Keeping the Doors Open: How Small Businesses Survive and Grow Through Hard Times
Running a small business is rewarding, but it is not always easy. There are seasons when customers are spending freely, orders are coming in, and the future feels promising. Then there are seasons when ingredient prices increase, sales slow down, household expenses rise, and every business decision carries more weight.
During those difficult periods, growth may not look like expanding the product line, purchasing more equipment, or reaching a new sales record. Sometimes growth means becoming wiser, leaner, more focused, and better prepared for the next season.
Sometimes the greatest accomplishment is simply keeping the doors open.
At Maple Valley Soap Co., we understand that small businesses are not supported by unlimited budgets, enormous warehouses, or teams of corporate employees. Every ingredient, container, label, product photograph, and hour of labor matters. Surviving a difficult season requires more than working harder. It requires making thoughtful decisions about where the business’s money, materials, time, and energy will have the greatest impact.
Produce According to Demand—not Hope
For product-based businesses, excess inventory can quietly create financial pressure.
Rows of finished products may look impressive, but every unsold item represents money that is no longer available for ingredients, packaging, utilities, shipping supplies, or unexpected expenses. If a product has a limited shelf life, producing too much can also lead to waste.
During slower periods, decreasing production may be one of the smartest decisions a small business can make.
This might mean:
Making smaller batches more frequently
Producing certain products only when inventory becomes low
Keeping fewer fragrances or variations available
Making selected products to order
Pausing seasonal or slow-moving products
Reviewing sales records before restocking
Testing new ideas in small batches before committing to a full launch
Producing less can feel like moving backward, especially when business owners are accustomed to preparing for growth. However, excess inventory is not the same as success. A smaller amount of inventory that consistently sells is often healthier than a large collection of products waiting indefinitely for customers.
Use Premium Ingredients Where They Make the Most Sense
Reducing expenses does not have to mean lowering product quality.
It may mean becoming more intentional about where costly ingredients are used and how much value they bring to the finished product.
In the bath-and-body industry, a premium botanical butter, specialty oil, or active ingredient may make more sense in a leave-on product—such as a body cream, balm, serum, lotion bar, or intensive treatment—than in a product that remains on the skin briefly before being rinsed away.
This does not mean wash-off products should be poorly made. Soap, shampoo bars, cleansers, and body washes still need to be safe, effective, pleasant to use, and properly formulated. It simply means that every ingredient should have a clear purpose.
Choose Ingredients That Can Work Across Several Products
During difficult times, versatile ingredients become especially valuable. One butter, oil, fragrance, colorant, or packaging component that works across several formulas may be more practical than an ingredient purchased for only one slow-selling product.
A small bath-and-body business might use the same carefully selected butter in body creams, lotion bars, balms, and other compatible formulas. A fragrance could be offered in soap, scrub, and body cream rather than requiring a completely different fragrance inventory for every product category.
This approach can:
Reduce the number of materials that must be purchased
Make bulk purchasing more practical
Simplify storage and inventory tracking
Reduce the risk of ingredients expiring before use
Make production more organized
Free cash for essential business expenses
However, versatility should never replace proper formulation. An ingredient must still be suitable for the product, used at an appropriate level, and compatible with the complete formula. The goal is not to force every ingredient into every product. The goal is to purchase with a plan.
Simplify the Product Collection
It is easy for a creative business owner to develop more products than the business can comfortably support.
Creativity is one of the greatest strengths of a handmade business, but every new product introduces additional responsibilities. It may require new ingredients, containers, labels, photographs, website listings, testing, storage space, and marketing.
During difficult seasons, simplifying the product line can protect both cash flow and the owner’s energy.
Business owners can review the collection and ask:
Which products sell consistently?
Which products generate the healthiest profit?
Which ones require too much time for the return they provide?
Are several products competing for the same customer?
Which supplies are used for only one product?
Is a product genuinely popular, or do people merely compliment it?
Would customers miss this item if it disappeared?
Protect Quality While Removing Unnecessary Expenses
Cost-cutting should begin with expenses the customer does not truly value—not with the safety or integrity of the product.
A business should never compromise appropriate preservation, accurate measurements, safe usage rates, required testing, sanitation, compliant labeling, or dependable packaging merely to save money.
Instead, look for expenses that can be reduced without diminishing the customer’s experience. This may include:
Consolidating several label sizes
Choosing packaging that works across multiple products
Ordering fewer decorative accessories
Simplifying elaborate packaging that customers immediately discard
Reducing unnecessary product variations
Reusing existing photography in fresh marketing materials
Correcting overproduction
Reviewing subscriptions and services
Renegotiating supplier or shipping costs when possible
Thoughtful simplicity can still look polished and professional. In fact, a more consistent collection often makes a small brand appear more organized.
Do Not Price Products From Emotion
Small-business owners frequently worry about raising prices because they care about their customers. That concern is understandable, particularly during periods when customers are also experiencing financial hardship.
However, prices must cover the actual cost of doing business.
The cost of a handmade product includes more than its ingredients. Packaging, labels, testing, utilities, equipment, transaction fees, website costs, damaged inventory, labor, marketing, and administrative work all contribute to the true cost.
If a product sells but does not generate enough money to replace itself and support the business, high sales volume can actually deepen the financial problem.
Instead of automatically underpricing everything, a business might:
Maintain a range of price points
Offer smaller sizes of selected products
Create simple, affordable options alongside premium treatments
Bundle complementary products thoughtfully
Reserve discounts for specific occasions
Discontinue products that cannot be priced sustainably
Explain the craftsmanship and value behind handmade products
Affordability matters, but affordability should not require the business owner to donate unpaid labor with every order.
