The Most Seasonal Industries in the United States and How They Survive the Slow Season

Retail, tax preparation, and landscaping rank among the most seasonal industries in the United States, with employment and revenue swinging by 50 percent or more between peak and off season months. These businesses survive the slow stretch by building cash reserves in advance and by learning what funding options exist before the slow season arrives, not after it starts.

Retail's Holiday Swing Is Shrinking, But Still Massive

Retail remains the clearest example of seasonality in the American economy. According to the National Retail Federation, retailers were expected to hire between 265,000 and 365,000 seasonal workers from November 1 through December 31, 2025, down sharply from the 442,000 seasonal hires made the year before, marking the lowest level of seasonal retail hiring in 15 years. Even with that pullback, the NRF projected holiday sales would surpass $1 trillion for the first time.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks this pattern closely across five retail industries: furniture and electronics retailers, general merchandise retailers, health and personal care retailers, clothing and accessory retailers, and sporting goods and hobby retailers. Together these industries added 492,000 seasonal employees during October through December 2024, then lost 463,000 of those positions during the January and February layoff, retaining a net 29,000 workers. These five categories alone account for roughly 50.7% of all retail trade employment, which shows how much of the sector's staffing lives and dies by the calendar.

Tax Preparation Has One of the Sharpest Curves of Any Industry

Few industries compress their entire year into a single season the way tax preparation does. BLS data shows that employment at tax preparation services peaked at 191,300 workers in February, then dropped to just 48,800 by August, a swing of nearly four times between the busiest and slowest months. Firms in this space essentially operate as two different businesses each year: a high staffing, high revenue operation from January through April, and a skeleton crew for the rest of the year.

That kind of swing makes cash flow planning essential. Many small accounting and tax practices rely on the income earned during filing season to cover fixed costs like rent and software subscriptions for months afterward, which is closely related to the pattern explained in why 82% of small businesses fail because of cash flow and not a lack of customers. A tax practice that brings in strong revenue in March but spends it all before April can end up with a healthy year on paper and a genuinely difficult September, simply because the timing of income and expenses never lined up.

This is also why many seasonal accounting firms diversify into bookkeeping, payroll services, or advisory work during the off months. It rarely replaces the income of filing season, but it softens the drop and keeps staff busy enough to retain them for the following year, which matters in an industry where rehiring and retraining every January carries its own cost.

Landscaping and Outdoor Services Live and Die by the Weather

Landscaping follows a different rhythm than retail or tax preparation, but the seasonality is just as real. BLS research shows that landscaping services employment rises rapidly in the spring and does not reach its peak until summer, while a landscaping company can earn as much as 80% of its annual revenue between April and October, according to industry financing data, and still owes full rent, insurance, and payroll costs from November through March. Florists face a related pattern, with employment peaking twice a year around Valentine's Day and Mother's Day rather than following a single season.

For businesses like these, the fixed costs never take a vacation even when the phone stops ringing. Equipment loans, truck payments, and insurance premiums are typically due on a fixed monthly schedule, regardless of whether a crew worked twelve jobs that week or none at all. Building a cash cushion before the slow months begin, an approach covered in this guide on how to prepare for a high season without running out of capital, tends to separate the outdoor service companies that thrive year after year from the ones that scramble every winter.

Some landscaping and outdoor service companies offset the slow months with snow removal, holiday lighting installation, or interior work, effectively creating a second, smaller season to fill the gap. Others lean on equipment financing timed to the calendar, spreading out the cost of trucks and machinery so a large purchase does not collide with the leanest months of the year.

The Real Cost of Ignoring the Off Season

Seasonal businesses that treat every month the same way tend to run into the same problem: they spend as if revenue will keep flowing, then hit a wall when it does not. Rent, insurance, and loan payments do not pause just because a landscaping crew or a tax office is quiet in December. Understanding the difference between the capital needed to keep daily operations running and the capital needed to grow, a distinction explained in this comparison of working capital versus investment capital, helps seasonal business owners avoid using growth funds to cover a routine slow month.

The businesses that manage this well typically start planning for the off season before it begins, not after the first slow week arrives. That usually means building working capital during the peak months specifically so it can carry the business through the slow ones, a process explained further in this guide on how to increase working capital.

Building a Financial Cushion That Actually Lasts

One practical step many seasonal business owners skip is putting a real plan in writing before the slow season begins rather than reacting once cash gets tight. This guide to creating a plan before applying for capital walks through how to map out expected revenue swings and line up financing in advance, so the slow months become predictable rather than alarming.

One Park Financial works with seasonal business owners across landscaping, retail, hospitality, and professional services who need funding that matches the rhythm of their industry rather than a one size fits all repayment schedule. Recognizing that a slow season is coming, rather than being surprised by it every year, is often the difference between treating seasonality as routine and treating it as a crisis.

Turning Seasonal Swings Into a Predictable Pattern

Since 2010, One Park Financial has facilitated over $1.5 billion in funding for small business owners across the United States, connecting them with a network of funding partners offering amounts from $5,000 to $500,000. Prequalifying takes about two minutes, requires no paperwork upfront, and does not impact your credit. Businesses that have been operating for at least three months and generate at least $10,000 in monthly revenue may qualify, and preparing ahead of the next slow season is often the step that keeps a seasonal business steady year after year. Ready to see where your business stands? Find out today if your business qualifies.

Jonathan Jaimes

Senior Content Manager

One Park Financial's editorial team brings together funding specialists, business strategists, and small business advocates to create practical content for the entrepreneurs we serve.