#108 Businesses Bouncing Back
The business journey is not linear. There will always be ups and downs and times of ebb and flow. This is why it’s vital that we learn to weather the storms and have a solid foundation in place to be able to bounce back even stronger.
If you are experiencing a challenging season right now, you are not alone and it will not be your last. A lot of business owners have been coming to me with questions about this topic and seeking my guidance on how to withstand the rough seasons.
So today I’m sharing 3 key factors that I see consistently in the businesses that come through these challenging seasons. With these 3 core elements in place, you’ll be able to go through the rock seasons and bounce back with a real zing in your step.
I talk about having the right support in place and how this goes hand in hand with your processes and systems. If you’re managing the sales, lead generation, conversions, onboarding and invoicing yourself, it’s likely you’re on the way to burnout. Even if you’re experiencing a decrease in revenue, the right team in place will help your business run smoothly and be able to facilitate more sales.
Clarity is another big factor I see in businesses that are able to keep going during a lull. Anchoring to your ‘why’ and being crystal clear on who you are serving will make it so much easier to not panic during those challenging times.
As simple as they are, if you can nail these 3 key factors in your business, you’ll be able to weather any storm that comes your way and bounce back even stronger.
Full Transcript:
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[00:00:00] Hello everyone and welcome back to episode 108 of the Rise Up in Business Podcast. As always, thank you so much for joining me for another episode. The journey of a business owner is not smooth. We all know that. Today I wanna talk about in the episode what I see coming up a lot at the moment in discussions both with my clients and in the community more broadly, which is around that rocky road as a business owner, but businesses bouncing back and what does it look like?
Before I talk about the bouncing back component of this, I wanna talk about what I see most often impacts a business and causes them to dive, take a dive in the first place. There's two things that I see in the space that I operate that have such considerable impact on businesses and caused that downward spiral.
the business journey is not smooth, it's not linear. We're not constantly on a, on an uphill incline when it comes to growth and revenue. It's up and down. And so when I say dive, I wanna be clear, I don't mean taking a dive on a downward spiral and we're headed to the end, or we're headed into a, a big smoking hole.
I'm just talking about those downward moments where it's natural to fluctuate up and down. But when we're talking about that dive, it's just that momentary chapter or season in a business where things aren't going according to plan. So there's two things that I see that cause that, most often, and one is obvious, it's the decrease in revenue.
So sales aren't there. People aren't buying for whatever reason, and there's that downward dive when it comes to revenue and that hits business owners
[00:02:00] hard. Of course it does. Cash flow is the cornerstone to every small business, and we know the impact that those fluctuations in cash flow have. So that's the first thing.
The second thing is burnout. And I suppose the burnout it leads to often, it often leads to that decline in cash flow. Let me just say here before I go on that, in this podcast episode, I'm talking about my experience and what I see within my community and within the businesses that I act for. So clients of mine who experiencing these things.
I'm not talking across the board. I'm not talking globally, I'm just talking about what I see. So this may be you, it may not. This is not exhaustive. It's just simply the experience that I'm sharing with you. Just wanted to be clear about that. So when we've got issues of declining revenue, because sales are declining and we've got business owners who are burning out.
They're wearing all the hats, doing all the things. Passion and drive has waned. Mental clarity has waned. The struggle is real. We all get it. And I don't think there'd be anybody listening to this right now that isn't nodding along saying, yes, Tracy. I get it. I've either been there or I see it. I know what you're talking about.
It's real. So when we then talk about businesses that bounce back, what is it that I see are the common factors and how do businesses bounce back from these periods and these seasons of struggle and challenge in their business? There's three key factors that I see consistently in the businesses that come through these challenging seasons and that bounce back with a real zing in their step. And those are support as in the right team processes and systems and clarity
[00:04:00] around who we're serving. It might seem simple and you might be thinking, geez, Tracy, I don't think so.
There's a lot more to it than that. It may be, there may be a lot more to it than that, but it's a case by case basis. But the reason I'm sharing this is because so many people seem to be experiencing a lull at the moment because of what's going on within the Australian economy and globally, people aren't buying as much or as quickly right now.
And so there's a lot of people coming to me and questioning, whether or not they're doing the right thing by continuing on with their business or seeking my experience and my guidance on what can we do, what can we put in place to weather this storm, or weather this season.
The first thing I wanna talk about is the support, and I know that it can be a double-edged sword. On one hand we're saying we're experiencing lulls in revenue, but then I'm talking to you about having the right team. It can seem like those two are at odds.
