Tools
We are trained and/or certified to administer and interpret the following assessments for your personal growth or team enhancement.
LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT ASSESSMENTS
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
Driver Decision Style Exercise
FOR TEAMS, TEAM BUILDING, AND SUPERTEAMS
TeamView 360
Dealing With Conflict Instrument (DWCI)
Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI)
Fundamental Interpersonal Relationships Orientation (FIRO-B)
Dyer’s Need for Teambuilding
FOR-PROFIT AND NON-PROFIT ENTREPRENEURS AND INTRAPRENEURS
Entrepreneurial Success Scale
The Best Small Businesses to be in For 2009
by Rex Walters, Ph.D.
The best small business opportunities for 2009 in Santa Cruz County, and the Monterey Bay area, tend to be those that are a little less sexy, but more tried and true. In conversations and consultations with a great many local experts and small business pundits, I have put together my tops picks for good small businesses to be in during the next couple of years. Small businesses selling the basics, or providing the basic services should do well; anything considered fluff or extravagant probably won’t do as well. But one caveat: quality and value NEVER go out of style, so if you are involved in higher ticket items, or services, just make certain your customers PERCEIVE THE VALUE!
1. Repair Businesses
Let’s face it. People will be buying new less often,and fixing and recycling more. This means everything from the refrigerator to the car you drive to the coat on your back. Auto repair, bicycle repair, furniture repair, computer repair, seamstress; you name it. If it has value and can be repaired for less than new, then this should be a going concern. Automobile repair in particular stands out. Cars have come so far from my first car, a 1962 VW bug, that even if you are a halfway decent mechanic, you still gotta take your car in to the professionals these days; they are just to complicated to fix in your living room!
2. Fast Food Franchises or Stand-alones
So many people LOVE fast food that, like it or not, it is here to stay. Fast food franchises invariably make money, but here in Santa Cruz we offer a unique twist: we have some high-end and healthy fast food. Not to name names, but look around at the taquerias, health food restaurants, and semi-healthy foods restaurants specializing in “to go” orders. Tasty food perceived as value will always sell, but again, make sure your customers perceive the value. And heck, give your regulars a freebee once it a while. Even free ice tea goes a long ways towards loyalty.
As for standard issue fast food, so many people eat it so often that they will continue to eat it rain or shine.
3. Collection Agencies
Ouch! This one’s gotta hurt, but here it is anyway. Yes, when times get tough, the tough stop paying. Many businesses will contract out their debt collection needs, and thereby avoid the heavy emotional hit of hounding customers to pay up.
If you have the ability to adopt the repo man persona, then consider starting up a collection service. You might consider serving an apprenticeship in an existing one to get your chops down first, however, just in case it turns out you can’t stomach the work.
Also, I perceive a real market niche for a “collections with a heart” business approach. Ultimately, we are all in the same boat, and sooner or later, there but for fortune…..
4. Medical Services and Equipment
All of us baby boomers are aging, and with this aging demographic, comes a greater and greater demand for medical supplies and equipment. Consider all of the tilt-up beds, wheelchairs, walkers, portable potties, and bathroom safety equipment necessary as we age and attempt to hold on to our independence and mobility.
Also, let’s not forget dental labs. Much of the medical, health, and healing world is currently golden with the SBA. The SBA also currently likes chiropractic offices and veterinarians, in addition to MD’s.
5. Education and Career Change Professionals
In this category I am lumping together college professors, trade school teachers, life coaches, and career counselors. And of course, any consultant that specializes in education or career opportunities.
Any time the economy worsens, there is tremendous attrition in the corporate and small business world. Virtually all of these people will end up in either the same job under new circumstances, or in an entirely new job or profession. Either way, more than any time in the past 20 years or so, training, education, and personal development experts will come to the forefront. Just a caveat: If your position requires you to have a legitimate college or graduate degree, GET THE DEGREE. In this market sector more than any of the others, you need to model the behavior you claim to teach.
6. Cleaning Businesses
Let’s face it, there is a huge labor market in America filled with millions of people doing tasks that the rest of us just don’t want to do, such as: changing your tires, picking up the garbage, cleaning the house.
No matter how the economy is doing, houses get dirty, and businesses get dirty. For a detail-oriented person with decent customer skills, house cleaning, maid service, and commercial janitorial are skills that will always be in demand. Remember: No one at the office wants to come in on Sunday and do a thorough cleaning. There will always be a demand for this service. Seniors are also a target market for cleaning services, and generally don’t throw as many beer-busts!
7. Sports Equipment
Santa Cruz loves to surf! Surfers will buy surf and surfing-related items with their last dollar, rather than spend it on food or shelter. However, they may hold onto their used boards and wetsuits longer, so again, used sports and sporting goods equipment should do well in a down economy. The same holds true for sailors, wind and kite surfers, outrigger canoe paddlers, mountain bikers, soccer players, skiers, snowboarders, and so forth. If you love it, live for it, think about it all the time, then you gotta have it. Period. Look for used surf and sporting equipment stores to do well.
8. Senior Care Facilities and Services
This one is an area many experts agree on. Again, our aging baby boomers either have parents needing some form of assisted living or in-home service, or are starting to need some of these same services ourselves. Also, think about providing contractor services to this population: in-home care, pre-cooked meals, errand services, or house cleaning (see above).
Senior care runs a continuum from independent living to severe Alzheimer’s care. If you chose this business, be sure and work in an area that you are comfortable with and qualified for.
9. Liquor Stores and Supplies
Ah, one of my all-time favorites! Remember the old saying? When times are good, liquor sales are good; when times are bad, liquor sales are GREAT! However, look for a slight change in consumer buying habits, as evidenced by the recent arrival of BevMo on 41st Ave. Don’t look for sales of Dom Perignon or 1982 Mouton-Rothschild to break any sales records, but rather, more pedestrian brands such as Bud, Miller, and Two-Buck-Chuck.
10. Home Remodeling and Renovation
When home prices and mortgages are in the gutter, people naturally tend to stay put, whether they want to or not. People love to make improvements to their homes, add space or living area, or just make things nicer. Santa Cruz has definitely seen a slowdown in many of the trades recently, but as we settle into a bona fide recession and hunker down to ride it out, look for an uptick in remodels, decks, and home improvements. Just make sure you are licensed if the aggregate of the job is over $500. As a caveat: small contracting businesses are notoriously hard to sell, unless you manage to accumulate at least one manager and two or three employees.
What Makes These the Best?
The prospects of starting or buying into the above businesses could well be a good fit for you, not only in the current recessionary downturn, but far beyond that as well. Fundamentals are..well…basic. That’s why we call them fundamentals! These business opportunities are grass roots, back-to basic type enterprises. They may not glow in the dark, or require Facebook pages…or even a website, but they can be rock-solid opportunities to produce, sell, or service. As always, not every business will suit everyone. Nothing beats due diligence on your part, and a solid business plan.
These then are my predictions for some of the best small businesses to be into during 2009. Keep in mind: when the wind blows ferociously, sailors and kite surfers are happy. When the wind is dead calm, surfers and divers are happy. At any given time in our economy, someone and some businesses are benefiting and thriving. The experts tell us that these recessionary times are what “buy low” feels like, and that now is the time that many fortunes will be made, if we just know where to look.