Let’s talk about 12 recession proof business tips to see you through them, including money mindset, business tips to rise above the rest, and what/who to prioritize first and how.

Grab a pen and jot down the questions in this blog and put this into action!

Watch here or read below.

Heads up if you’re new here, I am NOT a financial advisor.

I do however have 20 years experience as a full-time entrepreneur and I’ve also started new businesses within a recession so I wanted to share with you 12 tips to make sure that your business both survives and possibly even thrives during recession time

Tip #1 – Focus on upleveling your skills.

Number one is to focus on upleveling your skills right now including your:

• marketing
• copywriting
• systems and processes
• content strategy
• platforms

And also the personal skills like:

• productivity
• communication
• problem-solving
• leadership
• emotional intelligence
• GROWTH MINDSET

In fact, comment below with “skills” if you understand that business gaps and personal gaps show up the loudest during hard times.

Stress reveals where we’re actually struggling.

So here’s what I want you to do:

• Make a list of any skills needed in your specific business
• Rate them on a scale of 1-10 according to your confidence level and competency in them
• Ask yourself which one of these needs to come first – I encourage you to choose one from business and one from personal
• Then schedule the time to figure out what you need to do to uplevel each

If you need help figuring out how to make more time be sure to check out this blog I did just a few weeks ago on that exact topic.

Tip #2 – Market more, not less

Tip number two to make your business recession proof is to market more not less, but probably differently.

It is so important that while our business might be slowing down we’re not dropping from our customer’s radar in order to shave a few bucks off of our budget. But you probably want to adjust HOW you’re marketing.

So differently could mean different avenues or methods instead of ads. Maybe you’re doing old-school networking, or it might mean you’re messaging, you’re changing up the copywriting in your marketing etc…

The question to ask yourself here is: “How am I marketing now, what’s working and how can I do more of it or do it better or do currently?”

Tip #3 – Build more relationships

Tip number three for a recession-proof business is to build more relationships.

A strong business is built on strong relationships. So for your customers, this means increasing customer follow-up, go the extra mile on the perks, take better care of them to offer more value. Don’t get stingy with your clients and your customers during a recession, but also think about networking relationships you have with other professionals or just relationships in general and how you can take care of other business owners and other people. t

The question to ask yourself here is: “What can I do to invest in relationships in my life and in my business?”

Tip #4 – Pivot

Tip number four is to pivot your current offers to meet current needs.

So look at your current products and services and ask yourself, “how well do they meet the current needs given the state of the economy, given where my customers or clients are at, how well could they – with just a few tweaks – make adjustments according to what being adjusted in the marketplace?”

So a good example of this is my husband’s work. He’s a finished carpenter, he goes in and does these high-end remodels but as the economy changes he’s gonna be changing up his services or his offerings to be able to help people in other ways as well. Whether that’s just quick handyman work or whatever might be necessary to be able to continue to serve his clients and still keep his business thriving

Tip #5 – Offer Payment Options

Recession-proof business tip number five is to offer payment options wherever possible.

This is just about trying to meet our current clients and customers needs and being flexible to what we understand they might be going through as well

Tip #6 – Build Multiple Revenue Streams

Tip number six is to build multiple revenue streams. Get creative with your skills and your offers and create a new way to get paid.

One of my favorite quotes is by Tony Robbins he says: “Most people don’t suffer from a lack of resources, but a lack of resourcefulness.”

You might need to get resourceful during this recession to keep your business, but making changes is normal. The needs of your customers will always change, recession or not, and we must be willing to change with them.

So ask yourself right now: “What are my clients or customers needing that I might be able to provide to them in new or creative ways?”

Tip #7 – Get a line of credit

Number seven is gonna make you a little bit uncomfortable… I want you to talk to the bank about a line of credit before you need it.

Not because you want to use it, nobody wants their business to be in debt, but because if you need it to ride out the recession it’s better for your business to carry some debt than to have no business at all.

Tip #8 – Know Your Numbers

Tip number eight for a recession-proof business is to know your numbers inside and out; your financial numbers, your analytics, all of it.

• Do you have a business budget?
• Do you know exactly what’s being spent on things like marketing versus professional services versus monthly subscriptions?
• Do you know how much is coming in versus how much is going out?
• Do you track these things at least once a week so that you can make smart adjustments?

