How to Use Slow Business Months to Your Advantage

I saw this tweet from Codie Sanchez where she says:

It's so true. Anyone can be an entrepreneur when sales are flowing in and everything feels easy. It's when you're in a cash crunch and nothing is working that you find out what you're made of.

In this article, I'm going to share 3 lessons I've learned about how to survive lean months. Then, I'll share a step-by-step game plan you can put into action right away.

Business has seasons, and it can change from summer to winter real quick. If you don't know how to survive the winter, you'll either go out of business or into debt. Then, you'll have to go get job.

In order to explain these three lessons, I need to tell you about Alone.

Entrepreneurship is a lot like the TV show "Alone”

If you haven't seen it, Alone is a TV show where 10 people try to survive alone in the wilderness. They have limited supplies and are in charge of filming themselves. The last one out there wins $500k.

Whenever I watch the show, I can't help but think of entrepreneurship. Because, just like Alone, entrepreneurship is a game of survival. You eat what you kill. And, even if you have employees, it's really on you at the end of the day.

So let's dive into the first lesson from Alone:

1. Pretty cabin, no food

One of the big mistakes that people make on the show is spending too much time and energy on their shelter.

They'll burn a ton of calories building these massive log cabins for themselves so they can be comfy when the winter comes. But while they're building their future shelter, other contestants are figuring out how to get food now.

Many of the people who end up winning the show do so with very simple shelters - like a tarp thrown over a teepee. It doesn't have to be comfortable, it just has to be good enough to last them a few months.

You see the same thing happen in business. The most successful entrepreneurs I know spend their time and energy on revenue generating activities. They may not have the flashiest brand or the best logo. They only invest in that stuff when they have a lot of extra money coming in.

If you're in a cash crunch right now, all that matters is sales. 

Make a list of all your expenses from highest to lowest. Start at the top and see what you can cut. Do the same thing with your calendar and eliminate any activities that don't contribute to your bottom line. Cut out any activities and expenses that don't help you eat.

That's a good start. But the reality is, you can't just eliminate things. You need to go get food if you want to survive. Which brings us to our next point:

2. Burn calories to get calories

The only way to win Alone is to find a consistent source of food. But here's the rub: to get calories, you have to spend calories.

This can feel risky. But if you don't find food, you'll eventually starve. You can't hunker down for 2-3 months and hope that food gets delivered to their shelter. You'll drive yourself crazy.

And yet, this is how some entrepreneurs approach a cash crunch. Instead of investing their time and money in things that would help them make sales, they just cross their fingers and wait. This is a scarcity mindset, and it doesn't work in the long term.

It doesn't work because no matter how much money you have saved, it will eventually run out. The entrepreneurs who succeed don't just focus on surviving today. They spend time, energy, and money figuring out how to increase sales.

On the show Alone, there are three main sources of food: foraging, hunting, and fishing. The contestants who win are almost always the ones who focus on fishing. And it's the same thing in business.

When you're in a cash crunch, you don't want to be walking around looking for one big client who will save the day (hunting). And you don't want to be selling a bunch of low-end offers that don't really sustain you (foraging).

What you want to do is go to your existing pool of past clients and audience members and go fishing - make a specific offer to the people who already know, like and trust you. I'll cover exactly how to do that later in the article.

3. Stay paranoid

The most successful contestants on Alone are incredibly paranoid. Even when they start finding food, they ration it.

Imagine - you're starving, you haven't eaten in a week. But instead of housing that first fish you get, you build a smoker. You only eat a little bit a day until you have your reserves built up.

We need to do the same thing as entrepreneurs. It's so easy to forget, when things turn to summer again, what it was like in the winter. But you need to remember those times when you were stressed out of your mind about sales so you can prepare.

They say that Bill Gates insisted on having 6 months of savings at all times so Microsoft could go that whole time without making any  money and still pay all their expenses. This helped him think long term instead of becoming reactive.

So you're not out of the woods when you make your next sale. Keep going. And don't immediately spend the money you make.

I like having a separate business saving account where I can stash a certain percentage of my sales each month. That way, when I have a low month of sales, I have that buffer available.

“Okay, but what specifically should I do?”

I want you to carve out time for sales and forget about everything else for now. This means that if you were going to redesign your website, or create an in-depth blog post to grow your list, you need to put that on pause for now.

The quickest way to make money is to focus on people who already know, like, and trust you. Don't try to get awareness from new people and then convert them. Focus on your past and current clients, people who are already in your sales pipeline, and existing audience.

Step 1: Reach out to past clients

First, make a list of past clients who you'd like to work with again. Once you've written down some names, start reaching out. This could be as simple as calling up a past client and seeing how you can help, or upselling a current client. Do not overcomplicate this. You're simply going to talk to people who already recognize your value and see if there's an opportunity to help them again, or to help them at a deeper level.

You'd be surprised at how quickly this can work. It's always easier to get someone who has already paid you to pay you more than it is to get someone to pay you for the first time.

Here's an email you can send to past clients:

Subject: How are things?

"Hey [Name],

Thought of you today. I think the last time we talked, you were [personal detail]. How’d that go?"

Once they respond, you can invite them to hop on a quick call. Often, there ends up being an obvious opportunity to re-enroll them or ask for referrals at the end of the call.

Sometimes I'll jokingly ask, "So, when are we going to work together again?" You'd be surprised how often they laugh and then say, "Well, I've actually been needing some support..."

Step 2: Follow up with potential clients 

Now you can focus on your second-warmest leads. These are people who are already in your sales pipeline but haven't paid you yet (meaning they had a consult with you but then wanted to think about it). Follow up individually with these people and, if they're still right for your offer, enroll them.

If there are people who haven't gotten back to you, you can use the magic email. Just reply to your last unanswered email and say:

"Since I haven't heard back from you, I'm going to assume this is no longer a priority for you."

This email gets them to respond and helps you close the loop either way.

Step 3: Make an offer to your audience

Next, send a new offer out to your network, your social media followers, or your email list. The two things that work best are either:

1) inviting them to a free consult and then selling on the call; or

2) selling a one-time offer directly from your email or post (course, single session, etc.).

Stick to option #1 unless you have a very large, engaged audience who is ready to buy from you and you have strong copywriting skills.

One thing that works really well here is sharing case studies. Here's the overall structure that you can use:

• What your client was struggling with when they came to you

• What you did together that helped

• How their life or business is different now

• If you want similar results, book a consult

I put together a swipe file of my most successful “Strategy Session Invites”s o you can have some examples:

If you don't have an audience, or your offer falls flat, you can reach out to referral partners and get access to their audience by offering to run a free workshop.

Of course, as you do all this, don't forget about your existing clients. Do whatever you need to do to retain them.

Remember: This too shall pass

Work this process until you're either out of your cash crunch or until you've completed all three steps. Then, and only then, do I give you permission to do other business activities like website design and long-term audience building. That stuff is fine, but you won't be able to do it for long if you don't take care of your cash flow issue.

It's easy to get in your head during lean months, feeling like things will never be easy again or like something is wrong. But remember that every business has ups and downs. It's a natural and healthy part of entrepreneurship.

All you can do during the down times is control the controllables and try to stay grounded. This is not the time to freak out, think about quitting your business, or make any big changes.

On the contrary, it's more important than ever in these times to return to the practices that help you perform at your best (like meditation, exercise, sleep, etc.).

Every business owner goes through this. If you follow the strategies in this article, you'll come out a stronger entrepreneur. That anxiety you feel will actually help you build a healthier and more profitable business.

If you want to see my best performing “Strategy Session Invites” - emails and posts I’ve put out to book consults with potential clients - click the button below: