Five Ways to Keep Your Business Going in Tough Times

What do you do when the going gets rough? In recent years, we’ve all experienced issues in our businesses due to global events or economic downturns. What’s happening in a far-flung place can hugely impact a small business in your hometown.

When times get tough, some businesses perish while others survive and even thrive. You can get through crises with flying colours, too. The key is to prepare well.

What Can Happen and How Can It Affect You?

Several things can happen anywhere in the world and directly affect your business.

Economic Downturns. Economic difficulties can squeeze the market, your customers, or you, forcing everyone to reevaluate how they spend money. A local business can feel the impact of a financial crash in a faraway country. You’ll then have to figure out how to meet your customers’ changing needs with budget constraints.

Global Pandemic. In the last few years, we’ve all felt the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. People stayed home more, and small businesses that relied on face-to-face interactions with their customers closed their doors. Labour shortages and supply chain problems have also trickled down to small local businesses.

Climate Change. Weird weather patterns caused by climate change are already causing disruptions worldwide. Even close to home, heatwaves, droughts, and extreme temperatures have caused supply chain problems and economic hardship.

Cyberattacks. Cyberattacks are increasing at an alarming rate. No business, no matter how small, is safe. A significant cyberattack could bring down a city’s power grid, which would cause many problems for companies and individuals alike.

War. A conflict, or war in another country, can significantly affect supply chains and the globalised economy.

Personal Problems. Tough times don’t come only from global pandemics and military conflicts. Health, financial, or emotional issues in your life, or the lives of members of your market, could have a massive impact on your business.

Why You Need to Plan for Tough Times NOW

Many small business owners make the mistake of thinking that they’re safe for now. They know these problems are on the horizon but figure they’ll cross that bridge when they come to it. They usually stretch resources even in good times.

But once tough times strike, it’s already too late. Therefore, you need to plan and develop implementable strategies today before you can feel the effects of a disaster. Lay this groundwork, and it will be smooth sailing even when other businesses are struggling.

Stay Positive

What makes the difference between businesses that perish during tough times and ones that survive? It’s about the right mindset.

The right attitude to weather tough times is to stay positive. Meet the challenges with confidence and a success-oriented mind. Things might get tough, and you may need to make some drastic changes, so you need to be optimistic about coming out thriving on the other side.

A positive attitude also gives you motivation. You’ll need this to keep pushing forward when things get tough. It’s easy to give up when the challenges seem insurmountable.

One more reason you need a positive mindset is that it will help you cope effectively with stress. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed when things are rapidly changing. It would be best if you had some effective stress reduction strategies that work, which you can employ when the going gets rough.

Boost Your Brand

If your business has a memorable brand, this will help you sail through tough times. During a financial squeeze, customers have less to spend on products and services they need. They will stop buying from most but continue buying from brands that uniquely meet their needs and share their values.

It would help if you worked on your branding now when times are good, and you have the resources. What do you want to be known for? How do your customers see your brand? What unique strengths and core values do they respond to? And how do you stand out from the competition?

Answer the above questions and formulate this into a brand strategy. Use data from the market to create a powerful brand. Reinforce these brand values during tough times, and your audience will keep buying from you even when they’re in a pinch.

Over-Deliver

Another thing that will help you succeed during tough times is to offer great value. If you consistently provide unbelievable value, there’s no reason for your customers to go anywhere else, even if a competitor offers similar goods and services at a lower price.

The best way to offer great value is to over-deliver. Gain an understanding of what your customers expect and go above and beyond. When you do this, you create a “wow” experience. Delighted customers will keep coming back to buy more from you.

How do you create this “wow” experience? There are several ways. One is to offer outstanding services like free follow-up support or free shipping. Another is to give your audience unexpected freebies or access to paid products. Whatever you offer, make it a surprise with no strings attached and do it regularly.

Provide the Right Help

You can provide even better service and value to your customers if you can help them in this time of need. For example, some companies offered daily news updates on Covid-19 during the global pandemic. Is there any way you can provide support related to their problems or help them save money or time?

Another way you can help during tough times is by providing diversion. People who are stressed about things happening in the world need something fun and light to get their minds off it.

You can offer this kind of help by communicating well with your audience and ensuring you understand their needs. Find out what they’re going through and be of assistance.

Up Your Content Game

When times are tough, resources get pinched. Without much of a budget, going out to prospect for new customers becomes particularly hard. You may have to scale back your advertising and outbound marketing. However, you can mitigate this by increasing your inbound marketing.

The best inbound marketing strategy for the digital age is content marketing. With plenty of content published regularly, you’ll keep attracting new customers to your business without needing many outbound resources. It is a more effective and lower-cost alternative.

How well do you know your customers? Please spend some time gathering feedback, so you know the issues and problems they face. Then, you can use your expertise to create content that helps them solve these issues. Create an editorial calendar and publish your content. Even when budgets tighten, you’ll have this material out there, bringing in new leads.

How to Coast Right through Tough Times

Whether tough times have affected your business yet, they’re certainly on their way. Be proactive and prepared; it is easy to keep your customers with you and come out thriving on the other side.

Want to learn more about how you can recession-proof your business? Head over here: