Recession Proof Businesses – The Top 5 Vital Qualities for Owners of Recession Proof Businesses

As a business owner, business consultant, and business professor, I have been asked numerous times for the secrets of recession proof businesses. Recession proof businesses that I work with all seem to have one thing in common: recession proof business owners. Here are the top 10 vital qualities of recession proof businesses and their owners.

1. Recession proof businesses have owners who keep themselves out of the muck. The muck is that doomed sense you feel when you turn on the evening news and you learn about the 60,000 lay-offs that are happening. Or how the banking industry is tanking. It is also the sinking feeling you get as you listen to family and friends complain about not having enough money or losing their jobs. If you let yourself get caught in the muck, you can easily spiral downwards into wondering if your business will survive. Stay above the muck. Focus on what is working and avoid as much negative press and media as possible.

2. Owners of recession proof businesses are open to just about anything. I just read an article about a courier company in New York City. When all the trains and buses went on strike, the company had the potential to lose 80% of its business because it couldn’t use public transportation. So it started offering free car services to all of its clients as it delivered its packages by car. In order to use the car service, companies had to become clients of the courier company. They doubled their business at a time when they could have lost it. Decide first that your business is going to get through this recession – and then be open to new ideas about how that will happen.

3. Simplify, simplify, simplify. Recession proof businesses seem to be very good at cutting unnecessary expenses at times like these. As a business owner, now is the time to get really familiar with the numbers and see where you can negotiate lower costs. Perhaps you need to switch to less expensive vendors or negotiate lower fees? Or are there frills that you could do without? Remember that the recession won’t last forever.

4. Realize that people are spending money in much lower amounts, but they are still spending. Recession proof businesses are taking advantage of selling products and services in smaller packages at lower prices. But they are making up for it by selling a larger quantity. For example, in my coaching business, Ideal Balance, I have doubled the number of people in my nutrition bootcamp, which costs $295 (www.lifeandbodymakeover.com). But requests for my six-month coaching program, which costs about $2400, have significantly decreased. Try creating programs and products that cost much less at the entry level. Then work on new marketing methods that will sell a higher quantity of them.

5. Get very good at what you do. Recession Proof Businesses have owners who realize that this kind of economy separates the men from the boys. If people are going to spend money on your product or service, they must be very convinced of its quality and value. As business owners of recession proof businesses, now is the time to dot your I’s and cross your T’s and make sure that every part of what you offer is the highest quality it can be and the best on the market.