Working a Not-So-Seasonal Business

We often talk to people about operations of a "seasonal" business, and the discussion comes around to the real time consumption of the business. It is easy to see on the calender of events when your busy in the summer, but what about the rest of the year? 

Most people are surprised to hear that, Yes, this little "seasonal" business ends up running some sort of time cost  8-9 months of the year. Whaaat? You say!  Yup! We begin working on the business in the beginning of the year.

This includes reviewing our events from the previous year, analyzing our notes and determining how we can make a better experience for our customers. We begin confirming or denying our return to events, (some events are just not a good fit for us, and we need to open up those dates on the calender), and researching new events.

This is the not so glamorous, strictly boring, paperwork up to your eyeballs kind of work. I have a love / hate relationship with all of it.  It is boring as all get -out, filling in the same info, time and time again (hey, maybe there should be a software somewhere that can take care of this task?), frustrating if you have an open spot in prime season, and yet exhilarating when you are able to fill a calendar well.

The fact that this falls into the paperwork nightmare of tax season is a cruel joke. This is the part of the year that  I am glued to the computer, and my husband is beginning to worry. :-(   But, before you know it, the season starts, we are knee deep in sales events and the paperwork moves to a crawl. Til next year.....