Recession Proof Small Business Ideas

People searching for small business ideas might well benefit from my experience with the financial collapse of 2009 which almost erradicated my retirement plans ...

My hobby saved me from ruin

Please forgive me for writing about my personal experiences for a bit, but I'm not a politician, and I don't presume to know what your problems are, or promise to make them go away.  What I can do is relate my story and if you're considering a home based business, suggest that what happened for me might work for you, too.

The way I weathered the financial collapse of 2009, was fortunate but has nothing to do with financial genius, inside information or even a superior education.  What saved me was a hobby which I had been tinkering with for several years.

I  reached retirement age in 2009 and was hoping to make a transition into a more relaxed and less demanding life style  called retirement, but
I was blocked by the plummeting of the stock market and the financial disasters which rocked the world during the late part of 2008 and early 2009.  A large part of my plans depended on my investments.

I still can't  do an accurate accounting of how much of my nest-egg disappeared but, in global terms I know that after the major collapses started to quiet a bit, my total "wealth" (if you can still call it that) was less than half of what it was before. The ideas I had for retirement would simply have to be scaled down or on hold!    Then, I realized that my hobby could be my salvation.

Without hardly even realizing it while I was "playing" I was actually starting a business.  As it turned out this hobby of mine was producing an ever-increasing income which, by the end of 2009 looks like it could compensate for much of the losses I had suffered during the financial melt down.

The Silver Lining

My hobby of several years was my silver lining in the dark clouds that filled my skies.  This web site is the result of this but I'm not writing to brag about my good fortune nor to crow about how smart I was, but rather to show you that this is one of those rare home based business ideas that you, too, might be able to exploite, if you want to.

You see, I started and ran this web site as a hobby going back to about 2004.  Over that time, I've been through some major health challenges, but have used this activity as a way of keeping my mind off my burdens and to provide me with some entertainment that I could pick up when I felt in the mood to, and leave aside whenever I had to.

There's a direct relationship in a well planned web site between the time and effort you put into it, and the amount of traffic it receives.  You can see below the reflection of the little effort I made in the first years.

You can see from the above that some degree of real growth started in 2007 and continued on through 2008 which coincides with my own recovery from my heath issues, too.

Now, you may have noticed in various places around this web site, references to Site Build It! (or SBI).  Perhaps you may have even wondered why I would be promoting my web-hosting service, or simply concluded that it was a free hosting service which placed advertising throughout to offset the service it was "giving-away."

Why I Promote SBI

To clarify this for you, I pay for SBI services, however, by promoting the use of their services I was able to offset the cost of what they charged me by receiving a commission on the occasional person who would decide to sign up for their own websites.   When all the services which are included in SBI's package are added up and compared to other providers they do offer a reasonable deal.  If a person were to follow my example and also promote SBI on their site, it is quite conceivable they, too, would end up with a full service web site which virtually pays for itself.

The Tip of The Iceberg

One of the very unique features of SBI which no other web host anywhere offers is an Action Guide which teaches users how to build a work at home business on the internet.

They go to great pains to make it clear that what they teach is not a get-rich-quick scheme, but  one of those rare home based business opportunities that will pay off handsomely if the required time and effort is put into it.

The success of this web site is a testimony to this plan and process.  For the first four years it managed to more or less finance itself through the occasional referral commission I received and I played around with my hobby, mostly doing things my own way, enjoying my association with the tremendous folks I became acquainted with in the process, but without really paying more than passing attention to the Action Guide.

The Call to Action

I believe it was the financial crisis in the world that finally made me wake up an start to pay attention to what the SBI Action Guide teaches.  I had personally met a number of SBI's "star performers" and knew from first hand knowlege that these people were honest, sincere and un-remarkable folks, just like you or I, but who had taken the SBI formula and put it into practice.

Beginning in 2009, I was receiving cheques every month of over $100.00.  I started applying more and more attention to using the principles of the action guide and by the end of the 3rd quarter had managed to double that.  In the 4th quarter, the income was again doubled and has continued to grow month by month.  This was starting to look like a real star of small business ideas!

The Recession Proof Snowball

In the process explained in the Action Guide, it makes an analogy of a snowball rolling down a mountain side to describe how the growth of a business based on their modle will result.  This is perfectly matched by my own experience.  Four years of a very small hobby site which I played with from time to time. Then with some time and effort it started to increase in size and still needed some effort to get some velocity.  Then, as both size and movement start, the snowball begins to move seemingly on its own.  

Using the techniques and tips taught allows a person with a web site to  create a direct link between web site traffic and income.  The chart below shows how visitor traffic to the site has grown during 2009.  Pay particular attention, as I do to the the number of Visitors.  There is a very definite link between the number of visitors and monthly income.  Also note that October in the following chart is only up to the 22nd.

Your Own Recession Proofing

I decided to tell my story because I believe it might help others who find themselves in a situation similar to my own.  I'm not ashamed to reveal that I stand to get a commission if you decide to enroll in SBI's program as a result of reading this, because I  believe that if you do decide that this is for you, you will likely thank me for bringing it to your attention. (Besides that, SBI carries a money-back guarantee that allows you to try out everything without any risk).

The traffic charts above show a long process, which most people are not likely to endure.  Nice people say I'm persistent, other people say I'm stubborn, but the point is that I stuck this out and kept adding as time went along.   

This is one of the real nice things about starting a business which you own.  If you don't feel like it you don't have to do anything.  Just realize, that it you don't do it, then you're going to have to wait longer before you see results.

How much time and effort will it take?  

Much of that depends on you.  If you're smarter, or more hard working than I was, your progress will be considerably faster.  However, if you decide to take time off ... an important thing to remember is that nobody is going to take away what you've already done.   It will be put on hold and can be picked up whenever you're ready again.

If you think you'd like a recession-proof work-at home-business, check out SBI (opens a new window), and if you wish to ask some specific questions that I might be able to answer for you based on my experience, feel free to contact me.