I love helping people start their own businesses, and I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t start one right now. Am I crazy? Maybe, but not for that reason. If you want to begin a small business in the midst of this “recession/depression,” consider a business that will be “recession-proof.”
I’m not sure what the term means, and I can’t find it in any dictionary, but here’s what I think about the two types of businesses anyone can begin at any time, even in the middle of a recession:
1. Businesses that sell things people must have. This includes, of course, food, clothing, and shelter. It also includes health services and their adjuncts, like drugs, natural remedies (less expensive than drugs). It also includes energy, fuels, and their adjuncts. If you can sell something people need, you’ll always have customers.
2. Businesses that sell things people think they must have. This includes those addictions we think we can’t live without. Like chocolate, alcohol, tobacco….
3. Businesses that sell things people want to keep their minds off bad times. In other words, entertainment. During the depression, people still went to the movies because, for a tiny while, they could forget that there were people in bread lines and homeless everywhere.
4. Businesses related to education. During difficult financial times, people go back to school. In past times, they just wanted to be trained for a new job. This day (sadly), they use student loan money to pay for living expenses. If you can instruct something, or coach people, or help them learn a new skill, you have a value to people during a recession.
5. “Make-do” things. People don’t buy new vehicles, and new homes during recessions, but they repair old ones. If you can fix things - like automobiles, plumbing, heating systems - or do home renovation, you can find work.
So, what kinds of businesses are not on this list - in other words, what are “recession-prone” businesses? I believe any business, if marketed correctly, can provide value to customers, even during a recession. What do you think? Is there a kind of business that you should not start during a recession?
Tags: baby boomers, recession-proof small businesses, recessions
Entries (RSS)