Another week, another onslaught of doom and gloom. Property prices have dropped again, jobs are disappearing by the thousand, and the government’s coffers are empty.
Thanks to the price of oil, only the very wealthy have enough money to fill their petrol tanks – and even then, they can just about afford to get their BMW Behemoth to the end of the drive before running out of fuel, pounding their fists against the steering wheel, and cursing Darling for not coming up with the Tories’ cunning-but-complex ‘Fair Fuel Stabiliser’ first.
To add insult to injury, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is adamant we’re heading for a recession. Face it, folks; it announced in no uncertain terms yesterday, unless something changes in the next three months, we are in trouble.
Here at Startups, though, we’re optimists. We know it can’t be as bad as all that. And that’s why, in our unofficial role as spirit-lifter and cockle-warmer to entrepreneurs across the land, we’ve come up with five reasons to be pleased you’re running a business right now.
1. Sheer bullishness
Entrepreneurs are known as a hardy lot, and there’s no better time to prove it than during the credit crunch. A survey released in June showed that 45% of you have predicted a revenue growth in excess of 20% in the coming year, while almost 20% of you think your business is resilient enough to withstand the big squeeze. And not only are you growing, but you’re passing on the confidence to your employees: a quarter of you have decided to make recruitment and training your primary investment. Well done, our entrepreneurs.
2. Sorting the wheat from the chaff
As an entrepreneur, you need a certain amount of confidence in your own idea. If it’s a bad one, you’ll find out sooner, and probably at less of a cost, during a recession. As Tory MP and ex-entrepreneur Mark Prisk said during our recent interview: “If you can weather the storm in the difficult times, then your business is robust for all times.”
3. Dwindling competition
‘May the best man win’, goes the old axiom of the competitively minded, and for the winners in the interminable race that is business, now is a better time than ever to get aggressive. George Derbyshire, chief executive of the National Federation of Enterprise Agencies (NFEA), says if your business is on solid foundations, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about. “Take care of relationships – with customers, with suppliers, and with your bank. And if life gets tricky, seek advice,” he says.
4. Get creative
Running a business is one of the most creative things you can do, and hard times require an added measure of imagination. Make like Marks and Spencer – when critics began to suggest the reason for the store’s fall in profits had something to do with its ‘luxury’ image, it came up with its two dine for £10 offer – an idea which gives cash-squeezed customers not just food, but M&S food – on a Lidl budget.
5. Terrified employees
Ah, the sweet smell of fear. Apparently, during a recession, employees are likely to work harder and be more productive just to show you, their employer, that you need them. Derbyshire agrees – “there’s a suggestion that more people are being more careful to look good at work,” he says. Which means you can expect more out of your workers during the next few months.
With a bit of careful planning, your business should be able to survive whatever the economy has to throw at it. See it as a challenge – because as Derbyshire says: “Small business people are resourceful, they’re resilient, and they’re optimistic by nature. That’s why they do it, and that’s what will see them through.”
