Are you worried about how an economic crisis, cost of living or recession will affect your business?
In this episode, I put your fears to rest and show you why people are still buying right now. Plus, why your clients need your services more than ever right now. I bust out some truth bombs to show why the struggle might be more in your head than in reality.
Get some practical steps in place in this episode so your business can thrive no matter what. Even when things are out of your control.
Listen using the player above or read the blog below.
Thrive During an Economic Crisis
You do not need to be struggling right now. Much of what causes us the feeling of being squeezed is having a scarcity mindset. We can perpetuate the thoughts and feelings that people are not buying, we are watching prices go up, and this all adds to the negative energy that we can create for ourselves.
Instead, we need to see the opportunities available to us. While a lot of these statements are true on paper but we do not need to succumb to them. Yes, there are price hikes at the moment but as business owners, we are in control of our income. Why do we let this affect us so much?
You have the ability to create wealth. Yet, we pull ourselves back down. I can get those negative feelings but I have a relationship with someone who also runs a business so we support each other in this way. I do appreciate that if you have a partner who does not share your belief in your business, it can be difficult. At some point, we need to convince a partner that starting a business is the right route to take. We believed in ourselves and we got excited about how much money we can make from what we do.
When we start a business, part of it is being in charge of our own income and not tied to an employer dictating a salary. Some people love employment but for many of us, it doesn’t suit what we want. We have a self-belief that there is more to achieve. While running a business has challenges, we’re willing to go through these challenges to achieve more. This is the big difference between employment and being your own boss.
Getting a job
If you are thinking that you need the security of a job right now, let’s remember that the security of employment is an idea that we buy into. It is not more secure than being your own boss. You might get financial stability month-on-month but you are still at risk of furlough and redundancy.
When we go down this route of backing out of our business, it can perpetuate this negative mindset.
So let’s talk about how we move from scarcity to a position where our businesses flourish while serving those who needs us. You can own your business and your own financial situation. It’s about how you adapt what is going on in your business to create your own financial eco-system.
1 Keep going
Step one is to not get caught up in any external negativity. Remember the belief and excitement you first felt when you started up. I started a new business at the outset of Brexit and remember the negative feelings around that. At the time, I doubted I would even make money in such a time of uncertainty.
We also thrived during a pandemic and secured multi-millions in a pandemic as a travel business when people could not travel. Part of why we thrived is because we kept selling. We adapted how we sell and the message. So many travel companies withdrew and stopped selling. Instead, we kept going and kept showing up.
Everyone wanted to travel at the time and wanted something to look forward to. It was about creating amazing deals to lock in now for when they can travel. There are so many trips and dreams happening which is incredible.
What is important here is your trajectory. If your trajectory is heading in the right direction, then it doesn’t matter if that’s moving slowly, it’s moving in the right direction. Whereas, if your trajectory is moving downwards, it’s time to ask what you need to do more of? Where do you need to concentrate your efforts? If you succumb to the downward trajectory, it will take you to a bad place. You start to shine in the market when it gets tough.
Your audience still needs you if you have a sellable product.
2. Answer the new problems
Sometimes these situations can throw up new problems. You can offer payment plans, and reduced payment holiday to help you retain clients. Obviously, you need to decide if you still want to serve people in the same way while you do this. There are no right or wrong answers here.
If you can afford to serve your clients at a discounted rate for a period, then you can offer it. You put boundaries and reviews in place but it’s down to your decision. But make sure it works for your finances.
Another way to approach this is to look at other problems arising. Are there new things you can add to your audience’s situations? During the pandemic, many people were working from home so people offering productivity, children and work were thriving at this time.
During the pandemic, I was working with a coach who adapted their business to add offers to their service. They offered different working hours to allow time to meet in the evening. She even put on Zoom sessions to entertain the kids and implement actions in the business. This was not her focus but helped retain our business. We recommended this coach and stayed with them.
3. Go back to business basics
When you see clients going, you start wondering how new people jump on board. This is about going back to business basics. When people say they can’t afford something, it is that they no longer value it. It is rarely about someone not affording your services. While there is a financial impact happening, we will find the money for things that are important to us.
Do we have a service that dedicates value to our clients? Does it articulate it so that clients understand the value? And does it address the real problem?
For example, if you are a subscription or membership business, the service is not a 1-1 delivery. Those are the products you need to adapt to right now. You need to show up for people more than ever. I have many subscriptions that go unused and I don’t cancel. Yet, when I need to save money, it’s these subscriptions that I first look at cutting out. This is where we see the drop-offs – it’s the people already disengaging.
You have to be realistic. It’s about looking at your products and services and seeing if they attack the issues or are good value. It’s about making what you do a must-have rather than a nice to have. If you have a membership model and you are worried, look at your product and make sure you are showing up for your people. Listen to your members and make sure your product will not be cancelled.
4. Focus on high-ticket
Now is the time to add a high-ticket product if you are only offering a low-ticket membership. There are a few reasons to look at high-ticket – go and listen to my high-ticket selling series for more on this.
- It gives you a big cash injection
- You need to sell less to a smaller audience
- You work with people who want you to solve their big problems.
It’s not about selling high-ticket for luxurious reasons. It is the luxuries that people don’t want to buy into depending on the demographic. How impacted is your demographic? As it may be that your audience is not as impacted by the cost of living rises.
We need to shift and add a high-ticket service to buffer the people who do cancel the subscriptions and memberships.
The bigger the problem, the bigger the ambition, the more people are willing to spend. You need to give them what they need to solve their big problems. This will help you get your head out of the scarcity mindset.
5. Have a one-of-a-kind business
You need to be able to stand out in your field. And you do this by having a concrete USP. Having this in place will differentiate you from anything else out there. Now is a good time to review what is happening for your ideal client right now and consider creating a new concrete USP. It depends on how people are affected.
It’s about looking at what you need to adapt and change for your audience. A USP doesn’t need to last forever – it needs to innovate and transform along with your audience. How are you adapting? Will you collapse under the pressure? Or will you grab that self-belief and make the changes to your business and thrive?
Useful links:
Book a Call with Jen – bit.ly/claritycallpodcast
Download my FREE Seven Figure Market Leader Roadmap –http://www.marketleaderleague.com/marketleaderroadmap/
Send your emails to jen@jen-hall.com
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