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Every Soloist hits a dip at some point—where your revenue is dropping and it’s enough to make you pay attention.
Maybe you’ve pivoted, lost a cornerstone client or your target market is on a bumpy ride.
It’s tempting (and not in a good way) to take any work that comes your way.
Resist.
If you’re prepared financially—like say six months or so of your expenses in the bank—you can calm your lizard brain when it acts up: “I have a bunch of cash tucked away, I’m gonna be OK.”
But what if your cushion is too small—or you get twitchy with no revenue flowing?
You’ve got options.
Start with your former clients and buyers.
A catch-up conversation with those who appreciate the value you’ve delivered in the past can offer up new possibilities: a project you can help them with, a referral or even an idea you hadn’t considered.
Bonus: it will remind you of how much good work you’ve already done and reinforce how valuable you are in the right scenario.
Take a short-term project that uses your skill set, but doesn’t lock you into long-term work or price tags.
Let’s say you pivoted upstream from content creation to marketing consulting. Taking a content gig or two won’t lock you into continuing that forever.
Just be up-front about the limited duration of the work—and price it so your lizard brain can take a chill pill.
(And don’t load up on these or you’ll be reminding yourself why you pivoted to begin with.)
Consider your expenses.
Some expenses will be mission-critical, but if you’ve been in business long enough, you’ve probably built in a few that aren’t.
Without doing a knee-jerk slash and burn, review your monthly outlay—especially for those endless subscriptions—to see if a little belt-tightening will get you over the hump.
Revisit your revenue model.
There may well be a way to monetize your current situation—just not the way you’d planned.
Are your offerings too top-heavy (1-2 clients make your year) or rely on reaching a larger audience than you have right now? Maybe your price points are a problem—and that doesn’t have to mean they’re too high.
Revenue dips come and go—they will always be part of running a successful business.
The trick is how you react to them.