Why it's more important than ever for online entrepreneurs to add a corporate revenue stream

In March 2020, the world stopped. Like so many other service based business owners, I checked the news and couldn't believe that a pandemic was suddenly hitting the world - and rapidly causing the entire global workforce to suddenly sit behind their laptops on their sofas and somehow try to power through this unprecedented event.

Interestingly enough, I look back at the pandemic as a business owner who wasn't much bothered by the doom and gloom business outlook shared in the media. I wasn't worried about how this would impact my clients - because my B2C (business to consumer) clients were (and remain!) service based entrepreneurs who wanted to sell their services into corporate companies. Having been in sales for a long time, I knew that the people who honed their sales skills and continued their sales activity through recessive periods would survive (and thrive) after coronavirus had finished ravaging its way around the world.

Two years on and coronavirus hasn't disappeared yet - but the working world is looking ever more 'normal'. Companies have adapted to hybrid working, employees are being encouraged to return to the office and travel is back on the agenda for both business and leisure purposes.

But whilst the world was starting to move forward from the impact of the pandemic - and was seeing significant economic growth - crises were thrown upon the landscape that weren't expected. The rise in taxes, uplift in energy costs and food costs rising exponentially have all hit consumers hard in the first quarter of 2022 - not to mention the cost and scale of the humanitarian crisis in the ongoing Russia/ Ukraine conflict.

All of that means that households are being ever more careful about where to spend their limited funds - and for entrepreneurs who were relying on revenue coming from individuals? It means that sales are even harder fought. It's not just small business owners who are being impacted by the current squeeze on consumer finances though. In the first quarter of 2022, Netflix announced that they'd had over 1.5m cancellations for their streaming service, causing a 20% drop in their share price and according to research firm, Kantar, the proportion of consumers planning to cancel their streaming services is at an all time high.

The proportion of consumers planning to cancel SVoD services and stating the primary reason as ‘wanting to save money’ has risen to its highest ever level at 38%, up from 29% in Q4'21

Kantar, Cost of Living Crisis

Alongside the large-scale cancellations of streaming services, we're also seeing companies like Ocado reporting drops in sales - and citing people returning to pre-Covid habits and the Russia/ Ukraine conflict as the reasons for their 15% drop in sales in Q1 2022.

So what does that actually mean for small business owners who are fighting for B2C customers in 2022? And if companies are starting to see sales dwindle, why would this be a great time to build relationships and sell to them?

1. Companies will begin to assess opportunities: According to Harvard Business Review, one of the first things companies do in recessive periods is to assess the opportunities that they have so that they can survive through recessive periods. They'll perform 'triage' on their products/ services, looking at which are already profitable - or performing poorly - and make judgement calls about how they're going to continue selling to their customers. That means that they'll be using trends, insights and historical data to inform their next decisions - and getting ready to cut poorly performing products and services so that they can cut operational costs where they're not making the maximum return on investment and reallocate those budgets to products/ services that are likely to thrive.
2. Companies will continue working with industry and discipline specialists to see the most return: People often think that the ability to use their skills with every company means that they should be working with all types of corporate organisations. But industry/ market knowledge is incredibly valuable to stakeholders who would otherwise be working in the vacuum of their own organisation. Being able to provide market insights and trends means that external suppliers can provide additional value in a process with zero extra costs... and that's hugely attractive to corporate organisations. Having an expert who understands their issues, how to solve them and can reassure them about the rest of the marketplace demonstrates immediate credibility - and means that small business owners get hired time and again.
3. Companies understand the clear benefits of hiring external suppliers to get through recessive periods: Think about it, when companies have to cut permanent costs, they still need support in those areas. Often, external supply costs will come from separate budget pots - and companies are more able to hire external suppliers to help cover immediate needs. In fact, the UK Government alone spends ￡284 billion per year on external suppliers in areas like IT, Human Resources, Consultancy, Stationary, Construction and more. Companies understand that simply shutting down core functions / projects during recessive periods won't support their future growth and so often hire external suppliers (including former permanent employees on occasion!) to support continued growth.
4. Companies will look to retain their best staff in a variety of ways: Particularly with the Great Resignation in play, organisations are looking to retain their top talent so that they can thrive through this new set of economic challenges. That means that companies are even more interested in supporting ongoing learning and development for employees, mental health support, wellness initiatives, DEI strategy as well as other benefits and rewards to encourage them to stay. For entrepreneurs who are selling wellness services or working in diversity, equity and inclusion, the next couple of years look to be incredibly busy. (If you're interested in hearing real-life case studies from individuals selling in the wellness space or the DEI space, click to listen to special episodes of the Selling to Corporate ? podcast)
5. Companies will bolster their own sales and marketing strategies: Which will include raising their brand presence with the use of paid advertising (driving up costs for small business owners) and employing sales skills that support their teams with clear methodologies and processes to drive business. That all means that companies will be focusing on retaining and gaining customers throughout the changing economic landscape - and using their substantial budgets and sales/ marketing expertise to attract consumers. In turn, small business owners will see costs continue to rise and find that consumers are focusing on buying essential services/ products from organisations... and that they don't necessarily have the disposable income for luxuries.
6. We'll continue to see market growth in key areas: Industries like Big Data/ Analytics, iGaming, Technology, Telehealth, Artificial Intelligence and Manufacturing will continue to grow. With a global 'Top 10' of industries that will be essential to the future economy, small business owners who are able to build relationships and sell now to growing markets will see themselves surviving this recessive period and growing exponentially moving forward.

So you see, if you're prepared to add a corporate revenue stream to your business in 2022, it's not all doom and gloom. There are going to be plenty of opportunities for external suppliers to work with organisations who plan to survive the recessive period and plan for growth when we inevitably go back into growth.

But for entrepreneurs who don't adapt? You'll face continually rising advertising costs and see a plateau in the effectiveness of online launches. We'll continue to see downturns in the success of affiliate launch models, see previously profitable advertising/ sales funnels stop working as effectively and see desperation in the market. Which we all know leads to a rise in spammy marketing messages, a drive to post even more 'value' on social media to boost visibility efforts and reductions in the attention span of your customers as they look for the 'next big thing'. Getting ahead of the curve and implementing a solid, sustainable B2B sales process now will help you to build effective, mutually beneficial relationships with corporate clients, generate revenue in a sustainable way and help you navigate the different economical challenges that we're likely to face globally for the next 12-24 months.

If you want to learn how to successfully and sustainably sell your services to corporate organisations, check out the Selling to Corporate ? podcast here where you can find B2B sales tips, techniques and trends every fortnight. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and all major podcast players.

Jessica Lorimer is the UK's leading sales coach for entrepreneurs selling their services to corporate organisations. Jessica regularly provides insights on sales strategy and techniques on her award nominated podcast;?Selling to Corporate?and has been featured in Forbes, City AM and We Are The City.