It’s normal to see your profits fluctuate throughout the year. One of the biggest seasonal demand spikes comes during the holiday gifting season; in 2022, Shopify sites saw a 17.5% increase in shoppers in November, with a whopping $7.5 billion in sales over the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend alone. Weather drives other trends—swimwear sales rise with warmer weather, while snow shovels sell rapidly after the first snowfall.
When a business does most of its sales during one season, it’s a seasonal business. These businesses thrive during huge demand periods and then go dormant during the off-season to cut costs. Seasonal businesses are perfect if you have extra time during certain months or want to earn extra cash without a year-round commitment. Here are some seasonal business ideas to get you started.
Top seasonal business ideas
- Farmers market booth
- Firewood sales
- Food truck or booth
- Holiday decorator
- House care
- Lawn care and landscaping
- Outdoor equipment rental
- Outdoors guide
- Pet sitting
- Plant sales
- Pool cleaning business
- Seasonal sport instructor
- Snow removal services
- Tax preparation services
- Tour guide
- Upcycling
You typically need a business license to offer commercial services, so plan to register as a legal entity to set up your business. Here are 16 ideas to start your own business around a seasonal trend:
Farmers market booth
Selling at a weekly farmers market, where you sell products to hungry crowds, is a classic summer business idea. Beyond produce, you can offer handcrafted items, art, and baked goods as well.
While most booths are not free—they can cost between $20 per day to several hundred dollars per season—farmers markets do most of the marketing for you and typically draw a large crowd of locals and tourists.
Firewood sales
Looking for a winter business idea that keeps you warm during the cold months? Try selling firewood. Start small by collecting and chopping old trunks and stumps from friends and neighbors.
Remember, you can’t sell the wood right away unless you want to sell it cheaply as “green wood.” The best firewood is seasoned, or left to dry out, for at least six months for softwood (like cedar or spruce) or a year for hardwood (like oak or birch).
Once your wood is seasoned, sell the wood in bundles. If you have a pickup truck, offer local delivery for an extra fee.
Food truck or booth
Mobile or pop-up food and beverage sales offer a great seasonal business idea, especially if you’re already in the restaurant industry. While startup costs can be significant—from ingredients to staff to the truck or booth—food trucks can bring significant revenue in a short span of time. You can advertise at events, farmers markets, or high-traffic areas.
Food trucks and booths aren’t just a summer thing: in the colder months, ask local skating rinks or ski resorts if you can set up a hot beverage stand on their property. Look into setting up your booth or truck at local events during various holiday seasons.
Holiday decorator
Many people love the holiday season but prefer outsourcing some of the work, meaning there are plenty of winter business ideas you can try to make extra cash. Try gift wrapping, holiday light installation, or themed decorating for homes and commercial businesses. If you’re crafty, try custom ornament sales, holiday baking and decorating, or costume sewing.
House care
If you’re handy or have experience in home maintenance, start a home service business. In the summer, offer specialized services like painting, roofing, or window cleaning, and focus on weatherproofing in the fall and winter. You can also start a fencing business or an indoor cleaning business. Begin solo to minimize startup costs, and hire seasonal help as your business grows.
Lawn care and landscaping
If you’re looking for summer business ideas during the growing season, start a landscaping business to design and maintain green spaces for homes and businesses. Essential tools include a lawnmower and a way to transport it, equipment like pruning shears, a string trimmer, fertilizers, and pest control solutions. Offer package deals for the entire summer to secure steady weekly work.
Outdoor equipment rental
If you live in an area with great access to outdoor activities, consider starting a rental service for equipment like kayaks and paddleboards. If you live in a mixed climate, you might run a bike rental business in the summer and rent snowshoes and snowmobiles in the winter.
Conduct market research to identify high-demand activities or untapped niches.
Outdoors guide
If you have hiking and camping experience and enjoy being outdoors, become a camping guide to help seasonal visitors make the most of their trips to your area. While summer camping is popular, winter-season camping offers snowshoeing, ice fishing, and more. You can also sign up to be a local camp counselor for a simple seasonal job.
Pet sitting
When pet owners go out of town for summer break or winter holidays, they need reliable care for their animals. Offer in-home visits to feed cats and walk dogs, or turn your house into an all-inclusive pet hotel for drop-offs. With dedication, you can turn your seasonal pet-sitting gig into a full-time job.
Plant sales
A great business idea leverages your skills. So, if you have a green thumb, why not sell plants? Sell cut flowers, vegetable starts, and herbs in spring and summer; in the winter months, run a Christmas tree farm or sell evergreen wreaths, depending on market demand.
Pool cleaning business
Pools require a lot of cleaning and fine-tuning—filling, skimming, vacuuming, scrubbing, balancing chemicals—which many homeowners prefer to outsource to a professional. Start a pool maintenance business to help set up pools for summer, keep them swim-ready through the warm-weather months, and overwinter them when the weather starts to cool.
Seasonal sport instructor
If you excel in a seasonal sport—like swimming and surfing in the summer, or skiing and ice skating in the winter—offer your skills as a seasonal instructor to kids or beginners.
Start by reaching out to local venues—pools, beach clubs, ski resorts, or skating rinks—to see if they have open positions. With a strong health and fitness background, you can also offer personal training or one-on-one coaching.
Snow removal services
If you live in an area with heavy snowfall, start a snow removal business to clear driveways, sidewalks, and steps. Many homeowners and local businesses pay a pretty penny for this service.
Be prepared for a significant initial investment in equipment (like a small tractor or plow attachment for a truck) if you plan on plowing large areas, and expect to work irregular hours to keep up with the weather.
Tax preparation services
In the US, taxes are due every year on April 15. Many individuals and business owners need help preparing and filing their taxes during tax season, so you can offer your skills with tax software as a seasonal consultant.
To get started, apply for a preparer tax identification number (PTIN) through the IRS. You can also participate in the IRS’s Annual Filing Season Program to enhance your resume.
Tour guide
If you live in a tourist hotspot, start a business as a tour guide. Offering walking tours is a great low-cost business idea, since all you really need is solid local knowledge and an effective marketing strategy.
For a more upscale experience, offer bike or bus tours. For a unique business idea, tailor your tour to a niche target audience like coffee enthusiasts or ghost hunters.
Upcycling
As warm weather arrives, garage sales and flea markets thrive. Hunt for bargains, then clean, repair, and update the items to resell at a profit. Specialize in a niche—like wood furniture or vintage sweaters—to hone your expertise and market your business offerings to a narrower target market. You can resell your upcycled items locally or through your own ecommerce store.
Seasonal business ideas FAQ
How do I start a seasonal business?
Starting a successful seasonal business is much the same as starting any other small business, but you need to plan for off-season considerations like where to store your equipment or how to reduce year-round operational costs. You also need a strong local or digital marketing plan to attract and retain customers year to year.
Are seasonal businesses profitable?
Yes, seasonal businesses can be profitable, as long as you maximize sales during the season and minimize costs during the off-season. If you’re worried about your cost-to-profit ratio, consider a seasonal business with minimal startup costs, like pet sitting, sports instructing, or tour guiding.
Are there drawbacks to seasonal businesses?
Even the best seasonal businesses can struggle with their boom-and-bust approach to profits and effort. During peak season, you may find yourself struggling to keep up with your busy schedule, while during the off-season you may have a hard time covering basic operational costs. Take these considerations into account when crafting your business plan.
