Amongst all the doom and gloom of the recession it’s difficult to imagine that now might be the perfect time to start a business, but history tells a different story.
The current financial crisis has had a huge impact on all areas of business, but recessions are an inevitable period of any economic cycle. Despite the current general malaise, market downturns of the past have triggered the founding of some of the world’s most successful businesses.
Below are just a few of the household names that successfully established themselves during previous slumps. If you have a great business idea their accomplishments against all the odds may prove motivating.
Microsoft – although Bill Gates is the better known, there were actually two people behind the launch of the software giant Microsoft. Along with his better known founder, Paul Allen started the business in 1975. The company grew over its first few years but really hit the jackpot after signing a deal with IBM in 1980. Microsoft’s formation can teach entrepreneurs enough to write a book, but one idea to take away is that the biggest success stories rarely happen overnight.
Disney – the iconic film company was started in the most significant recession of modern times - America’s Great Depression of the 1920s. The unsettled financial environment had a part to play in the early successes of the studio that laid the foundations for the growth of the last ninety years, with their animated movies providing a welcome distraction from the unemployment epidemic and other woes; and we’re seeing a similar trend at the moment. Disney is the perfect example of an organisation where the environment presented itself as an opportunity rather than a challenge.
MTV – although its influence is in the wane a little of late, the launch of MTV during 1981 was a genuine cultural phenomenon. Without it, it’s unlikely we would have music videos as we know them today, whose influence we can still see on the short form videos that provide much of the content for YouTube & its peers. MTV’s success reinvigorated America Cable TV networks that were struggling due to the two short recessions at the beginning of the eighties (sometimes known as the ‘Double Dip Recessions’). MTV is the perfect example of not sitting on an idea too long; they could have waited for the upturn, but if another company had launched before them they would have struggled to build the same stranglehold.
PayPal – After the dotcom crash and the terrorist attacks of 9/11 it was a hard time for any business to grow. At this time PayPal had been around in various incarnations, but started as a business proper during the difficult post crash period. PayPal had a perfect product, which had huge strategic value to add to its eventual buyers, eBay, who paid $1.3 billion. Though PayPal had been around for a while, they saw the slump as the ideal opportunity to go for broke, while other businesses struggled with what should be their next step. It shows the importance of confidence in your decisions during tough times, especially if you have a clear goal.
Burger King – started during the Fifties, the fast-food giant saw its biggest growth during some of the hardest years of the decade for businesses. It may seem counter-intuitive for a business selling the luxury of ‘eating out’ to do so well while people are short of money, but people see certain products and services as a treat no matter what their own financial problems. If you sell something like this, now could be the perfect time to launch.
If you’ve got the idea and the customers have the demand, the time is always right!
Photo credit: lrargerich via Flickr