Are you Recession-proof? Just in case?
The world, for the most part, has moved on from the disastrous effects of the coronavirus pandemic. While it’s natural that the aftermaths of the pandemic haven’t yet passed completely, it’s something that we will have to keep in mind as we move on for now.
Streets and roads are back to being busy, and schools and offices have functioning regularly – a huge portion of the normalcy that we knew before the pandemic has been restored.
During the time and after the pandemic, the world has seen an unprecedented but unsurprising increase in interest in the field of e-commerce.
It’s unsurprising because during a time when companies, stores, and shops were shut down, people chose to take their business to the online world where interactions didn’t need to happen face-to-face, and people didn’t need to step out of their homes.
In fact, the share of e-commerce in the global retail trade market grew from 14% in 2019 to 17% in 2020. It has also been noted that the market has only grown its share since then.
So, what does this mean for us?
The e-commerce market is booming! And now, it is time to take advantage of it.
But it’s not the time to kick back and relax. We have something else to keep a look out for right in the corner. As predicted by the Managing Director of IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, we may have to prepare for a global recession by the end of the year 2023.
According to Kristalina, at least one-third of the world and most developing countries are likely to suffer a huge economic recession as a direct or indirect result of the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia.
In the interview where Kristalina revealed her predictions, she also noted that the three biggest economies in the world – the U.S.’s, EU’s, and China’s – had all slowed down significantly.
Now, now… Let’s take a breather – it’s all terrible and terrifying news, but it’s not yet the end of the world. While you may be right to sit up straight at the mention of a recession, there are quite a few ways to keep yourself ahead in this situation and minimize the blows.
Also, there’s always the chance for the prediction being wrong – after all, no one can predict the future with certainty, and it might just be the case that nothing happens.
For those who have already survived the Great Recession that started in December 2007, or any other recession for that matter, it might not be a new experience, but for those who haven’t, let’s try to look at what recession means and how it can affect our daily lives.
What Is a Recession?
Recession in itself is a broad economic term that signifies a decline in the economic activity of a country over a long and stretched-out period of time. A recession occurs naturally in the progressive cycle of any economy, and most economists will tell you that it is actually a healthy part of the economic cycle. And while that might be true, there are also other implications of it.
A recession is almost always accompanied by a severe rise in the unemployment rate caused by the decline in the GDP of a country. This means that people start losing their incomes, cut down on their spending, and thus, create a chain effect that causes more people to lose their incomes and, in turn, reduce their spending until the country as a whole begins to cut down on purchasing goods and services.
If you look at the recent trend of multinational companies laying off their employees in masses, the indications that a recession might be around the corner makes more sense.
The Silver Lining in The Cloud
Economics aside, recessions are bad news for the people, and understandably so. Even if you find yourself mostly unaffected by it, if the people around you are losing their jobs and are suffering because of it, it is bound to affect you indirectly as well.
What this means is that a global disruption in the economy is not something that we would necessarily want to shut our eyes to. But like any other economical situation, if things are getting worse for some, it’s getting better for others.
As Albert Einstein put it, “In the midst of every crisis lies a great opportunity.”
A good businessman knows that blaming the economy is useless; the market will keep moving as it is supposed to – sometimes at its high, sometimes at its low. What matters is to find what works best in that situation and learn from it.
A recession is often said to bring a reset in the market, which means that if you can identify an opportunity, it is a great time to make your move. A market saturated with companies may turn into one with lots of opportunities after a recession because of various economic factors that are at play.
In fact, some of the most famous companies of now, such as Microsoft, General Electric, IBM, and even Disney, were founded during recessions of the past.
But you don’t have to start a full-fledged company to keep yourself afloat in this recession – a great alternative option for anyone who wants to keep things low-risk without compromising their profitability is to set up an online business. An online business requires significantly less capital to set up, which means that the monetary risk you’ll have to take is much less.
Unlike traditional businesses, online businesses let you save unnecessary costs and charges like office or store rent, electricity bills, and so on. Taking it a step further, you can also cut down initial costs by choosing a digital product since they do not require any storage/warehouse space or shipping.
Mamati Market provides a great platform to such sellers or businesses since we make setting up a digital shop easy and free of any charges!
So now, if you have a product that you’re ready to sell, all you need to do is spend 5 to 10 minutes customizing your listings on our site and not have to worry about any more capital requirements for your business!
How to Keep Your Online Business Floating When the Recession Hits
Besides making it our mission to bring the ease of setting up a digital online business to everyone, we’ve also brought you some tips and tricks sourced from experts that might help anyone who wants to learn more about how they can not only keep their business afloat in these tough financial times but also stay on top of the competition and grow!
- Flexibility and efficiency matter.
Recessions are financially unstable times, which means that many things are uncertain. This is usually a time when old market trends tend to die out, and new trends take their place. Businesses that understand this and are the first to identify new trends are the ones that manage to grow when all others come crashing down.
Flexibility is the ability to adapt to new and unforeseen circumstances, and when the times are uncertain, these circumstances tend to present themselves more. Efficiency also matters a lot because when a business runs efficiently, it is able to meet harsher demands of these circumstances much more easily.
Thankfully, selling on Mamati Market is very efficient – it’s an easy and flexible process that doesn’t require excessive management!
- Marketing is key.
A common mistake small businesses make in times like these is cutting back on the marketing budget – and it’s one that ends up costing them dearly. Marketing plays an important role in keeping your brand in the minds of your consumers.
Even when the market is undergoing difficult times, marketing is important – in fact, in certain cases, it might even be more important. Market competition is, without a doubt, much more severe in such times, and without effective marketing campaigns, it can be very easy to get buried in it.
With Mamati Market, you can keep up with your competition as we regularly promote our sellers on various social media platforms!
- Changes in consumer trends.
Consumer trends are always changing, and even when it’s a recession, they keep changing as the needs of the consumers change. A few years ago, we saw the boom of e-commerce in which more and more consumers slowly shifted to purchasing products online instead of visiting a physical store.
In recent years, we have similarly also seen consumers becoming more interested in digital goods and products. From commodities such as graphic designs, arts, and e-books to more niche products like NFTs, digital products are all the rage now.
And the best platform to take advantage of that is here – Mamati Market, the home of everything digital!
- Recession-proof niches.
One way that recession hits the economy is through a hike in the prices of everyday goods and products. As the cost of business starts increasing at every step, such as the procurement of raw materials, shipping, transporting, and so on, the price tag of the end product also goes up in value.
For the common people, this can act as a deterrent, causing significant loss in the number of consumers for companies. Having niche business models that are unaffected by such factors can be quite reassuring since consumers know that the prices of these products aren’t going to change much.
Digital products require no transportation or shipping and can be delivered through the internet itself – which makes it a niche that’s highly recession-proof!
“There's no harm in hoping for the best as long as you're prepared for the worst.” – Stephen King
This quote perfectly encapsulates the importance of being prepared even when you’re trying to be optimistic about the situation around you. Staying prepared is not a pessimistic behavior but a realistic one. In business, especially, preparedness goes a long way because you never know what kind of situation you find yourself in the next day.
So let’s get you, our future Mamateer, started with your own digital business.
Just in case we do get into a recession...
