Imagine this. You are walking down the street to buy an ice-cream. You are thinking about what ice-cream you want to eat. Five selections come to mind, each with their unique selling proposition and price point. You select. You pay through mind authorisation. You are at the dispenser, and your choice pops out. You open the wrapper and start eating.

After chatting to one of the top Hedge Fund Managers in Australia last week about the state of the economy and where it is heading... I got thinking – is my business recession proof?

 The European market isn’t getting any better and in fact, it is expected to get a lot worse. Greece is battered by recession, debt and now a snow storm and the recession in the Eurozone is one of the deepest recessions on record.

 The US – well that’s another story. But debt levels are higher now than they were in the 1920’s recession. Much higher. No wonder people are stopping their shopping sprees and thinking twice before buying a new set of golf clubs or another pair of Jimmy Choos.

As small business owners, we have a lot to think about. If you are anything like me, I think about what I should do and often only get to do a few things off my list because there is always something else that pops up. Thinking about your business and how equipped it is to survive a further downturn is not only smart, but critical if you want to survive- yet while many of us think about these things, how many of us actually do something about it?

 While over-hyped valuations are still going crazy in the market similar to the dot com boom (Instagram!!), the property and the mining booms – we all know that what goes up must come down. But as small business owners we cannot afford to go down with the economy.

 Here are some things all small business owners should look at:

Ever wondered why you see the same number by coincidence over and over again?