Construction & trades · 🇺🇸 United States
Nine good months paying for three bad ones, badly
A seasonal landscaping business managed cash by feel and ran short every February.
US landscaping business, strongly seasonal. Client identity withheld — we publish names only with written permission, so this engagement is described by its shape rather than by who it was.
12-month
Seasonal cash model built
3
Lean months planned for
Reserve
Policy established
The situation
- Revenue concentrated between spring and autumn, with fixed costs continuing year-round.
- The owner drew consistently through the year and found February tight every year without treating it as predictable.
What we found
- No seasonal cash model — the business was managed off the bank balance.
- Equipment purchases were made in peak season when cash felt abundant, worsening the trough.
- Winter maintenance contracts were priced without reference to the fixed cost they were meant to cover.
What we did
- Built a twelve-month cash model with the seasonal shape made explicit.
- Established a reserve policy that ring-fences trough-month costs during peak season.
- Repriced winter contracts against the fixed cost base they exist to cover.
The outcome
- February stopped being a surprise, and equipment purchases moved to a planned cycle rather than an opportunistic one.
- The reserve policy was the whole intervention — the modelling just made the case for it.
Start with a conversation
Recognise any of this in your own books?
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