As the recession starts to bite, and we’re into a circle of reduced confidence leading to reduced spending, which in turn lowers confidence, the canny entrepreneur looks at how to make the best of it. Here’s some ideas to get you started: If you’ve got money think about the bargains you can get just now while everyone else is hiding under the duvet, too scared to get their chequebooks out. No, I don’t mean go and buy a new frock to cheer yourself up. Are there companies you can invest in, bargains you can bag, contracts with suppliers you can renegotiate by offering to continue to buy at an agreed rate.

If you haven’t got money you’ll need to think of some clever marketing ideas to make sure you fill up your bank account. Think about how you can get people to spend now, if you need to get money in fast. Have a look at my article on the art of the special offer.

If your cashflow is all right for the next few months, but you’re concerned about what might be down the road, think about encouraging people to buy now, pay later. You can close a deal by offering terms which mean that people don’t have to dig into their pockets right now, but they’re committed to the future. And it’s always lovely to get a cheque for some work you did 6 months ago, because by then you’ve forgotten about how much time it took.

Don’t despair! People are still spending money, but they’re taking much longer to decide to spend because they’re not sure what’s going to happen. Surveys are showing that businesses are still spending on marketing (but not advertising) so if you offer marketing services, you just need to be clever about how you market your own services.

If you’re in a troubled sector, and have got yourself into selling 4x4 cars or have a business model based on advertising revenue, then think again about whether this is the right way to go. Some sectors are just not going to recover from the economic decline. I’ll stick my neck out and predict the demise of many magazines and newspapers, Hummer cars (good thing too, they’re incredibly ugly) and mid market luxury items. Sometimes it’s a good idea just to get out – you don’t want to be the company selling stage coach tickets, just as the railways start up.

I was explaining to a client today that in times of economic crisis, the wheat gets sorted from the chaff. The people who have been coasting along, getting away with poor (or no) marketing, lacklustre customer service, or rip off pricing will go to the wall in the next couple of years. Be honest – everyone has something they can improve. In this climate, there’s still money to made, but it will only be made by the remarkable companies, doing extraordinary business.