I agree with you in a lot of respects Bill, the local businesses I have seen fail around here are usually the ones that have buried themselves in payments …..new equipment bought on time at low interest self indulgence etc…..which was good until the business started to fall off.

The outfits I’ve been looking at (and wondering about) lately are the ones that have specialized on a very narrow segment of the market. Specifically the couple of companies like the ones specializing in only 472-500 Caddy parts, Hemi Parts or even custom rear ends. As the economy worsens I can definitely see sales falling off to the point where good business practices or not the doors may have to close.

I personally am looking at prioritizing some parts purchases just in case when I am actually ready to start some of these projects the parts will actually be on hand.