Healthy Business Blog

Well, what a year it’s been so far, huh?

How are you going?

I hope you are doing OK and slowly finding your feet as we adjust and adapt to the new normal that is life in 2020.

Chances are that a global pandemic and the resulting economic downturn wasn’t on anyone’s radar when we all set our goals for the year ahead.

In some ways, it is hard to believe that it’s only April, although at times it feels like an eternity has passed since the year began.

One thing’s for sure – running your business probably looks a little different to what you imagined it would be like this year.

Running mine certainly does, so I thought I’d share with you what I’ve done over the past few weeks to adjust my business to our new reality.

Not all of these things might be relevant or applicable to your business model, but I hope they will give you some ideas for what you can do to navigate through this crazy time too.

Here’s what I’ve done so far to keep my solo online business on track:

1. I reviewed the financials and tightened up my business running costs.

As you may know, I am a huge proponent of automation, especially when it comes to running your service-based business solo.

And with automation, come systems and software, and subscriptions and costs. Often charged in USD.

I’m not going to lie – watching my business running costs begin to skyrocket thanks to the falling Australian dollar felt pretty discouraging.

Coupled with the revenue uncertainty that lay ahead, my first order of business was to review and prioritise my business operating costs, leaving only the essential systems running while putting others on hold or finding creative solutions to make do in the meantime.

#2. I prioritised short-term revenue-generating projects.

My original plan for this year was to prioritise longer-term projects that had automation potential but delayed financial returns – like creating an online course or designing a signature group coaching program – so when the economic uncertainty hit, I knew I needed to revise my approach.

So, I began to prioritise short-term projects and work that brought in the vital revenue now, making financially informed decisions that would ensure I could continue to pay my bills should there be a dry spell ahead.

#3. I did a “client needs” audit.

I reflected on what my clients needed most right now by asking myself the following questions:

• In what ways are my clients (and their businesses) affected by this pandemic?
• What are the current challenges they are struggling with the most?
• What are the opportunities that are available to them now that weren’t available before?
• Based on my expertise, what do I know can help my clients get through this difficult time?
• What will my clients need to get back on track after this is over?
• What might prevent or hold my clients back from getting back on track?
• What can I offer or create to help my clients through this challenging spell and afterwards?
• How can I adjust the way I do business to better support my clients right now?

#4. I adjusted my 2020 project plan to reflect my clients’ and my business’ new needs.

Although I had my heart set on a crystal clear vision of where I wanted my business to be by the end of 2020, that vision simply needed to shift.

Not only to meet the changing needs of my business, but also to open up space for the new opportunities that often present themselves when you least expect.

One of these opportunities was to take a step away from pre-planned content creation and dive deep into developing and launching a brand-new website with free online tools to support the mental health and well-being of fellow Aussies through this pandemic.

If you follow me on social media you may have seen me talk about this beautiful new project with THIS WAY UP and I couldn’t be more proud of how it all turned out*.

This, of course, meant time away from my Healthy Business Community and a slight delay in releasing new content for The Resilient Entrepreneur Academy, which brings me to my next, and perhaps the most important change I made in my business…

#5. I took the pressure off myself.

Throughout the last few months, as many many things were happening out of the blue – both positive, amazing things, and those that’ve been more challenging – I had a choice.

I could keep holding myself to my usual (very) high standards – to keep pushing through with my plans, to keep going at a 100 miles per hour, and to keep delivering on my promises to my beautiful business at the likely expense of my mental (and physical) well-being…

Or I could surrender to the fact that no one knows what on Earth is happening – there is so much change and uncertainty, so much unknown that lies ahead that there is simply no point running out of steam so early on.

So I made a commitment to take it one day at a time.

To do what I can with what I’ve got.

To remain flexible and fluid – to take breaks and to ease off.

To build-up my reserves, so that I could continue to:

Give my clients what they truly need.

Give my community what I truly can.

Give myself what I truly deserve – the time, the space, the kindness, and the care I need so I can keep moving forward.

I hope that you find a useful nugget or two in the way I’ve been approaching my business lately – if you’ve made recent adjustments to your business, I would love to hear from you, so we can all share our tips for navigating this strange time!

For now, I am slowly getting back into the swing of content creation and I’m excited for what’s in the works as we speak…

If there is anything in particular that you need some guidance or support around, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!

All the best for now and until next time,

x Natalie

PS: I’m now offering a payment plan (available on request) for my signature Audit & Strategy Session! If you’d love to take an in-depth look at your business and make a strategic action plan for the months ahead, click here to see if this session is for you!

* PPS: Did you see me on the news?! Click here to learn more about the work behind our coronavirus project…