#52 Diversifying & strengthening revenue streams to fund your business
It's not all about grants and crowdfunding, staying on top of your revenue streams will remove dead weight and unlock new opportunities.
Welcome to Friday Funding Chats, your weekly accountability buddy in your small business funding journey. Every Friday we deliver top fund picks and tips to your inbox, saving you time and making your funding journey an empowering one.
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up today to receive Friday Funding Chats every week and unlock the opportunities that will move your business forward. Upgrade for just £4 a month to get full access to game changing funding knowledge from founders who have done it.
Whats in this edition:
🤑 5 new opportunities for environmentally driven businesses
🤑 How auditing and diversifying revenue keeps you funded
🤑 Need accountability? Book a call with me.
This Weeks Top Opportunities
Opportunities from the Database, which FYI is getting loads of mentions in newsletters and online at GLL and Enterprise Nation! It’s so exciting to see the value it can bring to businesses.
Grant Powering Local Businesses - Enterprise Nation are offering small businesses with physical premises (that you rent or own), £5k to introduce renewable energy into your business.
Grant Croydon Community Grant Fund - For community groups working in youth engagement, homelessness and improving safety of women and girls. The first tranche is up to £1k, the second is up to £5k.
Grant Good Place to Live: New Beginnings - Lloyds Foundation is offering 2 types of grants on offer - £100,000 or £200,000 for community organisations that are supporting people at key turning points in their lives. These are; when the risk of homelessness is highest including people leaving the prison system, domestic abuse survivors, young adults leaving care and individuals leaving the asylum system on securing leave to remain in the UK.
Accelerator Sustainable Food Accelerator - delivered by Undaunted and backed by the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein, this accelerator combines learning with best in class facilities to help you scale your innovation. Includes up to £100,000 in equity free funding and the potential to get £2m in equity investment.
Grant Climate and Environmental Justice Fund - City Bridge Foundation are offering a pot of £450,000 for non-profits with a focus on one of the three impact topics: Place-based resilience, Community organising and influence Storytelling and narrative change.
These Top Opportunities were lifted from the Funding Opportunities Database, a unique listing of over 90 grants, awards, accelerators and other funding opportunities for your small business (with a focus on creatives and social & environmental impact). Upgrade for just £4 a month and get Friday Funding Chats Live, and interviews with founders who have funded.
Diversifying Revenue Streams as a Purpose Driven Business
If you built your business around a mission, not just a margin, you’re probably familiar with the tension that comes with growth. More revenue can mean more impact. But when almost all of that revenue comes from one product, one service, or one sales channel, you’re not just financially exposed, you’re mission-exposed too. A slow quarter, a platform algorithm change, or a shift in customer habits can put the whole thing, impact included, at risk. And I don’t want that for you. I’ve been there and believe me it sucks.
Done well, revenue diversification allows you to grow your business and your impact. But first off, we need to know what we’re working with. Thats why keeping track of separate revenue streams month on month is essential to give you an accurate view of the health of your business. Once you have good records, it’s time to audit. Pull the last 12 months of revenue and sort it by:
a. Source — which products, services, or channels generated what money?
b. Margin — what you actually keep after costs, not just top-line sales
c. Effort — how much time, team, or ad spend does each stream demand?
d. Concentration — what percentage comes from your single biggest source?
It’s not untypical to discover that 70–90% of revenue is riding on one thing. We all fall into the trap sooner or later, especially when one stream is easier or more enjoyable than others. You haven’t failed, you’ve learnt something - it’s just data. It tells you where the real risk sits, and it’s the starting point for making some changes.
Ask yourself this - if your top revenue source disappeared tomorrow, how long could you operate? If the answer is “not long,” diversification is an important thing to address in your business asap.
What to do next?
Diversification doesn’t always mean inventing something new. Often it means noticing value you’re already creating but maybe you’re not charging for. Or places where you’re dropping prices and actually need to sell through at full price. Think about;
Expertise — Are people constantly asking how you do what you do? That’s a course, a workshop, or a consulting offer waiting to happen.
