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Posts Tagged ‘recession’

You are certainly not alone in this, the whole world is suffering from the recession still at the moment. However are you doing what many companies are doing and just blaming things like a poor advertising agency?

If you are not concentrating enough of your cash flow into advertising then the chances are you are not doing too well as a company. The big companies like Pepsi and Coca Cola can afford to have huge advertising campaigns that include television ads, magazine articles and even mobile phone ads. What can you do to really boost the way in which your company is seen? Well for starters it might be worth looking into hitting your business’s local town. Sometimes this is a lot cheaper and can be a good way to start out advertising for your company. Hopefully this will start to bring you in enough money to go a bit bigger, perhaps regional and then the entire country. There are a number of cheaper options to take when it comes to advertisement. For most companies it started with a simple ad in a local newspaper, it can happen for you too.

Take a good look at the way you run things, have you even got a website, if you have is it any good? The web is becoming more important every single year with companies even being based on the web like play.{com and ebay}. It works if you use the appropriate web designers and SEO team. If you are looking to have your site looked at then look for web desginers in your areas – for example I would tend to Google Brighton web design

Of course getting the right printing design can take you along way because the combination of a seamless online and offline presence for your brand can really work wonders. Get together a meeting with not just the owners but the majority of the company, come up with some quirky ideas, if you think that one is unique then use it as it could be the one that brings in a lot of income for your business.

Many people who are interested in starting an online business assume that because the country is in a major recession right now, this is not the time; however, I ask you to consider the facts:

1. As with most of the major life decisions, e.g., starting a business, getting married, having your first child – there is never a “perfect” time.

2. To become wealthy, you really need to own your own business (93% of the already wealthy do).

3. In 2006, Fortune magazine called direct selling, including network marketing, “the best kept secret in the business world” with a 91% growth over the previous 10 years. It has a market of $30 billion in the United States and $100 billion worldwide. By 2012, that figure is expected to reach 6 billion.

4. Financial experts call it a “recession proof” industry.

5. Warren Buffet called his purchase of a network marketing company the best investment he’d ever made.

6. Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence, called it the first truly revolutionary marketing shift in the past 50 years.

7. Home-based businesses don’t feel as much impact from the high costs of gas, parking and children’s daycare.

8. There are significant tax advantages to owning a home business.

9. Internet businesses are generally easy to start. Just bring some basic language skills and the ability to point, click and follow directions.

10. The internet puts you in control; no more hoping your boss will give you a raise or promotion, no more hoping you won’t be included in the next round of job cuts – plus, the upside is incredible! You really can make a lot of money.

Affiliate programs are doubtless the best methods to start a web business, and most of them also deliver training referring to the product that you’ll be marketing for them.

The issue with the majority of online businesses is that their training is bounded, and generally focused only on teaching you on their product (s). Unfortunately, you will have to have more data and skills than that.

A excellent starting point for collecting all the rest of the education about internet marketing that you’ll need is to enroll in the Online Success for Beginners program.

Don’t be discouraged if you want to start a new business – hundreds of thousands of new businesses will launch in the next 12 months; yours could be one of them. Isn’t it time that you joined them? Aren’t you ready to leave all the job-related stress behind you?

Carpe Diem! Seize the day! Today is the day to start an online business .

Recession Indirectly Affects Other Large Industries

As this nation remains in one of the most serious recessions in the past {40 years, there are many companies that are greatly affected, but go unpublicized~Some industries and small businesses are suffering indirectly because of this nation’s economic recession~The biggest recession that U.S. residents and companies have seen in the past 5 decades continues to indirectly affect many small businesses}.  The main discussion has been on the housing market, financing, stock market, and the banking business.  Many major U.S. owned companies, that employ millions of Americans, are also being affected by the recent drop in these important industries.

At the epicenter of the housing market and property value collapse is Phoenix, AZ – one of the hardest hit locations in the nation.  Loan applicants are quickly finding out that their home is valued at tens of thousands of dollars less than what it was just two years prior.  Lack of home equity has caused some people to just walk away from their homes, in fact, bank foreclosures are higher than they have ever been. 

