A good business doesn't fail no matter the situation of the economy

[Prince patrick]

I want us to think of a business like a house, and the economy like the weather.

When there is a heavy and massive rain, strong wind and cold weather,  the weak house made of only wood or cupboards collapses, but a strong house made up of bricks will stand firm.

Here is why a good business doesn't break down when the economy isn't Good.

1)They sell things people cannot live without.
When the economy is bad, people stop buying things that isn't necessary, like toys, fancy clothes, shoes or even bags. But they will still need to buy water, foods, medicine or soaps. I have done soap business before and it is a very profitable business to start. People don't talk much about it. The secret: A good business sells things people need every single day, no matter what.

2)A good business saves money for rainy days. This is taken out from your profit and you save it separately in a place where you wouldn't touch it no matter what happens. So that when times are bad you wouldn't struggle to restocked your business.

3)They know how to change quickly.
If a store sells red shoes, but suddenly people only have little money to buy socks, a bad business man will start yelling and complaining, instead of switching to the demand of the people. A good business says okay since everyone needs a socks, I will go and even get an affordable one. They adapt quickly instead of complaining or giving up.

4)A good business doesn't just build relationships, but they build trust. For example if you have two friends and one is always being too tricky, greedy or corny, while the other is always sincere, truthful and honest, who will you stick close to more? Even when the money is tight and the economy is bad, customers will still spend their few coins at the store that treated them fairly and kindly.

LASTLY: A bad economy doesn't kill a business, it just teste it, weak and unstructured business fails because they weren't prepared. A good business stays safe because it is useful, smart with it's savings, flexible and trusted by the people.

[hmbdofficial]

I kind of agree with this house and weather analogy. A strong business isn’t necessarily the one that faces problem, but the one that actually prepared to handle difficult situations. That is why Selling essential goods, keeping some profit as a reserve and also adapting to change in customer demand can really make business survive when spending decreases due to a hard economy.

However, a good business can still fail during a very severe economic downturn. This is because even the essential businesses can also face higher cost, lower purchasing power, supply issues or even reduce in demand. So i would rather say a bad economy doesn’t automatically kill a business but it can definitely expose the business weakness in its finances. but at he same time I also agree that the stronger the foundation of business with proper management and model, can actually give the business a better chance of surviving the hard economy.

[Plutomanian]

I want us to think of a business like a house, and the economy like the weather.

When there is a heavy and massive rain, strong wind and cold weather,  the weak house made of only wood or cupboards collapses, but a strong house made up of bricks will stand firm.

Here is why a good business doesn't break down when the economy isn't Good.

1)They sell things people cannot live without.
When the economy is bad, people stop buying things that isn't necessary, like toys, fancy clothes, shoes or even bags. But they will still need to buy water, foods, medicine or soaps. I have done soap business before and it is a very profitable business to start. People don't talk much about it. The secret: A good business sells things people need every single day, no matter what.

2)A good business saves money for rainy days. This is taken out from your profit and you save it separately in a place where you wouldn't touch it no matter what happens. So that when times are bad you wouldn't struggle to restocked your business.

3)They know how to change quickly.
If a store sells red shoes, but suddenly people only have little money to buy socks, a bad business man will start yelling and complaining, instead of switching to the demand of the people. A good business says okay since everyone needs a socks, I will go and even get an affordable one. They adapt quickly instead of complaining or giving up.

4)A good business doesn't just build relationships, but they build trust. For example if you have two friends and one is always being too tricky, greedy or corny, while the other is always sincere, truthful and honest, who will you stick close to more? Even when the money is tight and the economy is bad, customers will still spend their few coins at the store that treated them fairly and kindly.

LASTLY: A bad economy doesn't kill a business, it just teste it, weak and unstructured business fails because they weren't prepared. A good business stays safe because it is useful, smart with it's savings, flexible and trusted by the people.

