Uncertain Times, Proven Moves: Small Business Resilience + How AI Makes It Easier
- Terrand Smith
- Apr 24
- 8 min read
Updated: May 7
If economic uncertainty has you feeling overwhelmed, you're not alone. With the right moves (and a little AI support), you can come out stronger, smarter, and ready to scale.
Economic uncertainty is nothing new, and small businesses like yours have a long history of facing it head-on. From recessions to inflation spikes, entrepreneurs have learned how to navigate turbulence, adapt, and rebuild stronger. Today is no different: rising consumer debt, declining consumer confidence, global trade tensions, stubborn inflation, and shifting employment trends all point to a new wave of uncertainty. In fact, U.S. consumer sentiment has dropped by over 30% since December 2024, household debt has surpassed $18 trillion, and recent jobs reports show a cooling labor market.
But while uncertainty may be familiar, today’s small businesses have something previous generations did not: the power of modern tools like AI. Generative AI platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini offer you new ways to manage challenges more efficiently, make faster decisions, and operate more strategically, without needing to be a tech expert.
At 37 Oaks, our mission has always centered on strengthening small businesses through commerce, strategy, and innovation. This means that we are committed to helping you not just survive, but build high- valuation companies. We want to help you scale smarter, attract investors, hire and grow teams, and ultimately increase your business valuation.
If you take strategic action now, your business can endure uncertain times and emerge stronger, more profitable, and better positioned for long-term success.
What's Inside: Your Roadmap to Resilience
Here’s what you’ll walk away with today:
💡 Clear strategies to protect and strengthen your core
💡 Practical ways to grow smartly without overextending
💡 Ideas to manage leaner, smarter operations
💡 Steps to adapt faster than the competition
💡Easy ways to start using AI as a real business tool, no tech background needed
💡37 Oaks resources to guide you along the way
Strengthen Your Core
When the road gets rough, your foundation is what keeps you standing. These first moves help you protect cash, focus your energy, and build operational strength.
1. Prioritize Cash Flow Management
Managing cash flow isn’t just a numbers game, it’s your business’s lifeline. When sales slow or expenses creep up, strong cash flow keeps you operating, even if profits temporarily dip. 45% of small business owners have skipped their own paycheck because of cash flow shortages. By building disciplined, proactive cash habits now, you’re giving your future self the gift of time and flexibility when things get tight.
How Generative AI Can Help:
Use AI to write payment reminders, draft negotiation emails, and brainstorm ways to tighten your cash flow.
Sample AI Prompts:
"Write a friendly reminder email to a customer about their unpaid invoice for [insert product/service] that is [insert number of days] overdue."
"Suggest 5 ways I can improve cash flow in my small business selling [insert product type] during a slow sales season."
37 Oaks Resources:
37 Oaks University Courses via The Growth Lab: Intro to Retail Math, Costing Goods, Forecasting, and Pricing Product
2. Focus on Core Competencies
When uncertainty hits, trying to do everything often leads to doing nothing well. Focus instead on what you do best, your highest-margin, highest-demand products or services. Research shows 50% of small businesses fail within five years, often due to dilution of focus. Concentrating on your core strengths keeps operations lean and helps customers know exactly why they should choose you.
How Generative AI Can Help:
Ask AI to analyze your product/service mix and recommend which ones to prioritize.
Sample AI Prompts:
"I sell [insert product type]. Based on my top 5 bestsellers, which products should I focus on to maximize profitability?"
"Help me identify 3 product categories to prioritize if my goal is to grow sales by [insert percent goal]% over the next [insert timeframe]."
37 Oaks Resources:
37 Oaks University Course via The Growth Lab: Defining Your Unique Value, Translating Unique Value into Brand Growth
Strong cash flow and clear focus are two pillars that help businesses stay grounded when the winds of uncertainty blow.
