Surviving the seasonal business slowdown: tips and tricks from industry experts

It’s no secret that hospitality is one of the top industries in Manatee County, where restaurants and roads are packed with tourists for most of the year. Since April 2016, employment in the industry increased by more than 29,000 people, according to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

What is a secret, though, is how those businesses sustain and survive through the slow-traffic summer months. Manasota SCORE, a business development services firm, paired with Manatee County to bring in three industry experts to share tips and tricks for surviving the tourist off-season.

“To deal with seasonality, you have to manage three elements of the business differently,” said Manasota SCORE vice chair Bob Melberth. “People, product and equipment.”

The three panelists, hailing from restaurant, hotel and retail, provided strategies and ideas for the yearly change in management.

“The key to dealing with all seasonality is good information and planning,” said Stefan Sommerfield, a former SCORE mentor who spent more than 40 years working in the retail industry in New York City. “Seasonality is the nature of all retail businesses, whether you’re in a resort location or in good ol’ New York City.”

Thinking ahead in retail means “when you buy something, have a plan to liquidate it,” Sommerfield said. For restaurants, that means being straightforward with employees and preparing them to work less, said John Horne, president and CEO of Anna Maria Oyster Bar.

“The summer doldrums in Manatee County are tough,” Horne said. “The first quarter of the year, I do 35 percent of my annual sales, and in the four months of summer, I do less than 25 percent of my sales.” There are benefits to the summer season, though, as Horne noted it’s a good time to make menu changes and fix equipment.

Dylan Bower, manager at the Holiday Inn Sarasota Airport, said off-season idle time can be used to sharpen marketing tactics and better understand a business’s presence on social media. People want a public response if they lodge a complaint online, Bower said, and he spends roughly an hour each day, year-round, crafting those responses.

“Any feedback is good feedback,” Bower said.

Melberth, Manatee County librarian Chelsea Baker and Manatee County redevelopment coordinator Che Barnett encouraged businesses to take the slow time to explore the resources provided by Manasota SCORE and Manatee County Libraries, as well as develop and solidify emergency plans.

The workshop was held Tuesday morning at the Manatee County Downtown Central Library, 1301 Barcarrota Blvd. W. It’s the first of four free monthly workshops hosted by the library in coordination with Manatee County Economic Development and Manasota SCORE’s Success Strategies for Business Owners Meetups. For a full schedule of the remaining workshops and descriptions and to register, visit manasota.score.org/content/take-workshop-5.

Garlanda Jackson, a physical therapist who lives in Manatee County, didn’t know about SCORE before she went to Tuesday’s workshop. She’s thinking about starting her own healthcare business.

Jackson’s biggest takeaway: “Learning a little bit more about coming up with a plan for the ups and the downs, as well as if I'm considering hiring staff members, to make sure I'm upfront with them in advance. Because just like in the retail business or the restaurant business, there are fluctuations in healthcare.”

This story was originally published May 30, 2017 at 4:12 PM with the headline "Surviving the seasonal business slowdown: tips and tricks from industry experts."