Is The Economy Helping Or Hurting You

[asprat]

It's not a no-brainer question. There are some businesses that claim to still be doing quite well through this official US recession (actually it seems to be a global economic issue).

I'm thinking mainly in terms of how supply costs are going down. I was reading an article a few months ago about how advanced 800 provider gotvmail was adjusting its prices to reflect recent economic trends -- that proved to be highly prescient. Apple also dropped their prices for Black Friday, a totally unprecedented move. Has this made business tools any more within reach for anybody, or have sales slowed to such an extent that dropping prices make no difference?

[Bill Argatto]

I run a small review site (hostedpbxguide.com) for the hosted PBX market specifically, and GotVMail's price cuts are not a unique thing amongst its competitors. Most companies in the market had been planning this move for a while - Virtual PBX, Voicenation, and GotVMail's recent changes were part of a general trend towards lower pricing in the market that had been building for a while - the market change just made it more important to have that occur immediately, and GotVMail got first press on it. At this point, most of the providers of the hosted PBX service have to compete on quality and value-adding features instead of price.

More to the point for your question, however, most of these industries are also during very well since the downturn. The key concept for the hosted PBX market is cheaper business phone service, and cost-cutting services are always good during these periods. Most of them are reporting significant sales increases since the economic breakdown. Some of them are having a little trouble because of venture capital tightening up, but even those are just scaling back advertising, shifting their strategies, and tightening belts to let the money roll in. On the other hand, more fiscally secure ones have actually increased spending, doing things like website redesign or low-cost advertising to make the most of an economy that remains strong for them.

[Allectus]

The economy is tough on just about every consumer and every business.

But to some degree it is good that we "cleanse" ourselves of bad habits.

Credit, for one is a very bad habit all of have. Consumers and businesses alike. We all lived on credit and became so used to it, we didn't even realize we were using it.

Now, we have to think about what we spend. The fact that retailers and suppliers are lowering prices is a refection of how high priced things were in the the first place. Either way, we were going to pay for what ever we needed via credit.

It's the old supply and demand theory, or the "Field of Dreams", "if you build it, they will come.

If you priced your product or service relative to what consumers are willing to pay (with a credit card), of course they'll buy it.

Now what?

Now, we go back to the way it was in the '70s, cash only.

That's just the way it's going to be.

[D Capra]

The association I represent is doing better than ever.

In two years we have enrolled over 14,000 members.

Small business united can reduce their operating costs enjoy new business and have a voice in the political arena as well.

With the credit crunch, a pay as you go membership does not require a line of credit.

Don't want to brag but what I am offering can't be beat in this economy.

[Peter Bowen]

We are doing better in our one business which is counter-cyclical. Helping business owners get paid for the work that they do.

The take up on our automatic debt collection service is much higher lately than before. I think there are a lot of business owners out there who are starting to feel the pain of their customers paying later and later. We help our users get to the front of the queue when it comes to getting paid.

I feel for mortgage brokers and car dealers right now.

Cheers

Pete

[viper_one]

there is pressure at the bottom of spreadsheets, just like there is pressure at home; Walmart is a lesson towards sales improvement

[birthmarked]

My business has done well in part because there are a lot of companies who are laying off their in-house staff and want to switch to project work.

Also, there are lots of people starting their own businesses that get laid off, so both of those are opportunities for me to step in and help.

Also, I think it helps that my business is more about quality than quantity. We would rather take on 2 projects and do a really good job than to take on 10 and bang them out. This tends to lead to referrals and create advocates for us.

So I would say the economy is helping us in a big way.

[Melanie2009]

I'm just starting a new business, and i decided to do it just BECAUSE it would do well in this crappy economy so I hope it will help.

[Jody_Palmer]

Thank God I am still working, but somewhat the economy is still hurting us.

[tingeofpink]

I think I can say that we are all affected with this economy recession, whether we are aware of it or not. So many people have lost their jobs because businesses are closing. A friend of mine went to work one day just to be told she only has 1 month left in the company. I'm thankful that I still have a job. I really feel for those who are suffering financially. I hope the world recovers from this.