Surviving the economic downturn…

If your bottom line depends on holiday sales you are probably worried about how the slowing economy will impact your business. But could this be an opportunity?
Certainly if a customer has lost their job or is threatened with having their home foreclosed on then they may need to re-assess their spending and it is possible that their new budget will not accommodate your products.
But, there is still a strong core of the workforce that is employed, or at least financially secure, and many of them are becoming increasingly disheartened by the behavior of large corporations. It is entirely reasonable to expect that they are looking for an alternative. What better strategy than buying local? It might be that the silver lining of our current economic situation is that people will pull back and look to their local communities to meet more of their food and fiber needs.
Check out 10 Trends for Near Future to see what Marian Salzman, trendspotter, has to say. Of particular interest is her take on small and local, food anxiety, and value vs. cost. You can hear her talking about these trends on Faith Popcorn’s BrainReserve site.