In a recent article posed by smallbusiness.co.uk it was reported that British businesses were least optimistic in the world in the second quarter of 2011!
Hardly surprising!
It’s a simple fact that no matter how hard you work, you sell, you market your products, you do everything and more. If the companies you are marketing your products or services too have no budget to make the purchase even in the face of saying we love it we know it will work, yes I can see it will save us time, money etc; if they don’t have the capital then a sale can’t take place!
It sounds flippant to say this but the old adage that says “nothing in the world ever happens until a sale is made” is very true.
It’s tough out there and talking to the more experienced businessmen and women many of whom have commented that this is the worst recession or downturn they’ve experienced in 25-30 years of trading!
Unfortunately there is no magic wand to wave to make it go away. The interest rates are low with inflation running at 5.0% (RPI) and 4.4% (CPI) it’s difficult to see where it’s all going to end.
On the plus side, the numbers of start ups is on the rise for the second consecutive year up by 9.4% to 396,000 over the year to March 2011. I’d counter that if people are being made redundant or unemployed then they are looking at seizing this opportunity to go for it and set up their own business.
So where is your business headed?
There is a lot to worry about but there’s no point in panicking which is certainly not an effective business strategy the whole economy is not within our power to influence and the most important thing for us to worry about is to seek new opportunities that will help our businesses thrive.
My father now retired after having run a successful print company in the Midlands says it “takes a recession to weed out those companies that shouldn’t be in business, or in his own words, rubbish; the companies that survive are the ones that are doing something right!”
What are you doing to counter the effects of the recession?
What opportunities or ideas have helped you?
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