How to Thrive in a Bear Market & Prepare for Recessions

When you bring up the terms “bear market” or “recession,” a lot of people want to just avoid the topic altogether. Business owners don’t want to think about it until they absolutely have to, but this head-in-the-sand approach creates a scenario where you have to be reactive rather than proactive and prepared…and that’s not a great place to be! 

In this episode, we’re going to help you create a plan and feel SECURE in your business, no matter what the market does or how your industry changes.

You don’t have to come up with a buttoned-up plan or completely restructure your business in a bear market, but this is the time to take a step back and look at the changes happening in your industry. NOW, before sh*t hits the fan, is the time to plan out how to market and/or pivot your business going into a recession and adjust to the changing climate.

Step 1 is to create a threshold for survival; essentially, get an idea of how much revenue your business needs to survive at the bare minimum. 

Next, we’re going to make a variety of worst-case scenario plans: what happens when business goes down 10%, 20%, 50%? Make an A, B, and C plan for these scenarios so you have a solid plan of what to do if these situations arise!

-What expenses can you trim back?

-Who do you have working for you and who do you need at different levels of business?

-What additional tasks do YOU need to take on without driving yourself into the ground?

Why do we do this? To help our brains feel SAFE. If the worst-case scenario does happen, you already have a plan, a safety net of how you’ll survive and you don’t have to go into panic mode. 

Another aspect to evaluate during a bear market or recession is your marketing; look, I know we run a marketing agency so this might seem a bit biased…but PLEASE don’t eliminate marketing until you absolutely have to!

Marketing is like your main source of food for your business; why would you cut off the source that’s feeding you? It might seem like you should spend less on marketing during a recession, but large companies actually DOUBLE their marketing budget during recessions; why? Advertising becomes cheaper, there’s way less competition, and there’s a HUGE opportunity to gain ground in the market! 

Here are some ideas on how to take advantage of marketing in a bear market:

-Create evergreen ads that you can turn off/on

-Turn up/down your ad spend depending on how much business you’re in need of

-Take advantage of low/no-cost networking and marketing opportunities!

It’s as simple as this: you can’t turn off your marketing and expect your business to grow. 

Lastly, think about how your clients and customers are working through these same things; look into what their pain points and struggles are and utilize their language and their mindset to get their attention. 

Tune in to the full episode for more tips and information on how to best prepare your business for any upcoming recession. 

Need help putting together a plan? Download our free bear market guide at theminacompany.com/bear-market-guide-freebie/