I'll just put this first: This economy is shit. Everyone is struggling. Small business owners are doing everything in their power to stay afloat, keep the lights on and feed their families. I know because I'm one of them.
For the better part of almost two years now, I've tried EVERYTHING to continue to bring income in to support my family. As a single Mom, I've lowered my prices tremendously, cut expenses, gave more discounts away in two years than I have in the six years I've been in business. I've networked with friends and people that they know. I have put myself out there to help small businesses, whether it's consulting them on ways that they can grow, generate a separate revenue stream or helping to create content.
There's no quick fix. What you do now, will pay off in 3 months.
This morning, I was scrolling Facebook and within 3 minutes of scrolling, I saw two recipe websites listed for sale. Business owners are struggling, they've tried. They are simply giving up as they aren't producing enough income to pay the overhead. If you are a business owner, you know damn well what I'm talking about. We ensure everyone and everything is paid before we pay ourselves. In this economy, very few small business owners are able to pay themselves.
Whether you go get a job elsewhere, start another small business in your area with a service that others are lacking or not providing, I'm right there with you.
Then, don't even get me started to applying to job on Indeed, LinkedIn, Upwork, etc. It's crickets and you have to get through the damn bots to get anywhere. I've applied to hundreds of jobs on these job boards and have yet to hear a single thing back.
So then I go back to the drawing board. Networking with people that I know. People that I have done business with in the past.
At the end of the day, it's clients that I have worked with that will spread the word, share my posts on social media, share my contact information with someone that they know is in need of my services. Now, there are a handful of acquaintances that will share my posts and if you're reading this, THANK YOU! Your support means more than you'll ever know <3
Then I have people who are like "why would someone hire you if you can't make your own business work?". My answer to that is, I'm in a very specific niche, creating recipe images and video for my clients. Across the board, their income is down 40%, if not more. So guess what? They have a team of people and these teams are scarce right now. Recipe bloggers are having to cut their teams and take on all the roles: social media manager, content creator, writing posts with SEO in mind (which that's a whole other topic, the bottoming out of what we currently know is SEO), video editor, etc. It's a lot of hats to wear for one person, especially if you know a little about a lot.
It's exhausting.
But, what I will tell you, is if you run a sale, share it to your current and existing clients. Put yourself out there. Be real and genuine. Be authentic.
Never, ever, rely on friends and family to help you grow your business. It's not a thing. But, what you can do is control the things that you can control: like building your email list, growing social media, creating your own products to sell, even if it's dropshipping. There are things that you can do!
Keep hustling. Keep grinding. Keep the motivation. Because at the end of the day, there will be a day when the economy is on the uprise again. While others have given up, sold or folded their businesses, they are going to need folks in your industry to service their needs again. If you are passionate about it, you'll find a way!
I invite you over to my You're Awesome Keep That Shit Up Business Networking Group. I don't care what industry you are in, come join the conversations. Let's support one another, hold one another accountable and share what's working!
If you'd like to share your frustrations along side with me, feel free to drop a comment or head on over to the Contact page and drop me a note! I'd love to hear from you!
