How to Keep Consistent Income (even during slow seasons)
How to Keep Consistent Income (even during slow seasons)
Entrepreneurs and women-owned businesses of all types must deal with the inevitable slow times and come up with strategies to keep income steady and even thrive during these periods. There are several ideas that can help your business flourish during the lean times. In this article, we will discuss a few ways to help keep consistent income throughout the year.
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Contact Clients
A good way to keep consistent income is to contact clients during the slow season and inform them of additional services your business provides that they may be unaware of.
For example, if you operate a travel agency, chances are that many clients contact you with a specific destination in mind such as a trip to the Caribbean during the winter. These clients may be unaware your agency also offers cruises, ski trips, and additional services that interest them.
Informing them of these additional destinations can lead to additional sales either now or in the future.
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Consider Offering Value-Added Services
Entrepreneurs are often looking for ways to improve business performance and expand. Business expansion is also a good indicator that a business is thriving and flourishing.
An effective strategy worth considering is developing additional services that clients value. These need not be overly expensive at first and can give you a good idea of whether certain areas will be successful.
For example, suppose you are an entrepreneur who runs a lawn care business in the Midwest. You understand that many Midwestern states do not require lawn care during the winter months, but often need snow removal. Adding snow removal services is a great way to offer a value-added service to existing clients that can keep consistent income while increasing customer satisfaction
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Offer Subscription Discounts
If you are an entrepreneur who owns a business that services clients throughout the year, consider offering clients an annual subscription at a discounted rate.
For example, suppose you run an office-cleaning business that charges clients on a per use basis. You notice that many clients use services a great deal over the winter months, but not so much during summer. You can offer clients a flat rate per month or year at a discounted rate which can help them smooth expenses and keep consistent income.
Another idea is to offer clients discounts for services during slow seasons. In the example above, this would involve discounts during the summer months for each cleaning.
Incentives are one of the most powerful tools available to all entrepreneurs. Learning how to leverage them effectively can keep your company inspired to thrive and flourish during all sales periods.
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Promote During Slow Season
Beyond discounts, promoting your business in other ways can generate additional clients and revenue. For example, many women-owned businesses hold events that partner with the community, such as charity 5ks and skills workshops at the local YMCA.
These events not only get the word out to potential clients, but also show your business cares about the community and its well-being. Most customers want to do business with companies that help empower the community they are a part of, and giving back as a business is a great way to generate goodwill.
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Think About Passive Income
Similar to value-added services, adding passive income or additional income streams can help keep consistent income. For example, if you have your own office space, consider adding a few vending machines. Typical vending machine vendors pay the owner of the space the machine is located 5% to 20% of sales.
Another idea is to allow customers to use business assets on a per-use basis. If you own a tool and die shop or manufacturing business, allowing other businesses or customers to rent company assets during slow periods can add income and make use of otherwise idle tools and machines.
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Create Educational Materials
As an entrepreneur and someone who runs a women-owned business, your expertise is in high demand. The last two years have changed the way we do business, and many people are looking for guidance on how to start and run a business.
Creating educational materials to inform interested parties is a great way to not only increase income during slow periods, but also camaraderie between your team. You can even think of creating the materials as a team building exercise to empower everyone involved with your business, which can further help the company flourish.
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Implement The Truly Profit Plan
The Truly Profit Plan is a cash flow management tool that ensures your business makes a profit and you, the business owner, gets paid! By following the plan we guide you on how to actually build a salary for yourself year-round, not just during the busy months.
It may sound complicated but this plan is super flexible and can be implemented into any business model. In fact, it is why we have built such successful relationships with our clients. We have implemented the Truly Profit Plan with each of them and in doing so, have provided them with consistent income they can rely on, even during slow seasons!
Keeping consistent income throughout the year is a challenge for most businesses, and often requires entrepreneurs to get creative. We hope this discussion has given you some ideas of how to keep income consistent, and maybe even increase it over the course of the year.
For more information on the Truly Profit Plan and begin implementing it into your business, click the button below: