Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

We don`t expect to be affected much, other than an overall tendency for people to spend less money at the moment. But our price point is more toward affordable in the middle range, not big-ticket or small stocking stuffers. We also mostly target people with money (those with boats or a nautical interest), in a niche market.

All in all, we`re not spending more than we make, and we don`t have plans to spend money until after we get whatever we get. I think people would like to have a happy holiday season, but with so much looming on the horizon everyone`s just unsettled.

Bottom line is that the country and world have blown off opportunities to fix all this, time and time again, for 50 years. Now it`s all catching up with everyone. Debt spending likely will shut down pretty much completely, but cash spending shouldn`t change much at the moment.

We are personally and business-wise 100% debt free (accomplished through sacrifice, hard work and just a little bit of luck).

One part of our business has slowed to a trickle (educational software game).  I`ve discounted this and it has made no difference in sales volume.

Another part of our business has taken off with the downturn (an online application that helps schools save money).  I`ve raised my prices with this service and have seen a positive difference.

I see this downturn as an opportunity: an opportunity to get stronger, to expand / grow while others are shrinking or disappearing.

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One of the bits of news that should start coming out now will be the way unsecured credit loans (credit card debt) has been resold and used to shore up investment banking numbers. That and how commercial real estate has been running the same way as the private homes market.

"Debt free" is, I think the key. For anyone with cash, these are days filled with opportunities. To that end, any business that caters to people with cash should do fine. That`d mean the small- and micro-business sector should grow and expand.

We tend to sell direct, not heavily invested in chains and distribution centers. We also tend to "pay as you go," for the most part. "We" meaning these micro-business owners.

I think we`ll find that although the holiday numbers turn out dismal for traditional retail and sales, we`ll learn an interesting "contradiction" to that, when the numbers for e-commerce and small-business sales come out next year.

We`ve had people say that we`ll "muddle through, somehow" for so many years, it reminds me of the old fables and "crying wolf." Now, when the wolf actually appears, nobody believes the warning anymore. I suspect we`re not going to muddle through anything, this time.

And that leads to opportunities. Chaos always leads to opportunities. One major (and historic) opportunity is going to be the massive number of people suddenly wanting to shift over to some sort of self-employment framework. That`ll mean a huge increase in all sorts of skills coming to the micro-business sector.

Y`know that "buy local" rallying cry that`s starting to gain momentum? I think it`s going to grow to an important movement. We`ll start seeing a lot of interesting ways of doing business, perhaps with barter-exchange or some other novel strategies.

But out of it all, I think we`ll also see new products, new services, new concepts, and all of them will lead to new opportunities. The only concern we have, I think, is in the way online fiancial transactions take place. Right now they`re done with credit cards or PayPal type structures. If those start to "crack," we may have som bigger problems.

On the other hand, e-commerce is so huge and growing bigger, I don`t see how that sort of online financial processing could "go away," so to speak.

I am trying to focus more on my business and less on what people are saying.  Business is slow, numbers are down - I am just trying to find ways to reach new customers!

Hey, there, Kidsofcalifornia :-)

I looked at your site, and I think you`re part of the "other side" of all the gloom and doom. That would be the small-business sector, entrepreneurs, and people who sell real products and services.

One of the things we all should remember, and do so clearly, is that during the Great Depression of the 1930s, entertainment and luxury were booming. Look at your own thinking, and similar thinking around this community. People know there`s a problem, but we`d like to let it go every so often, not make it the central theme of life.

As such, people will always have parties, always want to dress up, and always will want to take their mind off of everyday problems. Those with money will party more expensively, but everyone wants an illusion that life is great.

You could use the keywords and phrases for "party" all over your site. "Formal dresses works, certainly enough, but why do people dress up in the first place, right? :-)

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