Seasonality Almost Killed Our Startup, Until Gift Cards Saved Our Christmas

When you’re building a B2C startup, the hardest problems aren’t always product, pricing, or even growth. Sometimes, the biggest threat is… the weather.

For Max, founder of Adventuro — a UK-based platform for booking outdoor and adventure sports experiences — seasonality nearly killed the business just a few months after launch.

Adventuro isn’t just another tour aggregator. It’s built specifically for people who want to progress in their sports — to go beyond the basic taster session and into the realm of qualifications, certifications, and real skill-building. From kayaking to kitesurfing, scuba to mountaineering, the platform is designed to help users book and level up.

“You end up on a kayaking tour that’s really targeted at complete beginners or families. And that was always really frustrating… I wanted to help people find the next step — the stuff that’s hard to find.”

But just as Adventuro achieved their first 50 bookings over summer 2023, autumn arrived, and bookings dried up almost overnight.

On a recent episode of The Levels Podcast — produced by Trophy, a startup helping businesses gamify and retain their customers — Max shared the real story of how Adventuro handled this demand collapse by rushing out a gift voucher feature in just three weeks, and turning what could have been a death spiral into a successful Q4.

Here’s how he did it.

The Summer Surge — and Sudden Drop

After launching in June 2023, Adventuro had a tough first month, with only one booking in July (from Max’s brother). But by August, things picked up. They’d optimized their paid ads, found traction with a few high-performing listings, and started to see signs of growth.

“In August, things did start to pick up… I think we had probably, I dunno, 50, 60 bookings that month. One kayaking tour in Cornwall drove over half of them.”

Then came September. And bookings fell off a cliff.

“Things kind of stayed steady for the first two weeks of September and then things dropped off a cliff… it kind of just went to zero overnight and we were just like, oh no, I thought we were onto something.”

The harsh reality of seasonality hit hard. People don’t tend to go mountain biking in the rain or sign up for cold-weather sea kayaking. Max and his co-founder Kate suddenly faced a long, cold winter — and a drying up revenue stream.

The Gift Card Pivot

Instead of sitting out the winter, the team decided to go on offense.

“Then we quickly built our gift voucher functionality in like three weeks and we were like, we need to get this ready for Christmas.”

The idea was simple: even if people weren’t going to book adventure experiences for themselves in December, they might buy them as gifts.

This gave Adventuro a way to bring in revenue during the off-season while also acquiring new customers through gifting.

“It did actually go quite well. We sold a few thousand pounds’ worth of gift vouchers in the first year. It didn’t keep the lights on, but it was certainly a good success for our first initial launch.”

This quick product extension not only brought in revenue — it gave them a new way to market and build their brand in Q4.

Why Gift Cards Worked

There were a few reasons this pivot paid off:

1. It matched natural consumer behavior. Gifting experiences is popular around Christmas, and Adventuro had a growing catalogue of exciting, unique activities.
2. It expanded customer acquisition. People who received gift vouchers in December often redeemed them in spring — helping smooth out the seasonal dip in demand.
3. It created urgency. A holiday deadline (and limited-time offers) helped drive sales, even if people weren’t thinking about outdoor adventures at the moment.

Max didn’t have months to plan a perfect feature rollout. The key was speed.

“We built it in about three weeks… and that was our way of keeping the business alive through the winter. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked.”

Lessons for Other Seasonal Startups

If you’re building something with a strong seasonal component, whether it’s travel, fitness, fashion, or food, Adventuro’s experience offers a few key lessons:

1. Expect the crash.

Even if things are going great in the summer (or your peak season), demand can drop fast. Don’t assume you’re in the clear after one good month.

2. Build fast, not perfect.

Speed matters more than polish when your revenue’s drying up. Adventuro launched its gift voucher functionality fast — and it paid off.

3. Sell future value.

Gift cards are a way to pre-sell experiences, bringing in cash when customers aren’t yet ready to buy for themselves.

4. Use seasonality as a product roadmap.

Instead of fighting seasonality, lean into it. Gifting, multi-day trips, or indoor training sessions can help indicate what will be popular ahead of time and give you a focus on where to spend future marketing budgets.

Final Thought

Seasonality is one of the most overlooked challenges in early-stage B2C. But as Adventuro proved, the dip doesn’t have to mean disaster.

Sometimes, the answer isn’t more ads or more features. It’s a well-timed, well-marketed gift card — and the conviction to ship it fast.

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