A DOO's Perspective on Navigating the Current Market Shift

A few weeks ago I shared a post about how the Market was shifting and some insights into what I was seeing.

This is a pretty long article and if you’re in a hurry then you can skip to the TLDR section below. (I get it, I watch and listen to everything on 2x speed these days 😉)

I work with mostly small businesses, but these shifts are showing up for all businesses and just about every industry.

Profit margins are down. Layoffs and restructuring are making the headlines even cutting through the election cycle news and noise that this year has brought.

Let me take a minute here to define small business and where I’m focusing on right now.

Small business according to SBA any business that is for profit, independently owned, with less than 500 employees, and makes less than $5,000,000 a year annually.

Right now small businesses make up about half of the job market here in the US. Of those small businesses 27% of those being businesses with less than 50 employees.

Currently, according to Google, the average small business with no employees makes $53,000 a year.

We small business owners also account for more than 65% of the jobs in the US market.

I just threw a lot of numbers at you there, but it’s important to understand that when you look at these numbers there isn’t much of a margin for error or for the shifts (or corrections that some are calling it) this year.

You want to buy in a buyers' market and you want to sell in a sellers' market. Seems simple enough right, but the timing can be interesting depending on where you are in these cycles and whether you are the buyer or the seller.

There are different strategies that you need to employ in order to make the most of your situation whether you are the buyer or the seller.

I won’t go any deeper here only because I look up real estate all the time for fun and watch different trends, so I could get nerdy with it. (I know I’m weird. 😂)

But here is where you can take this information I’m sharing and use it to your advantage. One thing a lot of people talk about in my industry, but don’t always get right, is their Unique Value Proposition for their products or offers.

This UVP is often mistaken for benefits or features. Which it is not!

It’s a way to describe how this product or offer is different than everyone else's. What will they get by working with you? It also is one of the key factors that can attract your ideal clients/customers and repel the ones that won’t be a good fit.

And this is also why most people don’t do this well.

They don’t want to repel money, but they don’t understand that not all money is equal in your business.

Taking on clients that are less than ideal takes up valuable time and resources because you spend a lot of time in customer service trying to make their time with you a better fit for them.

Please read that again! 👀

Creating content and being able to accurately articulate what you do, who you serve, and why working with you is a good fit for them, is the first step in getting intentional in your business.

You need to understand your marketing strategies when it comes to building and growing your visibility. What business model are you currently in? And if you are transitioning where are you going?

For the businesses that I work with specifically most of the Founders I have worked with are moving from a 1:1 model to a hybrid model where they are wanting to add on digital courses or offers to make their business more scalable.

But for visibility and marketing purposes the marketing strategies and tasks for their two business models are very different and require different approaches.

When it comes to 1:1 one of the best approaches is networking, outreach, and offering calls that allow for quick wins and helping the client you are wanting to work within a deeper capacity.

When it comes to digital courses and offers there is a long-term approach to building because you need to build audiences either through social media or email list or both. That is why you start building and connecting before you move away from serving your 1:1 clients.

Again you need to be intentional with your strategies to make sure that your daily income producing activities are being met.

🍝 This isn’t a space where you can throw spaghetti at the wall and hope something sticks. Shiny objects aren’t going to save you here. 🛸

Understanding that the number of touchpoints to warm up a client or customer has changed and working with these new numbers to create campaigns.

Knowing who and when you need to be showing up for visibility. Making informed choices on things such as collaborations, podcasts, and summits.

Be clear on your numbers!

You need to know your funnel conversion rates, your personal sales cycle (how long it takes a new lead to become a customer), your sales call conversion rates, as well as your sales page conversion rates.

These indicators allow you to know how much traffic you need and how visible you need to be for each goal you have for your offers during your campaign. It will also let you know how much bandwidth you're going to have to give to each one of these campaigns or offer launches.

Knowing these numbers will also allow you to make small tweaks during each offer campaign and make better decisions on the fly when things need to be adjusted.

Two trends I want to share here that I’m seeing:

Teams are being let go for two reasons at the moment. Not enough operating expenses and not having revenue reserves for moments like this where the market has shifted.

The other reason that I am seeing is that founders are overhiring or hiring without having a process and realistic expectations in place for their new team members.

Yes, there are still unicorn VAs out there, but most of them have up-leveled their business and are no longer implementing because it leads to burnout and a feeling of being underappreciated.

You need to have processes and onboarding in place for someone to come in a treat your business the way you want it to be treated.

One way I think some of these layoffs and restructuring could be avoided is if more business owners adopted a debt reduction audit in their businesses. Where could you cut back or intentionally spend to have the most impact on your business? Where could you optimize your costs?

Again intentionality and strategy. Are you seeing a theme here?

The longer runways for offers is again a marketing trend. I’m seeing longer open carts and longer sales cycles for a launch.

People are taking longer to make decisions.

They have less buying power these days and they need to make sure that a purchase is actually in alignment with their goals and desires. This leads back to being able to be clear in your UVP.

I saw a brilliant tactic the other day. I got an email from a copywriter mentor. She was sharing that she was going to put one of her most popular and wildly successful course bundles on sale for Black Friday. Rather than share the sale details…

She sent out a calendar invite for the day and time that the sale would start. Genius!

It’s that kind of out-of-the-box thinking that this market is calling for us to add to what we are doing at the moment. This is in direct response to the lengthening of sales cycles. You’re not doing something wrong if your sales are taking longer, but you do need to adjust to manage the touchpoints and prepare how this will affect your bottom line and marketing.

How can we give our clients and customers more time? What do we need them to know before we open the cart? What concerns or problems are they facing right now that we can help them solve with our offer? Maybe bonuses that will get them the quick win and the offer takes them deeper after the quick fix.

For those of you who do everything on 2x speed, here’s the TLDR:

The market is shifting, and small businesses are feeling it and many are hoping Q4 will save the day. To navigate this, you need to be intentional and strategic in how you're managing your finances, team, and marketing.

It's a buyers’ market. Your Unique Value Proposition (UVP) is key, and it’s not about features or benefits. It’s about clearly showing what makes you different and why working with you is the right fit for the right people. Not all money is good money—working with clients who aren’t aligned with your business takes up valuable time and energy. And they cost you money.

Know that your marketing strategies need to change. Be crystal clear in your messaging and realize you’ll need longer runways, more touchpoints, and a visibility strategy if you’re selling products or offers.

Take a hard look at your financial strategies and metrics. Are you setting aside profit, building revenue reserves, and paying yourself? Know your numbers. Everything from conversion rates, your sales cycle, and your traffic goals so that you can adjust and thrive through these market changes.

7 Action Steps to Guide Your Strategic Goals and Adjustments:

Ready to navigate this market shift with intention? Let’s create a strategic plan that positions you for growth through 2025 and beyond. Reach out to book a call! Let’s get you set up to thrive, not just survive.

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I want nothing more than to see you succeed and thrive during this shift! 🙏