Listen instead on your Monday Morning Drive:

I often feel like a doctor, and the business owners I help are patients in my waiting room.

They come in to share their problems and feelings. I listen and study their business pains, which reveal whether they use their overhead expenses correctly.

Boring advice? Maybe. Like diet and exercise recommendations, you might think you already know this, and you do — but we all need reminders.

The Return to Normal Cycles

2024 stands out as the most normal year I’ve seen in decades. That normalcy caught people by surprise.

Over the few years prior, when you were too busy to find new business, new business seemed to find you. Suddenly, those leads aren’t appearing, and word-of-mouth doesn’t work like it used to.

Many owners tell me they’re experiencing “dry spells” in their 2025 calendars. I reply, “Have you tried marketing? Have you reached out to your customers?”

“We’ve been too busy,” they say.

Which is it — a dry spell or too busy?

Why April Feels Empty

Coming off a busy February into a slow March, you might wonder where April went. April sold last November. If you didn’t sell April during November or early December because you were buried in work, you won’t fill April now.

All the profit of the first three months of the year could be wiped out by one unexpected slow month.

This pattern points to an overhead problem.

“Oh, Tom, don’t start with the scalability stuff again. It’s just a cycle.”

Too often, we conflate “busy” months with permanent growth. Likewise, we excuse dry spells as market trends.

Maybe your so-called slow month is actually your normal revenue?

You can’t afford to be “too busy.” Your team needs to handle everything that keeps your business running, every month:

• Maintaining your sales pipeline
• Managing planning
• Executing jobs
• Hiring the right people
• Getting crews on site
• Processing payroll
• Keeping the internet up
• Making sure the toilets work

But your team might focus on the wrong activities — doing shows instead of getting shows done.

Your overhead expense team – including “sales” – doesn’t get a pass.

The Passive Sales Trap

“We keep in touch with our customers,” owners tell me. When I ask what that means, they say, “If we did a show with them last April, we check in during March to see if they’re doing it again.”

Stop right there.

You should have had several conversations about that show already. “But they weren’t ready to talk!” No — they weren’t ready to talk to you.

We can’t be passive about business development. We also can’t be too busy for future business. That’s what your sales team handles. That’s what marketing dollars support.

Fixing Process Problems

If you’re behind on selling, planning, writing procedures, or training, look at what your core team does daily. When those aforementioned activities cause pain while your key people handle deliverable work, it means you’re rushing through the drive-through for a quick bite instead of taking the time to cook a proper meal.

Dry spells often signal an existing trend. “We have work in May and June,” you say. But what about July through September?

The Seasonality Reality

I’ve never solved seasonality. You haven’t either. If you run a seasonal business, that’s fine, but don’t confuse it with a dry spell. Think of it like a seasonal cold — you need to prepare for it by keeping up the vitamin C.

“We’re never busy in March.” That’s not a dry spell — that’s a trend. Running your company based on trends is okay if you plan for it. But if this seasonal pattern bothers you, find its source and fix it permanently.

The Last-Minute Reality Check

Another common complaint: “All our jobs are last-minute.”

Are you upset because you’re making money from last-minute jobs, or because you don’t have more advance bookings? If advance bookings aren’t coming, embrace last-minute projects. They pay your bills.

Last-minute jobs are more valuable than advance bookings. When a client needs something in two weeks, your pricing conversation changes: “If you’d called two months ago, I could have gotten close to that number. Here’s what it costs now. But let me show you how to make this work better next time.”

Turn Last-Minute Into Long-Term

Last-minute work gives you a captive audience. They must talk to you. Show them how you can help. Explain that it might hurt this time, but next time will be easier because you’ll plan together.

Many clients with last-minute needs have the same job repeatedly. Unless someone brings you the biggest job of your life two weeks out — which rarely happens — why stress about it?

A small, last-minute job often brings 90% gross profit. The gear is sitting on your shelf anyway. Just run with it.

The Right Overhead Structure

If last-minute work causes problems, your overhead structure needs adjustment. You should be equipped for it. You’re already:

• Prepping shows
• Putting together show books
• Managing crew

One more project won’t upset your operations. If it does, your overhead team is focusing on the wrong things.

When last-minute work creates chaos, I often find the operations crew scheduled out doing shows and former lighting designers running lights. You’ve created your own problem by making poor operational choices.

Building Your Core Team

In our industry, having the wrong people handle last-minute work creates problems. Your overhead team should always be available. No one on your core team should complain about last-minute projects or emergencies — it’s their job to handle those.

When a client needs a surprise guest speaker or adds a poolside party, that’s good for business. We make money on these changes, but to handle them well, you need the right people in the right seats doing the right work.

The Five-Person Test

Look at your next 90 days of confirmed business. Assume you’ll sell just 10% more — your normal uptake. Who are the five people you absolutely need to deliver this work at the highest level?

For companies under $5 million in revenue, five people determine your success. Larger companies might need 10 or 15. Find those key people and keep them working at their highest value. Fill in around them with people who handle the work of being “busy” so the core processes don’t get neglected.

Your Success Formula

Your core team members determine your success, so they should never run out of capacity. When they handle work below their value, you waste an asset.

Sometimes, someone who’s really good at a job doesn’t want that job. Find someone who makes it look easy and wants the role. They’ll train others to work within their system. The whole business runs better.

Want better processes? Need the right overhead structure? Start by examining how you use your core team. Let them focus on what they do best.