For those Americans who are not affected by unemployment, housing market decline, and stock market woes – they quickly find out they are wrong.  Many residents who are looking to improve their property in some way often require financial loans of some form.  This home improvement loan generally comes from a local bank, credit union, or credit agency.  As of lately, most potential buyers have not had these loan programs available for many home improvements, swimming pools, or landscape projects.

One of the largest industries hit in Phoenix has been the pool and landscape construction business, who mainly relies on financing and home improvement loans for new pools.  If financial assistance is not available, swimming pool and construction companies end up losing the project, or selling a job that is much lower than expected.  Phoenix pool builders have taken a huge hit, often closing their doors, down-sizing, or diversifying into other markets.  By offering a more diverse range of construction services, such as pool remodels, landscaping, and hardscaping, Some pool and spa companies are generating extra revenue.  General construction businesses have entirely gone into other fields, such as sales, marketing, or consulting.  In an attempt to earn additional money, many Phoenix Landscape Contractors are expanding into fields such as water features, travertine patios, Phoenix Ramadas & Pergolas, and outdoor kitchens.

Some intelligent contractors have figured out the diversity game many years prior to this industry decline, such as Unique Landscapes and Custom Pools, a Phoenix pool and landscaping builder.  Unique is able to offer its customers many different options and services in the home improvement industry because of it’s diversity as a Phoenix pool builder, general contractor, and landscaping contractor.  “By diversifying a couple of years prior into swimming pools, landscapes and general contracting, our business has been able to keep our heads above water during these tough times.  However, the inability for our serious buyers to get construction lending or loans has been crippling.”

“It’s difficult to think about all the money that was given to banks just a year ago for these construction loans, and now it’s almost impossible for our homeowners, who want to spend money, to get this assistance” remarks business owner Chris Griffin, of Unique Landscapes and Custom Pools in Mesa, AZ.  Maybe it’s time for the government to look a little further into some of the struggles of the smaller companies that are greatly affected by this struggling economy.  “Pool financing in Phoenix is getting better” remarks Griffin, “I can’t quite see the end of the tunnel, but I can faintly see the light”.

Retirement Risks

If you’re one of the Baby Boomer Generation, you’re probably evaluating retirement – provided that you haven’t already stopped working.  And if you have previously left work, you’re probably wondering whether you’re going to be able to remain comfortably retired.

Recent financial crisis aggravates the situation greatly by increasing some significant retirement oriented economic contingencies:

1. Average Life Expectancy Has Grown

People are living longer than their parents’ generation. For example, in 1970, a 60-year old white male had a life expectancy of only 16.2 years; but, by 2008, his life expectancy had stretched to 20 more years of life.

So how is the senior going to afford to pay for those additional 3.8 years? There are only a few probable answers to that question:

> Accelerate pre-retirement nest egg building

> Work longer than planned

> Live with with children

> Accept quality of life

2. Spiraling Health Care Costs

Adequately funding one’s medical care programs are some of the most difficult financial activities, mostly because health care needs are so individualistic, with needs varying greatly from one person to another. Long-term care requirements are even more difficult to predict and arrange adequate funding.

Medical expenses have risen at a rate greater than 5% (inflation adjusted) for the past 15 years – and that is higher than the growth in family income. Medicare costs will probably rise as well similarly.

3. Legislation May Limit Retirement Income & Benefit Programs

It is well known that the costs of major entitlement programs (e.g., Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid) are growing more rapidly than other sectors of the economy, and some economists challenge the long-term feasibility of these programs due to the combined effects of increased life expectancy, size of the Boomer population, and rising health care expenses in general.

Moreover, current questions concerning ongoing health insurance during retirement, and at what benefit levels, are rampant in today’s depressed economy – and these questions are further fueled by the reorganizations occurring, especially among the auto industry.

There is currently a lot of discussion concerning a national health care system – but such discussions have been active for decades, with few results to show for those efforts. Although President Obama will be leading a national health initiative this year, many people expect a lot of opposition from Congress.

