During a free consult last week, I spoke to a long-time solo consultant in the healthcare space.

She admitted pretty quickly that she was a bit spooked about what she’s been seeing in the market.

• Regulatory uncertainty driving pullback on long-term investments
• Budget cuts shelving big projects
• A noticeable dip in VC/PE investment in her vertical

Enough to drive understandable frustration, and questioning about whether she should be adjusting her niche or offers.

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Now, I don’t pretend to be an oracle providing an easy out when your business seemingly hits a wall.

(If I were, I likely wouldn’t be doling out premonitions for free.)

But we did work through a few things.

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1. Good step to reach out to someone.

Running a solo business is hard. And it gets even harder when you isolate.

A sounding board call with a peer / coach / consultant can do wonders to just relieve some of the compounding worry that builds when you hit a slow patch.

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2. You may well need to pivot

We were aligned that given the decades in her vertical that a complete domain switch is not likely the right move.

Rather, I encouraged her to rethink how she could add value in the current state of her industry.

Are there opportunities where instead of accepting that her “old” type of projects were shelved, she could help those same prospects understand and navigate the market changes?

She is the expert, after all.

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3. Monetize what you used to give away

Halfway through the call, she mentioned that VCs are still asking her for expert ‘pick your brain’ calls while assessing potential targets.

Her mindset has always been to provide those calls pro bono, on the chance they might bring her in for a bigger engagement at a portco later on.

But in this new environment, where investment decisions are even tighter, doesn’t her ‘pick your brain’ advice become even more valuable? Couldn’t she monetize this urgent need?

If the market is treating you like an expert, charge like an expert.

(I recently started doing this for proposal reviews, for example. If you’re interested, reach out.)

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All told, when there’s a market swing that hits close to home, there’s a sweet spot between inaction and panic.

It’s called reassessment.

And in our dynamic role as solo business owners, it pays to get comfortable here.

It’s inevitably where we end up spending most of our time.

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💡

-Wes

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P.S. If you need to chat, and think working together might be a fit, learn about my sprints below, and feel free to book an intro consult.

I hope you just saw I don't bite.