Solopreneurs: How to Thrive When Business is Slow

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Tiffany Davidson - Solopreneurs How To Thrive When Business is Slow

All businesses go through a cycle of hills and valleys.

As an employee, you don’t usually feel that because you have a set wage.

But as an entrepreneur, you do.

And especially as a solopreneur.

If you’re reading this right now, chances are you’re going through a slow period yourself.

No matter how many years one has been in business, and no matter how many slow times a person has traversed—coming out the other side victorious!—this can still be a challenging part of owning a business.

Not only financially, but mentally and emotionally too.

So how do we keep sane during these times that, at their worst, cause us to ruminate about the possibility that we might completely flounder and all of this good fortune in running our own business and escaping the employee life was just a temporary stroke of luck?

Well, let me tell you how I handle slow times. Maybe it’ll help you out.

have an emergency fund

As a solopreneur, it’s vital that you have an emergency fund in place to carry you through the slower times.

If you don’t budget your money, this is problematic. I recommend Dave Ramsay’s book The Total Money Makeover to learn how.

On average, I try to save a third of all my income. Beyond that, I keep a fully funded emergency savings that is designated to help me if ever my cash flow slows tremendously or disappears altogether for a period of time.

If you don’t have an emergency fund in place right now, you’re probably thinking: Well this doesn’t help me right now! And you’re right, but let this valley be a lesson. Budget and create backup savings funds for all the valleys that are inevitably still to come.

But what you can do right now is learn about budgeting, create a budget, and get used to adhering to one. You can watch YouTube videos or use this time to read The Total Money Makeover.

Breathe

Before you start thinking, “Okay this article is silly, I need actionable tips on what to do right now for my business!” … just bear with me.

How many of your thoughts are directed toward worrying about and imagining negative outcomes right now during this slow period of your business?

Trust me- learning breathing techniques and using them to stop this cycle of ruminating is immensely helpful.

Personally, I use a type of pranayama breathing where I match my exhalation count with my inhalation count. So, I’ll inhale slowly and deeply for a count of 5, 6, 7, whatever it is, then match my exhalation by breathing out slow and steady to the same count. Most often for me this is a count of 7.

When you become aware of yourself ruminating, catch it, and go right into pranayama breathing. Your brain will tell you: “No! You need to pay attention to these concerns and DO SOMETHING!”

But you are going to be doing things, and the ruminations will only weaken your mental and emotional capacity and get in the way.

So, yes, breathe.

Update Your Website

Is your website working for you?

What’s your daily traffic, your monthly traffic, how are people getting to your website, are people finding your site through organic search or not?

These are important questions. If your site isn’t working for you, then what good is it? You might need to invest in an SEO specialist to help you or take a course and learn SEO yourself.

(If you’re using the Squarespace platform, I got you covered!)

Maybe it’s time for a new website altogether? I design websites that rank well on Google, so feel free to reach out if you need a website that will help grow your business.

But maybe your website and SEO are squared away. In that case, consider updating your site.

Freshen up your offerings, clean up your content, create graphics for a more visually appealing site, be sure to place call-to-action buttons strategically throughout the site, create a newsletter opt-in and start building an email list, create helpful content for people. (Which brings me to my next point…)

Create Blog Posts

I’m a big believer in regular and consistent blogging.

Not just any ol’ blogging about whatever random topic enters your mind, but SEO-driven blogging. Also known as content marketing.

If you aren’t familiar with SEO-driven blogging, take the time to learn. You can peruse my blog here for all kinds of articles on this topic.

Slow times of your business are an excellent opportunity to create helpful content to reach your target audience.

I recommend during this time that you create as many blog posts as possible, then schedule them to go out once a week. Business will pick up again and you’ll be glad you did this!

Create a digital product

Slow times in your business are the perfect time to create digital products to be offered through your website.

Digital products include things like eBooks, online courses, and the list goes on depending on your business model.

During my last slow period, I created my Squarespace SEO Expert Course. During this slow period of late summer, I’ve been working on my next course: How to Start a Squarespace Design Business (sign up for my newsletter below if you want to be notified when it launches).

Digital products generate passive income so that you aren’t always so reliant on the 1:1 service exchange model- only being able to work with one client at a time.

This diversifies your income streams, thereby helping to fortify your business, and ultimately leads to a lot more freedom because with enough successful digital products, you can win back a significant portion of your time that would otherwise be dedicated to 1:1 service exchange.

Check in on past clients

Slower periods of your business are a great time to check in on past clients. How are things going? Do they need any update work or new work completed?

Let them know you have availability on your schedule if there’s anything you can help them with.

Submit Proposals for work

If your online business isn’t on Google page 1 for your target keywords, you might need to consider submitting proposals for work.

Right now, my business is on Google Page 1 for my target keywords, so I know that if things are slow, it’s likely slow for a lot of other solopreneurs in my niche too. It isn’t because people aren’t finding me, it’s moreso because people simply aren’t seeking out the service I offer right now.

But when my business didn’t show on Google Page 1, I had to put in a lot more effort to connect with potential clients.

The route I took to do this was through a website called Upwork. The kind of platform you seek out will depend on your business model. Upwork is a platform for those of us who offer online services such as web design, graphic and logo design, SEO, copywriting, etc.

Most of my clients in my first year were through Upwork, so it can certainly be a useful tool to help generate income during slow times when clients aren’t knocking on the door as usual.