Why every business should have a Business Plan B or at least another income stream. How to choose the right Plan B for you, your business, and your circumstances.

What is A Business Plan B?

A Business Plan B is an alternative strategy in your Business if Plan A doesn’t go as planned. Some people also look at is another source of income to fall back to if your Plan A takes longer or has to be put on hold. Some Business Coaches say you shouldn’t have a Plan B. You should just keep putting all your focus on Plan A. For a lot of reasons, I don’t always agree with that.

Because the facts are no matter how much planning, effort, and energy you put into Plan A, sometimes things don’t happen the way you expected. When creating a business you have to consider so many things, so many variables like is enough customer demand for I am selling? How much money you may need to convert audience or clicks into sales. And how much time it will actually take to nurture those sales. Building a business takes time, can take patience, and sometimes life or business throws you a curveball. That is why I believe a Plan B or even more importantly another income source is a good idea.

I also have to add here too, is that sometimes what we or the ego thinks it wants. Is in fact not exactly what we are here to do. And no matter how hard you try, you are in fact being pushed in a slightly or totally different direction.

Why I Always Have A Business Plan B

Why do I have a Plan B and can always come up with a plan C if I need to, I will explain why.

When I began self-employment over 20 years ago, I was in a situation where my health challenges impacted most of my life. Challenges that, in reality, impacted what I could and couldn’t do in my business. So, I had to look at the business dreams objectively and realised my health which needed a lot of rest, sleep, and hospital appointments. So in many ways, required my Business Plan A, to be my Business Plan B to get started. But as someone who was born into a family business, I was also was aware of a lot of challenges that came with building a business. So I formed in many ways not just a Plan B another income stream I would run alongside building my business. And oh how glad I was that I did.

A Well Know Health Company Tried To Sue Me

You see within just a week of starting my business, I was hit with quite a few challenges. One was a well-known health and wellbeing company tried to take legal action against me. They told me I could no longer use my present business name. Now in reality I had done nothing wrong, I wasn’t a limited company and had checked out if I could use the business name I was using. But my business name was actually the name of a brand of products they were launching. They told me I had to immediately stop trading. Scared they were going to sue me, I had to stop my business launch while I waited for legal advice ( something I couldn’t afford).

I remember feeling extremely overwhelmed, I had spent all I have not just on the launch of the business. But in getting the branding and marketing right. The branding on my health directory publication of a physical and on a range of products. Everything had been branded and published with my business name and logo on it except a newsletter sitting at the printers just about to be published. So I had to ask the printers to STOP the print.

I Had Invested Everything I Had Into My Business

But this wasn’t just about starting a business, in many ways I was unemployable. You see, I had been so ill I had spent a large part of the previous seven years housebound and bedbound. So all the savings I had in the world was in this business. No bank would credit me a loan because I was regarded as a high risk due to my type of health challenges. The only help I got was a loan from the Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust. And now I hadn’t a clue how I was going to pay it back. I couldn’t get a normal job at the time I needed to sleep 16- 18 hours a day just to function. I had mobility and stamina issues that meant for even the smallest physical activity such as walking from my car to inside the post office meant I had to spend most of the next day in bed.

This was not just a job, just not my baby, my creation but hope for some sort of independence, in many ways I felt my road to empowerment. Because of the delay, some of the advertisers wanted their money back. And in reality, I didn’t have the money to give back.

Thankfully Help Arrived

But thankfully eventually help arrived a few people stepped in to help. An owner of the manufacturer who was providing products for me stepped in. She contacted the owner of this company and explained how embarrassing it would be for them if it got out in the papers what they were trying to do. Especially since the local papers had just published an article on how brave I was to start a business considering my challenges. She explained they were going to basically put me out of business before I had even started. So they withdrew their proceedings, I just need to make some changes to my marketing.

But My Business Had Other Issues

But that wasn’t the only challenge. In the first week of opening my business, I went for what was supposed to be a simple dental procedure. But which actually ended up me having 22 stitches in my mouth. So as you can imagine I struggled to talk and had to time out at a crucial time of my business.

