Entrepreneur Tip: 9 Hacks to Save Money for Your Slow Season

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For entrepreneurs who travel, snow and cold weather aren’t huge factors influencing their event season. But if you’re like me and your business hasn’t reached a big enough scale to warrant traveling south in the winter for markets, there’s a serious lull from mid-December through early spring.

(Even if you do travel, most people are all shopped out after Christmas, so the start of the new year is slow until consumers are ready to start spending again.)

Surviving the winter bills and having enough financial reserves to cover vendor fees for the new season have been some of my biggest challenges as a full-time author and artist. My business is still fairly new; it evolved from a side gig to a career in 2022, so I’m entering my third year as a full-time entrepreneur. Every year, I learn more and more, and I’m better able to strategize my methods. I’m a big advocate of finding ways to diversify, especially when it comes to finding passive revenue streams to supplement direct sales. While my tips are applicable to many entrepreneurs, they’re especially geared toward fellow authors, artists, and creative solopreneurs.

Here are some of the tools and methods I use throughout the year to help prepare for my 6-8 week break after the holidays:

***This article contains affiliate links.

Point-of-Sale Auto Savings

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I use Square as my point-of-sale (POS) system for transactions. With Square, you can set up one or more savings accounts and dictate what percentage of your card sales Square automatically deposits into those accounts.

This method has helped me set aside money to pay the sales tax I’m supposed to be collecting at events. Doing it manually didn’t work well because it was way too tempting to keep saying, “Next time… I need this money for inventory/bills/vendor fees, so I’ll set some aside after the next market.” And then the next… and then the next… same old song and dance, not enough money being tucked away to make the payment when the sales tax was due.

In addition to auto-saving my sales tax, I also have another savings account set up to passively siphon money into an account I don’t touch until I absolutely have to for winter bills. Saving on autopilot has made a world of difference for me since I just don’t have the discipline to do it myself after every event.

External Savings Account

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Square’s auto-savings are easy and convenient, but I also tuck money away into another external savings account. I recommend using an external account instead of your regular banking account because again, it is WAY too easy and tempting to tap into those savings when they’re visible and accessible every time you log into your bank app.

For me, I chose Barclays, a British universal bank that has branches in at least 50 countries outside of the UK. Their online savings account program has 4.15% APY (the national APY average is only 0.59% for savings accounts, according to Bankrate’s survey of institutions as of the week of March 31, 2025!)

With Barclays, you have:

• 24/7 access to your funds
• Ability to transfer between your Barclays account and other banks
• Direct deposit
• No minimum opening balance
• No monthly fees

In addition to manually transferring money after good events (at my discretion after considering my current pending and upcoming expenses), I also set up a recurring auto-transfer at the beginning of each month.

Subscription Content

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I recently published a blog post about the pros and cons of subscription-based content such as Substack and Patreon. Building subscriptions brings in regular, predictable sources of income that can be a real boost to help alleviate the slack when event season ends.

While authors and artists can tap into subscription-based online content, other entrepreneurs can get creative to introduce subscriptions into their business model. For example, a candlemaker I know launched a candle subscription service last year. Since he has a consumable product, he can send products to his customers on a recurring basis.

Affiliate & Referral Programs

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lf you have a blog, as many creative entrepreneurs do, then I highly recommend finding ways to monetize it. One of the best ways is by participating in affiliate and referral programs.

Basically, this means that you can earn money by including links to products and/or businesses on your website. If someone clicks on the link and performs a specific action, such as adding an item to their cart, completing a purchase, requesting a quote, et cetera, then the company sends you a small commission as a thank-you for sending the customer through your personal link.

In my experience, a successful affiliate and referral strategy comes from creating honest, quality content. I don’t peddle products and waste blog space with sales pitches; I write about my experiences and, when appropriate, include links to the products/services I use.

Here are some examples of my top revenue-generating posts:

• In 2020, I wrote a blog post about my experience joining a NetGalley co-op to promote my first ebook. At the time, the business running the co-op didn’t have any kind of referral program, so I didn’t receive any sort of direct benefit… and that’s okay. The main purpose of my website is to share tips and information for indie authors and creative solopreneurs while building my online presence and authority. But last year, Victory Editing contacted me to let me know that they’d implemented a referral program if I wanted to sign up. Now, when indie authors find my blog post organically because they’re interested in NetGalley, I receive a small payment if they click on my link and join the same co-op that I was in.

• In 2023, after wasting money and spending months trying to figure out how to make necklaces that featured my artwork and graphic designs, I finally found a solution, and I shared it in a blog post. That post is now one of my top-performing posts from other artists who had the exact same problem and searched for answers online. In that post, I included Amazon affiliate links to the products I had used, and I regularly receive commissions from Amazon every month. I didn’t push those products; I simply informed people of the tools that I had used. Those links were organically incorporated into my content.

• In 2023, my business had finally grown enough to warrant investing in liability insurance. However, I struggled to find an affordable provider. After doing my own research and testing out two different policies from different companies that specialized in small businesses and artisans, I wrote a blog post last year about my experiences with both companies and my personal recommendation for authors and artists. Later, I learned that the insurance company I use offers a referral program for up to $250 per year, so I took advantage. I maxed it out in the first three months of the year just from people finding my article, clicking my link, and requesting a quote.

