What Global Economics Is Doing to Your Side Hustle
Because international trade policy just jacked up your sticker price
# Channel Ø
**Black Gen Xers. No fluff. Just signals.**
Photo by Kurt Cotoaga on Unsplash
You Didn’t Sign Up for This
You didn’t expect to need an economics degree to price handmade candles.
Welcome to 2025, where tariffs quietly torch your margins like a sneaky house fire.
Spoiler: your Etsy store isn’t safe.
📉 Tariffs Are Coming for Your Bottom Line
Tariffs aren’t just spreadsheet entries.
They’re surprise taxes that hike your costs on materials, shipping, everything.
It’s like getting a root canal you didn’t book.
You bought materials at $2 per unit for months. Margins were healthy. Quitting your day job seemed possible.
Then tariffs hit. Now it’s $2.80, and your supply chain’s slower than a government website.
Your customers blink at the price hike. You sweat.
Tariffs aren’t theoretical. They’re hitting small businesses like yours right now:
Higher import costs
Delayed shipments
Sticker shock
Crushed margins
Global trade isn’t some future threat.
It’s here - and it wears steel-toed boots.
🛠 The Side Hustler’s Guide to Fighting Back
Rethink Your Suppliers
Don’t rely on a single overseas supplier.
Find domestic options
Diversify your sources
Keep backups ready
Price Like a Pro
Pricing under pressure takes guts.
Add cost buffers
Use value-based pricing
Bundle to boost perceived value
Talk to Your Customers
Honesty builds trust when prices rise.
Explain the changes
Use social media to educate
Offer budget-friendly options
Stock Up When It’s Quiet
Plan like it’s going to storm.
Buy in bulk before rates spike
Monitor trade news
Time purchases smartly
Pivot If You Have To
Adapt or fold.
Source locally
Switch to tariff-free products
Add services—they don’t sit in customs
☁️ Trade Policy Is the New Weather
You can’t stop trade disputes.
But you can prepare.
Build flexibility. Think ahead. Keep the umbrella close.
💥 Your Margins Won’t Save Themselves
No one’s coming.
Not the government. Not your supplier. Not the guy selling a six-figure coaching package on Instagram.
Just you. Your plan. Your hustle.
Good news: You’ve done harder things.
You started this from scratch. You adapted before.
You’ll adapt again.
➡️ What’s Next
Still breathing? Good.
Tariffs aren’t going anywhere. But neither are you.
Want to outsmart the chaos?
Read How Tariffs Affect Canada and Shape the Nation's Economic Future
Because when profits shrink, creativity beats cash every time.
Thanks for Tuning In
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