I’m sure you’ve all been paying pretty close attention to our country’s recent financial woes. So I’m also sure that you’re all well aware that access to many forms of growth funding is also becoming more and more scarce each day. Right now I’m only talking about our most recent issues on Wall Street, but overall our entire economic situation for the past several months has really sucked. It’s not an easy time for anyone, and small business owners rank high among those struggling with the turmoil. Instead of dwelling on all of the bad, however; I’m going to highlight some of the good.

Right now is a great time to find highly-qualified, available employees on discount. Unemployment numbers continue to creep up as workers get laid off due to corporate cost-cutting measures or company bankruptcy. This means that quality professionals are out there right now, and they’re looking for work. So if you’re focusing on growth, which you should be, consider snagging some of these usually hard-to-find workers (at a bargain).

Another plus is that right now it is becoming easier to negotiate down a commercial real estate lease. Landlords and property managers are also struggling right now, and are therefore looking for any way to keep money flowing in. So if you can, try to renegotiate your lease to see if you can get it at a discounted rate. Or if you’ve been working out of your home and need to move into a commercial space, now might be a good time to do it.

These may be only minor benefits that aren’t going to go as far as to bring businesses across the country overwhelming success, I realize that. But hey, it’s something, and something is better than nothing.

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