1. Jessica Young Eric Yunker Rui Hui

2.  Sales tend to go first.  The demand for any type of good usually begins to decline when there is a recession so, sales do get hurt first in these times.  The only time that sales don’t tend to get hurt is when there is a inelastic demand for the good being sold.

3.  Next to slip are profits.  This is because you are not making any revenue on your merchandise, this is directly associated with your profit.  Therefore if your sales go down then your profit will also go down.

4.  Smaller companies have more of a tendency to go bankrupt.  Smaller companies do not have a lot of capital assets as collateral in order to protect their company in hard times.  Because of this, these small businesses tend to go bankrupt.

5.  From a survey of 165 small businesses, only one in twenty firms said that survival through the recession was threatened.  Only 8% reported serious ramifications.  The majority said that for the most part their has been no real noticeable impacts.

6.  Even though a lot of people think that every business is affected negatively by the recession that is not true.  A large percent of small businesses are actually either not seeing any affect or gaining sales and profit.

7. Table 2 Business Performance Changes Between Q1, 2008 and Q1, 2009 Value of sales value of salesProfit margins Significantly higher 10.8 6.4 Slightly higher 15.7 14.0 About the same 19.2 27.4 Slightly lower 28.0 28.9 Significantly lower 23.9 20.4 No data 2.3 2.9 N 343 343

8.  We decided to focus on a variety of small businesses in Ada, OH.  We interviewed each of the owners from the following  The Bear Cave  Reichert’s  Keith’s Hardware  Carol Slane Florist

9.  Pre recession:  Very profitable  Not to many competitors in town  Steady customers  Longer hours  Post recession:  Decrease in earnings  5 new restaurants  More at random customers  Open less hours

10. “WHAT PROFIT?”  Purchase prices increase  menu prices to increase  Increase restaurant budget  Less business but steady employee wage CHANGES MADE  Ordering less supplies/stretching  Combining/ monitoring utility bills  Offering a more affordable alternatives  Owner works more hours  Turn off grills earlier

11.  Pre-recession  Less competitors  Offering employee overtime during high peak times  Offer vast varieties of name brands  Post-recession  People traveling to larger department stores for greater discounts  Less variety of supplies  Harder to get suppliers

12. BUSINESS DIFFERENCES  Less customers  No extra purchases  Fewer supply replenishes  Offer less employee hours  Less traffic in store CHANGES MADE  Order less inventory  Provide more off-brand supplies/apparel  Cutting advertising expenses  Watching labor hours  Following budget closer

13.  Pre recession:  Very profitable  Not to many competitors in town  Less stress  Post recession:  Less local orders  Seeing more competition  Change in operations

14. STORE SUFFERING  People use more discretions with money  Loss of jobs in customers CHANGES MADE  Promote quality  Order less hard goods  Making prices as affordable as possible  More internet track  Installed heater timers  Re-insulated to save energy

15.  Pre-recession  No competitors  Flexible hours  Great variety  Post-recession  People purchasing more supplies  More do it yourself customers  Earnings increase

16. BUSINESS  More people invest in their homes so increase in consumer spending  No effect on employee hours  Loyal suppliers/customers CHANGES MADE  Sign sensor  No cutbacks

17.  The first casualty during any recession is usually sales. Once sales are down, then it usually isn’t long before profits could follow the southward trend.

18. Also impacted by the recession is the accounts receivable (AR)

19.  Secondary aspects of the goods and services produced by the recession- impacted business may also suffer.

20.  As firms impacted by the recession spend less money on advertising and marketing, big advertising agencies which bill millions of dollars per year will feel the squeeze.

21. Thank You