What do you do all winter?

As seasonal business owners we are often asked if we have a real job in the winter.  When our reply is "No," the next statement is sometimes,  "That must be nice to have all winter off."  We kindly respond with something like, "Well, there are many things we do in the winter."   That is when we get the question, "What do you do all winter?"  This blog, along with my bi-monthly e-mail newsletter, are two of my larger responsibilities throughout the year.  In the winter I am responsible for ordering souvenir and clothing for the store as well as the interviewing and hiring of our Voyageur Crew.  As some of you may know we put out an annual print newsletter and in it are our new rates for the season.  Speaking of which, the new complete outfitting package rates are now updated online, so be sure to check them out.  The website is updated continually throughout the year and marketing is always a full-time job.  There are reservations and inquiries to be processed each and every day as well.  There doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to get all of the equipment and food orders together, repair equipment from the season, and to work on the projects that were neglected during the summer.  I wish I could say that after working 70-80 hour weeks from May to September, we took it easy the rest of the year and made up for the overtime put in.  But owning your own canoe outfitting business is hard work, all year through.  It is a tough job, but somebody has to introduce people to this wonderful place on earth and it may as well be me, because I love it.