It’s gonna get rockyyy…
Hey there, beautiful souls! Welcome to today's super exciting episode titled "It's gonna be rockyyy!" Today, I want us to dive deep into something important: recognizing those markers in the economy and our own business. It's all about anticipating shifts and making the necessary adjustments, 'cause let me tell you, ignoring those markers can lead to unexpected drops in revenue.
I've seen it happen, and I'll share some personal examples to make it real for you. But don't worry, we won't just leave you hanging with the problems. We're all about solutions here!
So, let's buckle up and get ready to separate the wheat from the tare – the impact of a crashing economy. We've gotta face reality, no sugar-coating allowed. But you know what? That's where the magic happens, when we face things head-on and take charge.
Lucky for you, I've got some actionable advice and insights coming your way. I want to help you navigate these turbulent times and come out stronger. We all know it's not just about surviving; it's about thriving!
00:01:44 Importance of tracking markers in your business.
00:05:02 Summary: Revenue collected, shift before issues arise.
00:09:19 Entrepreneurship is hard, don't hesitate in tough times.
00:15:19 Choose awareness in rocky times for success.
Find me on Instagram or LinkedIn or email me at hello@lesliedlyons.com.
As Mentioned In The Podcast
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Transcript “It’s gonna get rockyyy….”
Leslie [00:00:00]:
Hey, boss. I am Leslie Lyons, your embodied leadership and sales coach, and this is Pleasurable Profits. This podcast is ideal for owners and leaders of tattoo shops, cannabis businesses, movement studios, sex toy shops, and other industries too often left out of the leadership conversation. If you're looking for no BS approach to defining your strengths and values, designing a business that supports you, and creating a soul driven and, of course, a pleasurable plan for profitability, then let's get started. Hey, party people. It's Leslie. Hope you're doing well. I'm doing amazing.
Leslie [00:00:46]:
Thank you for asking. Well, this week's episode, man, I was thinking about this as I was kind of reflecting on some of my travels, as I've been up in airplanes more often than I have been probably in the last five years of my life and the last year of my life. And if you've ever been on a trip, especially a long haul trip, a trip that's going to take more than 8 hours, you are bound to hit some turbulence. And I'm not talking about some turbulence where it's just a little shaky and you kind of jiggle a little bit like you're doing a soft twerk. No, I'm talking about the type of turbulence that makes your stomach drop. Like, what's happening? Are we dropping thousands of feet at a time? That's what it could feel like. And that was kind of a metaphor for what it feels like in this economy right now. For small business owners.
Leslie [00:01:44]:
One of the things that I really harp on, and I'm using the term harp on because it is one of those things that I just feel like I have to constantly repeat and remind my clients about is to look for markers in the economy, specifically things that happen in your business that let you know that you might need to go in a different direction or you might need to ramp things up. And if you don't pay attention to these little markers, it'll feel like your revenue drop just snuck up on you like it was a bear in the forest and you were just out on a hike and here comes this bear out of nowhere. That's what it can feel like if you don't track markers in your business. So what's a marker in your business? I'm so glad you asked. So for some of my clients who really get this and nerd out over their numbers, those are the types of people who I have deep conversations with. And I was talking to a client about it, and I said one of the things I noticed right away, and this was months ago, I'm talking about back in March. In my business, it's more of a seasonal business, and we make the bulk of our revenue about 60% of it between the months of March and September. And I noticed at the end of March, early April, a trend that I didn't like.
Leslie [00:03:10]:
The first was that we offer multiple packages at different price points. And in years past, our most popular package wasn't getting booked, okay? So packages that had been booked before our most popular package had now been replaced by our lowest cost package. That was a sign for me. The second sign was we have minimum numbers on our packages, meaning there's a minimum number of participants. And I saw just from pictures and videos that even though people were booking our smallest package, they still had trouble meeting the minimum. So let's say the package is a minimum of six people. I started seeing people show up with only three or four people. Now, I could have just been like and at first, let me be fully transparent.
Leslie [00:04:09]:
At first I was like, okay, maybe things are just a little off. Maybe this is just a rough start to the season. But it sparked my antenna. Like, my antenna went up and I started looking at it, and what I noticed was April and May, same thing. So now we're two months into the season, our busy season. I'm like, okay, we got to do something different. What I find is, though, in finance language, there is what they call leading metrics and then lagging metrics, and a lot of small business owners live in lagging metrics. Meaning if you're even looking at your numbers, it's at the end of the month or the first of the month of the previous month.
Leslie [00:05:02]:
And at that point, revenue has been collected. There's nothing you can do to shift the trajectory or try something different because the month's over, it's already done. Whereas if you train yourself to start looking at leading metrics, like, I just shared that example here. Which package is being booked, how many people are showing up, what type of retail sales are happening, these sorts of things ahead of time. It'll give you an opportunity to shift before things go to shit, okay? That should be a hashtag shift before things go to shit. Okay? And so I really feel the need to have a conversation around what is going to come up for some of us in small businesses, okay? I've shared before that I started my business, my brick and mortar business, back in 2007. I had already been running a business, but I didn't have the overhead of a brick and mortar space until 2007. And so what happened in 2008? Oh, it was a great recession, okay? And let me tell you, it was not fun.
Leslie [00:06:18]:
It was not fun. It was not anything that I'd want to go through again. But the truth of the matter is, we're getting ready to go through it again. It was almost like PTSD, some of the things that I've seen in my own business, but more importantly, what I've seen in my clients businesses, I'm like, oh my gosh. It literally made me shake a little bit. Like the turbulence on that freaking airplane flying over know, flying to Korea. Like, the shaking of it all is what I feel. And I feel like some of us have gotten some false confidence about how well we lead, how smart of a business owner we are.
