Out of Season Strategies for surviving the downtime in a cyclical business

Next month, Matt Kersten will be up to his neck in Christmas cards. The founder of Kersten Cards, a Scottsdale, Ariz., greeting card company, says 80 percent of his 4,000 orders per year are Christmas cards, which typically hit between July and early December. That leaves fully half of the year with minimal orders--and scant new revenue.

"It's definitely tough, but we do it," he says. "It's important to manage costs, and you constantly have to reinvest in your business. You can't stay stagnant."

That balancing act is one that most seasonal businesses face, says Dexter P. Morgan II, founder of MFS Consulting, a Newport News, Va., management consulting firm specializing in small businesses. "The seasonal business, regardless of size, needs to save money and resist the urge to spend when flush with cash," he says.