Several smaller family owned businesses today are feeling the pinch of the current tough economy. Some of these businesses have been running for many generations and have not really changed their way of conducting business in all of this time. Now that the economy has plummeted, many of these mom and pop type companies are scared of going out of business for the first time.

This article will describe things that these smaller companies can maybe think out of the box and use some other options to make up for some of the loss their business have experienced during the recession. One example is a local vacuum pump repair shop that began many years ago by the owners father. They specialized in fixing vacuums and vacuum pump parts and had always been successful. They continued to operate the old school way way with a cash register and paperwork and receipts. Advertising for their business was purely based on recommendations from customers and word of mouth. For all of these years that had worked just fine. Now, their business is struggling and the owner is scared of losing the business. The whole business model for their store was “If it isn’t broke, don’t repair it”. Well, currently it needs some fixing and they do not know what to do.

The most important thing for businesses like the one above is to become as current as the person who is just opening a shop this month. Several family run businesses are like the one above, not using computers and no advertising. Times have changed and competition is fiercer than ever. The shop should first get a business computer system installed that will allow them to be current on everything. The next thing they need to do is to think about starting a website that can reach a broader audience.

Many companies these days have a website, whether it is just an informational one with the location and products and store hours displayed or they wish to sell to the whole world wide web. The yellow pages are becoming extinct as now people to choose to google whatever they are interested in finding. If the little Mom and Pop store does not have a website, then they will miss out to the shop that does have a website in the same area. The difference in being on the internet versus not could makeup the difference in the amount of sales being loss during this recession.

These smaller businesses should research someone that is quite knowledgeable in computers and website design and start ups to help them to get started. There are businesses that do just that and can be found online. Taking a risk and changing a business model that may have been started by your grandfather can be intimidating and stressful in the beginning, but it worth thechance and time to get into the modern way of doing business through the internet.

Chuck R. Stewart recently purchased a vacuum pump repair kit online for a very old machine he was trying to fix. He eventually will have to replace the vacuum pump altogether.

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