Are you seeing the pattern? I’ve found that publishing posts with the sole purpose of selling products isn’t a successful strategy… at least, not for me. Instead, I’m producing high-quality content addressing real issues that I personally faced and overcame because other people are also searching for those solutions. Just by sharing my experiences, I’m earning passive income from blog posts that I would have published anyway.

**Note: you have to sign up for affiliate/referral programs. If your website is new and/or isn’t drawing much traffic yet, be prepared for rejections. It takes time and consistence to build up to this stage.

Print-On-Demand Merchandise

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Does your business present an opportunity for apparel featuring your logo or art? If it does, but you aren’t ready to take on the extra stress of production, inventory, shipping, customer service, et cetera, you might want to seek out a print-on-demand (POD) company.

I have designs for sale on RedBubble and Spring — two of the most popular POD merchandise platforms.

This isn’t a huge source of income for me, but I let the money I collect from these online sales sit in my account until I need it. POD merch is convenient because I don’t need to worry about production, inventory, storage, shipping, or customer service. The company takes care of all of that for me.

I will say that RedBubble and Spring each have their own pros and cons. I both like and dislike aspects of both platforms, and I wish I could take certain aspects from each of them and combine them into one ideal POD platform.

Cash Rewards Apps

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I use several different apps and Chrome extensions when I’m shopping for business as well as personal items. I’ll let the rewards rack up during my busy season and then tap into those cash redemptions during the slow season if I need a little extra boost to cover bills.

There are TONS of rewards apps and extensions on the market, but here are the ones I’ve used regularly and had the best luck with:

Upside gives me cash back on gas. Since I travel to events almost every weekend, this really adds up over market season! (Use promo code C757VA when you sign up to get a $10 bonus on your first purchase.)

Fetch provides cash back when you upload digital and print receipts. Certain items on your receipt will give you more points, but you get credit just for uploading the receipt even if there aren’t any items eligible for a special promotion. Unlike many apps, you don’t have to waste time hunting for specific coupons prior to doing your regular shopping, which is why I like Fetch. I can make my regular grocery store trips and upload the receipts afterward. Rewards accumulate slowly, but I build them up during market season and then cash them out for digital gift cards to help me during the slow season. (Sign up for free with my referral code PJ3QCE, and we’ll each earn points when you snap your first receipt!)

Acorns invests a small percentage from many purchases into a stock portfolio. If you were going to make the purchase anyway, why not let that company invest free money into your account as a thank-you? This app also gives you options to set up recurring investments from your bank account, set up a checking account, and activate “round ups” for your credit card. In a nutshell, this means that Acorns rounds up every purchase to the next dollar and invests that spare change. So, if you spent $4.70, Acorns would round that purchase up to $5 and take that $0.30 to invest. (I will say that due to increased security measures with my bank, I have a hard time getting this feature to work.)

Honey automatically searches for and applies coupons for a lot of websites. In some cases, I also earn cash back (but it’s a very small amount). Honey is connected to PayPal, so when I’m ready to redeem those points, they go straight into my PayPal account.

RetailMeNot turned out to be a pleasant surprise with the amount of cash back I received. Their coupons don’t always work, but some of the companies I use regularly for my business, such as Vistaprint, offer a decent amount of cash back in rewards. In only a few months, I earned more than $80 back on purchases that I was going to buy regardless of any extra coupons or rewards.

Don’t expect to be earning a ton of money this way… but remember that small amounts add up over time. Let them accumulate during your busy season.

Donations & Tips

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Asking customers for tips can feel awkward (it certainly is for me!), but opening the door for donation opportunities can generate a little extra revenue for your business. Whether that means setting out a tip jar on your table at events or enabling tips on Square when customers pay with a card, try to think of creative ways to make donating available, even if it’s not something you actively push too hard.

I use Buy My a Coffee to collect donations on my website. Although I don’t get a ton of tips, I usually end my blog posts and newsletter with a callout. It’s not uncommon for someone to find one of my articles particularly helpful and send me a small $5 donation as a thank-you for solving their problem or directing them to a resource they needed.

Initially, I just had a regular PayPal button on my website, but it didn’t bring in any revenue. I found BMC to be a better solution because it sounds much more friendly and casual to say “buy me a drink” instead of “send me a donation.”

(If you’re thinking about using Buy Me a Coffee for donations for your own business, use my referral code to sign up!)

Collaborations & Partnerships

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ln 2020, I had the exciting opportunity to partner with Old Soul Artisan and collaborate on a candle fragrance that was inspired by my fantasy book series. In addition to purchasing this candle to sell at events, I also earn commission from the business’s online sales.

I’ve partnered with a few local artisans on other projects, but those setups didn’t include regular commission payments. As your business grows, consider ways you can team up with other businesses to cross-promote and, if possible, earn commission.

My advice — take the chance, even if you’re nervous. When I approached Old Soul Artisan, my résumé was much less impressive than it is today, and I really didn’t think I had much of a shot. But I sent her a copy of my book, and she loved it!

Preorders

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This year, I timed the release of my upcoming book to capitalize on preorders during my off season.

Preorders provide a flow of revenue so I’m able to cover upfront costs of inventory orders and other publishing/production expenses. (After all, I can’t sell books in person if I can’t afford to order them in the first place.)

If you’re launching a new design or product, consider the timing of your release and how you can maximize that influx of revenue to coincide with the predicted ebb and flow of your normal income.

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I hope these tips help! Do you have other tools or methods to help you save money for your slow season? Share in the comments!