What's the formula for success in a recession?

You can afford to postpone buying a new car unless yours has been involved in a really bad accident. You can postpone a holiday to one of those exotic places no matter how long you have been thinking of it. You can forget about buying jewellery when money is tight. You can be careful with your expenditure, knowing not how the financial situation in the next few months would be like. But, you certainly cannot go without food for more than a day. Of course, you need clothes too.

People have to eat to survive; to have the energy to work at something. Food items are essential to life.

Unless you decide to move into the Himalayan Mountains to live the life of a yogi (I am told and have read of a number of them being naked in their caves in those extremely cold weather.), or move into some uninhabitated remote areas, clothes are an essential part of modern day living. And when they wear out, you have to find replacements unless you do not wish to come out of your room.

Since it is a recession and people are more careful with their money, does everyone go to a roadside stall to look for clothes and food? Look around you and see the resounding answer. It's "NO!".




So, restaurant owners and supermarket entrepreneurs do not have to scale down their business and operate as stalls. That's perfectly normal. For, no matter how the financial situation is, there will always be people who have the money to afford everything. Such people certainly will still be eating in big, pricy popular restaurants.

So, big businesses and small stalls have their roles to play. Both can be popular.

Then, why are some small stalls not as popular as others. First, it's the location. Then, it's the quality and taste of the food offered. Don't forget about the relationship factor. Business people who are friendlier are always better at attracting people to their places. Finally, it's the price and the amount of food served.

Look at the father and daughter in the picture below. Comparatively, their food is just as tasty as most stalls but with the same price, the amount of food given is more.The quality is also good. Not only that, they exchange greetings and small talk with their customers whenever they have the opportunity to do so.


When it comes to restaurants or big shops, it's also location and the price. If it is too pricy, some bosses might only go there when there are clients to entertain.

It's the same with supermarkets. There are those which are struggling along while a few are doing good business with lowered prices and equally fresh, quality food.

Some, to cut down on overheads, even reduced the air-conditioners used, making the atmosphere in such places not so conducive to comfortable shopping.

The formula could be: Earn less per item but with more items sold, the profit could be just as good. If the profit is good enough to sustain the business, that would be sufficient to beat the recession.