What is recession!

Everywhere you turn, these days, whether to the news, to your favorite radio station, on the newstand or the net, the word recession  seems to play at the forefront of ,almost, every discussion, even unto the board room on to the bedroom. We are made to feel helpless as the rates of unemployment skhyrocket, the value of the dollar plummets, the death toll of our soliders in Afghanastan rises, the price of gas  constantly  vascillates, the prison roles swell and our country faces the fact that there is no money to address the ills, let alone the  newly proposed health bill. Nonetheless, in spite of it all, as the economy seems to be on BUST, there are some things that are on BOOM that I would like to put on BLAST! The economy says recession as companies layoff and business doors shut for good, but first time start ups are on the rise. As a result of the recession, there is an abundance of retail space available, flexible leases for small start ups,  are owners of storefronts with vacancies that they are dying to fill and so, like never before, for those of you who might have been forced out of your job  and/or always wanted to start your own business, but needed a place or just needed  space, you can find  some of the best deals of the decade.  Moreover, there is an abundance of used high quality like new office furnishing and business equipment on the market for pennies on the dollar. You can go on Craigslist and just type in under the business section names like Hon, Herman Miller, Eames, Knoll and deal after deal on the best office furnishings will pop up. So those of you who wanted to start your own business, but wanted it to look like a real one and really nice one at that, can do so at a fraction of the cost. There are deals all over the net to allow you entrepreneurs to furnish your at-home or off site office.   Another growing phenomenon, courtesy of our recession, is the collaborative start ups. I have a friend who is a graphic artist who needed to figure ways to cut back to survive the recession. The most significant way for him to do so was to cut back on the amount of footage he was leasing for his office space, but he had signed a two year renewal and did not want to damage  his hard earned credit by terminating the lease. As a result, he decided to offer a desk to a photographer that  frequently assisted him, but always worked from home not wanting the overhead associated with paying for business space. The photographer and graphic artist vibed off one another’s energy so well that they called on a mutual painter to join the collaborative and lease a desk space. The work that the three of them were doing caught they eye of a fashion photographer who needed space and thus joined the effort. He later   invited his best friend who is a stylist who  could no longer afford her previous spot due to the loss of gigs. She joined them and  subsequently invited her make up artist who has recently invited a publicist she knows. Each of them has a desk, an actual business location, a cutting edge business space, a new network, a new customer base, a new support system, increased opportunities to earn revenue at a fraction of what it would cost to go into business alone. Everyone works on their own projects, but,  also works together. They are taking what has worked for the beauty industry with beauty salons and are making it work for business -business salons? Thanks to the recession, we are afforded collaboratives of this sort which should bring better products and/or services to the consumer. Needless to say, there are some great things happening thanks to the recession!