Best Businesses to Start in a Recession?
photo credit: Conor Lawless
Financial analysis company Sageworks has released a study that ranks industries by their net profit margin in 2008. The study only tracked privately held companies.
The top ten most profitable industries in 2008 were:
- Offices of dentists
- Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services
- Legal services
- Offices of other health practitioners
- Support activities for mining
- Offices of physicians
- Outpatient care centers
- Coating, engraving, heat treating and allied activities
- Nondepository credit intermediation
- Agencies, brokerages and other insurance related activities
Are these the best businesses to start in a recession?
Jaclyn on January 27th, 2009 2:27 pm
I can really see why any type of dental, health care and legal services would be on the top 10 list of business’ to start. if you think about it, there will always’ be crime, divorce, child custody battles, bankruptcies and more where people will need a lawyer, and there has always’ been and will always’ be a huge need for health care and dental care in the world.
tom on January 28th, 2009 7:28 am
I think you can start any business as long as there is passion in it and you can offer a unique service/product.
Too many people have become frightened of the word, recession. They let this fear drive their drive now and that is why they end up losing their job, home.
We need to be positive, I think this is a perfect time for our economy to be switching to something new, like green
cassy on January 29th, 2009 9:12 pm
i dis agree coz at this present time people are on the time of cost cutting of the budget and they have priority ,all we need to do in this down economy is to be possitive and be practical!
Dan on January 30th, 2009 6:37 pm
I agree with Tom. After the company I worked for closed its doors, I started a brink and morter business repairing computers and selling affordable refurbished/reused computers. I targeted first time users, low income families, and the budget minded. Since I do not sell new PC’s the two computer shops in town (pop. 13,000) do not perceive me as a “threat” and have referred new customers to me. Its a “green” business as the computers I’m selling would have been sent to a landfill or dumped in a third world country. To generate traffic in the store I started prices at $35 for a complete system, including an OS (Ubuntu).
Jim Campbell on February 1st, 2009 9:11 am
Lose the fear and worry. Develop your cause, take the action(s), visualize the results every day (especially just prior to falling asleep) and always KEEP GOING!!! Never give up. You can only fail if you quit.
cleaning business on February 2nd, 2009 11:40 am
I started my first cleaning business in a recession and did great! I started my second in the poorest county in the US and did great. These big picture scenarios that the media pound out daily have an effect, but it is not a total effect. Often a down turn brings incredible opportunity for the person willing to work hard.
Home Based Business on February 3rd, 2009 9:56 am
I think the last thing we “need” to do is be practical. Now is the time to get more creative and more ambitious. I agree with Tom, Jim and Dan. More millionaires were created in the Great Depression than in any other time in history. You have to ask yourself why?
There are probably many reasons but I think the main one is the fact that they identified a need and fulfilled that need. Simple business!
What are people looking for now? A way to make more money. They can either get a job or start a business. Thousands of people are turning to a home based business every day! I think that Home Based Business should be added to your list!
Health Care Solutions on February 3rd, 2009 1:08 pm
The best business to start in a recession are businesses related to health. No matter how the economy is operating, people will always have to go the dentist, doctor, pharmacist, etc. During a recession, people will always be looking for ways to save money on services they already use. Therefore, the best business to start in a recession are businesses related to health care and making it more affordable.
Raj on June 12th, 2009 8:17 pm
We predict the economy will boom in mid or end of 2010, but this is the time to explore new opporunities and get started with, I would say be ready for an upturn. I have also read an article published by experts to start business supporting for jobless people, more and more jobless are expected and providing a service to them can help them and earn some money. Providing a service to a company to protect data from terminated employees will be a good idea too during this time. Alternatively Dubai, UAE is a best place for tax free opporunities, you can easily buy an existing business with a small capital and get visas for long to stay in the country.
Jonathan on August 14th, 2009 9:21 am
We have a business based on Virtual Offices. It is a great business in this time of crisis because we help businesses and individuals to reduce costs and offer them a great variety of services and benefits. To make it simple, anyone can have a office, phone, full time live receptionist for less than $140/month. We have clients from all over the world and many of them had large companies in the past and now have to cut costs. For anyone interested our website is http://www.offixsolutions.com
Hope that help.
Trump Network on August 22nd, 2009 11:31 pm
Wow, I agree with “Home Based Business”. He definitely has a point. One of the greatest industries around in a recession are Network marketing and home based businesses. This should definitely be added to the list. But thank you for sharing your research and expertise! It’s great to know what people are looking to do when job security goes out the window!
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