Starting a business in a bad economical situation

[Djioul]

Hi,

I am starting a business selling safety equipments and garments for motorbikers and I have a general question on starting a business during a bad economical times.

I am speaking for France but the question is the same for all OECD countries (or even all countries worldwide).

The economical situation in France is quite concerning at the time with the state debt being out of control and no solid plan to improve this situation. Plus this debt is now mainly owned by other countries which is unconfortable. Plus the private sector has now been devastated and the energy situation is concerning as well.
To summarize: some serious experts (not related to the government) predict a significant drop of the standard of living in France (and in other OECD countries as well).

This being said, here is my questioning:
If I want my business to suceed, I need to sell products. But if the standard of living drops, people will have less money to dedicate to buying my products.
So... Who is gonna buy my product ?
Do some of you share the same concerns than me ? How do you deal with this ?

I know it sounds like a 3 years-old reasoning but I have to deal with this "who's gonna buy my product anyway ?" question daily. I learnt how to deal with it but now with all the skepticism concerning the economics of our country, it's becoming more difficult to shut down the voices inside of my head.
I am not using this as an excuse as I am still moving forward with developing 3 products in parallel that I will lauch this year no matter what. I was just asking myself how other entrepreneurs deal with this situation.
This might help to calm my mind.

Thanks,
Julien

 

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[Maxkaz]

Hi,

I am starting a business selling safety equipments and garments for motorbikers and I have a general question on starting a business during a bad economical times.

I am speaking for France but the question is the same for all OECD countries (or even all countries worldwide).

The economical situation in France is quite concerning at the time with the state debt being out of control and no solid plan to improve this situation. Plus this debt is now mainly owned by other countries which is unconfortable. Plus the private sector has now been devastated and the energy situation is concerning as well.
To summarize: some serious experts (not related to the government) predict a significant drop of the standard of living in France (and in other OECD countries as well).

This being said, here is my questioning:
If I want my business to suceed, I need to sell products. But if the standard of living drops, people will have less money to dedicate to buying my products.
So... Who is gonna buy my product ?
Do some of you share the same concerns than me ? How do you deal with this ?

I know it sounds like a 3 years-old reasoning but I have to deal with this "who's gonna buy my product anyway ?" question daily. I learnt how to deal with it but now with all the skepticism concerning the economics of our country, it's becoming more difficult to shut down the voices inside of my head.
I am not using this as an excuse as I am still moving forward with developing 3 products in parallel that I will lauch this year no matter what. I was just asking myself how other entrepreneurs deal with this situation.
This might help to calm my mind.

Thanks,
Julien

The whole idea behind Fastlane was to switch from the question "Who would buy XXX that I sell?" to a question "What the people would buy?" Do not put it all upside down. Start with what people want and need right now. If after some time situation would change - you already will accumulate resources and experience to adapt and switch to the new enviroment.

We, entrepreneurs, are life-long solvers of other people problems. Judging from your perception, France will have lots of problems, so lots of opportunities for you to solve them.

 

[Tau Ceti]

You are worrying too much about things a that are irrelevant.

It doesn't matter what the overall economic situation is as long as you sell products that people need and that deliver value for money.

If it solves a problem and it is needed, then your product will be sold no matter what. In fact I would even go as far as saying that starting a business during a recession is the fastest way to get to product market fit.

Think about it, if you can make it work in this extremely tough environment, then it will be very easy to scale your business when the economic situation ultimately improves in the future.

Focus on making a sale, then 2, then 10, then a hundred. That's all that matters now.

 

[Kevin88660]

Hi,

I am starting a business selling safety equipments and garments for motorbikers and I have a general question on starting a business during a bad economical times.

I am speaking for France but the question is the same for all OECD countries (or even all countries worldwide).

The economical situation in France is quite concerning at the time with the state debt being out of control and no solid plan to improve this situation. Plus this debt is now mainly owned by other countries which is unconfortable. Plus the private sector has now been devastated and the energy situation is concerning as well.
To summarize: some serious experts (not related to the government) predict a significant drop of the standard of living in France (and in other OECD countries as well).

This being said, here is my questioning:
If I want my business to suceed, I need to sell products. But if the standard of living drops, people will have less money to dedicate to buying my products.
So... Who is gonna buy my product ?
Do some of you share the same concerns than me ? How do you deal with this ?

I know it sounds like a 3 years-old reasoning but I have to deal with this "who's gonna buy my product anyway ?" question daily. I learnt how to deal with it but now with all the skepticism concerning the economics of our country, it's becoming more difficult to shut down the voices inside of my head.
I am not using this as an excuse as I am still moving forward with developing 3 products in parallel that I will lauch this year no matter what. I was just asking myself how other entrepreneurs deal with this situation.
This might help to calm my mind.

Thanks,
Julien

Even if the economy is booming most businesses still fail.

It’s generally irrelevant unless your business is super cyclical like a crypto business or real estate developer.

 

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[Panos Daras]

What's the point of this thread? Is it a rant? Is it a question? A complaint?
Have you sold anything yet?

 

[Djioul]

The whole idea behind Fastlane was to switch from the question "Who would buy XXX that I sell?" to a question "What the people would buy?" Do not put it all upside down. Start with what people want and need right now. If after some time situation would change - you already will accumulate resources and experience to adapt and switch to the new enviroment.

This is also my approach as the products I am developing are solving real issues that motorbike riders experience.
But still, always this same question keeps popping in my head... Sometimes I can keep it quiet for a long time, sometimes (like now) it is more difficult.

We, entrepreneurs, are life-long solvers of other people problems. Judging from your perception, France will have lots of problems, so lots of opportunities for you to solve them.

That's a nice way of seeing it. See opportunities, not problems.
I know it but I needed to read this ! Thanks

 

[Djioul]

You are worrying too much about things a that are irrelevant.

It doesn't matter what the overall economic situation is as long as you sell products that people need and that deliver value for money.

If it solves a problem and it is needed, then your product will be sold no matter what. In fact I would even go as far as saying that starting a business during a recession is the fastest way to get to product market fit.

Think about it, if you can make it work in this extremely tough environment, then it will be very easy to scale your business when the economic situation ultimately improves in the future.

Focus on making a sale, then 2, then 10, then a hundred. That's all that matters now.

That's very true, thanks.

I see recession as "nobody going out of their homes and just buying rice and water". Maybe I am being too dramatic...

 

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[Djioul]

Even if the economy is booming most businesses still fail.

It’s generally irrelevant unless your business is super cyclical like a crypto business or real estate developer.

I don't see my business as cyclical so you are right, it is not relevant.

I don't know the statistics but I guess that less businesses are suceeding in a slow economy than in a growing economy, right ?
But most of the businesses fail independantly from the economy, there I fully agree.

 

[Djioul]

What's the point of this thread? Is it a rant? Is it a question? A complaint?

It is a Mindset question.

Have you sold anything yet?

I already have another business that my wife is mainly running where we have been selling products for the last 3 years, yes.
And for the safety equipment business, the first sales are planned for the second part of the year.

 

[Panos Daras]

OK then. Why not try to pull relevant data?
See how much your fears translate to reality.
You can find them for example at FFMC, Eurostat, INSEE, and Google Analytics.

 

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