Slump busters
FSB caught up with small businesses who are thriving despite the downturn. Are you finding ways to grow in hard times? Tell us about it.
From j.P. I live in Sioux Falls, SD, where we have always had an economy of our own. We have no state income tax, housing is affordable, people are nice and business is booming!!! If you can brave the cold and are willing to work hard, we have plenty of jobs and homes and it shows. I'm told 10 people a day move here and we have the most restaurants per capita, showing that people have money to eat out :) We need people to come work here. Life is good (but cold in the Winter).
This leads me to believe the media is full of hype on the economy for election year. Life is simply booming in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
From Joe, Denver, CO Most big companies are letting people go, so they can horde cash at this time. It's the smaller companies that release how much talent is bleeding out of major corporations right now. These are the same business that will try to get current staff to do 2 or 3 jobs at a time, only to realize they need to hire people if they want to make a profit. It’s a never ending cycle with big business… and they’re supposed to be the smart ones.
The best tactic now is to look at the smaller, local firms. Chances are they're much more nimble and much smarter than big business. These firms are hiring talent that is being turned away from the cash hording major employers. They know that now is the time to strike if they want to get the cream of the crop. Big business is eventually going to realize they have cut too deep, and are in desperate need of talent again. But, the best talent will be sucked up into smaller firms that offer more family time and values.
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My husband and I have owned a roller skating center in Searcy, AR, since July, 2005. When gas became $3.00 a gallon, business slowed down. Now that it is $4.00, we really began to hurt.
What did we do about it?
We are attempting to refinance our business loans to achieve an overall lower interest rate.
AND
We are looking to invest additional monies, about $100K, to add mini bowling, to turn the skating center into a Family Entertainment Center to attract more customers and generate additional revenue.
But we refuse to give into the recession. We WILL come out on top.