How do I invest in team members when I'm experiencing lulls in revenue? It's a chicken or the egg thing sometimes because those lulls in revenue can stem from a lack of processes and systems in place to make sure that we're attending to all of the things, all of the moving parts in our business that we need to to ensure that we're engaging in that revenue generation.
So I'm talking sales, sale activity, lead generation, follow through, simple things like invoicing, following up outstanding payments. Those systems and processes are what I'm talking about. when I'm witnessing the businesses that bounce back and that come out of these lulls or these seasons stronger than when they went in, because what we're seeing is business owners are sharpening their focus on the things that really matter and that move the needle in their business when it comes to revenue generation and revenue coming into the business and that is the sales activity.
If you are
[00:06:00] a solopreneur, for example, and you're wearing all the hats and you're expected to be engaging in the sales activity, the lead generation, the conversions, the onboarding, ,the invoicing, the follow ups. It's no wonder that at some point something's gonna give. We experience that fatigue and that burnout, and the first thing to go is our ability to turn up in our business and to show up.
conversions aren't happening, onboarding's not quality, lead generations non existent invoicing, yeah, sometimes, but there's no follow through. So you can see, just from what I'm saying, that it's a recipe for disaster really long term, but in the immediate, we can identify we need to nail these core things in order to be able to weather these challenges and come out stronger
So the businesses that bounce back are the businesses that are able to surround themselves with the right team. It might just be one extra person, could be two, but to really focus on the sales, the lead generation, the conversions and the onboarding, and then the invoicing and the following up to make sure that those invoices are going out and they're being followed up if they're, if they've not been paid on time.
that's the dovetail into the systems and processes. The two go hand in hand and it's vital. And the third point that I wanted to talk about is clarity and who we are serving. So sometimes what I see is when business owners do experience these seasons, Where it is a lull and people aren't buying or they're not buying as quickly, is they question themselves and start almost taking a throwing spaghetti at the wall approach and start wanting to offer all things to all people just to get some revenue in.
That lacks clarity. So when we're anchored to our why business and we are crystal clear on who. We are serving and why? It makes it much easier to anchor to that in these challenging seasons and not panic and not start trying to bring in a ton of other offerings, which just has a downward spiral
[00:08:00] effect on itself because we don't have the infrastructure, we don't have the systems and processes, and we don't have team and we start just wanting to throw everything out there to try to see whether something sticks to get some money in the door. That is a recipe for disaster from what I've seen.
So the businesses that bounce back and the businesses that come through stronger in my experience, is the businesses that are really crystal clear on what it is they're offering and who it is they're serving. And you can anchor to that.
So you can see from what I'm saying that this is not new. Nothing that I'm sharing with you is new, but it's just my reflection and a timely reminder I think given the climate that we are in at the moment on what I'm seeing consistently serve businesses and serve business owners really well to help get through those challenging seasons in their business because they will happen.
And if you are listening and you are experiencing a challenging season right now, this will not be the last time. Let's be honest, this is the way of a business owner. This is the business journey, the ups and downs and all the in-betweens. but from what I see and in my personal experience from running two businesses, when you are surrounded by the right team, you've got the right support in place, you've got solid systems and processes that serve your business, and you are clear on who you are serving, you really are in a position of strength.
To build a sustainable business with long-term success, we need to be able to weather these seasons and these storms and these challenges to come through stronger, continue to grow and drive our business forward and the way we do that is by being surrounded by the right team, having the right support in place, having the right systems and processes in place, and having clarity around who it is we're serving.
So the takeaway from this episode is the business journey is not linear. If you are experiencing a
[00:10:00] challenging season right now, you are not alone and it will not be your last. In my experience, the three factors that I see serve businesses the most when you are experiencing challenging seasons and you are a business that wants to bounce back stronger than ever is making sure.
You're surrounded by the right team and you've got support. Two, you have systems and processes in place that are gonna serve you long-term, and three, that you are crystal clear on who it is you're serving and why.
I hope that's been helpful. I hope you've been able to take some value from this episode ,knowing that you're not alone and knowing that it's the simple things often that can serve us the most. if you'd like to have a conversation about any of what I've talked about today, whether it's the team, how to grow, what's gonna serve you, whether your systems and processes are serving you, please don't hesitate to reach out. You can always book in for a free chat.
I'm always happy to answer questions. That is what I'm here for. Thank you so much for listening. I'll catch you next time.
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