I started a seasonal business in Alaska and need advice on managing expenses

Welcome to the club. Seasonal businesses in AK are a special kind of rollercoaster. Are you paying for year-round storage? That was my biggest mistake year one.

Off-season insurance is a beast. Have you looked into a policy that only covers the active months? Some carriers will let you suspend liability when you're not operating.

Not sure what you mean by 'expense deferrals'—like delaying payments? Most vendors won't go for that unless you've got a long relationship. Maybe renegotiate your storage lease to a 6-month term.

Yeah, renegotiate. Also, if you're renting gear, consider selling off slow movers at the end of the season instead of storing them. Cash now, less storage later. Worked for my kayak rentals.

This might sound dumb but have you tried a seasonal employee model where your staff are on call onlny when tours are booked? We use a gig-style scheduling app and it cut our training costs way down. Though retention suffers.

Gig-style for skilled guides? That's risky. You want people who know the terrain. But for gear check-in, sure.

Honestly the best thing I did was build a cash reserve during peak season. Even 10% of each week's revenue into a separate account for off-season bills. Boring but it works.

i'm in a different seasonal biz (winter ski gear) but we partner with a summer outfit to share storage space. Maybe find a winter operation that needs summer storage and split the lease?

Ooh that's clever. ^^

Also, don't forget local SBDC workshops. They sometimes have seasonal-specific webinars. Free advice beats guessing.

Let us know what you end up trying. And good luck—first year is always the wrost.