I'll respond not as a moderator here but as a small business owner.



It all depends on how the small business is set up and run, if it is run under a low overhead with few employees and little debt, then it has a good chance of riding out the bad economy. If however the owners have not planned for the future, have spent too much money on themselves (flashy cars, flashy watches, expensive vacations, etc) and have mortgaged themselves to the hilt as so many others have, then they will not be able to weather the bad economy. At this point it becomes the fault of the business owner and not the economy.

In my case, I do run lean, was able to see what lay ahead and adjusted not only my business spending habits, but my time management (employees), materials management, and adjusted my shop time (I now close at 5pm instead of 6pm to save a little on utility costs) to assist me in staying ahead of the game. Sure I still stay late if a customer needs me to, but the back of the shop is already shut down, so my overhead savings are still in place...So far it has worked without adversely effecting my business or my employees paychecks. I thank my previous employer for teaching me how to think out of the box and adjust things quickly to be able to survive an economic shakeup.


Bill S.