It’s the topic on everyone’s mind and these days, it’s hard to go anywhere without being hit in the head with talk about the recession. I was having a conversation with my good friend and colleague and she asked me if I would talk to my audience about how I am dealing with the recession.

My first reaction was to run and hide away from the topic. If I pretend it’s not there, it won’t affect me. After thinking about it for awhile, I decided that rather than do a teleseminar or discuss it on an Ask Erin Live session, I would just address it in my ezine.

Please let me know your thoughts after reading the article. Do you agree or disagree with my perspective on the recession?

How Are You Dealing With the Recession?

As a business owner, we have an entirely different set of worries when something like the recession hits. Not only do we still have to maintain momentum and attempt to still drum up sales, we also have to worry about our families and ensure that no matter what happens, we’ll still be able to provide for them.

Often times, this fear of our businesses going ’south’ puts us in a stopped position. We often pull back, quit spending and we wait. We wait for the recession to pass. We wait until the moment where we are back in the ‘good ol’ days’ and business seemed easier.

Those individuals who choose not to sit still and wait it out are not feeling the affects as greatly. Let’s look at why this is.

To spend, or not to spend… That is the question.

When a recession hits, most people stop spending. When people stop spending, the economy starts to shut down. Think of it like a domino affect. If you stop spending, you cut off the supply of an income to a company. Then, those companies stop spending elsewhere which may end up at some point affecting your customers. Then, your clients and customers stop spending.

Now, the idea here isn’t to go out and be wild with your spending. You should still be a bit more cautious and budget appropriately. The idea here is to continue to gently stimulate the economy with moderate spending. Don’t be afraid to plan your trips that you had pre-planned, purchase the help you need in your business and you’ll see that the flow of money will ebb in and out instead of just out.

Streamline, organize and process.

This is the absolute best time to get your ducks in a row, so to speak. When times do get a bit slow, build and create the things you had on that never-ending to-do list of yours. Put in place a passive revenue stream so that when the economy comes back to life, you are ready and able to do BIG things in the world!

The smartest thing is to remain fresh, active and keep doing the things you are meant to do. Look at your current business to see where the holes existed before (when you were swamped and couldn’t work on anything else) and fix them. Come out of the recession better than you went in!

Work less. You deserve it!

Now, this may sound counter-productive to the last point but the idea here is to actually get yourself on a normal work schedule. Since the times may be a bit slow for you, you can more than likely get everything you need done in an eight hour day and still have time to work on the side projects and the organization.

Take some well deserved time with your family and friends so that when the recession is over, you will already be used to getting a lot done in eight hours and you won’t need to slide back into ten, twelve or fifteen hour days.

Breathe.

Lastly, just breathe. Know that the economy will pick back up and have faith that you will sustain through it. The neat thing about a recession is it forces people to become more creative and inspired. People look for new things to offer, new ways to do things and thus, see a much different side of themselves.

(Photo Credit: Marker on Flickr)

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Would you like to use this article in your publication, on your blog or in some other fashion? You can so long as you include this bio with it:

Erin Blaskie is the owner of multiple online businesses but can be found at http://www.erinblaskie.com. Her company helps businesses from around the world take their practice online and create huge success using various internet marketing tactics. Erin herself has been featured in three print books (”Becoming an Online Business Manager” by Tina Forsyth, “My So-Called Freelance Life” by Michelle Goodman, and “The Official AWE Emerging Trends Guide 2009” compiled by the Association of Web Entrepreneurs), honored as Office Arrow’s 2008 Runner-Up Business Woman of the Year, interviewed by countless gurus and media personalities (John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing, Sheri McConnell, Stacy Karacostas, Gina McNew) and featured in major news publications (ABCNews.com, Ottawa Citizen and Employment Journal).

[tags]Erin Blaskie, recession, recession-proof[/tags]