Small businesses gear up for busy holiday season

For many small businesses, fall is one of the busiest times of the year, particularly in anticipation of the Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

“We’re heading into what we call ‘small business season,’” said Eric Alexander, founder of the Long Island Main Street Alliance. “Holidays are key. Holidays bring people into our downtowns.”

In addition to the boon to local downtown businesses, vendors who service holiday events: lighting companies, landscapers, etc., see a significant uptick in business this time of year.

About two decades ago, there were just two events for Small Business Saturday on Long Island. Last year, Alexander counted 40 Small Business Saturday/holiday-themed events.

“There’s a lot that goes into them,” Alexander said. “And they really pull people together.”

 

Increase inventory/hire more

Autumn is one of the busiest seasons for weddings, notes Gunjan Matalia, owner of Table Wraps, a luxury table linen rental business based in Jericho.

Between kids coming back from camp and having bar and bat mitzvah celebrations, followed by Thanksgiving and Christmas, September through December is a very busy time of year for Table Wraps.

“We already have a large inventory in place throughout the year, but every fall and spring we launch new products, so we also stock and increase our inventory substantially to accommodate the ‘rush hour,’” Matalia said.

To store the surplus inventory, Matalia makes use of the abundant space in his 6,000-square-foot warehouse.

“Once the season is done, it just goes on the shelf and becomes part of our regular inventory,” he said.

By August, Table Wraps is hiring additional staff to have the team in place for the high season. Currently, they have 10 employees, which they’ll keep on through the slower parts of the year.

“We bear the cost,” Matalia said. “I plan ahead of time for the slow season.”

Linen styles change all the time, and trends go in and out of favor. For example, lacey linens are in vogue right now.

“Every few years it repeats itself,” Matalia said. “We have zero waste in terms of our inventory.”

 

Planning/coordination with contractors

Spring and fall are the busiest seasons for Daniel Greller, owner of Terra Verde Landscape Architecture & Design, of Syosset, which does mostly residential landscape design, permitting and construction oversight.

In the fall, the pressure is on to finish everything while you still can.

“Basically, you’re trying to get everything in the ground before the ground freezes,” Greller said.

Clients are also planning for next year, which involves permitting for pools, tennis courts, and accessory structures, as well as siting homes for new construction.

As part of his commercial work, Greller designs the seasonal annual planting beds three times a year for The Lannin, a catering hall in Eisenhower Park: pansies in early spring, a variety of colorful annuals for the summer and mums, cabbages and kale in the fall.

Figuring out what plants he’ll need requires advance ordering, sometime as far as six months prior to planting.

“I’m typically ordering the plants, dealing with wholesale nurseries and growers to coordinate the quantity of plants, the varieties and colors,” Greller said. “We pick a shipping day. I coordinate with the landscaper to remove the existing plants, then break everything level and we lay out all the new plants on the following day and they put it in the ground.”

Coordinating with and between different subcontractors is integral to Greller’s operation: from landscapers to masons, irrigation, pool and lighting installers.

“The goal is to get everything seamlessly there and installed, especially with the catering halls, because we have to choose days where there aren’t events going on,” Greller said. “So, it can be a lot to coordinate just between the vendor, the landscaper and the facility.”

 

Marketing/focus on the ‘why’

October, November and December are the busiest months for RDR Lighting, notes Ryan Russo, owner of the Bayport and Shirley-based permanent lighting company for everyday accent and holiday lighting.

In preparation for the high season, Russo hired more people months ago, trained them right away so they’d be ready to do the work, which entails doubling up on the number of jobs they’ve been doing.

“We do a lot of our marketing and prospecting and things like that during this time to fill the schedule, but a lot of it is making sure that we’re logistically ready to handle the extra business,” said Russo, noting that they try new avenues to advertise and also increase advertising expenditure when demand is the highest.

Some of his employees are hired on a seasonal basis, but later became full-time employees.

“It starts as seasonal for the expectation, but then we try to make it permanent depending on what the job flow looks like for the Q1 season,” Russo said.

For new companies starting out, Russo advises not to overcommit and underdeliver. At the same, he adds, try focusing on the positive aspects of your business. In his case, recognizing that the lighting installations will help create joy for customers and lasting memories for them and their families.

“That’s the stuff that drives you to keep wanting to do it, because it’s not transactional,” Russo said. “It becomes a service thing: You get to see them enjoying the lights, posting things on Facebook. It’s capturing those moments and using that to build on.”

Copyright © 2024 BridgeTower Media. All Rights Reserved.

For top headlines, breaking news and more, visit libn.com or sign up for our newsletter .