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www.outdoorpowerequipment.com OUTDOOR POWER EQUIPMENT NOVEMBER 2016 25 you should look to have in your reserve account by the end of October. As you progress through the best part of the year, continue to add funds to that account and try not to touch those funds as much as possible. If you condition yourself to save for what you know is going to happen, it helps you maintain a more stable business and be less dependent on outside sources. Work hard at getting rid of tasks you will be too busy for in-season You know that once the season starts, you focus totally on your customers and providing the service that they deserve. You need to ask yourself, "What can I be doing in these slow months that will help me to focus on that objective?" Here are a few suggestions: 1) Marketing: Can you work on getting everything ready for the year, so that this does not even have to be a thought during your busy times? You might want to contact your local newspapers, television and radio stations, etc., now and let them know that they need to contact you in January to discuss your possible advertising plans for the entire year, so no one is giving you an advertising pitch during your busiest point in the season. 2) Process changes: If you are going to change how you do something in the business, the slow season is a good time to implement and go over the changes. For example, you want to implement a new check-in procedure for your service equipment that will speed up the process and help you reduce your customers' wait time. Now is the time to implement those changes and look for glitches that could cause problems before the season arrives. 3) Profi tability adjustments: The slow season would be the ideal time to make adjustments to pricing to make sure that you're being as profi table as possible in your service and parts department. You may need to implement a pricing matrix that helps you to get your parts margins higher or labor rate increased to make sure you are in line with your competitors. Now is the time to make changes, so you can see the effects on your systems and allow your employees to get comfortable with the adjustments. You should always be trying to fi nd a way to get just a little more profi table. One percent can mean all the difference when you look at next year and not having to use credit lines, as previously discussed. In a previous career, I worked with a lot of individuals on helping them establish good budgeting and get out of debt. I see this article as really trying to get owners to apply those same principles to their businesses. There is an old saying in Ecclesiastes, written by Solomon, which goes: "There is a time to reap, and there is a time to sow." In the outdoor power equipment business, you have to live by that standard because in most areas of the country the grass does not grow 100 percent of the year and you need to be prepared when things slow down. I know there is other business during the slower months, and sometimes you get surprised by how busy you can get. I would prefer that you take the long view and prepare for the normal — rather than the abnormal — year. Live for today, but keep an eye on the future and your business will fl ourish. To survive the slow seasons, preparation and thinking ahead are the keys. Jeff Sheets is the founder and owner of OPE Consulting Services. Whether a business is thriving or struggling to survive, Sheets' rich experience in both the corporate and not-for-profi t sectors allows him to partner with business owners to customize unique strategies for their needs. For the past nine years, he has worked extensively with hundreds of outdoor power equipment dealers to create best practices in business structure, personnel management and fi nancial profi tability. For more information, he may be contacted at opeconsultingservices@gmail.com or (816) 260-5430. You can also follow him on Twitter @opeconsult, connect with him on LinkedIn, and visit his website at www. opeconsultingservices.com. "You should always be trying to find a way to get just a little more profitable." OPE Outdoor Power Equipment magazine Outdoor Power Equipment magazine Outdoor Power Equipment PRINT | ONLINE | DIGITAL | SOCIAL FREE DELIVERY Subscribe Today! OutdoorPowerEquipment.com/subscribe