If you fail to plan, you plan to fail

Winter is coming ………. are you ready?

Winter used to worry me. I’d wake in the middle of the night worrying whether we would have enough work to get us through the winter - how would I keep the service team employed (and busy!), would we make enough to pay the wages. The phones were quiet and the service calendar was looking light. The shop was so quiet, time seemed to move slowly, I hoped someone (anyone really!) would come in - and sometimes they did……. only to return a chlorine container for the deposit refund. Negative sales for the day - worse than none!

If you’ve ever had those days (and/or sleepless nights), you know the feeling. As business owners we carry the pressure of wages, rent, suppliers and bills that don’t slow down just because the weather does, then we add to that a side of self doubt and endless stress.

For years, winter felt like something to survive. We’d work flat out in the warmer months, then accept that the cream from the summer season would carry us through winter.

But what if I told you it didn’t have to be like that? What if you could make winter less stressful, less fearful, and that you could not only cover your running costs through winter but you could actually make a profit. Wouldn’t it be great that you could hold on to all that extra cream you make through summer for yourself, instead of using it to cover your winter costs – think about it – what would you rather do with that money?

It’s a common belief that pool shops and pool service businesses can’t be profitable through winter – actually it's regularly accepted. And it's a belief I am turning on its head.

Winter is the season that builds you. It can be productive and profitable.

I know from 27 years in the industry, winter works because you make it work. I know it because I did it, year in year out, profitable, productive winters.

So I’m inviting you to stop reacting to winter and start building it.

The biggest mistake I see pool shops and service businesses make is waiting until the cold weather is knocking on their door before they start “thinking about winter”. At best they are reacting, taking action too late - without direction, without calculation, without a plan.

If you’re planning for winter in May or June, you’re already on the back foot. You can still turn it around, but you’re playing catch-up. The businesses that do winter well, start earlier. They make winter part of the plan.

One of the major shifts for me was realising that the best winter opportunities are usually already in front of you during the busy months. They’re just going unnoticed.

These opportunities show up in quick comments customers make in passing and by staff ‘reading between the lines’. They show up in what your team notices in backyards every day. But if these moments aren’t captured, they’re gone.

When you start paying attention to what customers are already telling you, and you start noticing what is right in front of you —and you treat it like valuable information—winter stops being a guessing game. You’re no longer trying to manufacture demand, you’re simply identifying and responding to it.

But identifying customers' needs is only part of your successful winter plan. Like all good plans you’ve got to have your ‘ducks in a row’, develop a strategy and implement it.

Remember - if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

So, Autumn is here, and Winter is almost knocking on the door - what do you have planned?

Winter can be a season that is productive and profitable, it can strengthen your business and lay foundations for a stronger, smoother summer - but only if you make it happen.

Winter is coming……whether you’re ready for it or not.