Many people experienced financial setbacks during the pandemic. However, for black business owners, the economic hit was especially detrimental.
According to insights from the National Bureau of Economic Research, black business owners’ earnings decreased by 28% in 2020 compared to white business owners, who noticed a 15% decline and a 17% overall drop. A 2022 report by Meta also suggests bleak numbers—Meta surveyed 5,324 small business owners in the US and over 24,000 globally and discovered that small black-owned businesses were seeing record-low sales following the pandemic. In fact, minority-owned companies were 14% more likely to experience lower sales than others.
Maybe you’re a black business owner noticing a decrease in sales and earnings. If so, the situation can feel discouraging and defeating. Walking through a financial storm is never easy, but it’s not impossible to come out on the other side successful.
It’s time to bounce back
There are various ways to bounce back and rebuild your business after a financial hit. Of course, it will be challenging, and the process may take a while. But staying the course and remaining committed to your brand’s success can help your business grow and thrive. Keeping that in mind, here are six steps you can take to start rebuilding your black-owned business.
1. Tap into your network
Do you have family, friends, and business contacts? If so, it’s time to use them. Bouncing back will require you to exhaust all of your relationships. You’ll need to ask those in your circle and professional network to help open doors that may lead to a profit or something else that’s just as beneficial. The best part? Taking this step isn’t hard.
All you have to do is send an email or make a phone call. Tell your contacts that you’re aggressively pursuing more leads, deals, and opportunities and that you’d like to connect with them and anyone interested in helping or working with you. Be straightforward and honest. Don’t sugarcoat your situation or the question, and don’t worry about brainstorming a fancy pitch. If you keep things simple and friendly, you’ll give yourself a great shot at succeeding. Just make sure to let your contacts know you’re willing to help them as well—successful relationships are reciprocal.
2. Decrease expenses
Running a business means you’ll have to spend money. That reality is unavoidable. However, what can you afford to let go? What services, products, tools, jobs, and software can you cut to bring your business back to life? Answering these questions is never easy, especially if it’ll lead to reducing your staff, cutting billable hours, or eliminating tools your team finds helpful. But if you want your business to start profiting again, you need to consider decreasing your expenses.
In some situations, you can try to make the cutbacks easier to accept. For example, if you want to keep something but know it costs more than you can afford, see if the supplier will provide a discount. Or, check to see if there are cheaper alternatives on the market.
3. Discover new income sources
One of the positives that can come from a financial setback is the urgency to find new income streams. You can get help from grants, bank loans, or credit cards. Of course, those options aren’t ideal. But if you find avenues with low or zero interest rates and believe your business will recover quickly, these options can be worth considering.
You can also think about crowdfunding and giving people small shares in your business to encourage them to help. Or, if you’re open to taking an entirely new direction to increase your income, you can start pursuing another company on the side.
4. Seek counsel from trusted mentors
When the going gets tough, don’t handle things alone. Do you have a mentor or business coach who you trust? Have they gone through a similar financial situation? If so, reach out to them for insight on how to move forward from your financial setback. Leaning on someone who knows what it takes to overcome business challenges will help you push past your difficulties and potentially discover new ways to bounce back.
5. Prioritize marketing
If you want to increase sales, you need to focus on marketing. In many cases, it’s easy to toss this discipline aside, believing it’s invaluable. However, marketing can help increase awareness, attract leads, generate sales, and build long-term relationships. Even better, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to have great marketing during a financial bind.
Social media posting, blogging, free advertising on business sites, and email newsletters are different ways to market your business on a budget. If you already have a marketing person on your team, they can prioritize these efforts instead of implementing paid marketing tactics. But in the event you don’t have a marketing employee, carve time out of your day to promote your brand.
6. Start saying yes
When you’re a business owner, you have many priorities, so it’s easy to say “no” to whatever seems unnecessary. Maybe you regularly decline networking events, conferences, podcast interviews, or speaking opportunities. But when you’re trying to get your business back on track, you should start saying “yes” to everything.
According to Shonda Rhimes—the mega-successful creator and writer of Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy, How the Get Away with Murder, and The Catch—saying “no” was a part of her normal routine. In her book Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun, and Be Your Own Person, Rhimes admits that she said “no” all the time until she decided to experience a year of saying “yes.” What was the result? She overcame fears and increased her creativity, inspiration, and excitement for work.
7. Don’t beat yourself up
It’s easy to think a financial hit is all your fault. Oftentimes, people feel embarrassed, alone, or ashamed that they couldn’t prevent economic issues from happening. However, financial setbacks are a part of life. It’s not always your fault, and the sooner you believe that the better you’ll be.
As you rebuild your business, cut yourself some slack. Don’t be hard on yourself. Instead, focus your thoughts on finding ways to bounce back. And when you’re not thinking about ways to recover, take time to practice self-care. Meditating, exercising, and journaling are great ways to keep you positive and mentally, emotionally, and spiritually centered.
Keep your eyes on the target
Recovering from a financial hit will take time, patience, and effort. You might not see results immediately. However, if you implement the strategies in this article and consistently pursue success, your black-owned business will start growing and thriving. Just keep your eyes on the target, and don’t give up.