Being a business owner is stressful, and it can be even more stressful if you’re only profitable during part of the year. However, being a seasonal business doesn’t mean you’re doomed to zero cash flow in the offseason. It’s all about careful planning and creating a strategy to keep you going long after peak time.
We’ve put together our tips on how to be as profitable as possible during the slow months. Having interviewed some of the world leaders in bike rental we have drawn together some pro tips on how to make the most of your bike rental business in the offseason.
1. Pause and Think
Often the summer is busy and chaotic, winter the opposite. This quiet time is the perfect opportunity to rethink and rebuild for next season, as you need to be as prepared as possible for when the business starts booming again.
First, evaluate the summer season. What you did well and what you did badly. Did you have enough bikes? Did you meet targets and objectives? Were customers happy with the service? Booking Yoyo is the perfect software for understanding and keeping track of this sort of information.
Maintain your bikes, buy new ones, make your store look better, increase the number of accessories in your store and much more. Whatever you believe is necessary for next season, do it now while you have the time. If you want some personal help on what to do this winter, then give us a call and someone from our dedicated customer support team will ask you about your business and then suggest what you should be doing.
2. Seasonal Promotions
Lowering your prices might not be your cup of tea, but other rental businesses we have spoken to have agreed that this strategy made them more profitable in winter compared to previous ones when they weren’t using it. After all, the quality of going for a bike ride in winter is traditionally worse than going for one in summer, so maybe your prices should replicate this.
You can simply just introduce seasonal rates, where you lower all your prices for a six-month period; this is a very popular and ordinary approach. Or you could create special offers such as giving your customers a 20% winter discount with a booking code via email or social media or group/family discounts. Again, give us a call, we have loads of different winter promotional ideas that are proven to work.
3. Bike Repair Service
Cycling gets bigger and bigger every year; 1.5 million people are getting on a bike every day in the UK. Bike service and repair, therefore, is a big and growing market.
Whilst you aren’t busy during the winter you and your business could tap into this market. You and your team are likely to have the skills and capabilities to undertake service and repair tasks.
4. Promoting Your Business
Email and social media marketing should already be a very important part of your business. If these aren’t part of your plan, it’s never too late to join the party, but the quicker you do the better. You will need to promote this winter if you are going to be successful at getting customers to brave the cold and go cycle.
Post more regularly on social media, create a marketing campaign, ask customers to leave reviews and share your social media page and its posts.
5. Your Digital Business
Your website is your new storefront. The winter is the best time to make sure your website and online booking system are up to scratch. Booking Yoyo is not only the best bike rental software for your business, but we also offer website design if you are not confident with your current one or if you don’t even have one yet.
Ask your customers to complete some customer feedback all about your website and its booking system. This will give you a better understanding of their experience – the good and the bad. With our help, we can make your website more attractive and simplify the whole booking process. By the time summer comes around you will have nothing to worry about, as you can sit back and watch those bookings roll in.