I totally concord with OP on his last paragraph. A bad economy doesn't mean a strong business will not succeed and these strong businesses are not only innovated or built for the purpose of good flow but it's also built to survive the structure of hardship in the economy. I've seen many businesses fumbled because their weaknesses surpassed their strength and there's no way these businesses can succeed without having the flexibility and proper management of their top tiers. We know it's challenging to see a business do better in a country that's unfavorable for most businesses, a country where economic recession kicks in and making entrepreneurs running and closing up their businesses base on the conditions over there.

[lovesmayfamilis]

Of course, you can come up with as many similar analogies as you like; there is room for imagination here. But there should always be one obvious conclusion: what is well prepared should work well. Why the metaphors? The most important thing is how to make or create a business that runs like clockwork. Talking in general phrases does not lead to anything, and those who have excellent skills in organizing their business will still not be able to create a step-by-step guide. Any business requires risk, and only the one who comes out victorious is the one who went through "fire and water" in the process of building his business, fell and stood up, not giving up, and taking into account all the mistakes.

[Rruchi man]

A good business stays safe because it is useful, smart with it's savings, flexible and trusted by the people.

A good business is handled by a good businessman because it requires a lot of skill for you to navigate a poor economy and ensure that your business remain standing. You cannot call yourself a good businessman or person if you’ve not gone through an economic test that tries to crumble your business.

A good thing with this business experience is that it makes you not just a better business person, but a stronger one.

To navigate a harsh economy requires constant innovation because you need to stay creative to maintain sales and fight competition.

If you as a business owner is not that creative, employ creative business people under you.

[Gozie51]

LASTLY: A bad economy doesn't kill a business, it just teste it, weak and unstructured business fails because they weren't prepared. A good business stays safe because it is useful, smart with it's savings, flexible and trusted by the people.

I was expecting that you would list the good business that won't fail. There is a reason they say no condition is permanent.

For me, I do believe that any kind of business can fail. There are some businesses that have failed after a long time/decades and by the time it was existing, it was known as good business either because the owners were still alive or it was managed well at that time.

There are two important reason running through my head that can easily crumble a good business. One is technology.

The era of AI is crumbling very good kind of business and taking people into hardship because AI is now used to achieve multiple task faster than human. There are people who are doing manual photography businesses but they are no more because of AI. An individual can run their prompt with AI and get result right from their house. There are numerous reasons like that with the introduction of AI tech.

Another reason is government decision or policy. One policy from a new government can change the direction of the economy and old businesses and way of live will be gone, introducing new one.

[trendcoin]

I partially agree with the idea stated in the OP’s concluding sentence that a bad economy cannot kill a good business, but I’d like to add my own take: even if it can’t kill it, it can do worse than that. :)

In a poor economy, money doesn’t circulate in the market. In economies where money doesn’t circulate, people avoid spending on anything beyond their basic necessities. In such an environment, even if you sell the most basic food products, your sales will drop because consumers are focused on saving. I haven’t even mentioned other luxury spending habits yet.

I don’t know if things will get worse, but these are days when doing business is harder than ever.

[Marvelockg]

LASTLY: A bad economy doesn't kill a business, it just teste it, weak and unstructured business fails because they weren't prepared. A good business stays safe because it is useful, smart with it's savings, flexible and trusted by the people.

If you are talking about failure, no business is immune from failure. Even when you have gotten everything right, it is still possible for your business to fail but uncertainty can come in different form. look at as huge and well organized as Chelsea football club is, when war led to them being sanctioned, we saw the degree of effect that it had on the club.

What about the recent flood that swept away a whole community in china? do you think the business strategy that people running business in such place had was enough to save them. there are failures that can be corrected and some others that can not be corrected or dealt with. as a business person, you can only plan on the one you can control and not the one you can not control.

[pooya87]

1)They sell things people cannot live without.
2)A good business saves money for rainy days.
3)They know how to change quickly.
4)A good business doesn't just build relationships, but they build trust.

Businesses don't fail because they didn't sell what people couldn't live without or didn't save money or didn't build relationships (#3 is a bit different). They fail because a million different things could go wrong.