Most people expect that seniors over age 55 will be exempted from reductions in these social programs, but providing full coverage for them is a two-edged sword – doing so increases the likelihood of a new tax, which would likely add to retirement tax burdens.

4. Retirement Dates Are Frequently not Totally Up to the Individual

Per the 2004 Health and Retirement Survey (HRS), 37% are forced to retire. This can occur due to bad health or economic downturns, etc.

5. 401Ks Have Been Decimated

Were your savings (including your 401k) devastated with the stock market meltdown in 2008? My investments were deeply affected. Many people saw their 401k and other stock market accounts take a 50% hit, which has led many comedians to rename them “201k”. For many people, their 401k was the bulk of their retirement savings, so this stock market crash has really damaged their retirement plans.

Humpty Dumpty Was Not a Retirement Expert

Not all the news is bad. Luckily, you can repair a broken “Nest Egg”.

You can work longer, semi-retire and take a part-time job, work from home, start your own business, etc.

If you’d like to start an online business, but are hesitant because you’re not an internet expert, one excellent place to start for gathering all the education about internet marketing that you will need to be successful is to enroll in the Online Success for Beginners program.

A study by Butrica, Smith and Steuerle (2006) indicated that working just one (1) extra year can increase annual retirement income by 9%, while working a total of five (5) extra years results in an additional 56% annual retirement income.

If you’d like to learn how to produce a supplemental income, so that you can have a comfortable, financially secure retirement, check out Darren Salkeld’s new MaxPro Marketing System and get his FREE Report and FREE Audio describing the age-old secrets of creating wealth.

Many people believe that we may be through the worst of this current economic downturn, or perhaps they are just saying this in an attempt to restore some confidence back into the system. Over the last couple of weeks I have been asking my business contacts whether they have started to see any of those green shoots, the famous starting sign of a recovery. Here is what they said:

Out of all of the people that I asked or surveyed for want of a better word only fifteen percent stated that they had seen the first signs that things were starting to improve. I would have preferred it if this percentage had been some what higher. I personally do think that things are starting to slowly improve, with slow being the operative word. This recession has cut quite deep and any wound this deep can not heal overnight.

More surprising and perhaps worrying is the fact that sixty percent of those people interviewed thought that the economic situation had become even more severe over the last three months and that their businesses were finding it increasingly tough.

I am by no means an expert in the field of the economy however I do have a number of business interests including ones where people are able to obtain cheap calls and also with a group of cost reduction consultants. My main expertise however is with helping people to overcome their stuttering speech impediments.

So when can we expect the recovery to really start in earnest? Well this answer is, of course, very difficult to answer and calling the bottom of the market can only ever be guess work. I will however give my opinion, for what it’s worth. I personally think that 2009 will continue to be a tough year, that in 2010 we will start to see that all important recovery and that in 2011 we will see some very strong growth.

The above opinion is given due to what we already know, if there is a lot more bad news out there of which we have not yet been told of then this opinion will no doubt have to be reviewed.

When Will This Credit Crisis Ease?

They talk about the green shoots of recovery; well I have not seen any, have you? I personally think that it is a form of increase confidence trick; an attempt to make people believe that the worst of this current recession is over.

They, and when I say they I am talking about the Government and business leaders, are no doubt hoping that this new confidence (false as it undoubtedly is) will spur people on to start spending money again; to start buying houses etc. In reality the only way this credit crunch will ease is when the banks start to lend money again, at reasonable interest rates. I am already started to read reports about the ways in which these bankers have returned to their greedy bonus culture? The bigger question is why are the Government allowing them to make the same mistakes again when we, the taxpayer, are the major shareholder? There is a real lack of leadership at the moment and it is about time somebody at the top started to crack the whip.

Now I am not some financial whizz kid who thinks he has all of the answers. I am in fact just an average working class guy from the UK who runs a web promotion company and who also has a partnership in a company that offers a professional DVD duplication service. I do however watch and listen in amazement at times when I see what some of the politicians and greedy bankers say – they really are not in the real world – they probably would have absolutely no idea as to the average cost of a pint of milk or loaf of broad – they are complete jokers and a waste of space.

