The Real Fix For Slow Business Months

Episode guide

About this episode

Slow business months can make running a company feel unpredictable. One month the diary is full, the next can feel noticeably quieter, while salaries, equipment costs and other commitments continue. In this episode, Chris and Helen Butler talk through the way they have handled those peaks and troughs by operating two businesses that can support one another. They are clear that this is not a recommendation for every founder to start a second company. Running one business is hard enough. Their point is that, in the right circumstances, two closely aligned businesses can create a more balanced commercial model rather than simply doubling the workload.

A big part of that balance comes from timing and resource use. Chris explains that historically, when one of their businesses has had a slower period, the other has often been busier. That does not remove the financial realities of running separate companies, but it can help smooth the overall pattern of work coming through the door. They have also used the same people, equipment and production capability across different businesses. Their earlier personalised products business, for example, had strong seasonal peaks and very quiet periods. Thread A Pixel could use many of the same embroidery, print and fulfilment skills, which meant the team and machinery were not dependent on one seasonal sales curve alone.

The model works best for them because the businesses are closely related. Thread A Pixel provides branded workwear, while Two Krakens provides video production and podcasting. Chris and Helen describe both as helping customers build trust, just through different routes. Branded workwear can affect how professional a team looks and how included employees feel. Video gives founders and teams a way to show who they are and communicate more authentically. Because the end customer and the wider business problem are similar, conversations about one service can naturally lead to the other without forcing an unrelated cross-sell.

That alignment also reduces the amount of duplicated marketing. The businesses can target a similar customer group, use related brand thinking and build on relationships that already exist. Chris describes this existing customer base as a springboard. Instead of launching a completely unrelated company with no audience, they can introduce a relevant second service to people who already know and trust them. Helen contrasts that with their earlier experience of trying to connect a consumer-focused business with a business-to-business offer, where the audiences were too different for the same sales and marketing activity to work effectively.

The final piece is the people operating the model. Helen says a varied working environment suits some personalities far better than others, and that matters when team members may need to move between different types of work. Chris adds that businesses with several moving parts need people who are willing to get stuck in, adapt and handle variety, while still recognising that every company also needs people who are happy doing consistent, repeatable work. The broader lesson from the episode is not that two businesses are automatically better than one. It is that if you are trying to reduce the pain of slow periods through diversification, the strongest version is one where the businesses share customers, resources, capabilities and a clear commercial connection.