Community — If people gather around your brand (newsletter, group, forum etc), a membership or subscription tier can monetise belonging, not just transactions.
Byproducts — Production offcuts, unused ingredients, or excess capacity (think space, equipment, storage, POS etc) can become a second product line, especially if it reinforces your sustainability story.
Content — If you’re already writing, filming, or teaching to support your marketing, some of that content may be valuable enough to sell.
The test for purpose-driven brands especially, isn’t just “can we sell this?”. We have to think about whether this deepens or dilutes what you stand for. A new stream that contradicts your ethics will cost you more in trust than it earns in revenue.
Don’t just rush to add a new product
It helps to think about diversification in less literal ways, because true resilience rarely comes from just adding more of the same thing. Remember, that having a deep understanding of the problem you are solving and who for, will make this bit easier, because you inherently know what your community or customer need to diversify the world you are offering them.
Offer diversification — new products or services alongside your core one. If you already sell the ultimate cotton shirt, what accessories do people want to style it differently, or can you create a create skirt or trouser to complement it?
Channel diversification — new ways to reach customers (wholesale, marketplaces, direct-to-consumer, B2B, licensing). Don’t just sell via your website, sell on socials, sell in physical locations and take pre orders. We want to widen the likelihood of the right customer discovering you. Don’t forget to trial different products in different places.
Customer diversification — new segments who value what you do for different reasons. Is there a different use for one of your products that could interest a new customer? Or another material or colour way that would appeal to a different market?
Keep in mind that adding three new products through the same single channel to the same customer base isn’t real diversification, it’s just more inventory. Real resilience usually means moving on at least two of the above methods together.
Things to keep in mind
A few guardrails keep new revenue streams aligned with why you started and prevent mission drift. Remember, any changes we make need to make sense to the business and the impact you are working towards;
Have your values clearly defined - Decide your non-negotiables (materials, labour standards, messaging tone) before ideas start flowing to avoid going in the wrong direction out of fear or desperation.
Price for the mission, not just the market - Ethical brands sometimes underprice out of guilt. But a friend once told me that when she switched up her pop up locations, the customer that it attracted didn’t question her price. Selling through lines at their full price means you don’t loose money on sales and reduce unsold stock.
Run small pilots - Test new streams with a limited run, a waitlist, or a soft launch before committing real budget. This protects both cash flow and reputation if something doesn’t land.
Communicate the “why” of new offers to your audience - Purpose-driven customers are loyal, but they’re not stupid. A new revenue stream that feels bolted-on for profit will be noticed.
What to do next
Your next steps look like this;
Record and audit your revenue. Write an honest report (or you can feed it into Claude and ask it to revue each stream for strength and resilience.)
Decide which streams to loose and what to add, or strengthen. Maybe a stream shows promise, it just needs a little more of your time, or maybe it’s dead weight and you just need to move on.
Create new ones. Why not plan to trail a new one via a pilot in the next 90 days? You might find a new use for unsold stock, or create a workshop or programme for a new audience.
Remember, diversification isn’t about chasing every opportunity. It’s about making sure the good work you’re doing doesn’t depend entirely on one thing going right forever.
Funding Diagnostics Call
Do you read these emails and think ‘I don’t know where to start’? Or maybe you have started but find yourself stuck and in need of a fresh perspective in how your business makes money? I am now offering Funding Diagnostic Calls for small & micro business founder in need of a collaborate way to diagnose a new funding strategy.
We’ll explore your goals, process, challenges, and successes. I’ll as you focused questions to ensure we build a complete picture of your specific needs, helping you move past any roadblocks.
What to Expect:
You will leave the 50-minute call with:
A fresh perspective on your funding process, helping you to see it differently.
New possibilities and open doors for funding applications.
Clarity on a potential next step, including the option for a follow-up session to ensure you stay accountable and action your points.
Before You Go
🔗 Need more? Connect with us on Instagram & LinkedIn
🎓 Do you have a small business community who could benefit from our knowledge and support? Reach out today to find out about our workshops, speaking and consultancy services. Contact Lucy
📧 Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here and never miss a grant or award opportunity again!