I personally believe that this current credit crisis will last until the end of 2010, at least. I know that this seem rather negative but it is just my opinion on the situation. I may well revise my opinion if we were to change in Government or a new stronger, dynamic leader? Bring in Vince Cable I say as the new Labour leader!

Consumer behaviour is changing and it is looking to stay that way for the foreseeable future. Throughout the boom of the last few years, we have seen very small business adequately competing with the bigger brands. Many of these websites have gone local to global in a very short space of time, thanks to their prices. People were willing to buy products and services from a company or website they’d never heard of, if the price was lower. But business are loosing the battle against the recession every day, many of them most likely leaving customer orders unfulfilled, thus consumer confidence is at an all time low. What does this mean? well it means that all of those bargain hunters are returning to the big brands that they recognise, even if that means spending more money, because they don’t want to take the risk.

With the recession causing people to loose their jobs, some have looked to the internet as a portal for their salvation, but starting their own business. But even in the recession, web business is booming, Barclays showed that even in the credit crunch 98,000 new business popped up over only a three month period. It can be a thankless route to success. Around the same number of businesses failed during that period too!

I believe that most new online business fails due to bad branding. You brand and logo are the first things that your future customers see. This is how you are judged by those who keep your business afloat, the people logging in everyday to buy your goods, that see you as a logo and that logo is critical to the process. But it’s so often the case that startup owners put off paying professional logo design in the initial stages. All to often its “Lets see how many customers we can get before we think about branding”.So what they do is, try to knock one together in paint or get a mate down the pub to create one. Many new companies unfortunately opt for cheap Vista Print Logos or free clip art to design their brand.

This isn’t acceptable for a Brand. All web business now more than ever, need to look much bigger and much more capable via good marketing, to retain customers and encourage new ones.  In these anxious times the image of stability and reliability is more crucial than ever. Very small businesses need to look like a much bigger business, its possible. As I’ve touched on above, people nowadays are more and more attracted to bigger brands and bigger companies. And finally, a good image will make it more likely for customers you do have to refer you to their friends and family.

The bottom line is this. Bankruptcy will hit around half small business very early on in their life, usually within two to three years. Badly planned marketing strategies are thought to be the main cause of most websites decline. A custom logo design helps you create the right image for this marketing to succeed. So do yourself a favour – start looking at some sample logos in your industry and see what the successful ones have in common.  Then get yourself a proper graphic designer to plan and create a great corporate identity that will help you not only stay afloat but truly stand out and succeed.

The current climate is causing a real shift in how consumers use the internet. Throughout the boom of the last few years, we have seen very small business adequately competing with the bigger brands. Many of these websites have gone local to global in a very short space of time, thanks to their prices. Before the recession web users searched out the best price for the products they wanted, now they look for the best brands that will still be there when they need them if something goes wrong. But business are loosing the battle against the recession every day, many of them most likely leaving customer orders unfulfilled, thus consumer confidence is at an all time low. What does this mean? well it means that all of those bargain hunters are returning to the big brands that they recognise, even if that means spending more money, because they don’t want to take the risk.

Although in times such as these when people are worried for their jobs or loosing them, some start to consider their dream business online and of being their own boss. Research from Barclays last year showed that there were 98,000 start-ups created in the UK within a three month period, despite the credit crunch. Yet it’s a tough road to go down. While nearly 100,000 new start-ups are taking off another 100,000 are crashing to the bankruptcy pile!

I believe that most new online business fails due to bad branding. You brand and logo are the first things that your future customers see. It’s crucial to what people use to judge whether you are trustworthy or not. But it’s so often the case that startup owners put off paying professional logo design in the initial stages. It seams to be a matter of “Lets wait and see what happens, then we will design something”.Then they design one themselves in photoshop and thinking that looks fine, load it up to the site. Many go for free clipart template business cards and stationery design from somewhere like vista print.