Leslie [00:07:07]:
False confidence. That's going to drive you insane in a few months here. Because if you've been just coasting in your business, okay, don't take this as finger wagging. Take it for what it is, the truth. It's easy to feel like you're an amazing leader. You're an amazing business owner in an amazing economy. When everything is going well and money is flowing and people don't have financial issues, it's easy for you to feel like you are the genius. Q Elon Musk okay, it's easy to feel that way.
Leslie [00:07:50]:
But the truth of the matter is, the wheat and the terror are separated. In times like this, the strong survive. There are going to be a lot of people who are going to go out of business, and you need to start thinking, are you going to be one of them? You need to start thinking, do you need to get a job? Because I'm telling you, now is the time to be thinking about those things. I had a mentor. Her name is Kelly Deals. I'll say it because I've said it before, and she's been in this entrepreneurial space for quite some time. And I saw a post just yesterday on her Instagram about how she was pitching herself. And initially I thought, oh, she's pitching herself to get more business.
Leslie [00:08:46]:
No, she was pitching herself to get a job, and she got one. And it seems she landed a job that had benefits that she wanted and those sorts of things. And I was like, Damn. Someone as sharp as she is, someone as intelligent as she is, is leaving the entrepreneurial space and going back to a muggle job. I think we're going to see more of that. And there's no shame in that. There really isn't. It's not a reflection on your intelligence.
Leslie [00:09:19]:
It's not a reflection on, like there's just no shame on it in it because entrepreneurship is hard. It's hard. And what I don't want people to do, which is why I'm bringing this conversation up now, is what I don't want people to do is not start the search if things are shaky in your business and you are the primary breadwinner in your family. What I don't want you to do is wait till the bottom falls out of the economy and people who have more corporate experience than you do, more relevant experience than you have, you're not competing with them for the same jobs. That will not be fun for you. And I want the best for you. So you got to decide, am I going to be able to ride out this rough patch? And it's a very personal decision, a very personal decision. And it's one of those things where you have to look and say, first of all, do I have enough savings? Like, do you have a year, two years worth of savings where you can not only support yourself, but support the business? Do I have another source of income? Whether that be investment income? Whether that be a spouse's income? Do I have another source of income? Are my credit cards paid off? Like, if you've got some credit card debt, man, let me tell you, I put a hole into that American Express doing all that traveling, baby.
Leslie [00:11:04]:
I made it my priority, my life mission to get that shit paid off, because I didn't normally carry debt. But I'm like, oh, my gosh. You've been out here living your best life. You better get this under control, because the way things are going, you can't have no debt. So I'm saying this in transparency to you, because these are the types of things that stress entrepreneurs out, and your mental health should be a priority for you. I see some of you guys getting shaky, blaming people, blaming clients, blaming your coach, blaming the economy, blaming, blaming, blaming already. I see the disease, right? I see the uneasiness already. And I'm like, you better get a handle on that, because this is just the turbulence.
Leslie [00:12:01]:
When this shit crash, if you don't have tools now, it's going to be too late to get tools, because it's like the fire is raging, and you got a little straw with some water. So I really want to encourage you today to really look at your business. I know it's scary. I know it's uncomfortable. I know that you're like, I don't even want to open up my credit card statements. I've been there before. But you've got to face reality, because the truth is, you probably got about six months to try to fix this, to turn it around, to give yourself some cushion, to apply for a job, to pick up some freelance clients. But I can tell you, now is not the time to be expanding.
Leslie [00:12:54]:
Now is not the time to be doing risky investments, because if you're the breadwinner, you got to stabilize. I know this is a sobering message. I know this ain't the hope filled message that I would love to give you, but don't worry. I'm bring it up because there is hope. But the hope lies within you being fiscally responsible. It's you looking at your situation and determining, I'm going to ride this out. I said to my sister in a conversation yesterday, I said, I really wish that they would just go ahead and let the bottom fall out of the economy. And now someone would be like, what? You're speaking for privilege.
Leslie [00:13:42]:
You got rental properties. You got this, you got this, you got that, blah, blah, blah. Let me tell you something. I'm a landlord, okay? So when the bottom falls out, it's going to impact me as well, because my tenants won't be able to pay. You hear me? They won't be able to pay. So I'm not speaking from a place of elitism and, like, I've got some cushion. Like, this won't impact me at all because I do have cushion that it ain't going to impact me at all, though I will be impacted as well. So when I say I wish the bottom would just go ahead and fall out as opposed to these little bandaid things that are giving people false hope is because when the bottom falls out and we truly go into a recession, historically it takes about two years for us to start to rebound.
Leslie [00:14:32]:
But the more that we pussy foot around with it, the longer we delay the inevitable. And it's like a slow death. It's like a slow leak. But if you go ahead and just rip the damn Band Aid off, the pain is intent. Sorry. The pain is intense, but at least it's exposed, right? So you can move towards healing, so that we can move towards getting better, so that we can move towards getting our economy back on its footing and your personal economy back to thriving. So I promised you some good news. That's the good news.
Leslie [00:15:19]:
If you can buckle down and ride this out for two years, you'll be all right. But if you can't, this could be the end of your business. It ain't about failure, but it is about awareness. And what are you going to choose? Are you going to choose to put yourself in a situation where you can ride the rocky ways and deal with the turbulence? Or do you need to make yourself secure by going to get a job or getting something more secure financially so that you don't lose everything? These are the types of conversations that entrepreneurs and influencers don't want to have, but these are the sobering conversations that we need to have. I'm committed to your flourishing, and so this conversation nation, sit with it, think about it, and if you need some support, you have some questions, don't hesitate to reach out. It's going to be rocky, but you can make it through with proper planning. All right, my loves. Until next time, y'all be well.
Leslie [00:16:34]:
Grace and peace.