20 Ways Mono-Businesses Adapt In Economic Downturns

Forbes

2 days ago

When economic conditions shift, businesses built around a single product or service face a unique pressure. With little diversification to fall back on, even a slight drop in demand can have an outsized impact. However, this sharp focus doesn't have to be a weakness. It can be a strategic advantage for businesses willing to pivot without abandoning their core.
Here, 20 members of Forbes Coaches Council share smart, tested strategies mono-product and mono-service businesses can use to stay resilient and relevant during a downturn.
A mono-product business risks steep revenue loss during downturns due to reliance on a single offering. The best approach is agility—quickly reassessing customer needs, adapting the core product and testing complementary services or new delivery models. This flexible mindset helps navigate uncertainty without losing focus or diluting the brand. - Yasir Hashmi, The Hashmi Group (Verified)
A mono-product business risks overexposure to a single point of failure. In a downturn, if demand drops or budgets shift, there's no buffer. The best approach is to deepen customer insight: Listen closely, adapt the offer to evolving needs and explore adjacent values you can deliver without overextending. Agility comes from intimacy with the problem you solve. - Rachel Weissman, Congruence
When you have focused your products and services on a single product or service, scenario planning is helpful to consider what is coming into your ecosystem so you can pivot quickly. While you may have a single product, you may have evolving distribution channels, alliance partners or end customers. You may have several strategic options as the economy shifts. - Maureen Metcalf, Innovative Leadership Institute
Partner with other service or product advisors to find new ways to service and delight your customers, as well as expand your reach for new ones. Offering career services? Partner with a software provider that helps clients keep abreast of changes and innovations in their field. Keep a strong focus on what your customer wants and how you can further serve them. - Amy Feind Reeves, HireAHiringManager, Formerly JobCoachAmy
The value of products and services is determined by the market and what others see as valuable. When the market shifts, you need to look within your offering and pivot. What are adjacent markets or products? If you are an executive coach, look for other markets to coach, as well as adjacent opportunities. You could coach succession planning candidates to strengthen the queue and ensure continuity. - Kristy Busija, Next Conversation Consulting
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One major challenge mono-service businesses face in an economic downturn is vulnerability to buyer hesitation. When your single offer no longer feels like a 'must' in tighter times, revenue dries up fast. Diversifying value without diluting expertise could mean packaging your service at different levels, adding complementary offers or focusing on niches that remain in demand during downturns. - Laura DeCarlo, Career Directors International
A mono-product or mono-service business risks becoming rigid during an economic downturn—if demand drops, there's little room to pivot. The key is adopting a cheetah mindset: fast, focused and agile. Act quickly to reassess customer needs, test complementary offerings and adapt delivery models. Flexibility—not scale—is what helps you outpace the storm and emerge stronger. - Dr. Adil Dalal, Pinnacle Process Solutions, Intl., LLC
Mono-product businesses can struggle in downturns if demand drops. One approach I recommend is using the SCAMPER model, especially "Put to another use" to explore fresh possibilities. For example, a distillery shifted to making hand sanitizer during Covid-19. With a bit of creative thinking, your core offering can navigate uncertainty by unlocking new markets and fresh growth opportunities. - Gabriella Goddard, Brainsparker Ltd
Short term: Introduce pivot pricing and loyalty programs. Train the sales function. Adopt a cost-leadership market position. Medium term: Add adjacent products and services. Test market all adaptations. Build more strategic partnerships. Long term: Build out the product portfolio using Ansoff's Matrix. Expand recurring revenue. Develop a more crisis-resistant commercial architecture. - Antonio Garrido, My Daily Leadership
This is something I have experienced firsthand and suggest entrepreneurs find ways to create adjacent revenue streams, or even value-added versions of their current offering, to diversify and provide additional revenue. Consider, for example, an online course that might capture 80% of the content for a live event you already offer. - Aaron Marcum, Breakaway365
Your ability to position your offering as essential can make all the difference when times get tough. During economic downturns, people prioritize necessities. So, a key question every business must answer is: How is my product a necessity, and how am I communicating that to my customers? Actively seek opportunities to diversify—whether through product packaging, customer base or distribution channels. - Sandra Balogun, The CPA Leader
A mono-product business risks collapse if demand fades in a downturn. The key is adaptability—listen to your customers, understand emerging needs and evolve your offer without losing your essence. Don't react—reimagine. Resilience comes from staying rooted in purpose while expanding your value. During a crisis, relevance is earned by those bold enough to transform. - Alejandro Bravo, Revelatio360
In an economic downturn, a mono-product business risks brand irrelevance; when budgets tighten, consumers prioritize versatility and value. Building resilience through relevance is a smart move that can allow a brand to survive. One way is to reframe the product's role. Can it solve a broader problem? Serve a new audience? Reinvention often beats reinvestment. - Arthi Rabikrisson, Prerna Advisory
A mono-product or mono-service must be deeply dialed into their core consumer's preferences. They must continuously study the cultural, social and economic factors that are influencing their needs and buying behavior. Being able to quickly edit and flex their expectations accordingly will make all the difference. - Brittney Van Matre, Rewild Work Strategies
A mono-product business in a downturn is like a tightrope walker with no safety net; one gust of market change and you are tumbling. The core challenge is overexposure to a single source of revenue without a buffer or agility. The best response is not frantic diversification but creative recombination: by finding adjacent problems your product can solve in new contexts in novel ways. - Thomas Lim, Centre for Systems Leadership (SIM Academy)
A mono product business risks becoming irrelevant if demand drops. The brain's novelty bias craves fresh solutions in uncertain times. Evolve fast by repositioning your product for new problems or bundling it with added value. Adaptation keeps you top of mind when budgets tighten. - Adam Levine, InnerXLab
A business that relies exclusively on a single offering can face several challenges. However, there are many ways to monetize a specific offering. My wife and I own an equestrian business—boarding and training. With 100 acres, we brainstormed over 30 ways to monetize the property, from birthday parties to day-use passes to a movie shoot location. - John Knotts, Crosscutter Enterprises
A mono-service business may find that many people who are price-sensitive stop purchasing during an economic downturn. During this time, they can assess who their ideal clients are, including those with the highest lifetime value. They can assess what these clients have in common, how to better serve them and how to provide even more value to those types of clients. - Sunny Smith, Empowering Women Physicians
A mono-product business risks significant revenue loss when consumer priorities shift during downturns. Diversifying delivery or pricing models—such as flexible payment plans, subscription options or complementary add-on services—can mitigate risks by appealing to varied customer needs without diluting core offerings. - Peter Boolkah, The Transition Guy
When all your revenue hangs on one offer, the real risk isn't the downturn—it's inertia. I tell founders to stress-test the product line before the market does: Spin up a stripped-down variant, explore an unlikely use case or sell it to a completely different audience. The goal isn't diversification for its own sake—it's proving you can adapt without losing your edge. - Alla Adam, Adam Impact Institute