Hey there, my fabulous listener, welcome to episode 226 of the Small Business Made Simple Podcast.

Thanks for joining me back here for another year of podcasting. And thank you for lending me your ears today – I know you have lots of choices, so I sincerely appreciate me being one of them!

If you’re enjoying this podcast – I’d love you to take a screen shot and share it on your socials and tag me in it.  How cool would that be!

Don’t forget you can get the show notes for this podcast at www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au/226

I have a board in my office that’s full of podcast/blog/media ideas, and the one that’s been written around, faded, half scrubbed out is the one we are going to talk about today – it’s titled Post Covid Check In.

Now, I know we can’t have a “post covid” check in because the bloody thing isn’t going anywhere, but I’m calling this rather a Post Pandemic Check In.  Because the pandemic has finished.  Covid no – Pandemic yes.

A pandemic is classified as a wide spread infectious disease over a whole country or world at a particular time – generally without a vaccine – we have the vaccine – whether you choose to have it or not is not the point – the point is the vaccine is available and so it’s no longer classed as a pandemic – or at least that’s my justification for FINALLY getting this subject line off my board and in to a podcast episode!

So, today, business lessons that the pandemic taught us.  I am sure you have your own, but I am going to go through a few that I either learnt or saw through being a business coach and a business owner.

Here goes (let me know which one resonates with you the most)

1. Have more than 1 income stream. Many businesses that really struggled or perhaps didn’t survive only had 1 income stream and that stream dried up.  Perhaps they didn’t pivot or couldn’t or didn’t want to.  What are your income streams?  How many do you have?  I remember many years ago my business coach talking about incoming streams and doing an exercise.  In fact, you can do it now!  Write down your income streams and then put the percentage of income that stream provides you – so 20% of your annual revenue, 50% etc – and then in a third column, put the amount of time you spend on that income stream (and maybe even a 4^th column with how much marketing you put towards that income stream!).  For example, if you have an income stream that’s 70% of your annual revenue and yet you only spend 10% of your time on it, but rather spend 90% of your time on an income stream that only generates 15% of your annual income – then you have some decisions to make!  It’s a handy little exercise – especially this time of the year!  PS – go back and listen to episode 135 about Your 3 Money Making Activities – socialmediaandmarketing.com.au/135
2. Don’t run your business close to the line. What line?  The money line.  If you are spending as much as you are making and have no financial buffer, then you are susceptible to hard times, headaches and your business failing.  I get it; if you’re a start up, it’s important to invest to grow, but have a buffer, a small buffer, that for instance could sustain you for a month or two, so you can sleep easier at night.
3. Business is about relationships. I can honestly say that my business would not have survived as well as it did but for the relationships that I’d built.  I went from a full program of speaking and private clients to nothing more or less overnight.  It was scary stuff – just like so many of you.  I had clients ringing, crying, wondering what to do, to which I would do/say what I could and then hope off the phone and cry myself because I’d just lost another client.  But the relationships I’d built put me in good stead to ask people for help, get leads, get referrals to businesses etc.  If you aren’t networking, then start this year.  Online, offline, doesn’t matter.  But your net worth is 100% relative to your network in business.  Go back and listen to episode 71 about this subject – socialmediaandmarketing.com.au/71
4. Know your worth and stay there. The worldwide pandemic created a beast – the Freemium Economy.  It’s the worst thing to come out of the pandemic other than the pandemic itself!  I hate it.  There was a period there where, seemingly, everyone was offering everything for free.  I get it, it was all about helping your community survive, and it was fantastic, but it created a beast.  The small business owner who wants everything for free.  Wants tools, tips, tricks, courses, platforms, everything for free to help them build their business so they can make money.  It’s like opposite land to invest to grow – you have to spend money to make money!  Don’t get me wrong, it was marvellous at the time, but the beast it created still lives on.  Your products or services are worth what they are worth – your time, your knowledge, and your expertise is worth what it is worth.  STOP GIVING IT AWAY FOR FREE (if you are).  It’s still for the freemium economy to die.  You can still have freebies, of course, just not your $1500 course for free – it’s undervaluing you and hurting everyone else who is trying to make money by selling it rather than giving it away for free.
5. Listen, pivot and know your market. Listen to what your customers or potential customers are wanting/looking for, if it’s not what you have but it’s in your skill set, consider the pivot.  Listen to your market, know your market and pivot accordingly, where you can, if you can.  People began to hate the word “pivot” over the last few years – but for me it’s not only an icon scene in Friends (google it if you don’t know it – Ross and Pivot, it’s annoying hilarious!) it’s also one of my favourite business words.  If you are in business and not prepared to pivot because that’s what your customers/potential customers/ideal clients want/need/are demanding, then that’s a quick way to go out of business.  If you are selling yellow bananas but everyone wants purple ones – then why fight the battle and try and change consumer behaviour all by yourself – just sell purple ones!

There’s a billion lessons from the pandemic and over the last 3 years.  Some have stung like a bee and will be hard to forget and some have been life changing in the most spectacular way.  I’ve given just 5 – maybe the top 5 or maybe just the 5 that come to mind quickly when asked what I’ve learnt or see others learn during the pandemic.

What’s your biggest lesson?  Would love to hear all about it.  Get in touch or head to the Facebook group – Like Minded Business Owners and let me know.

See you next week on the podcast for episode 227!

But in the meantime, let’s hang out on social and get social on social – you’ll find me on Instagram, Facebook and my fav LinkedIn.

But whatever you do,

……..remember small business peep, as my opening song says, there’s no point in dreaming small!