A "Recession-Proof" Small Business?

In this current state of economic uncertainty, do you dare start a new small business? Is it possible to create a recession-proof business? What about"recession-proofing" your existing business?

For a start, you might want a better understanding of what a recession is. Click here for a definition and information from the Canadian government on recession and what it means to Canadians.

Monthly Economic Trends / Canadian Economy

Looking for monthly economic trends and insights on the Canadian economy, trade and economic analysis, or sector/industry-specific economic business information? If so, click here. There are links to Agriculture Canada, Fisheries and Oceans, National Energy Board, Statistics Canada, Industry Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing (CMHC) and much more.

After looking at a number of websites, I've compiled a list of the types of businesses that some people consider "recession-proof", meaning that you might start these types of business regardless of the economic outlook. If you are already in business, take a fresh look at the products and services that you offer in order to reap the benefits of a population who is looking for more reasonably priced products and services.

“Recession-Proof” Businesses?

Health - People get sick regardless of the economy, plus a huge portion of the population is aging

Food - People still need to eat but perhaps choose less gourmet / expensive foods

Death - People still die during a recession and require palliative care and funeral services

Home and Vehicle Repair and Maintenance – Home plumbing, electrical and roofing maintenance and repair are still necessary and cars still break down during a recession

Cosmetics - People want to look their best regardless of the economy, but perhaps choose less expensive products

Home Renovation / Improvement - People may decide to renovate existing homes since that's generally cheaper than purchasing a new home

Debt Collection - Bills still need to be paid and payments are more likely to be late when income is down

Tax Preparation - Taxes still need to be paid

Career/Job Search Related Businesses - People lose jobs during recessions, so more people would be looking for work

Vices - People may be unwilling or unable to give up their vices like tobacco/smoking, alcohol, pornography

Here are some of the links that I looked at and listened to:

Click here to listen to a podcast from BennettGold’s BusinessCast. There are two podcasts on recession called “The Recession Session”, parts 1 and 2.

Click here for a link to Rick Spence’s blog entry called “Your recession survival guide". Rick Spence writes a weekly column on small business in the Financial Post.

Click here to link to an article called "Can you recession-proof your business?". It is written by Jason Safar in the financialpost.com from today.

Click here for Wikipedia's entry on recession-proof industries.

Click here for a March 13, 2002 article called “Want a Recession-Proof Business?” written by Jean Latz Griffin in The Chicago Business Ledger. While written in 2002, the principles still apply.

Click here for 10 tips from bytestart.co.uk to deal with risks to your business during a recession.

Click here for a blog entry written by Robert W. Ply called "9 Recession Proof Strategies". The entry details business sales strategies and may be found on The Direct Marketing Club of New York's site.

Click here for an Ezine article by Susan L. Reid called "Recession-Proof Your Small Business in 2008"; the author discusses seven ways to boost productivity including providing a great guarantee and adding value not price.

Doing Business in China

Everyone’s talking about the great Chinese economic engine. How can your small business get a piece of the action? How can you find out how to do business with China?

Here are some suggestions:

1. Visit your local public library in person or online.

I know I say it often but your local public library is always a fantastic place to start to look for any kind of information; best of all, the information is FREE! Visit your local public library or search their online catalogue from the comfort of your home or office for titles (books, CDs, DVDs, etc.) including the terms “China” and “business”. New titles are being published all the time to take advantage of opportunities. For example, click here for a sampling of titles found at the Oakville Public Library.

Not only can you search the physical holdings of your library, but you likely have FREE access (with your library card) to the full-text of thousands of newspapers, magazines, journals, encyclopedias, tv and radio transcripts, and reference books. Go to what most libraries refer to as online or electronic databases and, with your library card as your username, do a search using the terms “China” and “business”. These databases are just like searching Google or Yahoo! but your library pays for your access to the articles! Click here for a link to the suite of databases at Oakville Public Library that provide business information (they have others too!).

2. Go to your regional business or economic development centre.

For example, if you live in Halton Region, the Halton Region Business Development Centre offers information, business advice, seminars and contacts for small business entrepreneurs to do business locally and globally. These centres partner with local libraries and government agencies to run inexpensive and sometimes free workshops for small businesses. Take a look at the upcoming seminars in Halton Region – click here.

