How to adapt your business to cope with the cost of living crisis

It’s no secret that things are changing here in the UK. The economy is not at its best (to say the least) with prices rising and the cost of living seemingly getting more expensive each and every day. An one else living under a blanket whilst working in a bit to stay warm?

This has undoubtedly created a lot of fear and doom and gloom around what this could mean for your business… but hopefully, this blog entry will help you get to grips with the current economic crisis without it taking its toll on your precious business. 

Don’t let that fear stop you from trying in your business. One thing I’ve sadly seen, is that people are beginning to lose faith and assume that no one will invest in their business, so they just stop trying. But your business could be just what they need! And, let’s be honest, there are still many thriving businesses out there!

So as a business owner, it’s really important for you to keep showing up and not lose any faith that your business can thrive, even in times like these! 

You might just have to make a few changes…but remember, change doesn't have to be a bad thing!

So let's talk about some things you can do to help your business adjust to these difficult times. 

How to adapt your business to support struggling clients

First things first, you’ve got to take control! Look at how you're showing up and marketing your business and keep that level of confidence high. You can still help people, even with prices increasing! 

But there are some more practical ways you can adjust your services to help you get through if you’re starting to get a bit worried:

Evaluate your product suite. 

Look at what you’re currently offering and start to think about how you could expand it to offer more variants of services (at different price points for your clients). For example, I offer strategy sessions for my clients in case they can’t afford my other typical done-for-you offers! 

Ask Questions

Don’t be afraid to reach out to other people in your industry or other connections you have (and if you need a hand making more connections and expanding your network, check out my other blog!) to have a chat about how they’re finding things and how they’re coping. We can all help each other through this! 

Ask your audience 

It’s time to utilise a good ol’ story poll and start asking your audience questions about their budgets, the services they’re looking for, and how everything is affecting them. This way you can make any adjustments to your offers accordingly. 

If you’ve noticed your clients might be struggling- make adjustments

Let's take social media content creation as an example. If a client is having budget issues, you could reduce the amount of content you create to fit within their budget (like dropping down from 20 posts per month, to 10).  This way, you still get to work with them and maintain that relationship and they still get consistent content, but it’s at a more convenient price for them. 

Consider introducing payment plans

If you are a coach or someone who runs things like memberships or masterminds, consider offering payment plans (or extending them if you already have them in place). This helps make things more accessible for people! 

How to adapt if your business is finding things financially hard 

If you currently have a few people working for you and you’re worried about how this cost of living crisis might negatively impact your business but don’t want to cut everyone loose, then here are some things I suggest! 

Don’t be afraid to ask

Open and honest communication is always essential in any working relationship (or any relationship in general really!) but it is especially important when you’re talking about money. Definitely do not ghost if you suddenly struggle to pay for a service. Most decent service providers will be understanding of this and are likely to help! And if they don’t…would you really want to continue working with them anyway??

Reduce your package

If you still need some help but can’t afford to maintain the package you’re on, then ask to reduce your package for a bit until your income increases again! 

Change the way you work with someone

This is similar to reducing your package but instead of cutting the amount of content down, maybe they could start repurposing content for you or just having strategy sessions with you instead! 

Hopefully, in months to come you’ll be able to look through this difficult patch (remember those ebbs and flows I’ve mentioned in business before) and see how much stronger you and your business are now. 

So commit to showing up, don’t be afraid to showcase your full product suite and show people the different ways they can work with you, regardless of their budget or current situation! 

Also…don’t panic! Everyone is in a similar boat and many people will be affected by this. So reach out if you need support and we’ll get through this together!