The Recession. It Sucks. I have gone through a number of recessions in my life but this one takes the cake. The stock market has been cut in half. Unemployment is north of ten percent. There is nobody doing business out there. Well ok some businesses are humming but the vast majority of us are affected dramatically. We are cutting back. We aren’t spending. We are getting laid off. You name it.

I will not sit here and tell you that my businesses are unaffected. Some are better than usual, some are worse. But guess what? Nobody can fire me cause I work for myself. I buy businesses and the more I buy the better off I am. I might buy them for $10 Million or I might buy them for next to nothing but that is my livelihood and it works for me.

My business of buying businesses was created in a recession. I became a business buyer during the early nineties recession. Oh yes I bought businesses before that but not for myself. I started buying businesses for my own account when the recession caused me enough pain that I decided I had to go it alone. I never regretted that decision because the quantum leap into the position of a business owner created many new and exciting dimensions in my life. I could live on my own schedule on my own time and make as much or as little money as I wanted. I found the lifestyle intoxicating. When I want to go anywhere I jump in a plane and do it. When I want to buy a car I plunk down the cash, or have one of my companies buy it. When anyone asks me what I do for a living, I simply reply: “I buy companies”. Any questions? Yeah it sounds like bragging but so what – it’s the truth.

Recessions can be great motivators. They were for me. Many a wise man will tell you that recessions may be the best time to start a business. For us buyers the time is also ripe. Prices are down and great deals can be done which position us for a booming recovery. Many of us need to punch through our mediocrity out of necessity. I bought my first company while unemployed. When I left banking for good I struggled for what seemed like an eternity but I eventually pulled it together and bought a company in a leveraged buyout. I didn’t need any money to do the deal, after all it was a recession, who had money?

Now is the time to be working on deals. No matter what line of work you are in, always look for deals. Real estate pros look for deals, stock pickers look for deals and entrepreneurs always look for deals. No matter who you are, if you want to start your empire, keep an eye out for deals, especially in a recession when the deals are great.