Take your soap example. It needs ingredients or raw materials. What if some morons started a tariff war elsewhere and price of raw materials you need to import to manufacture the soaps went up and there was a shortage as well since the supply routes were destabilized too?
Then your soap business starts suffering. You'll soon have to cut corners, fire people, lower the product quality and maybe even shrink its size and raise the price simeltanously.
Now your business starts suffering massively.
While you're struggling, someone starts importing soaps from China and floods the market with dirt cheap soaps. Your already lowered your quality so these lower quality ones aren't really far from your product therefore they take over your market and now your suffering business is screwed!

LASTLY: A bad economy doesn't kill a business, it just teste it, weak and unstructured business fails because they weren't prepared. A good business stays safe because it is useful, smart with it's savings, flexible and trusted by the people.

I agree with the necessity of flexibility or better yet to be adaptable to the new situation and what the world throws at you but not the rest.

[Obulis]

I want us to think of a business like a house, and the economy like the weather.

When there is a heavy and massive rain, strong wind and cold weather,  the weak house made of only wood or cupboards collapses, but a strong house made up of bricks will stand firm.

Here is why a good business doesn't break down when the economy isn't Good.

1)They sell things people cannot live without.
When the economy is bad, people stop buying things that isn't necessary, like toys, fancy clothes, shoes or even bags. But they will still need to buy water, foods, medicine or soaps. I have done soap business before and it is a very profitable business to start. People don't talk much about it. The secret: A good business sells things people need every single day, no matter what.

First of all, the analogy of a house you just gave happens to be commonly true but there are situations when it doesn't usually happen the way you just pointed out here. Sometimes under such heavy storm, that strong building made of concrete will be the ones to collapse while the one made of woods will not collapse.

Then talking about good business, there's no point in categorizing business and say that's the good business, don't forget you are talking about good business on a general stand, so pointing out some set of business and say they're the good business when talking on a general ground means getting things twisted.
Like the businesses you mentioned, food, medicine and soap are every day needs yet any food, medicine and soap that's not good (on a general ground) will fail. The business won't just continue or succeed because they're a good business in terms of category they also needs to be good in other terms like personal management and so on this will help stand a harsh economy in most cases.
Just saying that there are good businesses on a general term and good businesses in terms of category or area of specialization.

[MArsland]

The Op's point is quite good with business idealism. But the Op also forgets that good business will get rivals with good business too. 1 product but a different brand, can also create losses. You may have found the right sector, according to the goods that people need every day but when there is a better competitor, you lose both in terms of price, quality, benefits and flexibility. Isn't that the beginning of a failure in defending the market?
There is such a thing as adapting, reading the changes that consumers need, and having a plan B if there are competitors.

[Sim_card]

3)They know how to change quickly.
If a store sells red shoes, but suddenly people only have little money to buy socks, a bad business man will start yelling and complaining, instead of switching to the demand of the people. A good business says okay since everyone needs a socks, I will go and even get an affordable one. They adapt quickly instead of complaining or giving up.

A good business man understands how to run his business and maintain it even when the economy is bad. Switching from one demand to another based on people needs is done by the businessman with good business orientation because he will always be in the game for long as he's not just tied to selling one specific type of product. Even in a bad economy some business are flourishing because they know what the people want.

[Cryptomultiplier]

LASTLY: A bad economy doesn't kill a business, it just teste it, weak and unstructured business fails because they weren't prepared. A good business stays safe because it is useful, smart with it's savings, flexible and trusted by the people.

A good business that stands the test of time and summount hurdles both from regulators and the consumers must thrive on quality resilience.  Such a business must have a core strategy that makes it flexible and adept to innovate in times when things are difficult and when there's competition in the market.

So while I can boldly tell you that the economy at any time will expose flaws in a business strategy, it is also in these economic situation that we know how good the business is because while some may dive into using substandard materials and cut corners just to make ends meet, others might incur the cost, remain patient with their customers, never reduce quality and never increase cost but maintain a flexibility that makes changes almost unnoticeable and uncompromised.

