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http://www.detroitbusinesstoday.net

Recession proof businesses in rough economy

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Photo by Tammy Proctor

By Tammy Proctor

Robin Shaheen Cazantzes of Private Spa, a business that has seen good business in these tough economic times.

By Tammy Proctor

The Suburbanite

Tue Dec 29, 2009, 10:40 AM EST

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http://www.thesuburbanite.com/news/business/x664196174/Recession-proof-businesses-in-rough-economy

Jackson TWP, Ohio -

America’s jobless rate fell slightly less last month. Sales during Christmas weren’t aggressive, but OK. The nation’s financial experts say we’ve experienced the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Yet, look no further than your backyard and see success stories.

There are businesses thriving in this economy.

Three local business owners credit their products, their service and networking with the local chamber of commerce as key factors to recession-proof businesses.

“In January, I’ll be awarded a car,” said Tijana Zelich, area manager for Arbonne International, a leader in natural skin care that’s safe for skin.

“I was never a girlie-girl,” said Zelich. “But I was concerned about my skin. I would have put lawn fertilizer on my face if I thought it would help my pores.”

A doctor told her about Arbonne. Skeptical, she tried the products and she was sold.

“In this changing economy, it’s competitive,” said Zelich. “We need to look good. We need bright faces. We can’t afford to look tired, aged. Attractive confident people attract success.”

Zelich said she networks and the Arbonne products sell themselves.

“I don’t believe in pushing the products. I let women try the products for themselves before they buy,” said Zelich. “It’s recession proof.”

“Women can’t afford $5,000 vacations to feel good, in this economy,” said Robin Shaheen Cazantzes, owner of Private Spa. “But they come in here and relax. We’re stress relievers.”

Cazantzes said at this time, women are looking for jobs. She agrees with Zelich. Women have to look good.

“Jobs are so competitive, especially during the interviewing process,” said Cazantzes. “We help ladies with make-up who are going into interviews. Some women are just entering the workforce. They must look professional.”

Cazantzes said she notices a trend. As the economy became tougher, women unite.

“Women are social,” she said. “We saw a rise in bacheorlette parties, divorce parties. Our spa is different in that we’re smaller and we offer a personal touch. We host these ladies. It rough times, we’re an oasis to relax.”

Creating an oasis of personal service has worked for Anne Marie’s Fine Jewelry.

“Everyone is important,” said Anne Marie. “The main reason we are doing well is personal service. We offer old fashioned service.”

“In business, you’ve got to have a servant’s heart,” said Zelich. “You have to know your clientele and know their needs.”

“We offer products that have meaning,” said Anne Marie. “Customers want to buy something that is worthwhile, of value.”

Anne Marie said by offering meaningful pieces and timeless elegance that give people the most for their money.

“Good people tell good people,” said Anne Marie. “We’ve networked through TIPS Clubs in the Jackson-Belden Chamber of Commerce and word of mouth.”

“My son is in college and he’s learning about network marketing,” said Zelich. “It’s something we use every day. It’s a viable way to become successful.”

Cazantzes is a member of the Jackson-Belden Chamber of Commerce and she too attends a Tips Club.

“When networking, you put a face with a business name,” said Cazantzes. “It builds clientele.”
“People do business with people they know,” said Zelich.

Auto jobs shake-up slams black middle class

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December 20, 2009

RON DZWONKOWSKI

Auto jobs shake-up slams black middle class

BY RON DZWONKOWSKI
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

http://www.freep.com/article/20091220/SPECIAL04/912200503/1318/

From 1910 into the 1930s, the black population of Detroit rose more than 600% -- double the rate of nearby Cleveland and four times faster than the increase in Chicago.

Nobody was moving here for the weather. The influx of people to Detroit -- the city tripled in size during the same period to a population of about 1.5 million -- was about jobs, mainly in the auto industry, after Henry Ford made his famous offer of $5 a day.

Among the many side effects of the assembly line was the rise of the American middle class and, in Detroit more than anywhere else, the creation of a black middle class. While segregation and racism were obstacles, Detroit became a place where good factory wages enabled African Americans to afford homes and cars; where black businesses could start up with ready customers and where succeeding generations had a measure of upward mobility. Hundreds of African-American professionals, businesspeople and academics owe their start to parents or grandparents who were able to make a decent living in Michigan's auto plants.

That avenue to the proverbial American dream has now been largely closed off by the disappearance of job opportunities at General Motors, Ford and Chrysler and the many industry supplier firms.

"What is happening now to the black middle class is absolutely devastating," said Dr. Curtis Ivery, chancellor of Wayne County Community College District. "But it is also much needed. We needed to come out of our comfort zone, that sense of entitlement to those jobs."

Ivery and others said this massive economic shake-up should be a wake-up call for Detroit and indeed all Michigan to fix its schools and redirect young people toward higher education.

"The old paradigm was graduate from high school and get a good job," said Daniel Baxter, director of elections for the City of Detroit and the son of an assembly line worker. "Now, it's totally different. We have to shift the thought process, recognize the new dynamic."

Juliette Okotie-Eboh, senior vice president of public affairs for MGM Grand Detroit and the daughter of a Ford worker, recalled a time in the 1960s when the best-dressed among her classmates at Detroit Northern High School were the young men who had second-shift auto jobs.

"They had the cars, they had the clothes," she said. "The point is, I guess, they didn't need the education at that time to make the good money. But those doors have been closed for a while. Are blacks disproportionately affected? We're always disproportionately affected. ... But the lack of opportunity is more acute now."

Michael Porter, vice president for corporate communications at DTE Energy, is the son of an autoworker. His mother started out as a stenographer but worked her way up to computer systems analyst at the Army's Tank Automotive Command plant.