I recommend the Wave Accounting app for small businesses because it’s free and it’s great in terms of analytics.

I want you to note your conversion rates, know your traffic stats, and know which of your marketing avenues is not just bringing in people, but bringing in people that are actually paying you. Because if you do not know your business numbers inside and out you’re not gonna have a business for long. This is one of the most crucial skills.

Make sure you write it on your skill list make sure you’re focusing on what is actually going to pay the bills

Tip #9 – Know Your Numbers

Tip number nine is to look for waste in your business.

I’m talking about wasted money, wasted materials, perhaps wasted personal time, energy or wasted efficiency. This could be in terms of productivity, but it could also just be in terms of your utility bills.

I want you to make cuts or adjustments where you can.

I don’t want you to just start slashing at your budget to try to save money, I just want you to look at frivolous spending or where you can be wiser with your dollars. Your cash flow (what is coming and what is going out) is so crucial to understand, to monitor, and to make sure that you are being smart. This is the time to have a mean lean money producing machine no waste whatsoever

Tip #10 – Prioritize your people

Tip number 10 is probably the most important tip, you need to be prioritizing your employees and your contractors’ salaries or fees, their well being, and their skill development.

I would prefer you to cut expenses and even cut your own profit before you cut somebody else’s salary. And if you have to – cut their hours before completely letting them go. You also want to do what you can to maintain a positive environment for them – investing in their skills and their abilities with new training, specifically ones that are gonna help you grow at your business. Again, this goes back to strong relationships. Strong businesses are built on strong relationships.

Tip #11 – Prioritize your people

Tip number 11 is to build an emergency fund as you can.

Obviously this is something that we hopefully did before a recession, but even during one any extra profit you’re making needs to go into savings until you have a cushion that you feel comfortable with.

Generally, it’s recommended to have at least 6 months or more of your business expenses including salaries set aside in case you need it. This ties in also to knowing your numbers. You need to know how much money is coming in and going out so that you know how much you actually need to set aside.

You also need to know your comfort level.

• Is six months okay with you?
• Do you need a 12-month cushion?

This is gonna give you the security that your business needs, but it’s not even just about you this is also about your clients and your customers – making sure that you’re able to ride the waves of a recession and still be able to serve them without price hiking, without worrying about having to pull anything back or just not even being available for them at all.

This is also going to be so important for the people that work with you.

Being able to tell an employee or a contractor that you have no problems keeping them on… giving them that sense of peace is gonna be one of the most fulfilling things you do and I’m speaking from experience here. Being able to tell my employees, my contractors that “hey, I’m still here working with you and my intention is to prioritize you” is one of the best feelings in the world.

So ask yourself how much of a cushion do you need to start building, and how much can you start funneling towards that cushion so that when you have a really good month and it’s maybe followed by a bad month you’re not stressing out too much.

Tip #12 – Seek new opportunities

Tip number 12 for a recession-proof business is to constantly look for new opportunities.

This is not just within your business, this might even mean a new recession-proof business that you’re starting.

Here’s how I want you to do this I want you to grab a notebook write a question at the top of that notebook: “What ways could I improve my business, serve better, make more money in sustainable ways, or be wiser?”

Set this up on your nightstand and challenge yourself to add ideas to the list every day, even if it’s just 1 or 2 ideas. This activity is gonna force your brain to start pulling into focus solutions versus just seeing all of the problems. This is how we train a Growth Mindset and this is how we train ourselves to thrive in any situation.

Look – I realize that recessions are scary, but they’re also normal; they happen. In fact, over the last hundred years we’ve had about 18 of them and you ought to understand they act like a filter. They’re gonna filter out business owners who can handle it and those who can’t. So if you’re really in this entrepreneur game for the long haul this is your test to prove yourself.

What about how to recession-proof your mindset?

Sometimes our mindset can be our biggest business bottleneck, so I have crafted a FREE training to help you uplevel your mindset called Bottlenecks to Breakthroughs.

You can learn more about that here, or grab it by clicking the button below.

What about you, boss lady?

What’s YOUR best recession proof business advice for others? What are you doing to thrive right now?

Scroll down to leave your comments below!