Stay Afloat During Offseason with these Useful Tips

Understand Your Area and Cash Flow

Understanding the seasonality of your business’s area is the first step for preparation. Before you buy a property or establish your business, do your research. Pinpoint your off-season and peak season, so you can carefully craft your marketing strategy.
It’s also important to create a budget that takes seasonality into account. This can eliminate the cash flow issues your business will face.

Save and Reduce Costs

During peak seasons, save money as much as possible. Doing this will help you get through the low season. Also, don’t forget to maintain fixed costs, such as rent, payroll, and utilities. Reducing costs, especially labor, will help you survive slow months as well. This should be done strategically. Make sure to keep your committed employees. Communicate to your staff that your business has seasonal ups and downs to avoid misunderstandings. You can also reduce spending in other ways, such as cutting your liquor costs. For example, people are into new year resolutions and healthy living after the holiday season, so you can spend less money on liquor during that time.

Tweak Your Menu

Analyze your food and beverage menus and adjust them to make sure they suit the season. Identify high-cost items that don’t generate revenue and eliminate them.
It’s also best to reduce your purchase of highly perishable products. They have shorter shelter lives and are often more expensive as well.

Offer New Promos

Special offers and promotions can increase sales in the offseason.
Analyze your business and plan your offers in advance. You can organize drink specials or happy hours. The key here is to know what your customers want. At the end of the day, the success of your new promotions rely on them.
But be careful about spending too much money on new promotions. You can utilize social media to effectively market your offers without spending too much. Another great way is to focus on the customers living around your area. Develop a strong relationship with them, so every time you offer something new, they’ll be the first ones to patronize it.

Prioritize The Locals

The tourists might be your main crowd during high season, but the locals are your customers all-year round. So don’t forget to put them on your priority list.
Create special perks for them if you can, like loyalty cards or birthday discounts. Know their unique needs and be active in their community. You can offer your space for organizational meetings, provide gift certificates or discounts to students, etc.

Always remember that the locals are your biggest marketing tools. If they love your service, they will recommend you to their families and friends.

Manage Hours Carefully

You might need to experiment with your operating hours to survive slow months. If you decide to reduce hours, make sure to communicate this clearly to your customers.For example, if you’re planning to close an hour early, inform your customers about it. Update your website or post an announcement in your restaurant. Most importantly, stay consistent with your decision.

Get Creative

Creativity can generate income during off-seasons. You can offer new products or services to make your business less seasonal. Let’s say you own a ski resort which runs a sledding business in winter. Once summertime kicks in, you can turn the sledding track into a water slide. The best way to generate new ideas is to leverage technology and social media. New apps and trends appear almost every day. Stay updated with them to trigger your creative juices and additional ideas and inspiration. Running a restaurant or bar is not always roses and rainbows. Certain challenges arise along the way, but proper planning can minimize their effects. Also, always remember that BevSight is here to help you during the tough times.