3. Build a Flexible Workforce and Lean Operations Plan
In tough markets, resilience means flexibility. Build a lean operations plan that allows your team to shift gears quickly, even if resources are tight. 40% of small businesses report struggling with unfilled job openings (NFIB). Cross-training your team and simplifying your core processes now can help you stay operational, even when disruptions come.
How Generative AI Can Help:
Use AI to draft contingency staffing plans and simple operating guides.
Sample AI Prompts:
"Create a lean staffing plan for my [insert product type] business if my team shrinks by [insert percentage]%."
"Write a basic operations guide for my [insert product type] business to ensure key tasks are covered with a small team."
37 Oaks Resources:
37 Oaks University Course via The Growth Lab: Intro to Team Building
4. Maximize Cash Retention
Cash isn’t just king — it’s armor. The tighter you control your outflows and the faster you bring money in, the more protection you give your business. 72% of businesses have only a month’s worth of cash reserves, meaning even a short downturn could become devastating. Cutting unnecessary expenses and being proactive about collections now buys you resilience later.
How Generative AI Can Help:
Use AI to audit hidden expenses and create collections templates.
Sample AI Prompts:
"Identify 10 small expenses a [insert product type] business should review and possibly cut to improve monthly cash flow."
"Draft a polite follow-up email for customers with overdue payments for [insert product type] orders."
37 Oaks Resources:
37 Oaks University Courses via The Growth Lab: Intro to Retail Math, Costing Goods, Forecasting, and Pricing Product
Expand Without Overextending
Growth is important, but smart, strategic growth protects what you’ve built while opening new opportunities for success.
5. Diversify Revenue Streams
The more revenue streams you have, the less fragile your business becomes. Small shifts, like offering online sales, bundling services, or subscription models, can make a major difference. Diversified businesses manage downturns better, consistently showing more stable returns through turbulence.
How Generative AI Can Help:
Use AI to brainstorm new revenue streams and creative offers.
Sample AI Prompts:
"What are 5 additional revenue streams I can create based on my current [insert product type] business?"
"Suggest 3 ways I can turn my [insert product type] into a subscription or bundle."
37 Oaks Resources:
37 Oaks University Courses via The Growth Lab: Intro to Wholesaling, Intro to E-commerce, Intro to Storefronts, Diversifying with Intention
6. Build Strategic Partnerships
You don’t have to grow alone. Strategic partnerships help you access new audiences, split marketing costs, and strengthen your brand, without doubling your work. Alliances lower customer acquisition costs dramatically, which becomes crucial when budgets tighten.
How Generative AI Can Help:
Use AI to draft partnership outreach and collaboration proposals.
Sample AI Prompts:
"Draft an email introducing my [insert product type] business to a complementary business in [insert zip code] to suggest a collaboration."
"Suggest 3 types of local businesses I could partner with to cross-promote my [insert product type] products."
37 Oaks Resources:
37 Oaks University Bob + Weave Episode: Building Strong Marketing Collaborations.
Small collaborations today can turn into major revenue lifelines tomorrow.
7. Drive Immediate Revenue and Customer Loyalty
Short-term sales boosts stabilize cash flow. Long-term loyalty builds your brand's future.
Even a 5% increase in customer retention can lift profits by up to 95% (Bain & Company). Right now, both matter.
How Generative AI Can Help:
Use AI to create loyalty offers, flash sales, and prepaid package campaigns.
Sample AI Prompts:
"Create a flash sale announcement offering [insert discount]% off [insert product type] for purchases by [insert date]."
"Write a promotional email offering a prepaid package deal for [insert product type] purchases."
37 Oaks Resources:
37 Oaks University Courses via The Growth Lab: Intro to E-commerce Marketing Strategy
37 Oaks University Bob + Weave Episodes: Content That Converts, How to Build An Email List
Manage Smarter, Not Harder
Survival isn't just about selling more, it's about running leaner, smarter, and more intentionally.
