Five Ways We Are Keeping The Business Going In The COVID-19 Market Downturn

One of the linchpins of our FIRE plan is that we’re not relying on just one pool of money to get there. I have always been fascinated by multiple streams of income – it made sense to me, so it was an easy beacon to follow. The four pillars of our FIRE plan, and how they have been affected by COVID-19, are:

1) rental real estate – the effects are still unknown because the wild card is whether our tenants will keep paying rent, and those results will come later as the recession extends

2) Costa Rica investments —  borders are closed so the vacation market has disappeared, but we’re still bullish on Costa Rica

3) paper assets — down 33% on our stock portfolio so we have made adjustments there (more to come as we have a longer timeframe of results, but so far, we’re happy with our new moves)

4) our businesses – the subject of this post.

Having multiple streams of income is a really important component to building a FIRE plan. Our free course, Making FIRE Possible, focuses specifically on this strategy. You can complete the full course in less than 2 hours, so check it out!

Focusing on our business income

Our business income is what we draw first to cover our daily living expenses. Since our business is focused on projects and clients that we love, it’s like getting paid to pursue our interests. We keep the arrangements flexible enough to fit around our interests, like travel, entertainment and the arts for me, or running for Scott. Continuing to work brings stress for sure (you have deliverables and deadlines) but it’s the kind of stress that brings significant benefits. Finally, drawing the business income first means that our real estate and paper portfolio can grow in the background and ride out volatile times.

That said, our business income is active income. Over 90% of our revenues come from consulting – I’m a career coach, so I hold 1:1 or group sessions, lead professional development workshops and teach career-related classes at several universities. The other 10% is product income derived from that career work. However, this piece is not yet passive, as Scott still has to be very active on managing the digital marketing and delivery of these products, and we have to tweak my content from service to product.

The active nature of our business is tough to maintain when the economy is at a standstill. I was supposed to deliver leadership training in Singapore in early March. When COVID-19 initially affected Asia, this was postponed to July. The revised date looks more tenuous as the pandemic drags on. I was also supposed to lead a half-day sales training in New York City in late March. This was for a hotel group which has since shut down its New York City locations. Even a June engagement at one of my longtime university clients is up in the air because school officials aren’t ready to confirm what classes are running and in what format.

I know many other consultants and freelancers in my same boat, so I don’t take the lost work personally, and I’m optimistic that as the economy starts up again, my business will grow accordingly.

In the meantime, a good portion of my business was virtual already, so that has continued, and I have been able to convert some in-person projects to virtual.

I am also focused on these five additional activities that nurture our business for right now:

1 – Networking despite social distancing

One of the first things I did when everything shut down was email clients, colleagues, prospects, and friends – even people I hadn’t connected with in a while. I didn’t talk business, just checked in on how they were doing. This activity is still ongoing as I think of new people to reach out to, and as I hear back from people and schedule virtual coffee chats. It’s been a lot of fun –people appreciate that you’re thinking of them.

On the business front, these casual conversations have led to referrals – remember, not everything has shut down!

2 – Content creation

I am using the extra time to record some webinars around the career issues I normally write about. I have started hosting a free weekly series on different aspects of career – job search, networking, executive presence, etc. I feature another expert so I am not doing all of the work solo.

This has provided multiple benefits – I’m delivering fresh content to my audience, I expand my network with the experts I feature, I stay active and front of mind as the webinars are advertised and released.

3 – Publicity

Publicity was a big factor in getting my business going when I left corporate for consulting in 2008. I always respond to media calls, even when I’m traveling – I have done several media spots on our stays in Costa Rica.

During this slowdown, I have placements in Newsweek and The Washington Post. I suspect people are following the news even more now, so keeping up the PR is a good way to stay front of mind.

4 – Virtual coworking

I joined a coworking space when I started consulting because it helped to be around other entrepreneurs and share ideas, encouragement and even just war stories from the small business front. The social distancing mandates make it impossible to do the same type of coworking right now, but I joined a virtual small business group that meets twice a month and is focused specifically on business development.

It’s a great way to have some accountability and structure and not have to feel like you’re out there all alone.

5 – Training

I always read a lot (43 books in 2019) and that has only continued. In addition, I have attended webinars on business planning, marketing and investing. The virtual coworking group I joined also has a training component as the group leader shares articles and homework challenges.

I’m always on the lookout for interesting subjects, even outside of traditional business, since you can get good ideas from seemingly unrelated areas (for example, my career coaching methodology which now serves mostly business-minded professionals is largely inspired by my experience in the arts).

Investments are already paying off

Continuing to invest in the business helps me maintain some structure and certainty in uncertain times. It also has helped lead to business. A former client heard about my free webinar series and was interested in one of the topics for his organization.

I expect more of these serendipities going forward as the economy opens up. In the meantime, I’ll keep developing my skills and network.

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How are you keeping your business going during the slowdown?