In times of change, new opportunity is always created. Always. Many have written on the opportunity created by this economic downturn. Here are some of the excerpts:
1. You don't need a boom to grow. 2. Better access to great people. 3. A slump doesn't stop spending, and it increases in some areas. 4. There is still money available if you look hard, and you deserve it. 5. The community is still here to support you. 6. The big guys cut back on R&D letting you do the innovating.
Paul Graham writes:
The economic situation is apparently so grim that some experts fear we may be in for a stretch as bad as the mid seventies.
When Microsoft and Apple were founded. ... If we've learned one thing from funding so many startups, it's that they succeed or fail based on the qualities of the founders. The economy has some effect, certainly, but as a predictor of success it's rounding error compared to the founders. ... So maybe a recession is a good time to start a startup. It's hard to say whether advantages like lack of competition outweigh disadvantages like reluctant investors. But it doesn't matter much either way. It's the people that matter. And for a given set of people working on a given technology, the time to act is always now.
And Rajesh Jain writes:
For entrepreneurs, they need to forget about the craziness around and just focus on the business and market. The stuff that's happening has little or no impact on the business of most early stage companies — in most cases, their revenue base is too small to see any negative impact from "market conditions." So, any sales person giving market slowdown as a reason for not meeting targets needs to be given a talking to!
I also think this is a great time to get alternative / disruptive ideas to consumers and businesses. Everyone is much more receptive to discussions about solutions which provide better ROI. (And without a simpler, cheaper solution, entrepreneurs don't really have much of a chance anyways.)