Will this be your best year ever

Things are not as bad as they feel. Or so RBA Governor Glenn Stevens.

For the business owners suffering, this news should be comforting. But for many entrepreneurs, things are still going very well. Now, this may be because they are yet to feel the impact of the global recession. Bad luck for them because it also means they will be last out.

But it could also be that their industries are recession proof or their business is just so good, that they will barely feel the impact.

In 1993 I was researching fast growth company owners with RMIT University. I asked the entrepreneurs how badly the recession had affected their businesses. About 51% say they barely felt the affects of the recession and 16 %say they were not affected one little bit! Only 2% of the companies said the recession had a very severe impact.

Instead, most of the entrepreneurs celebrated the opportunities the recession had created. Outsourcing companies did very well as big companies retrenched staff and then had to replace those people by buying in services. Other companies were thrilled at picking up cheap businesses and assets, buying property at rock bottom prices, getting great retail locations and so it went on.

As Ron Harris from computer retailer Harris Technology said in 1993: “Many of our competitors went broke and we became very efficient.” Of course, he went on to sell his small business to Coles Myer for millions.

So if you are one of the lucky ones, don’t sit back and wonder when the bad news is going to start flowing. This could be your best year ever.