as a Festive/Holiday Destination
• Keep Your Business Running Smoothly through the Festive/Holiday Season
• Market Your Business as a Festive/Holiday Destination

Now let’s hear from you!

• What are your thoughts on seasonal businesses?

• Have you tried it? How has it worked for you?

• Are you thinking about trying it? What’s holding you back?

Looking forward to hearing from you!

This article is for educational purposes and does not constitute legal, financial, or tax advice. For specific advice applicable to your business, please contact a professional.

[Norisaimal]

Thanks for describing the seasonal strategies for physical business shops. But can we apply these strategies for service providing businesses as well? Like transportation services which provide huge sales in festive or holidays? 

[Pesso]

Hey @Norisaimal -- I would love to hear what you do for the holidays in your industry! It would be great to have you share here or on one of the other Seasonal Tips posts so others in your industry can learn all about it!

• Establish Your Business as a Festive/Holiday Destination
• Keep Your Business Running Smoothly through the Festive/Holiday Season
• Market Your Business as a Festive/Holiday Destination

[JUYBoutique20]

In Alaska there's actually a seasonal town.  They are open from the late spring/early summer (Basically our breakup season) until the fall/winter season start...

[Pesso]

Well that's pretty dang cool -- thank you so much for sharing, @JUYBoutique20 !

It's hard to imagine a whole town shutting down, but that sounds actually kind of incredible. Everyone just escapes for a few months, except for the ones who would love some quiet. Would be super interesting to visit during that off-season in an abandoned area!

[JUYBoutique20]

Yeah, it's basically just a drive thru during the off season.  The businesses are boarded up and most if not all of the hotels are closed.   

[Lovewell]

Hi there! So this may seem strange because isn’t coffee something people need every single day all year long?! Why on earth would you close? A few reasons! 

We close our shop the week from Christmas to new years. 

One: family is important to us personally. Because that’s important to us as owners it tends to attract employees who have that same value because it’s the vibe of our shop! We want to make sure everyone has time with family and time to travel over the holidays! 

two: we are in a very family oriented neighborhood as well as very close to a couple of schools. Naturally a good chunk of our guests are connected to the school whether it’s parents or faculty. Those people are not in their routine so it tends to be slower at that time. 

three: funds. People are low on funds so that coffee trip is usually put on hold and they go for coffee at home to save some money. 

So we call it our winter break! We can travel and also re set the shop for the new year! 

[Pesso]

Thanks so much for sharing, @Lovewell !

I love all of this so much. That's such a great way to look at things and fantastic reasons to take some time off to reset and decompress. Enjoy this year's break!

[Bronze_Palms]

I love this idea!

When you are running your numbers are you seeing the cost to keep the business open is higher than revenue earned? Or is revenue earned just not high enough to make sense to stay open?

I am still getting used to thinking like a business owner with employees so any insight you can share to make smart business decisions like this would be awesome!

[Pesso]

Thanks for asking, @Bronze_Palms !

It was definitely a mix of both, and a really difficult decision.

We were comparing our expenses & profit for both staying open and for closing. We counted in all of the expenses for staying open, including product manufacturing, labor, and more, and it just didn't measure up to how much we were making in sales and profit. We still would lose money by closing of course, since some expenses are steady no matter what, but we avoided the massive expenses that drove a lot of persistent debt. 

While we definitely still didn't necessarily come out too far on top financially, it made a lot of sense for a lot of different reasons, gave us much needed breaks, and it just didn't make sense to stay open based on our income and customer base.

Hope this helps and always up to talk through this more!