How Entrepreneurs Respond to a Potential Recession

 Have you been feeling worried about a potential recession? I’ve had a lot of clients coming to me lately to share their concerns and seek out my advice. 

And while I have no idea as to whether or not a recession will happen (or even when), what I do know is that we entrepreneurs will get through it. Because that’s what entrepreneurs do - we solve problems. 

In today’s post, I’m answering the frequently asked questions I’ve been receiving to help you navigate your recession-related concerns. If you’ve been wondering…

Should I keep selling my products/services in this current economy?

Should I lower my prices?

How do I maintain my client base in the event of a recession?

How do I keep working when I’m overcome with worries?

… and more, then this post is for you. 

Read on for your recession-proof game plan, along with some powerful insights into maximizing the energy of this week’s supermoon. 

What does a recession mean when it comes to sales for my business?

I keep receiving questions related to a possible recession. Everyone wants to know if one is going to happen, and how to prepare their businesses in the event of a recession. 

While I have no crystal ball to determine if/when one will happen, what I do know is that you CAN still make money and continue selling, no matter what, even in a recession. 

Not only should you continue to sell, but you also should not leap to lower your prices, as many people seem to think. Panicking serves no one. 

Let’s say, you panic and reduce the price of your coaching by 50%. This does not make your customers see the value but instead leads them to believe that they were overpaying to begin with. Why should your services suddenly be worth less simply because you think people will be spending less?

What to do instead of lowering your prices

Rather than lowering prices, look for ways you can deliver extra value. What else can you offer that will make it a no brainer to buy into (or stay committed to)? What could make your offer irresistible?

I also recommend that you reinvest in your current customer base. Call and connect with them. Take them out for some in-person time, if you live close enough. Ask them what they're working on, and find out how you can help them. Getting to know your current customers on a deeper level allows you insights into all the ways you can better serve their needs. From there, you can not only uncover opportunities to gain even more market share from them, but you can also find areas where you can refer them to other great people in your network for them to work with. 

And you know what I always say about maintaining a strong referral network - what you give around comes around!

How to respond to recession-related negativity

What do you do if someone meets your current sales strategy with negativity? 

I’ve heard of some people saying they’re being told it’s not right to be selling their own products/services because food and gas prices have gone up. But here’s the thing - everyone is dealing with the same issues. We all have to keep on, keepin’ on. It’s how our economy continues to function. 

We keep selling and in doing so, we continue serving those who need our products/services. You deliver the value to your clients that they need in order to keep their own lives & businesses rolling. It’s a ripple effect. 

The bottom line? If someone is fussing over you selling because of rising food prices, they’re not your ideal client. You are free to move on to people who you can better serve.

How to maintain an optimistic mindset when worries threaten to take over

I get it. The negative stuff is real. There's fear. There's uncertainty. There's doubt.

But the reality is that we can’t predict what’s ahead. All we can do is have confidence in our ability to meet it with the problem-solving mindset we entrepreneurs are known for. 

If you're an entrepreneur, you think like an entrepreneur. And when shit gets you down, you figure out a way to move past it. You don't just throw your hands up in the air, close your business, and give up because of a rough day, week, or month. Instead, you assess the problem, determine ways you can tackle it, and come up with a plan to get through whatever you’re facing. 

Because that's what entrepreneurs do. We solve problems. Whether it be your own problem, or your customer’s problem. It doesn't matter if it's during a global pandemic, or during a recession. The market could be thriving. Either way, you wake up, go to work, help other people, and get paid to do it. 

Just because there’s a recession does not mean that people will stop buying things altogether. People always pay to solve problems. So if you can figure out what problems your customers have, and how you can help them solve those problems, you can and will continue to make money. 

The key is to stay calm and focused on how you can help. Rather than falling down the rabbit hole of worries and negativity - which literally gets you nowhere fast - focus on the good stuff. Replace your panicked “what ifs” with good ones. Take some time to journal your concerns, and then take actions to prevent them from happening and safeguard yourself in a way that frees up some mental space. For example, if you're worried about a food shortage, go get some canned food, stock up, and do whatever you need to do so that you feel prepared. 

And remember - there’s opportunity everywhere. Look around and take time to notice all of the ways you could create business opportunities for yourself. There are endless ways that you could help people, solve their problems, and create products or services that benefit people in ways they will always pay for. 

Use this week’s full moon to release your fears, doubts, and uncertainty

If you’re reading this close to when it’s published, this week is the full Buck Moon on July 13th 2022. It’s a supermoon in Capricorn and it’s a time to tune into your intuition. This is a time to really allow yourself to be open to new ideas and new information. With what you receive, you can trust in yourself and use your intuition to think outside the box.  

Another interesting aspect is the Capricorn influence. And with that influence, what you want to look at is your foundation. This can be all encompassing -  your foundation in your home, your foundation in your business, your foundation of your life. 

Take business. Let's even drill down in business to sales, and look at your sales foundation. Is your business rip roaring ready to go? If a customer says yes, are you ready to invoice them? Are you ready to somehow send them a checkout page to collect money? Are you ready to onboard them? Do you have your service process outlined so that when the customer says yes, you know exactly how you're going to deliver on whatever it is that they're saying yes to? What does your foundation look like? And is it ready to accept? Is it ready for abundance?

The reason this supermoon is called the Buck Moon is because bucks or male deers shed their antlers this time of year. Not only do they shed their antlers, but interestingly, they then regrow into even more impressive, stronger sets of antlers. And so the questions you might also want to ask yourself are:

What do I need to shed right now? What do I need to let go of? What am I holding onto that's no longer serving me? That may be an internal pain -  how can you shed it like a buck sheds its antlers? How can you let go of what's not serving you - no longer serving you emotionally, physically, mentally - and allow yourself to grow back even stronger? Because sometimes it's not about what we add to our repertoire, but it's about what we let go of.

Perhaps letting go of the fear or the uncertainty and doubt that may be coming with thinking about a potential recession could allow you to grow into an even stronger business person, a stronger entrepreneur who trusts in yourself knowing that no matter what, you're going to figure out a way to make this business thing work. And that no matter what, you are going to figure out a way to continue helping people and you're going to help people on an even deeper level, and that you are going to make even more sales no matter what.