HAMPTON ROADS, Va. - For most, Memorial Day weekend means back to sunshine and beaches. But for seasonal companies, Memorial Day weekend means back to business.
"Memorial Day through Labor Day is a definite grind," said Bethany Brinkley, the co-owner of Virginia Beach Water Sports. "13-hour days, 7 days a week, that's where we make the bulk of our business."
For seasonal businesses, summer is everything. And companies like Seth Broudy's School of Surf are gearing up for a tidal wave of customers.
"Everybody's ready," said Seth Broudy, the owner of Seth Broudy's School of Surf, who purchased about 30 new boards in preparation for the summer months.
"When [the kids] get up and catch that wave and hold their hands up in the air, that's what we do it for," he said.
Broudy says about 90% of every surfing lesson is made up of tourists, but the surfing camps are almost all locals.
A reminder that for these seasonal businesses, they need the community's help too.
"It's important to support small businesses because we're part of the community as well," said Brinkley.
Brinkley says that even for seasonal businesses, the grind never stops.
"We're working on it all year, it's constantly a work in progress," she said. "We make sure everything is ready to go by memorial day, whatever that may take."
The company has been working for months to purchase new water sport equipment like tubes, state of the art jet skis, and ensure their boats are ready to go.
All this preparation, for just about five months of sales.
"That is how we make our money, that is how we survive," she added.
To better survive, Virginia Beach Water Sports is expanding its territory. For the first time this summer, the company is offering their jet skis, sunset cruises, and other water sports in Norfolk and at Sandbridge.
"A lot of our customers were traveling from Sandbridge so were happy to meet them there," added Brinkley.
Seth Broudy School of Surf is also expanding its horizons with a new storefront in the Hilltop area of Virginia Beach.
You can book with Virginia Beach Water Sports, here, and Seth Broudy School of Surf, here.
