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Best Home Business In A Down Economy
By Sarah J Doyle
More Business Skills
Articles
Published on this site: December 18th, 2008 - See
more articles from this month
In every stage of the economy there are businesses that flourish
while others seemingly stand still or regress. The same thing
applies to a certain few businesses that grow stronger because
of the flat economy.
A Sewing machine repair business is among those that continue to
grow faster during the down times in the economy.
Mindel, a world renowned supplier of consumer and media
intelligence, has released it's annual prediction of trends for
consumers and businesses for 2009. The key theme, according to
Mindel, is a return to basics since financial instability tends
to make people feel insecure. This company predicts that as
budgets tighten, consumers will focus on traditional activities
such as sewing, cooking and gardening.
Reuben O. Doyle, sewing machine repairmen for over 30 years and
author of Sewing Machine Repair as a Home Business manual, says
when the 1989 stock market crash occured and the aftermath of
uncertainty was headlined in every newspaper, his sewing machine
repair business more than tripled. "I was getting calls from
people who were dragging their previously unused machines out
of attics and storage and needed to get them serviced so the
owners could get back into sewing again". He reported that
new sewing classes were popping up in people's homes and as
community education programs, and calls for servicing the
machines were keeping him on the go constantly.
Tamera Fidler, manager of Nancy's Sewing Basket in Seattle,
says their sewing classes are full. She has a business theory. "We
started in a recession. It seems that when there's a recession, we get
busier. From last year, I'd say business is
up 20 percent.
In addition, the sewing surge is apparently one of the factors
contributing to the recently reported 70% increase in sewing
machine sales on eBay over the past several months.
Jeremy Segal, owner of The Direct Sewing Machine Supply Company
in Bristol UK is quoted as saying "when times are hard, the
recycling ethic and 'make do and mend' philosophy make a come
back. That's what we are seeing now - lots of people are
investing in a sewing machine."
At Omaha (NE) Bryan High School, students represent the surge in
popularity of sewing classes in the Midlands. Enrollment in
sewing and fashion design classes has more than quadrupled since
the 2002-03 school year. That's a major change from two or
three decades ago, when sewing classes were so "last season" to
many teens. Krystal Kolb, family and consumer science teacher
at Bryan feels it in her full class schedule. "If we could have
more sewing classes, they would take them," Kolb said. "The
last two years have been crazy." In 2002, 56 Bryan students
took two courses -- one in sewing, one in design. This year,
251 students are enrolled in four - three sewing and one design.
Can you see the trend here? Do you understand why the sewing
machine repair businesses not only flourish, but take off
flying when the words "recession" and "credit crunch" fill
most of us with dread?
Assess your own skills to see if you could fill this particular
need. In his book "Sewing Machine Repair As A Home Business"
Reuben O. Doyle says that nearly anyone could get into the
business. He even recommends buying a cheap machine from a
yard sale or flea market and make the repairs on it to get
you started and build your confidence for doing repairs on
machines for actual customers. The opportunities are endless!.
Sarah J Doyle: Sarah J. Doyle is author of over 25
business, sewing and how-to
books; her husband Reuben is author of four sewing machine and
serger repair books. Visit SewWithSarah.com for
sewing info,
and SewMachineRepair.com for
sewing machine repair information.
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