I also attracted a situation where a therapist took a large chunk of advertising with me and never paid. And from a call discovered several thousands of my newsletters that were supposed to be distributed around Lanarkshire and Glasgow were in-fact dumped. Dumped in a bin in Glasgow City Centre by students who had been paid to distribute them. And well you have got to laugh at this one, the yellow pages directory mistakingly adding my business no as a local waste depot. You couldn’t make it up. So instead of potential clients and customers for my products and advertising, I ended up with daily calls from people enquiring about dumping their waste.

Now thankfully most businesses do not tend to hit these sorts of problems. You can imagine how low my self-worth and self-esteem were to attract all those situations lol. But In hindsight, I think they were all big hints that maybe at that time I was following the wrong path lol. Or maybe should have taken another more few years to build on my health. But hey we’re all having a human experience and sometimes it seems just a tad crazy.

Having A Plan B, Having Other Income Streams

Now thankfully I had begun to create another income stream in my business. Although I still had my original long-term to offer Stress Management Training. Something I would go on to do for many years as my health built up and as I managed to extend my level of training and experience. At that time it just wasn’t feasible so I put that on hold till the time was right.

But one of the income streams that helped me keep my business afloat was a party plan business I created for aromatherapists. Where they would go out and sell a range of products and essential oils I sold using a sales-kit I provided. I provided all the leaflets, learning material, and sample products. And they took the products to their clinics or to parties. Now, this helped bring in extra income although it did take a bit of money to set up. It worked for the therapists and worked for me.

Now through the years I have tried out and created different businesses and income streams. Especially more passive income streams, some were certainly much easier or more suitable for me than others.

Since my main work for many years became a trainer teaching stress management, meditation, and all sorts of holistic wellbeing and therapies. I started to create my own online courses many years ago. And how grateful I am that I did. Especially the last few years, when some other rare medical challenges including a lot of dental issues stopped me from not being able to do live sessions and training, months at a time.

Why Most Businesses Need A Plan B

Now, for so many reasons your business should have a Plan B. So many businesses have never seen this more clearly than during the Covid 19 situation. But for many even their Plan B’s have not worked out because of all the different challenges that this situation has created in many sectors. This is a good example of where having another form of passive income stream that doesn’t depend on too many external factors can be helpful.

The reality is that when you have a service-related business that relies on you. Your business has a big problem if you can’t be there or if you can’t perform what your business needs you to do. This type of Business Model creates all sorts of potential problems. If your wise, you will create some Plan B’s or passive income sources, you have something to fall back on.

Some Business Plan B Extra Income Sources

Now your Business Plan B may just be another business strategy or different product or program if one doesn’t work. But no matter what your Plan A or B is I think you should consider some other simple or easy income stream. Especially one that is a little more passive or doesn’t require much work that you can have running on the side.

Now if you are a Therapist, Healer, Coach, Yoga Teacher, or another type of Spiritual Entrepreneur there are so many different additional passive income opportunities available here are a few ideas.

• Affiliate Income Streams
• Product Ambassador or Product Distribution ( Party Plan)
• Selling Online Courses

Affiliation Income Streams; there are so many different types of affiliate income streams. I offer affiliate opportunities to my students which means my clients and students can make money commission by promoting or referring my courses.

Product Ambassador Products; I am a product ambassador for Tropic Skincare, I have an online shop with NYR Organics. To be honest I don’t invest a lot of time or energy promoting these but these are extra income streams. The key is choosing a company that is perfectly aligned with your business, what products do you use, do you love and you know your clients will buy? As a qualified aromatherapist and holistic therapist, who has used organic and natural products for over 25 years. The above companies were perfect for me. Now many of these companies promote a sort of Party Plan element of selling. I sell just using my online shop they provide. I know some therapists who use the products they sell in their client treatments. Or give out free samples to their clients, other than stocking extra products in their shop or clinic.

Sell Online Courses: My main business for many years as a trainer, a Holistic Therapist, and Stress Management Trainer, a Meditation Teacher. So creating online courses and programs was a very easy transition for me. One of the training platforms that I use to sell my courses on is NewZenler. Click here for a referral link.

Publish Your Own Book: Now more than ever it is so easy to publish your own book or ebook about a topic you’re an expert in. There are so many ways you can now get your book published or sell an online digital book. Amazon now makes publishing a book so easy, now yes there is a lot of books out there trying to be sold. But if you have some time to spend on the initial creation, have something unique or powerful to share. It can be a great way to make extra income long into the future. My sister Denise has published quite a few Children’s Books on Amazon.

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