Tip 2: How to start a business in a down economy

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Today I am going to discuss how to start a business in a down economy. This is the second tip, the first tip was given in the previous post. So lets just started

Tip #2 Choose the industry you are going to work in carefully. I don't specifically tell you what industry to choose because you have alot of options available to you. I also am not going to tell you what industry not to work in. Instead I am going to give you some guidelines to follow when looking for an industry to start a business during these tough economic times.

I would recommend that first you look at industries that don't just do well in poor economic times but instead look for industries that usually do fairly well in good times and bad times. For example take nutrition and wellness that is a very large industry that is very consistent and has always at least held it's own during good economic cycles and bad economic cycles. It's not a sexy industry, it never makes big news headlines and therefore most people are shocked when they find out that it's a billion dollar industry. It makes since though. During good economic times people want to lose weight and get healthy, during bad economic times, people still need to lose weight and get healthy. So if you wanted to start say a health foods store and that was something you had an interest in. You would have as good of a chance at making that succeed in a good economy and/or a down economy. Meaning the economy would play less of a factor in that type of business compared to other businesses.

If you are learning how to start a business in a down economy, then you want to consider industries that are resilient historically. For example take the industry of travel. It's the largest industry in the world at over 7 trillion dollars world wide. During good times people want to celebrate and take a great vacation. During crappy economic times they want to take a break from it all and take a vacation. It's a perfect contradiction in our human psyche however, it's one that you can profit from. Travel is more of a "sexy" industry but you have to be strategic in the type of business you choose. For example, it may not be a good idea to just go open a travel agency in a world with travelocity and expedia. However, if you have a business that offers a unique marketing strategy and gives you an advantage over expedia then you may have a winner. I know alot about this because our business is in travel and we have a unique strategy where we do not compete with travelocity or expedia or any other traditional travel outlet. In fact this year 2011 in a "down economy" we are having our most profitable year ever.

When choosing an industry to start your business avoid industries that have been part of a bubble. For example real estate, if you are going to start a business in real estate today then you better know what you are doing. Ironically enough prior to this last economic down turn, real estate would have been an industry I would have look upon favorably in past economic cycles. Real estate historically had done well in good and bad economies however, during this last economic cycle a bubble was created in real estate. If you start a business in any industry that has "bubbled and burst" then you are going to be fighting an up hill battle. Sure it could be done, I am just saying the odds are stacked against you.

Stay tuned for Tip #3

All the best,

Jackie O'Quinn

1-888-309-5759