How To Grow Your Business Even When The Economy Is In The Dunny

Babes,

I’ve been selling online since 2002. This has been my and my family’s sole source of income since 2010. I’ve navigated the GFC, COVID, and every economic wobble in between. I’ve brought in over $15 million (actually teetering close to $16 million now!) in part-time hours. So I want to talk about what actually works when things get tight, because I’m hearing from a lot of people right now that selling feels harder than usual.

First things first, let me tell you this, soul to soul… if your revenue is down, it’s NOT a reflection of your value as a human being.

I need you to really bloomin’ hear that. Because one of the most dangerous things we do as business owners is over-associate our inner worth with our net worth. When the business dips, WE feel like we’re failing as people. And that’s just not true.

External conditions are external.

You can’t control the economy, the political climate, or consumer confidence. You CAN control what you do next though.

Here’s what I see constantly, and it hurts my heart: business owners who’ve built everything on word of mouth. When times are good, referrals flow and it feels like magic. But word of mouth isn’t a marketing strategy. It’s a lucky streak.

And when the economy tightens, it dries up, and those business owners are left with nothing — no mailing list, no marketing system, no way to reach people that isn’t dependent on someone else remembering to recommend them.

A downturn is actually the best possible time to build a stronger business.

Because when things pick up (and they always do), you’ll have a machine that keeps bringing people in regardless of the economic climate.

So here’s what you can actually do right now:

Grow your business + marketing muscles.

If you’ve been coasting on word of mouth, you probably haven’t needed to learn marketing, copywriting, or sales conversations. Now’s the time. These skills pay BANK for the rest of your life.

Build your mailing list.

If you don’t have one, start one. If you have one, grow it. This is the single most valuable marketing asset you own… a person on your mailing list is FOURTY TIMES more likely to buy from you than a social media follower. 40x is NUTS!!!! Social media can change its algorithm overnight and tank your reach. Your mailing list is yours, and it’s a business asset that increases the value of your business if you ever want to sell.

Recalculate your pricing.

Costs have gone up freaking EVERYWHERE. Software has gone through the roof. You get emails every other week telling you yet another one of your subscriptions is going up. Wages have increased. Rent, raw materials, supplies — everything costs more than it did two years ago. If your prices haven’t moved, your profit margins might be affected. This is the time to recalculate and adjust.

(I should say as well: increasing your prices isn’t something you ALWAYS need to do. The Unicorn Biz & Life Academy is actually back to the same price I started it with in 2010 – just US $99 a year for 100+ of my courses, workbooks + coaching. Bonkers, but that’s just how I roll.)

Protect your nervous system.

And this is where I’m going to say something that might be controversial: STOP DOOM SCROLLING. Social media platforms are deliberately, intentionally designed to be addictive. They’re designed to take up as many hours of your time as possible. And anxious people scroll more.

Every hour you spend consuming bad news about the economy is an hour you could spend building your mailing list, improving your marketing, or learning a skill that will actually help. I’m not saying ignore reality. I’m saying be intentional about your information intake. Set time limits. Get your news from one source, once a day. Then close the apps and go do something useful.

Your nervous system is a business asset.

When you’re dysregulated, anxious, and doom-spiralling, you can’t think clearly. You can’t create. You can’t show up for your business or your customers. Protecting your mental state isn’t about being self-indulgent, it’s a conscious strategy that’s VITAL.

Stay visible.

This is the bit that’s actually wildly counterintuitive: most businesses go quiet during a downturn. They pull back on marketing, stop posting, stop emailing. Which means the businesses that keep showing up are more visible than ever… and they are the ones people remember when spending picks up again.

Don’t shrink. Don’t hide. Keep showing up.

Downturns end. They always do. The question is whether you’ll have used the quiet time to sharpen your skills and build your foundations, or whether you’ll have spent it frozen and scrolling.

There’s so much potential, even when things are hard. The ones who dig deeper during the dip fly higher when it lifts. I’ve watched this pattern play out through every economic downturn I’ve survived.

If the seas were always calm, we would never build a better boat!