Serve Existing Customers Well
When money is tight, businesses often focus all their attention on finding new customers. New customers are important, but the people who already know and trust the business should not be overlooked.
Existing customers have already experienced the products. They understand the quality and may be more likely to purchase again, recommend the business, leave a review, or share a social media post.
Staying connected does not always require an expensive advertising campaign. A small business can:
Send helpful and respectful email updates
Teach customers how to use products correctly
Share the story behind a formula or ingredient
Recommend products based on different needs
Thank customers after a purchase
Respond thoughtfully to questions
Create useful blog content
Invite honest reviews
Make reordering simple
Customers can feel the difference between genuine communication and constant pressure to buy. During difficult times, trust is one of the most valuable things a business possesses.
Improve What Already Exists
When sales slow down, launching something new can feel like the answer. Sometimes it is—but not always.
A new product requires development, testing, packaging, photography, labeling, website work, promotion, and additional inventory. Before taking on those expenses, it may be more beneficial to improve the products the business already has.
That could mean:
Taking clearer product photographs
Rewriting confusing descriptions
Improving search-engine titles and descriptions
Answering common customer questions
Correcting labels
Updating pricing
Improving packaging
Creating demonstrations or educational content
Making the website easier to navigate
Highlighting products customers may have overlooked
A strong existing product with better presentation may outperform a rushed new release.
Innovation is important, but constant launching can become expensive. Sometimes the next level of growth is not another product. It is helping customers understand the value of what is already available.
Protect the Person Behind the Business
The owner is one of the business’s most important resources.
Small-business owners often try to compensate for financial limitations by contributing more physical labor, more time, and more emotional energy. That may work temporarily, but exhaustion can lead to mistakes, injuries, poor decisions, and loss of creativity.
Know When to Pivot—and When to Be Still
Not every slow period requires a complete rebrand or a new business direction.
Sometimes a business needs to adjust. Other times, it needs patience.
A pivot may be appropriate when customers’ needs have changed, a product is no longer profitable, supplies have become unreliable, or a better opportunity has emerged. But making major changes out of fear can create additional confusion and expense.
Before changing direction, examine the evidence:
What are customers actually buying?
Which website pages are receiving attention?
Are customers requesting a particular solution?
Is the problem the product—or are people simply unaware of it?
Is the slowdown affecting only this business, or the wider market?
Would the proposed change solve the real problem?
A thoughtful pivot is guided by information. A fearful reaction is guided by urgency.
Sometimes the wisest decision is to adjust carefully, continue serving customers, and allow the season to pass.
Growing Through Hard Times
Hard times reveal where a business is strong and where it needs support. They expose unnecessary expenses, weak pricing, excessive inventory, unclear marketing, and products that consume more resources than they return.
That can be painful, but it can also create clarity.
A business may emerge with fewer products but a stronger collection. It may produce less but waste less. It may stop chasing every trend and begin serving its customers more intentionally. It may learn to place premium ingredients where they offer the greatest value and direct limited resources toward what truly matters.
Growth does not always announce itself through higher sales.
Sometimes growth looks like better judgment. Sometimes it looks like restraint. Sometimes it means becoming more organized, more resourceful, and more confident about saying no.
Reward Loyalty Without Giving Away the Business
During hard times, businesses are not the only ones experiencing financial pressure. Customers may also be watching every dollar they spend. A thoughtful rewards program or an occasional small thank-you gift can help customers feel that their support is noticed and appreciated.
Some business owners worry that giving something away will reduce profits. That can happen if rewards are offered without considering product cost, purchase requirements, and profit margins. However, a carefully planned reward does not have to be expensive to feel valuable.
Customers might earn points with every purchase and later redeem them for a discount or product. A business could also include a small lip balm, soap sample, or another low-cost item as a surprise with a qualifying order. To the business, it may be a modest expense. To the customer, it can feel like a genuine act of appreciation.
These gestures can:
Encourage customers to return
Make customers feel recognized
Introduce them to a product they have not tried
Add value without discounting every order
Strengthen their emotional connection to the business
Generate positive reviews and recommendations
The purpose is not to give away products carelessly. The reward must be planned and affordable. Choose something with a manageable production cost, establish a minimum purchase when necessary, and include the expense in the business’s marketing or customer-retention budget.
A free lip balm may cost the business far less to produce than its retail value. The customer.
Most importantly, a reward says, “We know you had choices, and we appreciate that you chose us.”
During difficult seasons, people remember how a business made them feel. Customers are helping small businesses keep their doors open, and a meaningful thank-you allows the business to give a little value back. When handled wisely, generosity does not weaken a business. It can build appreciation, loyalty, and relationships that continue long after the difficult season has passed. Loyalty programs are more than a kind gesture. Research suggests that redeeming rewards can improve how customers perceive a business and may encourage future purchases.¹
Then place this at the bottom:
Sources
Smith, A., & Sparks, L. (2009). “It’s nice to get a wee treat if you’ve had a bad week”: Consumer motivations in retail loyalty scheme points redemption. Journal of Business Research, 62(5), 542–547.
U.S. Small Business Administration. “7 Ideas for Marketing to Existing Customers.”
From Maple Valley Soap Co.—where we believe thoughtful craftsmanship, honest decisions, and perseverance are all part of building something worth keeping.
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