No More Feast or Famine: How to Keep Your Business Fed and Profitable Year Round

Congratulations! You’ve gone viral. Or maybe you’ve been featured in a major publication, or just landed your very first major client. Either way, the next few months are looking really, really busy — maybe a little too busy. You’re not sure how you’re going to get everything done.

There’s nothing better than the feeling of a full client schedule or being in high demand. But what happens when that big contract ends or your client list naturally fluctuates? Will you have more business lined up to fill the gap, or be left scrambling?

What is the small business feast or famine cycle?

The feast or famine cycle happens when your business is so busy that you don’t keep up marketing efforts or keep prospective clients in your pipeline or sales funnel. The classic visualization for this is a roller coaster: Times are good while you’re at the top, but suddenly you lack enough business to stay busy, and you’re in for a stressful downhill ride. You work your tail off to bring in new business, and before long you’re busy and heading uphill again — until the next plunge.

It’s not just sudden success that can cause the feast or famine cycle to start. It can also happen to a successful, stable business when unforeseen circumstances hit, like an injury, illness (hello, coronavirus) or loss that prevents you from maintaining your usual marketing efforts. As we’ll discuss below, some businesses also have a natural seasonality to them (hello, wedding industry!).

Once the feast or famine cycle hits, it can be hard to break out, because most of us would rather be doing the work we love — which is often not business building, networking or marketing.

If you’re serious about having a sustainable business that can grow over time, though, it’s important to avoid this cycle, or set up some practices to help you break out if you’re on that roller coaster now.

The Mashed Potato Method

Since Thanksgiving is coming up here in the U.S., let’s switch analogies and talk about what I call the mashed potato method for dealing with feast or famine. (Mmm, potatoes.)

Let’s say that you’re a talented amateur cook, and you’re an absolute genius with mashed potatoes. You’ve got a secret recipe, and it’s delish. So delicious, in fact, that all your neighbors have paid you to supply them with a great big dish of mashed potatoes for their Thanksgiving dinners. (Let’s also say that this happens in a time when big in-person holiday gatherings are safe and sensible.)

It’s a big job to produce enough mashed potatoes to supply the neighborhood, so you’re going to have to focus. To keep a steady stream of mashed delight coming out of your kitchen at all times, it’s not enough to just spend your time mashing; you’ll also need to make sure some potatoes are boiling at all times (maybe some cooking in the microwave, too) so they’re ready when you need them. Otherwise, you’ll have to stand around and wait for more potatoes to cook while hungry neighbors knock on your door.

That’s how your real-life business works, too. It’s not enough to only be doing paying work; if you don’t have prospects percolating in the background, you’re eventually going to run out of work (or potatoes).

In addition to keeping some metaphorical potatoes on the boil, we’ll discuss some other ways to keep your business steady throughout the year and avoid slowdowns.

How to Avoid and End the Feast or Famine Cycle

Use the Profit First method to build a financial cushion

We’re true believers in Profit First accounting for many reasons, but the way it helps you ride out slow times is one of the big ones. (Learn more about Profit First.) 

When you make a deposit, set aside at least 1% — 5% or even 10% is better, but start with something sustainable — into a hard-to-access savings account. This removes the temptation to spend it. It’s the tried-and-true out of sight, out of mind concept. And it works! You’ll gradually build a resource you can draw on to keep the lights on.

Make peace with marketing

I know, I know — you want to be doing the fun stuff, not marketing or writing blog posts or reaching out to prospective customers. But keeping new business coming in over time is what will make your business truly sustainable, so this is an activity you’ll need to make peace with.

What marketing activities can you sustain through thick and thin? What is the absolute minimum amount of business building you need to do to keep a steady stream of clients coming in? And what resources (time, money, energy, software, equipment) will you need to maintain that marketing?

Once you figure out that minimum, plan how you’re going to execute that minimum year round. If you have the resources and energy to do more at any point, that’s great! But keeping that action going is what will fill your pipeline in the long term and prevent feast and famine.

Order takeout

Don’t be afraid to outsource some or all of your marketing activities as needed, either. If you spent a solid week in the kitchen standing over a bowl of mashed potatoes, would you really want to cook dinner? Maybe not. Create a line item in your business budget, and order “takeout” if needed to make sure those marketing activities continue. That might look like hiring a full-time marketing employee, or someone just to write and post on your blog and social media, or some occasional help as needed.

Be honest about your capacity

Don’t schedule too many projects at once. It’s nice to feel needed, but it’s not nice (or sustainable) to overload yourself and then face burnout and a slow period because you felt pressured to do everything at once.

Except for truly urgent cases, most of your clients will be fine with scheduling with you a few weeks down the road — and many people will be okay with pushing back non-urgent work if you check in early. 

Plan around seasonality

In our silly analogy, your business is very seasonal — based on one holiday — most businesses will have some type of natural ebb and flow through the year. If you’ve been in business for a while, your books will reflect those times. (If you’re new, you might research this dynamic in similar businesses.) 

Assume that these rushes and slowdowns will happen every year, and plan accordingly. 

Give your pricing a sanity check

Revisit your pricing. Did you build in enough profit to cover time to work on your own business? If not, you may be feeling extra pressure to churn out those mashed potatoes at all times and neglect your other essential business activities. Consider adjusting your pricing to give you breathing room.

Make your business more efficient and less expensive

What can you automate? Where can you create systems? Can you write some scripts for common email interactions, or create an FAQ for your website to minimize the number of customers calling for help? This is an excellent project to take on now if you’re in a slump. Making your business more efficient allows you to operate with less overhead — leaving more time for both doing the work you enjoy and for marketing and business-building activities.

Keep an eye on your expenses as well. That expensive software service you signed up for during a good month may not look nearly as appealing when money is tight.

Use referrals and testimonials

If you’re coming down from a success high, snag those referrals and testimonials! Ask your customers and clients for honest feedback, testimonials, and referrals to their friends and colleagues. Referrals and word-of-mouth clients can help smooth out slow times and get some potatoes right into your mashing bowl.

Don’t forget to build out your own referral network, too. Make connections with both competitors and people who offer services related to yours. Not only can you refer potential clients to these fellow pros when you’re over capacity, but they’ll return the favor.

Use downtime wisely

No matter how well you plan, you may encounter some unexpected downtime. (Once again: hello, coronavirus.) Use that time in ways that will support your business when it picks up again. That might look like:

• Finding an accountability buddy with whom you can meet regularly and who will help hold you responsible for keeping up good business practices
• Add an additional revenue stream or offering
• Train yourself and/or your staff in new skills
• Create offerings based on retainers, subscriptions or other regular payments to help keep revenue stable
• Improve your marketing materials, website and social media channels
• Catch up on your own rest and self-care

Let’s Mash Some Potatoes.

We regularly help our clients end the feast-or-famine cycle with Profit First accounting. Get started with this free guide: Stop Leaving Money on the Table! 4 Simple Steps to Permanent Profitability without Selling Your Soul