The Quiet Season for Builders: How to Plan for It
Plan for it before it arrives: book work into the quiet months while you're busy, keep a cash buffer, line up weatherproof and maintenance jobs, and use the slack to prepare for the busy months.
The short answer
Plan for it while you're busy. A quiet spell you saw coming is far easier to manage.
The best way to handle a quiet season is to prepare before it starts: book work into those months while enquiries are still strong, keep enough cash to cover your fixed costs, line up indoor, weatherproof and maintenance jobs, and keep your marketing ticking over. Then use the slack for the jobs that make the busy months run better.
For many builders and roofers the slow spell comes in the depths of winter, when short days and bad weather cut into outside work and homeowners put off decisions. Yours may fall at a different time. This page covers how to spot your pattern and what to do about it.
Know your pattern
Your own records say when it's coming
Go back through the last two or three years of invoices and enquiries and note them month by month. Most firms see the dip lands at roughly the same time each year, and that enquiries slow a little before the work does.
That lead time is the useful part. If you know the quiet weeks are coming, you can start filling them while you're still busy.
Look at the kind of work, not just the amount. Some jobs dry up in bad weather while others carry on or even increase, such as repairs after storms or indoor work that customers want finished before a holiday. Knowing which of your services hold up in the quiet months tells you where to point your marketing when the time comes.
Check your costs against the same calendar. If your insurance renewal, van finance or tax bill lands in the middle of the dip, you want to know that months ahead, not the week it's due. A simple month-by-month view of money in and money out is one of the most useful things a small firm can have.
Before it arrives
Five things to do while the diary's still full
Book ahead
When you quote in the busy months, offer customers start dates in the quieter period. Some are glad of a firm date and no rush.
Quote early for next season
Customers planning work for the spring often want prices in autumn and winter. Make sure those quotes arrive promptly and get followed up.
Build a cash buffer
Put something aside in the good months to cover your fixed costs through the lean ones. Work out what that figure is from your own outgoings.
Keep marketing running
Enquiries you get in the quiet months often become work later. Switching everything off means a slow start when things pick up. How much should I spend on marketing? covers setting a sensible level.
Stay in touch with past customers
A message before the quiet period, saying you have availability, costs nothing and often turns up a job someone has been putting off.
Using the months well
Earn where you can, invest where you can't
Work that suits quieter months
- Indoor work: loft conversions, internal alterations, finishing
- Repairs after bad weather
- Maintenance and inspections for past customers
- Snagging and small jobs you've had to put off
- Overflow from other trades
Investing the spare time
- Servicing tools, plant and vans
- Training and renewing tickets
- Photographing finished work
- Updating your Google Business Profile
- Sorting paperwork, pricing and templates
Common mistakes
What makes a quiet season worse
Signing up in a panic
Long minimum terms are easy to agree to when the phone is silent. Check the term and notice period first.
Cutting prices to fill the gap
Cheap work can cost more than an empty day once materials, fuel and time are counted. Price quieter-month work properly.
Letting quotes go cold
Slow quoting in autumn loses spring work. The customers deciding now are the ones who'll keep you busy later. How do I win more quotes? helps.
The quiet weeks are a good time to look at how many hours the paperwork of winning work really takes. The admin cost of winning work sets out where it goes.
Another source
Work from outside your own pipeline
Some contractors add a network as an extra source that doesn't depend on their own marketing. In the Mortaro network there's no joining fee, subscription or per-lead charge. We generate the work, and opportunities go to contractors who respond quickly, communicate well and complete work to standard, as set out in how opportunities are allocated. More on cost in do you charge for leads?
We can't smooth out the seasons for anyone, and we don't promise volume. It is simply another route in.
Straight answers
Quiet season questions
What if it's quieter than usual, not just seasonal?
Compare with the same months in previous years. If it's well below, look at where your work comes from and how quickly you're quoting. No work coming in? What now sets out a plan.
Should I take on staff cover in the quiet months?
Only if your cash buffer and booked work support it. Many small firms use the time for training and maintenance instead.
Is the quiet season a good time to update my online profiles?
Yes. Add photos from the year's best jobs, check your services and areas are accurate, and ask recent customers for reviews while the work is fresh in their minds. A current Google Business Profile helps you get noticed when enquiries pick up again, and it costs nothing but time.
For contractors
Tell us about your business
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