It might seem crazy to start a business in a recession but according to Ian Selwood of Randall & Payne, fortune favours the brave so don’t throw away those business plans just yet.

You need guts and determination to start a business in tough economic conditions. There are however, distinct advantages to getting your enterprise off the ground now instead of waiting for the green shoots to grow

1. Easier to negotiate with suppliers

As businesses fail or scale down their operations suppliers will be looking to fill the gap quickly with new customers. This means that your suppliers will be more welcoming to start-up businesses. You’ll be able to negotiate more competitive terms of supply in the current climate than you would in a thriving economy.   

2. Easier to recruit good staff  

With unemployment at a ten year high you’ll have no problem recruiting a high calibre of staff to your business. When times are good and unemployment is low it’s a jobseeker’s market so finding and retaining good staff is costly and time consuming.

3. Cheaper marketing

As many businesses cut their marketing budgets significantly advertising, PR and marketing are available at a fraction of what they’d cost outside of a recession.  Shop around, with massive redundancies in the marketing sector there’s a wealth of freelancers offering much more competitive rates than the agencies they came from.

4. Customers are shopping around more

In a recession, customers demand more and shop around to get it so they’re more likely to look for smaller or start-up companies that offer genuine value for money. It’s vital that you make your customers absolutely central to the business. If you can build customer loyalty in a recession you’ll reap the rewards when the economy thrives again.  

Randall & Payne are sponsors of the Gloucestershire Media Business Awards’ Start-Up of the Year category. To speak to Ian Selwood about starting your business call 01242 548600.