Entrepreneurship

A  forum on ways for small, minority and women-owned businesses to survive and grow in the current economic downturn ended with a call for an emergency White House summit on small business.

A lot of corporate executives who have been "downsized," especially those in their 40s and 50s, are looking to buy franchises. All well and good, but what happens if the franchise doesn't work out?

The harsh realities of an economy in recession are often what make people reevaluate their personal wealth and career. During the economic downturn of the 1990s, Byron W. Perry, a carrer councelor at the time, was forced to shift gears.

The credit crunch is not new for Black women businessowners. "When you are a Black person, you are used to dealing in crises," says Phillis Shearer Jones, president and chief executive officer of Elan International L.L.C., an international development and conference and event-management firm in suburban Washington, D.C.

You would be amazed how many times I’m asked the question: “I’d like to do more marketing online, but it seems so cold and impersonal....” A businessowner describes this dilemma below.

Do everything you can to get your costs down to rock bottom — fire your employees and hire your kids and teenage nephews and nieces. Not only are they inexpensive labor, but you actually get tax breaks for that.