Setting up a business in an economic downturn may seem like an unnecessary gamble but if you’re willing to take the risk, it’s a gamble that could return real rewards.

 

Shed Simove, an ambassador for the Make Your Mark campaign which aims to encourage entrepreneurs by providing them with contacts and information believes, “Problems create opportunities. In an economic downturn why not focus on providing services for others to get through it.”

 

Ensuring your business offers something that makes it stand out from others in the same sector will help to keep and even increase customers during tough periods, says Simove.  

 

Simon Woodroffe, the entrepreneur who set up the Yo! Sushi chain reckons that if people have the passion, energy and belief in what they do, then “anytime” can be the right time to start a business.

 

Though agriculture was going through a difficult time Linda Williams and her husband set up a farming business in 1999. They spotted a gap in the market for local organic food and HSBC lent them money to buy land and even though it took until 2005 before they saw a profit, they now run a farm shop as well as a farm, have six full-time staff and an annual turnover of £300,000.

 

‘When we began the business everyone said that we were mad, but we saw there was an increasing demand for local organic food that wasn’t being met,’ says Linda.

 

Last year, foot-and-mouth disease left the Williams with an empty shop and hit profits hard, but Linda say’s she doesn’t regret starting the business when she did.

 

“There were a few times when we wondered how we would manage, but we had a good relationship with HSBC and were able to get additional funding when we needed it. If you have the passion and determination you can make it work.”

 

Simon Briault of the Federation of Small Businesses warns that, “The margin for error is much smaller in tough economic times so budding entrepreneurs need to consider the financial viability of their business very carefully” so it may be more difficult to set up a new business now than it was a few years ago.

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