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For me it doesn't really come to a complete stop. There's plenty to do -- pruning, clearing, compost turning, fencing, DIY. If you have a 4X4 there's always snow-shovelling. Naturally our days are shortened substantially and there's plenty of frozen days. But as your client base grows, so should your ability to take on more winter work. The key is saving money back through the busy times to help you through the winter ---- but that's something I haven't quite managed to do yet!!! Good luck with the business
I stay fairly busy as the frozen and snowy days often mean I have to put work back and fit it in when it's a bit nicer. Pressure washing, fencing, litter picking, pruning/hedge trimming, tree surgery, digging and shaping borders, edging lawns, moss treatment (hard surfaces), leaf clearance, sweeping, laying mulch/bark, equipment servicing/cleaning/repairs/sale and purchases, website work, marketing, tax return and accounting, ,.... and much more. Winter is busy for me.
I did this last year started offering it in September and a lot of customers took it up - don't be scared to tell them it's to help with cash flow over the winter months, but also point out, it saved them having to remember to pay you, it just goes straight out the bank.
As well as doing the paid work you have - service tools & machinery, vehicle and trailer. Make the office work more streamlined so it takes up less time in the busy season. Work on websites and other advertising. Do any training you need to do. Purchase new tools & machinery if needed. Networking. Have a holiday. Talk to customers about the coming year - upsell if you can. Time should never be wasted - make things work as smoothly as possible by getting systems in place that means less down time in the growing season.
Take time to work on the business rather than in it.
Ive been in business full time since spring 2008 and although we are always flat out from March to November the winter is still a very quiet period. Last year i decided to start doing firewood, the main resaon being that it would keep me busy over the winter months. I now have enough seasoned wood for about 2000 net bags which i can sell this winter and ive got about another 10-15 tons of timber which i can cut and split ready for next year, im hoping this will pay the bills and keep me busy until work picks up in early spring.
Work never really comes to a stop Wullie when you've establised yourself, but the first winter is always the make or break one. All the above replies are correct, but of course it depends on your customer base. If you haven't got enough work to see you through this winter try and get a part time job until things pick up again. Our first winter was a nightmare workwise, but we had a contingency fund put by for that purpose. Every year it's got better and now we work a 4 day week through winter, which is more than good enough to see us through and it's a nice rest after working six days a week from March till November. Winter will also give you time to explore this site and mine the wealth of information it contains.
Dan's list sounds like our list (apart from the litter picking and tree surgery)
Also, as Craig suggested, we have got quite a lot of customers on standing order and the cost spread throughout the year- that way we still have good money coming in, in the winter.
We try to go on holiday in the winter too- about January. One year we made the mistake of going in October and November and missed loadddsss of new enquiries!
Without a doubt the best thing to do is go surfing for 10 days to morocco over winter. Endless right hand point breaks.......ahhhhh.
On a more serious note you are doing the right thing thinking about it now. In my experience people will be surprisingly flexible about shifting non-essential jobs till winter.
An old fence that needs replaced, small patio etc. If regular customers need something like this done i offer them a small discount if they don;t mind waiting til winter. Some people will argue that you should never offer discounts but I tend to do it in the form of materials supplied at cost. This will only ever work out at 5% or so and i like the security of knowing i have things lined up.
Doing some brief flyering in late sept offering leaf clearance, gutters etc would be a worthwhile exercise particularly in your first winter.
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