Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Batten down the hatches for a double dip recession

Whatever you did with your business in 2009 to keep afloat; It is time to do it again. The double dip recession is coming soon, or we may already be in a double dip recession.

When Lehman Brothers went under in 2008, my side business took a nose dive off a cliff from a sales perspective. In 2009, sales were down 15%, despite releasing new products and product upgrades. Recently the stock market has been wary of the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating from Standard & Poors and also the threat of the devaluation of the Euro due to the debt crisis in Greece. The media is also responsible for sensationalizing the doom and gloom. All that being said, my business has taken a nose dive again:

* Sales are off 80%.
* Prospects are virtually silent. Hardly anyone is asking questions about our products. That means future sales will continue to be lower.
* Existing customers are virtually silent. That means customers are doing less projects with our products.

I love this quote from one of my friends; "The predictions of economists make meteorologists look smart."

I am not an economist, all I can see is what is happening in my business. I just hope that the information technology sector does not decrease as a whole.