Why The Right Time To Start A Business Is...During A Recession

I remember when news of the pandemic first hit in early 2020. Businesses locally and abroad were shutting down, and at The Rite Group, we weren’t immune — in fact, we were faced with the possibility of revenue being cut roughly in half if not more. It was a scary time on multiple levels!

There was a moment during all the madness in which I took a step back to evaluate what it all meant for us when it came to adding new Franchise Partners to our business. Given all the redundencys happening across so many sectors in New Zealand, would people want to take the chance to dive into business ownership? If you’re losing your job, surely the last thing you would want to do is to spend money to invest in a business...right?

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

At the time, instinct told me that everyone would protect their income by spending conservatively. Like so many other companies, I have to admit we started to panic a little. No one knew what tomorrow looked like, and despite the years of business experience, it was anybody’s guess what would happen next. As a result, we made cutbacks, too. We reduced hours of a large portion of the team...only to get flooded with interest on both the consumer and franchise development side a few short months later!

I am so grateful for everyone on the team who came back once we realized we needed their help. We really needed their help.

As it turns out, I was totally shocked to see a complete turnaround in demand! Right now, we’re seeing a massive surge in interest in franchising opportunities within the home services sector. People right now want to make an investment more than ever!

Why?

Because they’re reevaluating what’s important in life. They’re willing to follow their gut and passion to finally become their own bosses. It took a recession, but many are taking a step back and realizing they’re not happy with where they’re at right now. Maybe they’re no longer satisfied working in corporate New Zealand, or maybe they’ve been packaged out. Regardless of the reason, all of a sudden the “now or never” mentality has become a reality.

Troy Hillard at The Rite Group

There's never been a better time to start doing what you love and loving what you do.

Take real estate, for example. For a lot of people in New Zealand, remote working has now become a viable option. So why not go work and live in a place that you love? If you’re located in a city in which real estate affordability is a barrier to wealth accumulation, options have now opened up to relocate. Another example of an area in which we’ve seen a surge in investment is the stock market. As the business world is changing in response to the recession, so are investment decisions. Take Zoom or Apple for instance — people who are investing in the virtual world have seen huge returns, and this is just the beginning.

And that’s what has been the greatest surprise during this global crisis.

I thought I’d seen this movie before, back in 2008 when business was down across the world in the GFC. Just like in the 2008 crisis which we were all re-examining our lives and reflecting on what mattered most. I realised that these kinds of situations are ripe for huge, sometimes emotional decisions that could end up affecting the rest of your lives. After years of business experience, I thought I understood a thing or two — but it turns you can still teach an old dog new tricks. As a leader, it’s always humbling to remind yourself to be open to approaching problems in new ways.

I never expected that people would be investing in home services like crazy, but then again, no one saw the recession coming. We’re all spending more time than ever before in our homes, so there’s a real energy and excitement within the home services sector right now. It took me a while, but once we acknowledged this shift at The Rite Group and ultimately adapted, the opportunities made themselves available to us. That’s why these days, we’re hitting the franchise development engine. Hard.

And we’re just getting ramped up.