This isn’t acceptable for a Brand. All web business now more than ever, need to look much bigger and much more capable via good marketing, to retain customers and encourage new ones.  In these anxious times the image of stability and reliability is more crucial than ever. You also want to avoid looking like a very small business, even if you are one. So, these days online customers are looking back to the bigger brands or at least who they deem to be the big brands. And finally, a good image will make it more likely for customers you do have to refer you to their friends and family.

The fact of he matter is. About 50% of all new start-ups are forced into bankruptcy within only a few years. Experts agree that one of the main reasons for failure is poorly thought out  and shoddy marketing. A custom logo design helps you create the right image for this marketing to succeed. So do yourself a favour – start looking at some sample logos in your industry and see what the successful ones have in common.Find yourself a professional designer who can carve out a unique identity for your brand and ensure its success in such a stormy climate.

The mark of a serious recession is when people start changing their once firmly held opinions of what they couldn’t live without. Research conduced by Pew Research Center of a large number of US residents asked what household appliances and everyday items were being considered a lower priority as a result of the credit crunch. They posed the question “which of these are a luxury you could live without and which are a necessity?” regarding a number of household appliances and gadgets. The list ranged from cars to air conditioners to microwaves to cell phones.The results, perhaps shocking to some, show how more and more of us are becoming increasingly frugal with our purchasing decisions on ‘big ticket’ household appliances and electronics.  Owning a microwave became a luxury for 21 percent of people compared with 2006. Having a home or portable air conditioner stopped becoming a luxury for 16 percent of people asked compared to a few years ago. Maybe the most surprising result was the fact that 12% less people considered a TV to be a necessity in the home.The items that didn’t take a hit in the survey were new-age gadgets such as ipods, mobile phones and broadband – these have become the things we can’t do without.

To be honest many of the results don’t surprise me all that much.You only have to ask around to friends and family to see that frugality is becoming key as we live in fear of rising prices, reduncancies and difficulties in obtaining credit. I suppose from now on it will be about spending the minumum necessary to get by. Having a ceiling fan instead of air conditioning during the hot summer we have coming ahead. Staying with the same refridgirator or mattress that you’d like to replace but dont desperately need to. Not driving your car as much to cut back on fuel costs and mechanic bills. I believe we can make do with these types of compromise to be honest. What I and many others are really worried about though is that this is only the tip of the iceberg, and the situation could get too bad to be resolved by smarter household budgeting.  Maybe at that point people will start to think about all the billions we pay in taxes that gets spent on war, bank buyouts and corporate kickbacks, and start to demand some real change in our society.

Perhaps it’s something to do with all the money troubles, not to mention weather troubles, here in the UK. But more people are looking at buying a second home that they can use for credit-crunched domestic holidays and to generate some additional revenue for the other 11 months of the year. Thousands have even opted for leaving the UK altogether to seek out a less stressful lifestyle by buying property abroad.

Choosing to follow this route is becoming even easier, no matter what age group you are, you can still buy new property or even move abroad, however, whatever you do, you will still need to protect your new investment. Finding a company that will give cost effective cover for second home insurance and overseas property insurance isn’t as easy and can often be more costly than you might imagine.

Deciding on a company to insure your new home can be a tricky job, not to mention expensive. This is because insurance companies know that second homes are generally left unoccupied for lengthy periods of time, because of this, the home can face weather damage like burst pipes. Although it’s possible to work your way around these obstacles, you can still be knocked back by the concern of damage caused by or to the current guests.

If you do obtain cover you will probably find that most holiday home or buy to let insurance policies have restrictions in the small print. Because of this, you can get a shock when you find out your insurance is not valid when you make a claim as you haven’t correctly crossed every T and dotted every I. Although they may be hard to find, there are some providers out there that understand that as it is a second home, it won’t be occupied all year round.  

To help you out when buying your insurance, there are some second home policies that have no exclusions the small print. Also, if you choose to rent out your second home, those policies also come with extra protection like £5m public liability insurance and content protection against damage that has been caused by unrulely guests.