Hey First name / there,
Five years ago, when I launched my first digital product, I could only dream that my business would bring in the kind of revenue it does today.
Don’t get me wrong—there have been plenty of ups and downs. (2024 was as much of a dumpster fire for me as it was for everyone else.) But Q1 was my most profitable quarter ever and that should feel like a huge win.
And yet…
Money feels tighter now—both personally and professionally—than it did back when I was earning a fraction of what I do today.
It’s not because of lifestyle creep or bad money management. I’ve always been meticulous with my finances. (I don't mean to brag, but my finance spreadsheet system is truly a work of art. 👩🎨) But the truth is: life and business have gotten wildly expensive.
I was talking to my mom recently about the cost of living, and she said something that really stuck with me:
“When I was younger, it felt like prices went up incrementally over time. Now, it feels like they double every few years.”
I don’t know if they’ve literally doubled, but it certainly feels that way. Between rising housing costs, corporate price gouging, an exploitative healthcare system, and now tariffs impacting the cost of goods and services, it’s no wonder so many people are struggling.
And on the business side?
The cost of running an online business has quietly exploded.
💸 Software companies have increased prices by as much as 100%.
💸 Contractors are raising their rates (because they have to eat too).
💸 And staying top of mind in a crowded online space increasingly requires ads, affiliates, and other high-cost strategies. (And that's on top of the massive time investment of acting as your own personal content mill.)
I’m seeing more and more 7-figure business owners “descaling”—reducing their teams and overhead to focus on profitability and sustainability over the rabid growth that was so prevalent in the early 2020s.
But for small business owners with already-lean teams and modest software needs, there’s only so much you can cut before your only option is to sell more. And that kind of pressure is exhausting.
I don’t have a tidy solution to wrap this up. But I do want you to know this:
If you’re feeling the strain right now, you’re not imagining it.
You’re not bad with money.
You’re not failing.
You’re navigating an economic system where the math isn't mathing.
🙅♀️ It’s not normal to be dropping $5k+ a year on software costs alone just to operate your 5 or 6-figure micro business.
🙅♀️ It’s not normal to be forced to choose between healthcare and rent even when you're making what is generally considered “good money."
🙅♀️ And it’s definitely not normal to feel like your profit margins are shrinking even when your revenue is growing and you're operating your business in a responsible, cost-conscious way.
So if you’re feeling bewildered, questioning your pricing, reconsidering your business model, or simply taking a beat to figure out how to survive whatever fresh economic horror is coming next—you’re not alone.
We're all going to have to figure out how to adapt to this rapidly shifting economic climate in ways that work for us.
That might mean descaling your business if you've built it into something that feels unsustainable and you need to take a step back.
It might mean scaling more if you're under a lot of personal financial pressure and you simply need to increase your take-home pay, even at the cost of your profit margins and leisure time.
There's no right or wrong answer here.
It's about identifying your most pressing needs and figuring out how to meet them. We're all just trying to survive and thrive in a world that seems hell-bent on preventing normal folks from doing either on of those things.
Whatever path you choose, just remember to breathe. 😮💨
