Thursday, May 07, 2009
"The upside in times of slowdown" by Amar Bhide
The deck gets reshuffled in a recession as habits are re-examined and patterns of behaviours are broken, perhaps to greater degree than , when things are humming along at a steady pace. And that's what creates business opportunities !
With a down turn, overall incomes, consumer spending, and capital expenditures fall, but not to the same degree for all individuals, products, or businesses !
About 20 years ago, I studies a 100 founders of Inc.magazine's 1989's list of 500 fastest growing private companies in the U.S. Virtually all of them had started between 1981-83 in the midst of an awful recession. But that didn't prevent those founders from starting a new venture - in fact, in many ways, it may have helped !
Several of those successful entrepreneurs , had lost their jobs and hence, were not risking steady careers - and they were able to hire employees, where didn't have great job prospects on the cheap.
Landlords offered leases without asking too many questions about credit histories. Suppliers were willing to wait to be paid. And even though the old economy and the rust belt was in deep slump, the personal computer was taking off, and with it , opportunities not only for new hardware and software professionals but also for retailers, resellers and even magaine publishers.
More than a third of the founders I have studies had started computer related businesses. What were the worst times for the economy as a whole , turned out to be one of the best times for resourceful and opportunistic entrepreneurs !
" upside in times of slowdown " by Amar Bhide
With a down turn, overall incomes, consumer spending, and capital expenditures fall, but not to the same degree for all individuals, products, or businesses !
About 20 years ago, I studies a 100 founders of Inc.magazine's 1989's list of 500 fastest growing private companies in the U.S. Virtually all of them had started between 1981-83 in the midst of an awful recession. But that didn't prevent those founders from starting a new venture - in fact, in many ways, it may have helped !
Several of those successful entrepreneurs , had lost their jobs and hence, were not risking steady careers - and they were able to hire employees, where didn't have great job prospects on the cheap.
Landlords offered leases without asking too many questions about credit histories. Suppliers were willing to wait to be paid. And even though the old economy and the rust belt was in deep slump, the personal computer was taking off, and with it , opportunities not only for new hardware and software professionals but also for retailers, resellers and even magaine publishers.
More than a third of the founders I have studies had started computer related businesses. What were the worst times for the economy as a whole , turned out to be one of the best times for resourceful and opportunistic entrepreneurs !
" upside in times of slowdown " by Amar Bhide