3. Do online market research.

Here are several good sites:

Statistics Canada recently published a document detailing Canada’s trade with China from 1997 to 2006. This document (click here) includes information like leading imports and exports. Notably, “Imports from China were five times higher in 2006 than in 1997 while exports to the country tripled.” Also, “By 2003, the country (China) had emerged as Canada’s second largest trading partner surpassing the U.K. and Japan.”

Industry Canada (Strategis)’s Trade Data Online site (click here) provides import and export data on more than 200 countries including China.

http://www.exportsource.ca/ and http://www.importsource.ca/ – These Government of Canada exporting and importing sites providing a wide range of tools from a network of federal, provincial and territorial departments and agencies to help Canadian businesses do business globally.

The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) offers research, financing and consulting. Click here.

Export Development Canada is Canada’s export credit agency and enables Canadian exporters and investors to expand their international business; here is a link to their China report plus links to much more on China.

The Canadian Trade Commissioner in China assists Canadian companies looking for market opportunities in China. The site also links to:
The Embassy of Canada to China
The Consulate General of Canada, Guangzhou
The Consulate General of Canada, Shanghai
The Consultate General of Canada, Chongqing

According to their site, the World Bank’s “Doing Business” project (click here) provides “objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 178 countries and selected cities at the subnational and regional level.

http://business-china.com/ – This site provides access to information on more than 120,000 Chinese businesses in six major languages as well as industries, products and services.

http://www.chinapages.com/ / http://www.ectrade.com/ – This site contains trade categories to search for companies or products. This site is updated with news and economic information.

The National Bureau of Statistics of China site provides demographic and economic statistics for China.

The People’s Daily Online is China’s national newspaper. Click here.

The Conference Board of Canada is also an interesting place to find information. Most of their information is pricey but surprisingly you can get some of their outstanding reports for free. Here are links to two free reports:
“China’s Productivity Boom: The Contribution of Restructuring to Growth and Competitiveness” and
“Can China’s Growth Trajectory Be Sustained? "

New Year's Resolution: Be a Social Entrepreneur

Do you have a New Year’s resolution? Do you dream of establishing a viable business that also has a positive social impact? Make it your resolution, then, to become a social entrepreneur.

What exactly is a social entrepreneur? According to Wikipedia, “A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change”. Social organizations can be set up as either for-profit or non-profit but the real bottom line is to make social improvements.

More and more information about social entrepreneurship is being disseminated. For example, on December 4, 2007, The Globe and Mail featured a special section called “Report on Social Entrepreneurs”. To view these articles, either go to The Globe and Mail website and search for “social entrepreneurs” or search the online databases at your local public library; note that you will have to pay to view the articles directly from The Globe and Mail website. To save yourself some money, visit your local public library's website to see if they subscribe to an online database like the Canadian Periodicals Index (CPI.Q) which contains newspaper and magazine articles, often with the complete text and access is FREE. (It’s free because public libraries pay for access to databases for their customers’ use. Your library card number is your way in!) For example, click here to access the suite of databases that the Oakville Public Library subscribes to.

If you are seeking to establish an enterprise with social entrepreneurship as its foundation, consider contacting the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship to gain access to their incredible resources and networks.

For further reading on social entrepreneurship, check out what the New York Times calls “a bible in the field”: How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas by David Bornstein, published in 2007 by Oxford University Press. (Tip: To save money, borrow it from your local public library! Like this - click here.)

U.S. Economic Census: Get the Facts on Doing Business in the U.S.

Do you do business with the U.S.? Do you want to set up a business in the U.S.? If you answered yes to either of these questions, consider looking at the U.S. Economic Census data.

The U.S. Economic Census takes place every five years in years ending in 2 and 7. Recently, 4,700,000 census forms were mailed out. The Economic Census profiles American business from the national to the local level.

Click here to see an interesting "Facts for Features" collection of U.S. statistics relating to various types of businesses. For example, find out what the average per capita spending is at drinking establishments and what services landscapers typically offer. To see more economic census releases with data from the last census (2002), click here.

The main U.S. Census Bureau page is located at this address: http://www.census.gov/. It includes population and state/community facts and figures as well as economic indicators and statistics (i.e. housing starts, total business sales) too. Click here for links to business and industry data.