8. Strengthen Supply Chain and Inventory Management
Your inventory should support your cash flow, not strangle it. Liquidating slow-moving stock and renegotiating with suppliers gives you more control and more cash. Only 15% of small and medium-sized businesses operate lean inventory models. Staying agile with what you stock is a quiet but powerful competitive advantage.
How Generative AI Can Help:
Use AI to create inventory clearance strategies and draft supplier negotiation templates.
Sample AI Prompts:
"Create a plan to sell excess [insert product type] inventory before [insert deadline or season]."
"Draft an email to my [insert supplier/vendor name] asking to negotiate smaller, more frequent deliveries."
37 Oaks Resources:
37 Oaks University Courses via The Growth Lab: Intro to Forecasting
9. Optimize Fixed Costs and Vendor Agreements
Fixed costs are silent risks. When revenue dips, large fixed commitments can quickly become unsustainable. Trimming, renegotiating, or converting fixed to variable costs protects your agility. With 35% of small businesses citing revenue drops as a top concern, lowering overhead today gives you options tomorrow.
How Generative AI Can Help:
Use AI to brainstorm cost-saving ideas and negotiation talking points.
Sample AI Prompts:
"List 5 ways I can lower overhead costs in my [insert product type] business without impacting product quality."
"Draft a list of negotiation points I can use when asking [insert vendor/landlord] to offer better terms."
37 Oaks Resources:
37 Oaks University Courses via The Growth Lab: Intro to Retail Math
Saving $500 a month may not seem big now, but that cushion could be what keeps your doors open six months from now.
Adaptive Mindset for Changing Markets
Markets change. Customer needs change. Winners adapt faster.
10. Strengthen Customer Relationships
Customers are more selective when money gets tight. Building loyalty now ensures you're still their first choice later. Retention isn't just emotional, it’s extremely profitable. Boosting retention by 5% can lift profits up to 95%.
How Generative AI Can Help:
Use AI to craft personalized thank-yous, loyalty perks, and outreach messages.
Sample AI Prompts:
"Write a thank-you message I can send to my top [insert number] customers who frequently buy [insert product type]."
"Suggest 5 simple loyalty program ideas for a [insert product type] business to reward repeat customers."
37 Oaks Resources:
37 Oaks University Courses via The Growth Lab: Intro to E-commerce Marketing Strategy
11. Stay Informed and Adaptable
Your ability to pivot will define your survival and your success. Monitor trends. Watch buying patterns. Respond fast. In 2024, uncertainty spiked, and the businesses that stayed flexible outperformed their competitors.
How Generative AI Can Help:
Use AI to summarize news, forecast customer shifts, and brainstorm adaptations.
Sample AI Prompts:
"Summarize the 3 biggest challenges facing small product-based businesses in [insert year] and how I can adapt my [insert product type] brand."
"Based on current trends, how should a [insert product type] business adjust marketing for [insert season or holiday]?"
37 Oaks Resources:
Your Next Step
Build Your Resilience.
The future will always bring new challenges, but when you strengthen your core, grow with strategy, operate leanly, and stay adaptable, you don’t just survive uncertainty, you build a business that's investable, scalable, and unstoppable. Your customers will rally around you. Your community will grow with you. And your future self will thank you.
And the best part? You don’t have to figure it out alone.
✨ Ready to start putting these proven moves into action? Connect with 37 Oaks, and let’s build your personalized resilience and growth plan. Together, we’ll help you scale smarter, grow stronger, and create the legacy you deserve. Join our free 37 Oaks Community to get started. Then check out The Growth Lab for immediate access to coaching, courses, content, and services. Let’s turn uncertainty into opportunity and build businesses that last.
Founder/CEO
37 Oaks
Who is 37 Oaks?
37 Oaks is an education company that strengthens communities by transforming small businesses into valuable, commerce-driven assets. Our goal is to empower them through Commerce, Innovation, and Strategy.
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