It’s no secret things are a bit of a struggle at the moment. The cost of living is biting us all in our personal lives and professionally. In all seriousness, who can justify an $8 chai latte?

And as an entrepreneur and small business owner, the cost of living crisis a really challenging time after you already weathered the storm of the pandemic.

So how can you ride out the current wave of challenges and optimise your business to survive and thrive in these challenging cost of pressure times?

As a savvy business owner, you know the reality. Rising costs are squeezing profits and cash flow is tighter than a pair of too-small jeans after the holidays. But here’s the thing, times like these separate the casual entrepreneurs from the unstoppable ones.

You didn’t start your business to be average, am I right?

You had a vision, a deeper purpose driving you.

So let’s get back to those roots and realign your operations to make every dollar count.

Lean into your strengths, double down on what makes your business undeniably unique.

Tough times are temporary, but an unshakable mindset is forever. You’ve got this.

To help you navigate the current cost of living crisis, let’s delve into my top 4 tips so you can still mindfully thrive in your business:

1. Embracing a Mindful Approach to Your Finances

The cost of living crisis has impacted practically everyone in their personal lives and business.

It’s hard to escape the news of businesses closing or the number of for lease signs popping up everywhere. Tough times call for a mindful mindset to your finances.

To get the ball rolling, do an honest audit of where every cent is going.

Ditch any nice-to-haves that aren’t directly impacting your bottom line or delighting loyal customers.

The key? Make smart, mindful moves from a place of abundance rather than scarcity.

It’s better to make proactive changes early that you can adapt and fine tune later. You have to start somewhere.

Depending on whether you like paying things in lump sums so they’re paid for the year, or prefer to split them out over a number of months or year, this is another way you can mindfully manage your finances.

Speak to your book cheaper or accountant for any suggestions they might have. And I always find it interesting to check in with my business besties for anything new or different they might be doing. Some of the best inspiration and ideas can come from what others are finding works for them!

Give everything a try – and make sure you sit down and review every 3 months or so. In the current environment, things change quickly.

And it seems everyone is increasing their fees, so you might have to make some tough decisions about a subscription or expense in another 3 to 6 months time.

Then, get creative about your offerings and how you can streamline your processes.

2.Optimise your operations to maximise your Efficiency

Streamline your business processes, improve how your business operates, and tune into ways you can be more productive.

This cost of living crisis calls for you to be efficient and clued in, including using the latest tools, software, and programs to help you get things done efficiently and effectively.

There are so many out there. Ones I particularly love include ClickUp and Zapier. Both do very different things but can save you oodles of time!

If you can streamline some of your day to day tasks you’ll save yourself a heap of time as well as potentially costs for paying staff to do those tasks!

So what makes ClickUp so special?

ClickUp is one of the best productivity platforms that does everything in one place. It’s an ideal place for teams to come together, brainstorm, plan, and collaborate on everything from process documents to product designs.

Personally, I love the forms function for keeping track of some of my client files, the calendar for scheduling and communicating with my team. It’s the productivity sidekick that allows me to run my mission-driven business with mindfulness and ease.

Speaking of ease, let’s talk Zapier.

This one’s a must have or any small business or entrepreneur.

Whilst it does cost money to use, it’ll save you sooooo much time and money. It helps you automate all the repetitive tasks between different apps. Once setup, it automates your tasks and can save you a lot of time with tasks you or your staff currently do manually. Not to mention, removes the risk of human error.

And of course, the current buzz, AI.

It’s all the talk at the moment and is another handy tool you can consider dabbling in.

There are literally thousands of tools out there that can help you with everything from writing emails, web copy, blog posts, sales scripts and more. You name it, there’s an AI app out there.

From a marketing perspective there are many, but one I particularly like is Rytr. You can teach it to use your tone of voice and it’s pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it.

There’s a free option (with some restrictions) but even the paid versions are reasonably priced. But like anything AI, Rytr it has its drawbacks so go into it with an open mind! Give it a try as it could really you save valuable time and money in your business and improve your efficiency.

When marketing your business, there are many things you can do. But take a step back and assess what’s working and what isn’t, and focus more on what’s working.

To determine this, it’s crucial to understand your numbers:

• Use Google Analytics to identify which pages and content on your website are most visited
• Analyse social media statistics to see who’s engaging with what, what’s attracting new followers, signups, and engagements
• Track who’s buying what and when to gain insights into your customer behavior

3. Diversifying My Income Streams to Minimize Risk

In times like these, it’s important not to put all your eggs in one basket. So diversify your offerings.

By that I mean, don’t rely on just one product as your cash cow. Have a variety of offers.

I call this your offer stack.

High priced, medium and lower priced offerings.

Having memberships or subscriptions in the mix that provide recurring revenue can be the sign of a healthy business.

It’s the cash coming in that ultimately determines what you can offer and the health of your business.

Look at your products or services and how many people are on your high medium and lower priced offerings.

And ask yourself:

• Which offerings are delivering more revenue?
• What products have more clients?
• What products are more time consuming to deliver?

Next, ask yourself:

• Could you turn any of your products or services into a membership or subscription?
• If you increased the price of your product or service, would it detrimentally impact on your revenue?
• Could you introduce a new product or service?

Flesh out the answers to each of these questions and the impact on your offer stack.

Do a SWOT.

Run the numbers.

Get someone to work through them with you to sense check, provide feedback and help you refine, change and optimise them.

This is a crucial piece of work I do with my clients in Mindful Marketing Foundations and 1:1 Coaching.

4. Enhancing My Client Relationships to Retain Loyal Customers

The 80/20 rule comes into play here. 80% of your business comes from 20% of your clients.

It’s easier and more cost-effective (and often more rewarding) to earn the majority of your revenue from a smaller, loyal base of customers.

Working with people you’ve worked with before is a humbling feeling as you’re providing them a service or product they value.

Loyalty is a really hard thing to buy and cultivate. But it’s an investment in the longer term, your relationship with your customers, and in your offerings.

Go the extra mile for your loyal customers.

The extra little touches go a long way. Surprise and delight them with cards and words of support throughout the year.

Remember their birthdays and holidays like Christmas and Easter (if you and they celebrate them!)

Send them motivating products like books, quotes, or flowers – whatever is relevant to your offerings and your clients.

If you have a new product or service, offer it to them first. Get them involved in your business.

Trust builds loyalty. And in times like these, where everyone’s watching their spending, loyalty will go a long way.

Final thoughts

So there you have it. My top 4 tips for navigating your business through the cost of living crisis.

While most people are bunkering down and watching their spending, many are still spending. You just have to look at the inflation figures. However, most people will continue to spend on things they value, that will move the needle in their life or business, and on brands and offerings they value.

There’s a real opportunity to refine your offers and pricing, improve your interactions with clients, and convert more of your clients into loyal clients for the long term.

I’ll leave you with this: My mentor once told me, “The antidote to fear is action.” When times get tough, the temptation is to play it safe and hunker down.

But the entrepreneurs who keep taking mindful action – refining their offers, doubling down on excellent service, and nurturing loyal client relationships – are the ones who’ll soar above the rest. So don’t be afraid to put yourself out there!

If you need a nudge in the right direction or someone to hold you accountable, reach out to me via Instagram or my Contact page, and let’s set up a time to chat!