I am not asking anyone to disclose sales figures. Out of a calendar year, how many months are profitable, breakeven, or unprofitable?
We basically have 6 really strong months that end up carrying the other 6 break even/unprofitable months. We are in Missouri where it can be extremely cold in the winter and really hot in the summer… and those 2 factors really determine our sales.
My #s were like this:
8 months profitable
2 months breakeven
2 a loss
We saw a real profit in July for the first time ever last month.
You have to teach yourself to be poor. Save that May paycheck to buy Ramen in August and February.
I dunno… I’m hood, so I got used to that and maybe thats why its easier for me lol
Im up every month January-July for 2016.
“Past business model” Dec-Jan and July-Aug we’re poor performers.
April - November tend to be real good months for me
Dec/ March are break even but are not consistent
Late December and January are a real struggle depending on weather.
July is a wild card for me. Up and down I think because of vacations.
Although I have a employee for the first time this summer so that just mixes it all up. It really drops my profits I hate to say. But I know it’s an investment until he gets better.
You ain’t hood homie Ramen is a staple here in the humble abode, date night we add eggs, top ramen and eggs rock!
I know your company size is a lot different than ours, and we are primarily residential, but:
•April, May, June, July, September and October are great for us
•August & November are really good
•March & December are break even
•January is close, but a loss
•February is a loss
This is one of the factors that affects my decisions on growth. I’m not really interested in finding new services to offer in the winter to keep guys busy.
This is tough to argue, because I agree with the philosophy.
But if I remember right, Chris “doesn’t do weekends” even in May/June.
I can’t think of a time in my life, where I’ve eaten Roman Noodle, out of necessity.
But, then again… I’ll be working Sunday.
Had a really good month in May, a decent June, and a terrible July. August looks like people coming back around.
Every year it is different for us. In 2015 we had a mild winter and a mild summer… 9 profitable months… this year… summer came early and is hot as hell… if the fall works out hopefully 7 profitable months in 2016.
You really can’t predict this business.
I have been investing almost everything back into my businesses for a while. I have walmart pop tarts and I drink water and coffee. I’m not hood, I just choose to live broke lol.
If I didnt have the networking connections I wouldnt be where I am at. Thankful for all the relationships I have in this industry.
We have a separate business savings account that is our “Winter Savings” In April we religiously put in a % of sales every Saturday till thanksgiving. That savings goal theoretically covers all payroll, operating expenses and owners salaries from Dec 1st to March 31st as if we dont do an single $1 in sales during that period. Now do we do some sales over that period, Yes… but sometimes we have hard winters here… sometimes we have unexpected expenses over the winter. We just make sure we cover ourselves so we dont have any issues during that period. We have been doing this for the past 4 years and it has done wonders for our business.
Yes, a million times yes! Everyone who operates a seasonal business should have a savings account for the slow season (and put away money as if ‘slow season’ means ‘no income season’). I can’t believe it took me 9 years to commit to actually doing it.
