Preparing the shop for a downturn
Downturns happen. The shops that survive prepared before the news did.
Build cash reserve before the headlines
Three to six months of operating expenses in cash. Built in the good times, drawn on in the lean ones. The shops that survive recessions are usually the boring ones with reserves.
Identify what to cut, in advance
Have a written list of what comes out of the budget if revenue drops 20%, 30%, 50%. Decisions made under pressure are worse than decisions made calmly.
Diversify the customer base
If one customer is more than 20% of revenue, that's recession risk too. Slowly broaden during good times. Hard to do in the middle of a downturn.
Take your version of this question further
This is one operator-tested angle on the question. Your shop, your size, your trade, and your team change the answer. Ask your specific version inside Ask a Shop Owner to get a response grounded in how owners like you actually handled it.