What is Seasonology?

Seasonology (n); The wheel of the year, but for your business

The idea of Seasonology began years ago through my work as a PR agency owner. Working in tourism, my clients were often very reliant on the seasons to boost their visibility. I noticed how businesses thrive through distinct seasons: periods of growth in the high season, followed by reflection, rest, and preparation in autumn, winter and spring. So I started to strategise their PR campaigns around it and I called it Seasonal Storytelling.

This pattern had an impact on my own business “seasons”, which were the opposite of those of my clients. I knew when they were preparing for the next season, that’s when my agency would be busiest. In summer, it was so quiet I could almost close for a couple of months!

This seasonal rhythm was in stark contrast to the relentless "always-on" approach that I was used to in the media industry and the “hustle culture” that was being pushed online.

Then in the space of a year, I had my son, Ezra, the world went into lockdown, and my rhythms changed entirely. Business, for me, boomed. But as I struggled to balance it with family life, it led to burnout and a serious health warning from my doctor.

At that point, I knew I had to step away from my business entirely.

To slow down, I went back to my roots of living seasonally; something that had been taught to me by my grandmother (who is 92 this year and still going strong).

I had another baby, started making jam, learned to crochet and trebled the size of my vegetable patch. I lived the good life. In winter, I hibernated; doing the bare minimum to get by and in spring, I got my energy back and started to take on more work again.

I started to wonder: what if our businesses could align with these natural cycles, instead of fighting against them?

A new business philosophy

So I harnessed that spring energy and I trained as a business strategist!

Strategy had always been a part of what I did as a PR, and the combination of psychology, market analysis and journalism to reach an audience and stay ahead of the game was (and is) my favourite thing to do.

It, therefore, made perfect sense to incorporate the idea of Seasonology, so that other businesses could adopt it too.

The problem:

I hit a snag. Not everyone has the same natural cycles OR fiscal year, so they’d be working on different “seasons” at different times.

As I started to map out my ideas using the four seasons as a guide, I just couldn’t make it work. I couldn’t advise a product business owner to chill all winter, when it’s their busiest time. It seemed bonkers.

Then I had a breakthrough.

The breakthrough:

By creating a base plan for a business and then applying a Seasonal Business Wheel, which has no beginning and no end to the strategy, it doesn’t matter which season a business is in, they could spin the proverbial “wheel” and work on whichever season aligns with them at that time.

In the next blog, I’ll outline exactly what those seasons are…