Recession? Bah! Humbug! says small business advocate

TORRANCE
December 11, 2007 10:17am

Holiday spending, pacing ahead of last year, could keep any recession at bay in 2008, especially if small business maintains its confidence, says Mark Deo, author and executive director of the Small Business Advisory Network, based in Torrance.

“I say to the folks that are saying a recession is looming, ‘Bah! Humbug!’ because all of the factual indicators, all of the economic indicators, demonstrate that while our economy has slowed in growth, the economy is still growing,” Mr. Deo says.

He points to this year’s “Black Friday,” the shopping Friday after Thanksgiving, that saw retailers posting “exceptionally strong sales among all product categories.”

ShopperTrack/RCT Corp. estimated sales of $16.4 billion, representing a 7.2 percent gain compared to the same period a year earlier, Mr. Deo says.

(Mr. Deo amplifies on his thoughts and how small business can prosper in uncertain times in today’s CVBT Audio Interview. Please click on the link below to listen or to download the MP3 file to your iPod or PC.)

He says many small businesses seem to be reacting out of trepidation and cutting back on expansion and investment plans. That, he says, could be detrimental to continued economic growth as small businesses account for more than 50 percent of the U.S. economy.

“If this negative talk continues, it could spiral our economy into a recession.” Mr. Deo cautions.

But Mr. Deo says now is the time for small businesses to “look at the facts.”

“What happened in your business last year? Did your business grow? If your business grew last year, you should be looking at investing more in the growth of your business this year,” he says. “We, as small business players, we can turn the economy around.”