The current business climate reminds me of a heart attack. I’m not saying it’s fatal or debilitating, but for most people, the day they have a heart attack isn’t much different than the day before. The underlying conditions — clogged arteries, electrical malfunction, stress on the system, etc. — were there all along. The heart attack just made them impossible to ignore.

That’s exactly what’s happening in business right now. The uncertainty, the fragility, the dependence on things beyond our control is not new. We’ve just gotten comfortable pretending it wasn’t there.

Uncertainty is ever-present

When I tell clients that business has always been uncertain, I’m often met with puzzled looks. “But Gwen,” they say, “everything feels so unpredictable right now.” And they’re right. It does feel different. But the uncertainty was always there.

We had a front-row seat to that reality when COVID shut down the world in 2020. And yet, just a handful of years later, many of us have been lulled into a false sense of security.

Economic pressures, supply chain disruptions, and shifting consumer behavior aren’t creating uncertainty. They’re revealing the uncertainty that was always present. And just like with heart health (or a global pandemic), once you know there’s a problem, you can’t unknow it.

But you can do something about it.

Starting with acceptance.

Acceptance is step 1

Once you accept that uncertainty is the natural state of business, you can stop wasting away the present while wishing for a stable future.

For years, we operated under certain assumptions that felt like certainties.

Jewelry makers assumed they could always source quality beads and findings from overseas suppliers at predictable prices. Fiber artists took for granted that yarn and fabric costs would remain relatively stable. Soap makers built their businesses around affordable essential oil imports.

Meanwhile, service-based businesses made their own assumptions. Pattern designers assumed the average cost of outsourcing the creation of samples. Workshop instructors counted on local venues remaining available and affordable. Custom makers assumed their biggest clients would stick around indefinitely.

We built our financial strategies around these “givens.”

But business certainty is largely an illusion.

That wholesale account that’s been ordering your pottery every quarter for three years? They could decide tomorrow that they’re pivoting to a different product line. That signature scented candle line that’s been your bread and butter? A competitor launches something similar at half the price, or worse, a safety study comes out about one of your key fragrance ingredients.

While there is no shortage of potential catastrophes just around the bend, the opposite is true too. When you build your business expecting uncertainty, you’re no longer caught off guard when things change — for better or worse.

Three Pillars of Financial Resilience

Over the decades, I’ve seen businesses in more than 47 industries weather every kind of storm imaginable. The ones that survive and thrive share three common characteristics: diversification, cash reserves, and positive cash flow management.

Think of these as your business’s cardiovascular health program.

Diversification: Your Financial Safety Net

The fastest way to create financial instability is to put all your eggs in one basket. I’ve seen too many craft businesses collapse when their largest wholesale client suddenly cancels orders, or when their signature product line falls out of favor.

Diversification isn’t just about having multiple products — though that’s important. It’s about creating multiple pathways to revenue that don’t all depend on the same factors for success.

For product-based businesses, this might mean any one or more of the following:

●      Selling through multiple channels (online, wholesale, craft fairs, retail partnerships)

●      Offering products at different price points

●      Having both seasonal and year-round offerings

●      Creating both physical products and complementary services (workshops, patterns, tutorials)

Service-based businesses need diversification, too:

●      Multiple client relationships, with no single client representing more than 30-40% of revenue

●      Different types of services that appeal to various market segments

●      Multiple ways to deliver value (one-on-one, group programs, digital products)

The goal isn’t to be everything to everyone, but to ensure that if one income stream gets disrupted, you have others to lean on while you adapt.

Cash Reserves: Your Business Insurance Policy

Most businesses fail not because they lack sales, but because they run out of cash. You can be fully booked and still close your doors if you can’t pay your bills today.

Your cash buffer should cover three to six months of fixed costs. And yes, that includes paying yourself unless you genuinely have other means of support during a rough patch. This might seem impossible when you’re already stretched thin, but think of it as paying premiums on the most important insurance policy your business will ever have.

Building this buffer takes time. Start by setting aside even small amounts — $50 or $100 per month. Look for expenses you can cut temporarily to speed up the process. Every dollar in that emergency fund is a dollar of breathing room when unexpected challenges arise.

And if you’re thinking, “But I need every penny to grow the business,” I hear you.

I understand the temptation to reinvest everything, but growth built on financial quicksand isn’t sustainable. The businesses that last are the ones that build from a foundation of stability.

Positive Cash Flow: The Art of Money Management

Cash flow is the timing of when money comes in versus when it goes out. And it can make or break a business faster than sales issues. You might be profitable on paper but still struggle to pay bills if your cash flow is misaligned.

Aim for positive cash flow 90% of the time. This means being strategic about:

●      Payment terms — Don’t be afraid to ask for deposits or payment upfront, especially from new clients. Net-30 terms might feel “professional,” but they can create unnecessary cash flow stress.

●      Inventory management — Tying up cash in inventory that sits on shelves for months creates artificial cash flow problems. Buy what you can sell within a reasonable timeframe (without having to discount it).

●      Expense timing — When possible, align your major expenses with your revenue cycles. If you know December is your biggest sales month, that’s when you can afford larger investments, not in March when things are slower.

●      Emergency fund accessibility — Keep your cash buffer in a high-yield savings account where you can access it quickly if needed, but not so easily that you’re tempted to dip into it for non-emergencies.

Managing the Energy Drain of Uncertainty

The fastest and easiest thing you can do, stop worrying about things you can’t control. Staying up researching potential tariff impacts, catastrophizing about economic predictions, and refreshing news feeds for the latest crisis won’t help you or your business.

Focus your energy on what you can influence: your cash position, your client relationships, your product quality, your market diversification. These actions create real stability, not just the illusion of being informed about instability.

Once you accept that uncertainty is constant, you start to see the opportunities it creates. Economic disruption often reveals gaps in the market. Supply chain issues create openings for local producers. Changing consumer behavior creates demand for new solutions.

There are businesses thriving right now in the craft industry. I know manufacturers expanding to meet increased demand, and makers with product launches selling out in minutes. And they aren’t selling at bargain-basement prices either.

Instead, they’ve embraced the uncertainty of business and stay agile enough to adapt when opportunities appear.

You can, too.

Gwen Bortner

Contributor