[Taricoins]

I think this is very common knowledge, but I am always on the perspective that no information is of waste. The first consideration of business man or woman before going into a business is definitely to gage whether they want the business to grow or the business is made for survival. If you want the business to grow, you have to consider that the economy will always get bad from here and local currency will always periodically face devaluation and start planning from there. Some people create business to pest from it and with increasing inflation, the shop or business crashes.

[Fortify]

I want us to think of a business like a house, and the economy like the weather.

When there is a heavy and massive rain, strong wind and cold weather,  the weak house made of only wood or cupboards collapses, but a strong house made up of bricks will stand firm.

Here is why a good business doesn't break down when the economy isn't Good.

LASTLY: A bad economy doesn't kill a business, it just teste it, weak and unstructured business fails because they weren't prepared. A good business stays safe because it is useful, smart with it's savings, flexible and trusted by the people.

It is very hard work to keep a business running and they don't always get through simply because of the reasons you stated. Sometimes they build up and reach a point where they have scale advantages against competitors that allow them to weather a storm easier than smaller "ships". Size and/or diversify of their products can also help they change direction slowly but with enough momentum to survive. Smaller companies are more nimble but can suffer from shocks, especially if the majority of their profits are tidied to specific customer contracts which end. It does require relentless effort and good management to survive though, but not every team is capable of pulling that off or able to adjust to changing trends.

[Don Saga]

What are the criteria of a good business?

1.) Solves a general probelm.
2.) Consumers are willing to pay
3.) Profitability
4.) Sustainability, etc.

There are more to these criteria but I would stop here. So before considering a business as a good business, one should first know what makes a business a good business.

[Sobz]

Every business is a good one and it just depend on who is handling it to make it a good business or a bad one. Even the business you claim to be good business if the personal who is handling it doesn't understand it, it will definitely turn out to be a a bad business.  No matter how business seems to look good there is always a risk and their is no 100% guarantee it is a profitable business.  If it is being handled by the wrong person it can end up to be failed business.  Though there are business that are low risk but this doesn't make the business to be completely a good business with a better outcome.

[Shadiq]

Business is not a rote learning or something where you will be successful in the beginning. Business is always based on practical experience and skills, but it is true that educated businessmen are able to learn very quickly. The basic principle of business is demand and supply. It is very difficult to succeed in a business where the supply is more than the demand, no matter how honest you are or how much you sell the necessary products. You have to build a business on a product that has a huge demand for the product but the supply is relatively low. There will be risks in business, there will be instability, there will be mistakes and sometimes you will have to face losses. Basically, a businessman has to overcome these obstacles and survive even in a bad economy. However, I agree with you that a businessman needs to be honest, honest businessmen have more customers.

[Solodoski]

I agree selling essential commodities really help your business more stable, because this are things that people can not do without,  so it's hardly affected by situations of an economy.  People will definitely eat, wear clothes, so it's hard for these kind of business to be affected by economy.  I also like what OP said about switching to fulfill what your customers or clients needs rather than complaining about business.  I think that's a very good one too and also a good business really needs savings, just as OP has explained,  so your business does not get affected in time of economic crisis.

[boyptc]

LASTLY: A bad economy doesn't kill a business, it just teste it, weak and unstructured business fails because they weren't prepared. A good business stays safe because it is useful, smart with it's savings, flexible and trusted by the people.

While this can be true but I've seen businesses which closed due to bad economy. We saw large corporations that have to close down because they can no longer operate and margin from it.

That's why for me, no matter how strong the business is but if the government is mishandling its own then economy will fail.

There can be pandemic proof, war proof, economic downturn proof businesses but this doesn't apply to all. I've seen looking strong businesses on sight but on paper, they're not.

Because cost of rent is a lot, the wages of people and all other operational costs has eaten them a lot and thanks to bad economy.