Talk of green shoots is a little premature I think. yes, good stuff is happening under the gloom. We’re going through a turbulent time economically but I know of of a number of entrepreneurs who are working hard to create viable businesses right now and many of them will not only survive this recession but will go on to prosper and employ a lot of people. 

I subscribe to the BIMA blog and I agree with my friend Paul Walsh, who runs it, that the digital entrepreneurs particularly are going to pull us out of this.

But it takes time and there’s still a lot of poison that needs to come out of the system before our economy will genuinely start to build again.

Just a week ago we were being told that the housing market was picking up. Then just yesterday the Council of Mortgage Lenders brought out the negative equity figures and Moneysupermarket.com also pointed out that the vast majority of would-be buyers coming to them have less than 10% saved for a deposit meaning that they had little chance of getting a mortgage.

Large and small companies are letting a lot of employees go, shops are closing and will continue to close and there is ‘restructuring’ going on all over the place.

I think this will carry on for most of the rest of this year as we rethink and restructure business and our economy. It’s not pretty but it’s necessary. Once it’s done then I do think we will see the real green shoots appearing from the ‘roots’ that are being planted and tended right now. It’s just not going to happen immediately.

Having said that, even this year there will be businesses that do VERY nicely thank you. Supermarkets always do well out of a recession – cheaper ones like Lidl, Aldi, Morrisons and Asda are bound to do particularly well (check out Sarah Lockett’s way of having breakfast for under 20p thanks to Lidl). Debt-collectors, second-hand goods sellers (eBay I bet will clean up), fast food outlets and DVD renters are all likely to be busier than ever. 

As you know, we’ve already written about how you can make money out of the recession. You’ve probably found more ways yourself. Let us know if you have (comment on this post – we’re STILL building the new forums!!)

Don’t let the doom and gloom – or the false hopes – get you down. There are always ways of making and saving money in these times and we’re coming up with them every day. Make sure you’re on the free newsletter so that you get our ideas every week!