Some businesses offer a pretty consistent workload all year round, but the truth of entrepreneurship is that many businesses go through their ups and downs.

For instance, as a freelance writer I have often noticed that summer is my busiest time, while January is the slowest.  I guess this is because it takes businesses a while to come back fully after the holidays and start thinking about projects they need to contract out, while summer is just a good time for things to be in full swing.

Other businesses have a more seasonal workload: There is lots of work around one time of the year, and the rest of the year is pretty slow.  A good example of this would be anything related to tax season being busy during the first four months of the year, and anything related to landscaping and upkeep being busiest during the spring and summer.

Of course, there will always be exceptions to the rule.  For example, business owners looking to save some money on taxes may start looking at net present value or contract cost segmentation services, also known as cost seg, at off times throughout the year, with the intention of getting a jump start on the next year’s taxes (or perhaps avoiding the rush).  Likewise, a very conscientious person might hire a gardener to winterize their lawn at a time when lawn care is the last thing on most people’s minds.

The general rule is that if you know you have a seasonal business, or if your business goes through feast-or-famine kinds of ups and downs, you will need to plan ahead in order to make it through the slow times.  This generally means setting aside money during your busy times, to help cover your bills through the slow times.  However, many entrepreneurs also consider having two businesses with opposing busy times, so that they always have one reliable source of income, no matter what time of the year it is.

Technorati Tags: , , , ,