Making the most of seasonal peaks

Every year we witness the hype surrounding Christmas, from the annual countdown, to the John Lewis advert, to Marks and Spencer's mouthwatering food treats, and Primark's selection of Christmas jumpers.

Now as we head into Spring we're seeing our supermarkets' shelves stacked high with Easter chocolates and daffodils. And there's a very good reason for this. Seasonal peaks can offer brands a great chance to grow awareness and sales, especially if you're a retailer.

As a start up, though, it can be a challenge to find the cash to invest in the necessary extra stock ahead of and during seasonal periods. It's always riskier for new business owners than those who have been selling for big seasonal holidays for years. But, this doesn't mean there aren't any opportunities, and having a smaller budget to spend on advertising and marketing shouldn't stop you from making the most of seasonal peaks either.

So, with Easter just around the corner, here are some top tips to help you get off to a cracking start:

1. Plan ahead

Day in, day out, consumers are bombarded with new products and deals. A host of research over the last five years suggests that we see over 1,000 marketing messages every day. But as a start up, planning as much as possible can give you a real advantage - meaning you can put together a well thought-out and organised strategy for how you're going to make the most of a seasonal peak.

The best thing about using cyclical events to drive sales is that there are plenty of opportunities throughout the year including Christmas, New Year's, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Easter, Summer and Halloween. There are loads of different national awareness days too that are becoming more popular, which brands are jumping on the back of. Use quirky calendar events such as Pizza Day (9th February) or International Surfing Day (21st June) to offer deals or host competitions online.

Plan out your calendar for the year ahead and be selective - pick out the calendar moments that suit your business best. If you're a florist events like Mother's Day will be a much better investment than Halloween so think about your tactics.

Next work out when you'd need to pre-order stock by and work to manage your cash flow to accommodate for an increase in costs ahead of festivities. Think carefully about how many more products you'll sell or revenue you'd expect to make - an easy mistake is to be overly optimistic and be left with all your excess cash tied up in stock. It's a delicate balance so use your previous sales performances and forecasts to measure your ambitions.

2. Stay savvy

When preparing a tie-in with seasonal peaks, it's useful to be savvy about what products and services you want to promote. Many businesses will choose their best-selling items to push, or launch a new range to tie in. For Mother's Day you could tie products together to offer a Mother's Day treat deal. Look back at your sales figures and see which approach would work best for you.