When the country was locked down during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, small businesses suffered unspeakably. Beauty salons, restaurants and indoor play centres were just a few of the industries that had to completely shut down due to government guidelines. However, there were a number of outdoor recreational businesses that were able to stay open during this time, and they’re now thriving because of it. Whether you’re trying to improve your business for the New Year, or you’re looking for ways to expand your company even further, now is the time to focus on your outdoor business. Privately owned nature walks, historic landmarks and outdoor play areas are just a few of the outdoor businesses that were able to thrive during the pandemic, so how can you continue your success into 2022? Here are just a handful of things you can focus on in order to grow your business to the next level in the upcoming year.
By Team Savant
Image: Jamie Street
Maintain Your Beautiful Space
As a business owner with plenty of outdoor space you need to take pride in it and look after it to the best of your ability. Whether you’re dealing with a vast outdoor space or just a small amount of upkeep to the landscaping, maintaining your beautiful space will help you to keep attracting customers. You may want to look into local forestry services if you own a lot of woodland. Getting advice from experts will not only help you to ensure your land is always at it’s best, but it will also give you the best possible return on your investment.
Add Value and Special Features
Depending on your industry, there may be other elements you can add to your business in order to increase appeal to your target audience. For example, at Christmas you could set up a Santa’s Grotto or festive markets to attract more customers. Going with the seasons and adding special events will help you to grow your business and increase your profits.
Overhaul Your Food and Drink Offerings
Food and drink offerings can be a huge component for outdoor businesses. It’s true that a lot of your profits will come from coffee, tea, lunches and snack items available for sale in and around the premises. If this is something you don’t have much expertise in, it might be time to talk to a professional who can help you to overhaul your menus.
Expand Your Team
There may be certain areas of weakness in your business at the moment, whether it’s marketing or finance. Now might be the time to conduct a SWOT analysis and figure out where you could use some additional expertise. Expanding your team doesn’t need to be time consuming or expensive, as long as you are bringing in passionate and enthusiastic people who are keen to learn. Consider where you could use some additional support in your business and hire new staff members accordingly.
Keep Up With Training
It’s much easier to retain current members of staff than retrain new ones, so you should do everything in your power to nurture the ones you have. When you invest in training for your members of staff it not only shows that you care about them, but it proves that you’re offering a chance for career progression. Employees want to feel important and valued, so make sure you keep up with the most current training for your valued team members.
Increase Your Prices
When your business is booming, it’s a clear sign that you need to increase your prices in the near future. If you’re converting over 50% of your inquiries, then it’s a good indicator that your business is in high demand and people would pay more to visit. You might want to carry out some competitor research and compare your current prices to other similar establishments. Of course, you can only accurately make this decision by looking at your own numbers. Take the time to consider whether 2022 is the year to boost your prices slightly in order to see considerable growth.
With a whole host of ideas at your fingertips, it’s completely possible to grow your outdoor business even when the world is still in an uncertain place. From expanding your current team or widening your offerings, you can truly make your mark in the industry in 2022. Depending on your specialist industry you can make small, but mighty changes to the way you operate every single day whilst putting smiles on your customers’ faces. Consider all of the ideas mentioned above and enjoy every moment of growing your thriving outdoor business in the New Year.