Freaking out about things right now? Three tips to help
This month I did something I’ve never done before. In fact, I did it twice.
I went on live radio to discuss my new book as well as talk about tips for small business owners dealing with Covid-19.
Now, to date, I have recorded hundreds (if not, potentially thousands) of IG Stories, done countless lives in both my own FB group and many other people’s paid membership groups, and I’ve spoken live at events with up to 500+ people in the audience. In short, I figured I'd be OK.
Fact: I wasn't.
I found myself more nervous than I've been in a long time and I had to find ways to calm down, quickly (I made this quick IG Live about the top five things that helped me get through these nerves).
But today’s blog isn’t about radio interviews, it’s about a question that came up while doing them. In both interviews, the DJs asked:
What do you think that small business owners REALLY need to focus on right now?
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I wanted to share my answer in today's blog in case it helps you.
1. Get clear on your money. I can’t stress that enough. When I take on new clients, we always work out (as early as possible) their “survive” figure. What’s the absolute bare minimum you need to keep the business going right now? According to the ABS, just under half of all small businesses will fail within the first three years (even without a pandemic) and a huge cause for this is cash flow (or lack of). So getting crystal clear on money is imperative, especially right now when you’re having to make a lot of big decisions, such as whether or not to keep staff on. You need to know what your minimum running costs are and also what percentage you, as the business owner, need to take home to keep your own household afloat. (If you need more help with this one check out my podcast episode about money and get in touch with your accountant / financial advisor.)
2. Understand your ATV & FOP. Two other elements to get super clear on right now are your Average Transaction Value (ATV) which is simply, how much are people spending on average with you? From there, you can look at how you might tweak things to push this up, such as bundling services / products, having free shipping after $X, or even having a gift with purchase (GWP) for in-store sales. How could you do this, while still retaining a decent profit margin? Remember, even a slight increase is going to help right now. The other is your Frequency of Purchase (FOP) figure, which is how often people are buying from, or choosing to work with, you. Do you know this figure? You may have a few depending on your categories. How might you reach out to customers or clients and make sure you’re staying front of mind right now? How might you entice past customers to come back and spend? Both ATV and FOP are not about getting more and more new customers / clients, but rather about nurturing the ones you already have to help shift your total revenue up.
3. Strengthen your community. We are seeing a massive, massive shift to buying local. We have been witnessing this for years, but never has this been more important than now. For many of us, we are looking to spend any money we do have supporting local businesses. Community is absolutely key to keeping businesses afloat right now. This was exemplified this week by some of the top Melbourne restaurant owners banding together to see how they can perhaps change our roadmap out of lockdown. In other ways, I’ve seen complimentary small businesses collaborate and really leverage the strength of both of their audiences. This might be a graphic designer teaming up with a website developer to help people get online and refresh their brand right now, or a florist teaming up with a wine company to send parcels that feature both of their products. Who might you collaborate with? How might you strengthen the community around your business? (Need help? The brilliant Jess Ruhfus, founder of Collabosaurus did a great free video training on this in my Good Business Group on FB).
It may sound simplistic, but these are the three things I’d be asking myself to check on the regular as we move through the challenges that are present — and that still lie ahead, let’s be real— from the Coronacoaster that is 2020.
I hope they help you.