There’s a feeling right now that’s hard to name but easy to recognize. You pick it up scrolling social media. You hear it in conversations with friends and family. It comes through on podcasts you listen to, on TV you’re watching, and in the tone of voice your clients use when they talk about what’s next. You don’t have to go looking for it. It finds you. And honestly, it’s hard to escape.

It feels like the whole world is holding its breath.

Interest rates are still elevated compared to what we got used to. Inflation has cooled but hasn’t settled. Banks are tightening credit. Unemployment numbers keep shifting. AI is rewriting entire industries in real time, and nobody knows exactly how the dominoes are going to fall. Crypto is sitting on a mountain of potential with no clear signals on when its moving. Companies are still shaking off the hangover from the COVID era, making decisions with short memories and long anxiety. There’s unrest around the world, and somehow even more of it right here at home.

All of that is real. And if you’re a small business owner, you feel every bit of it, even if you can’t always articulate why things feel heavier than they should.

Here’s the thing though: this moment will pass. It always does. A bull market will come. Clarity will return. But the businesses that come out ahead won’t be the ones who sat still and waited for the world to make sense again. They’ll be the ones who moved. With intention, with strategy, and without panic.

So let’s talk about what you can actually do right now.

+ Moves for Your Business

Create content and show up for your people.

This is not the time to go quiet. When the economy gets weird, people pay closer attention to who’s still talking and who disappeared. Show up. Write the blog. Post the video. Send the email. Your audience is watching, and the businesses that stay visible during uncertainty build the kind of trust that money can’t buy when things pick back up.

Invest your time and money in growing your business.

Living things grow. If your business isn’t growing, it’s slowly dying, and growth doesn’t always mean more revenue right now. Maybe growth looks like getting better at your trade. Sharpening your craft. Making your product higher quality. Maybe it’s investing in defining your brand message and design so it actually matches how far you’ve come, not where you were three years ago.

Maybe growth right now means cleaning up the backend of your business: getting your bookkeeping in order, tightening your operations, improving how you manage your team. Or maybe (and this is a big one) it means finally getting clear about your strategy and business model because, if we’re being honest, you’ve been shooting from the hip this whole time and that only takes you so far.

All of these are growth. And all of them make your business stronger for what’s coming next.

Get clean books, know your numbers, and cut the waste.

You can’t make smart decisions in the dark. If you don’t know exactly what’s coming in, what’s going out, and where you’re bleeding money, you’re already behind. Get your finances organized. Look at every subscription, tool, and service you’re paying for and ask: does this actually move my business forward, or is it just noise?

Distractions and waste pile up fast when nobody is watching. Clean it up.

+ Moves for Your Health and Mind

You don’t exist in a vacuum. And neither does your business. When you’re stressed, overwhelmed, or running on empty, your business feels it, too. So take care of yourself. Not as a luxury, but as a strategy.

Go on more walks.

Or runs. Clear your head. You can’t control the Fed or the market or what’s happening overseas. But you can control your morning. You can control your pace. Start there.

Clean your garage.

I’m serious. I just cleaned mine yesterday. A messy space is where dreams and motivation go to die. Your physical environment shapes your mental state more than most people want to admit. Clear the clutter, and you’ll be surprised what opens up in your thinking and creativity.

Cook your own food.

It’s cheaper. It’s cleaner if you’re choosing the right ingredients. And there’s something grounding about making a meal with your hands after spending all day in your head. It’s a small thing, but small things start to add up when the world feels chaotic.

Get outside.

Not just for a walk, but to remember what you might be forgetting. That this life, this world, has some magic in it. Your business challenges are real, but they’re not the whole picture.

+ Moves for Your Personal Finances

Quick note: I’m not a financial advisor. This isn’t financial advice. But I’ll tell you what I’m doing, and you can make decisions that honor yourself.

I’m looking for places to put my money that give me exposure to where I see the world going.

I’m buying Bitcoin. It’s scarce. There’s a fixed, limited supply. We’re still early in terms of real market adoption. Yes, the volatility brings swings, but those swings can go high and deliver a meaningful return. It’s independent. And it defends against inflation in a way that sitting in cash doesn’t. That’s my conviction. Yours might look different, but the principle stands: don’t just sit on your money and hope. Put it somewhere that reflects where you believe the future is headed.

What you focus on, you create more of.

I saw a post recently that said: “For the next thirty days, think, talk, act, walk, smell, and feel like business is booming, and it will.” That might sound like mindset fluff, but it’s not. Abundance thinking creates different behavior than scarcity thinking. When you operate from abundance, you make bolder moves, attract better opportunities, and find ways for money to come to you instead of constantly chasing it. Try it.

I’m buying “when there’s blood in the streets”, even when it’s my own.

The market is holding its breath, too. Crypto is down from its all-time highs, waiting for clarity to make a move. Right now, it’s a slow bleed until it gains some footing. Some businesses in the stock market are doing great. This often happens during these periods where there’s a rotation among asset classes.

The market is trying to figure out where to be exposed during an unknown time. In a full-on recession, everything feels like it’s going down. In a booming bull market, almost everything goes up. But in a weird, uncertain time like right now? Some things are up and some things are down. That’s where the move is, if you’re paying attention and have the conviction to act.

+ Keep Good Vibes Going

Look. This is a moment. That’s all it is. A moment.

It feels heavy because economic uncertainty always does. But you’ve been through hard things before, and you’re still here. Your business has had ups and downs already, and it will have more. That’s not a flaw. It’s the deal. It’s all part of it.

A bull market will come. A season of growth will come. And the people who used this moment to get clear, get clean, get healthy, and get positioned are the ones who will be ready when it does.

Don’t freeze. Don’t wait for permission from the economy to build your thing.

Move with clarity. Move with intention. And keep good vibes going, because on the other side of this collective held breath is a deep exhale. And you’re going to be ready for it.

P.S. At Hoffbeck + Co, we help small businesses find clarity and build with confidence. Strategy consulting, fractional CFO and bookkeeping services, and a design studio that actually makes a difference for businesses. If you’re ready to stop guessing and start building, schedule a call.

Strategy Practice | Finance House | Design Studio

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