Maybe you’re the same as me – simply not prepared to watch the news or get caught up all in a spin, because of what the media are choosing the peddle today.
I truly believe these things can end up being self-fulfilling prophecies; people feeling the pinch so much more, because they’re being reminded of it so relentlessly.
Yes, it’s true that cost of living has gone up and yes, people probably are feeling it that little bit more in their back pocket.
But the truth is that a recession may or may not happen. And ultimately, as a business owner, you are in a unique position to decide whether or not to participate in a recession, by recession-proofing your business. Making sure that YOU are spotting the opportunities that ARE there and tweaking your business where you need to, so you’re offering what people want, at a price they are prepared to pay.
As a business owner, it can feel really difficult when the economy is headed downhill.
There are absolutely people out there who are struggling and if you’re doing really well in your business, you might not want to talk about your success on social media. The fear of judgement is very real; people thinking that you shouldn’t be celebrating your success when there are people who haven’t got jobs or people who can’t afford to pay their bills.
Of course, it goes without saying that I have deep compassion for anyone finding things hard right now, and I’m sure you do too. For me, one of the joys of making money is that I can give more – tithing a percentage of my income to the church; donating to foodbanks when I shop; supporting charities and causes close to my heart.
For many business owners though – especially online businesses – sharing our results and success is a crucial part of attracting new clients, proving we are actually walking the walk in terms of the work we do, as well as talking the talk.
Whether we are in a recession or economic downturn, or whether we are heading uphill, there are always some people who earn more money than others. There are always some people who are more successful than others and some people who have a different or better quality of life than others. It’s not fair, or the way we want things to be, but it is undeniably true.
But we have a responsibility to ourselves, our businesses, our teams, our stakeholders, our clients and our families, to keep selling and keep people buying. So regardless of what’s going on economically, there’s no reason why you can’t share and celebrate what you’re up to at the moment, as a key part of your visibility strategy to keep growing your business, so you can help and serve more people to get the results and support they need.
So all that said – as well as continuing to show up and stay visible, regardless of what’s going on around us – how can you recession-proof your business? And WHY is so very important?
If you are an employee in an industry that’s deemed to be non-essential, there’s every chance that during a crisis situation – whether that’s a financial crisis, a COVID crisis or anything else – if people stop purchasing the product or service your company provides, then the income dries up and ultimately, redundancies are likely to be made.
If you’re an employee in an industry deemed as essential, and demand for the product or service stays the same or increases, your job is likely going to be more secure.
We saw this during COVID, when whole industries like entertainment and hospitality were shut down completely and suddenly, people had no income and no way of paying their bills.
Of course, as a business owner, you don’t have the security of a regular paycheck from an employer every single month. But the flip side of that is you have the flexibility to run your business how you choose.
And that means you have the opportunity – right now – to make your business recession-proof, by making a few simple tweaks to how you run things!
#1: Multiple Streams of Income
The first tweak is to make sure you have more than one income stream coming into your business. Because it’s a massive risk to have all your eggs in one basket!
If you have all your income coming from one program you sell; one main client you work with; one big contract; one specific service or product you offer – if that big client cancels or people stop buying for any reason, you’ve got no income.
If you normally work 1:1, you could look at introducing a group version of your program or service, perhaps at a lower price point. It gives you a second service to offer, which broadens your market by appealing to a slightly different buyer. Especially if you have a hunch there’ll be a real demand for it!
The same is true visa-versa, offering a premium or VIP version of something you usually sell at a lower price point. Because as we mentioned earlier, some people will always have money, if we can resist buying into the media’s scarcity narrative (and those people certainly can’t spend that money with you, if you don’t even offer a way to do so!).
Maybe you’ve been holding back from or resisting adding new stuff into your business, because you’ve been doing fine as you are. But when we’re thinking about recession-proofing, now really is the time to find those other channels to make money and get them up and running.
#2. Diversify Your Income Streams!
The second thing is to diversify your income streams, so you’re not just relying on money coming in through your business.
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE business income – but there’s that saying that millionaires have 7 income streams on average!
And especially when we’re thinking about recession-proofing ourselves, it makes complete sense.
So grab a piece of paper and think about a) the income streams you have right now and b) all the ideas and ways you could add others in, that work for you and your lifestyle.
Maybe you want to start looking at rental property and have another source of income, from tenants or short-term guests paying you rent each month.
Maybe in addition to your main business, you want to set up a slightly different line of work – a product based business maybe, selling things you make or create, using a print-on-demand supplier to turn those ideas in your head into merchandise without even needing to hold stock at home.
Maybe you look at taking on a part-time employed role or some consultancy work, to give you more flexibility in terms of income. Maybe you even go back to some of the skills you had from a previous career, before you started a business, and see if there’s a way to monetise those.
There’s loads of ways to do it – but ultimately, by having different sets of money coming in from different places, you have much more stability in income.
When I look at my business:
- As well as being a qualified Financial Adviser, guiding people through mortgages and retirement and investments…
- I also have a Money Coaching business, helping ambitious women in business to grow their assets and master their wealth….
- I have products that we sell as print on demand – pictures of my alpacas, taken by my amazing photographer Amanda, that sell over on Redbubble…
- And I’ve got my book which sells on Amazon, the royalties growing steadily over time.
All of these income streams work together, suit my lifestyle and add together to mean I’m not reliant on one particular source of income.
And that brings me neatly to the third way of recession-proofing your business:
#3. Become A ‘Need’, Not A ‘Nice To Have’…
Which is all to do with your positioning!
Now that might mean you need to do some additional training or work with a coach or a mentor, to make sure that the offers you’re putting out into the marketplace are something that people actually want (not just what you think they want – often two very different things!).
And to make sure that you’re marketing them in a way that makes them such a no-brainer, that people can’t wait to sign up and pay you!
Recession-proofing your business and diversifying your income streams is core part of what we work on together inside my 9 month signature programme, Magnetic Wealth™.
We find the right investment strategies for you to grow your assets, so you know that exact next steps to take with ease. We look at protecting your finances, creating lasting wealth with tax-efficient products – so you’re as protected as you can be, no matter what the wider economy is doing – and freeing up more disposable income, so you can have more fun with your money right now.
Basically Magnetic Wealth™ gives you ALL the things that you could possibly need, to seriously grow wealth from the money you’re making!
And a core part of this is also likely to include looking at the way that money flows through your business, to make sure that you have a consistent income in place and feel completely secure in the way that your income flows into your business and your life.
It really is an incredibly powerful program – here’s the link again to find out more or just click here to message me personally, if you want to chat it all through.
Oh and finally, if you’re intrigued by the alpaca merchandise and how you can create that kind of additional income steam too – check it out here on Redbubble!
Until next time,
Claire
