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In these times of job layoffs, corporate bankruptcies, offshore outsourcing and general business malaise, more people than ever are turning to thoughts of starting and running their own business.  But why risk your personal financial future – not to mention your sanity – if the path you choose for self-employment ends up suffering from the same ills that put your former employer in jeopardy.  A smart decision involves selecting a franchise in an industry that has traditionally weathered bad times better than most.

General Tips and Common Sense
During a recession, where people are either losing their jobs, working fewer hours, or fear one or the other regardless of the actual outcome, the tendency is to spend less – and then, to buy only what is necessary.  Logically, one should choose a franchise that offers goods or services no one can do without, no matter how much they wish to trim their budget.  And for situations where consumers will cut back without eliminating a purchase altogether, providing discounted items that are still good values will keep your own bank account in the black.

Some Excellent Prospects
There are lots of franchise opportunities that perform well when things are rough financially.  The ideas listed below are not all-inclusive, but you could hardly go wrong by using the following examples as a terrific jumping-off point.  No specific franchise brands are mentioned, but it won’t take much research on your part to come up with some great options in each category.

• Personal Care
  Everyone needs a regular haircut to look their best, especially if they are seeking new or supplementary employment.  Add to this list a whole slew of other types of salons, from nail emporiums to places that do facials, waxing, and even tanning.  By looking your best, you feel better about yourself, and that’s important when the financial news is a serious downer.
• Repair Shops
  Rather than buying new appliances, other household items or even high-ticket goods – automobiles, for instance – recession-busters are more likely to make do with the old model for one more year.  Franchises in this field run the gamut from muffler shops and auto-body garages to places that will fix your toaster, revive your freezer, and make sure your vacuum cleaner is doing its thing.  Options include storefront locations as well as mobile services, where you travel to home or office to perform the repair work onsite.
• Tax Preparation
  Paraphrasing Ben Franklin, “Nothing is certain but death and taxes,” and people need to file their taxes every year!  With the advent of electronic filing, the opportunity to run an efficient tax-return franchise is greater than ever.  Many people are intimidated by the fear that a simple tax error will cost them dearly, and consequently they are willing to pay an expert to do the dirty work for them.
• Computer Services
  Nearly everyone these days owns a computer – whether at work or home, and most likely both – and a large portion of the population has no clue how to set them right when something goes horribly wrong.  Running a computer repair franchise hardly requires the skills of a Bill Gates.  With all the layoffs in IT these days, there are plenty of “geeks” out there looking for work – and you only need to be someone with good management skills.
• Temp Services
  As companies continue to lay off more and more full-time workers, only two alternatives remain to keep one’s business moving forward.  The first choice is to make your remaining staff work harder.  A more humane solution, and one that will practically eliminate the risk of mutiny, is to replace the departed employees with part-time help.  Temporary agencies streamline the job-hunting process, screen potential employees, and allow companies to fill positions on an as-needed basis that might last only a couple of hours, a week, or even a month.
• Childcare and Pet Care
  Not that we mean to lump these two categories together for any nefarious reason, but lots of people will spend money on family members – and look at how many pet owners consider Spot, Fluffy or Mister Whiskers an integral art of the family – that they may not spend on themselves.  Considering how many U.S. households have two wage earners, with many of them working multiple jobs to make ends meet, someone has to look after preschoolers, take care of latch-key kids, and make sure that one’s sons and daughters are getting the kind of supplemental education that will serve them well in a growing global economy.  Having someone else clean up after the dog or cat, instead of doing it yourself following your double-shift at the local bakery, is a task many people will consider a necessity, not a luxury.

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