“Are we in a recession… or just in a weird moment?”

We’ve been having a lot of these conversations with clients lately. 

The short answer? It’s complicated. 

The longer answer? Whether or not the U.S. officially labels this a recession, many creative business owners are feeling the effects of economic unease—clients pulling back on budgets, delayed payments, longer sales cycles, and, of course, concerns over tariffs and what they might mean for delivering products and services.

We know it’s easier said than done, but uncertainty doesn’t have to lead to panic. As creative business owners, you actually have a lot of tools to use—and levers to pull—to move forward into this next season of business with confidence, even if the clarity you’d like to see isn’t exactly there. 

This month, we’re exploring what it means to steady your business in strange times, using what you already have at your disposal: grounded financial planning, strategic adjustments, and a bit of self-reflection. 

A creative business gut check

When the world feels unpredictable, it’s natural to look outside ourselves for clarity. 

We scan headlines.
We listen to peers.
We keep tabs on what other business owners are doing.

This makes sense. We don’t want to get left behind, or caught unaware—so it’s good to keep tabs on what’s going on, right? 

True. But sometimes, it’s that flood of external input that leads to even more churn and swirl. 

That’s why it’s important to pause and turn inward. A simple gut check can help you cut through the noise and reconnect with what’s actually true in your business right now.

Here are a few questions to guide that process:

What’s your actual cash runway—not your projected one?
Forget what “should” be true based on your forecast or growth plans. Based on today’s numbers, how long could you operate without new income or lower income? What adjustments would strengthen that?

Which assumptions are you still operating under—and do they still hold up?
Old pricing formulas, outdated benchmarks, “how we’ve always done it” workflows—take a moment to question the default settings in your business. What still works? What needs to evolve?

Where are you overextended—and what could you release?
Whether it’s an expensive tool, a low-margin client, or a service offering that no longer feels aligned, now is a good time to evaluate what’s costing you more than it’s giving back.

What role does your business actually play in your household finances?
Zooming out helps clarify what kind of buffer you need. Are you the sole earner? A contributor? Depending on your answer, your personal strategies for savings, overhead, and pricing may need a second look.

What’s quietly working well—and how can you build on that?
Sometimes we overlook our wins while chasing trends or finding ways to “meet the moment.” Take stock of your most successful clients, offers, and habits. How might you deepen or replicate that success?

Build stability—and create space for bold decisions

We often think of financial clarity as something rigid and restrictive. But what we’ve seen with our clients is the opposite: when you get grounded in the numbers, you create space to take creative risks more confidently.

That’s the opportunity in uncertain times. When the rules are in flux, you’re free to rewrite a few of your own.

Here are a few things to consider if you’re looking to run some experiments in your business: 

Lean into your best-fit clients—and explore new ways to serve them
What would happen if you redesigned your services around the clients who already love working with you? Could you build new offers? Introduce more strategic consulting? Shift away from hourly work and into higher-leverage projects?

Automate and delegate more than just the admin
Yes, automating things like meeting scheduling and invoicing is important. But this is also a great time to explore tools that save time, so you have those moments for the deep work. We’ve been diving deep into AI lately, and we’re in the process of building a resource library to share what we’re learning with other creative businesses. Stay tuned for more in an upcoming newsletter!

Run a creative experiment
Instead of going all in on pivoting or overhauling your business, try one different thing at a time. Launch a mini offer. Test a new marketing message. Try a new delivery model with one client. See what happens, learn from it, and continue to iterate!

Give your team space to try, too
Some of your best ideas might not come from the top. Invite your team into the process: What’s not working for them? What would they try if they had 10% more freedom? Then run a few low-stakes pilots and learn together.

Having the space and structure to try some of the things you’ve been wanting to try is one of the best parts of “these uncertain times.”