"I was exceedingly fortunate," Porter said. "My parents placed a high premium on education and sacrificed -- sending us to parochial schools to help prepare for college. ... But for those who couldn't or didn't want to go to college, the plants were a viable option.

"Today, those manufacturing jobs are gone. ... And even if the auto companies had the market share they enjoyed in the 1960s, the jobs our parents held would be gone. ... Today, computers and robots do many of the things that were formerly done by men and women with air wrenches and paint spray guns."

Hence the critical need, said Porter, Ivery and others, to address the ills of predominantly African-American school districts and the widespread applause for Robert Bobb, the emergency financial manager of the Detroit Public Schools, who's becoming a local folk hero as he reshapes the district with an emphasis on accountability. Bobb's trying to make changes that are at least a generation beyond overdue.

"The school systems have got to do a much better job now of meeting the needs of these students," said Bart Landry, a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland and author of a 1987 book, "The New Black Middle Class," plus a 2006 follow-up, "Black Working Wives."

"But first, students have to understand, the good dollars-for-hours jobs are gone. 'If I'm going to make it, I must go to college' ... and if they don't get into pre-college work, that road is extremely difficult."

At WCCCD, which now has upward of 80,000 people taking credit and noncredit courses, Chancellor Ivery is more blunt about the impact of all the closed factories in southeast Michigan.

"Unfortunately, we're exactly where we need to be, and it's a painful thing," he said. "But we've got to get something out of this. There's an opportunity if we take it over the next one or two years. And if we get it right here, we can get it right for the whole country.

"We have a chance," Ivery said, "to ... turn this around."

Ron Dzwonkowski is associate editor of the Free Press. Contact him at 313-222-6635 or rdzwonkwski@freepress.com.

Young women on brink of starting career advised to build around their passions

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December 13, 2009

Young women on brink of starting career advised to build around their passions

Kathy Porter

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20091213/BUSINESS01/912130361/1001/business

"If only I knew then what I know now." How often have you chastised yourself with that lament as you reviewed your career choices? Be honest. You'd have changed some things.

With this in mind, I asked a small group of my peers what advice they would offer to young women about to enter today's job market. What follows is a brief summary of what they said.

"Set goals to become financially independent so that you do not have to rely on anyone else," wrote Paula Rogala, a financial adviser with Waddell & Reed.

Consider jobs that incorporate residual income into your salary. The more traditional entry-level jobs in insurance, finance and real estate all have that very attractive, residual piece built into their career paths.

If none of these jobs excites you, develop a career around what you feel passionate about. Then get involved in direct sale network marketing part time for the long-term, residual income benefits. Choose a company that fits your lifestyle and stick with it.

Make deliberate choices, but don't be afraid to change direction. Network. Network. Network. Be patient. Take care of your physical health and your emotional well-being.

Never stop learning. Be a student of your profession and of self-development. Ultimately, you are your best investment.

What never changes are the practical considerations of becoming financially self-supporting. If you're not afraid to reach out to those who have been there before you, you'll get by with a little help from your friends.

Kathy Porter is the creator and owner of www.MrsBizWhiz.com and can be reached at Kathy@mrsbizwhiz.com.

Additional Facts Share a topic

This column is written by members of the Rochester Women's Network, whose focus is to help women connect, grow and succeed. For more information, go to www.rwn.org.

New career starts at home

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December 13, 2009

New career starts at home

Many wooed by direct selling during slow economy

Monica Torline
The Desert Sun

http://www.mydesert.com/article/20091213/BUSINESS/912120350/-1/newsfront/New-career-starts-at-home

Dave Barton needed to find supplemental income and a reason to get out of the house — and all it took was one lousy vegetable chopper.

Wooed by a device that could quarter an onion without breaking the peel, Barton bought a “piece of junk” off a television infomercial a few months back.

It was truth in advertising all right: The blades were so dull, they couldn't cut through much of anything.

After hearing about the bad chopper, a friend suggested Barton try a similar tool sold through The Pampered Chef, a direct seller of kitchen gadgets since 1980.

“The difference between that and what I bought was night and day,” Barton said.

The 62-year-old Rancho Mirage man became a Pampered Chef consultant a little more than a month ago, with 10 parties under his belt already.

With conventional means of finding a job drying up, many American workers like Barton are turning toward direct selling to make some money in this recession.

“It's turned into a good opportunity for me,” he said. “It's paying my mortgage.”

The Direct Selling Association, celebrating its 100th anniversary next year, tracks employment and growth of the direct sales industry. While average employment growth rates slowed 0.5 percent during previous recession years, direct sales employment rates grew an average of 8.4 percent.

“We definitely look at direct selling as an alternative to people when they've been laid off,” said Amy Robinson, vice president of communications and media relations.

The number of direct sellers nationally started increasing toward the end of 2008, Robinson said.

While 2009 figures won't be available for a few months, she said the group is optimistic about the number of new consultants joining the industry — and the selling they will do as they get started.

“We expect an increase in sales figures as these additional salespeople build their businesses,” she said.

Will they buy?

But aren't most Americans cutting back on discretionary spending?

“If there's a reason to buy, they'll buy,” Barton said, noting that a lot of his customers are interested in the added value of three- and five-year guarantees offered on most of his products.

“Women are still interested in sprucing up their wardrobes,” Keron Gustafson of Indio said.

She bought a starter kit from lia sophia and began selling jewelry through at-home parties in July.

Bonni Davis, vice president of sales, said lia sophia consultants are reporting fewer people attending at-home parties but that the average spending per customer is up.

“Friends still get together during these times,” she said. “And this business is all about women helping women.”

Often, a woman will host a party as a favor to a girlfriend getting started selling a product, Davis said. The business expands from there.

Gustafson's initial investment of $149 bought a jewelry case, two display trays, 24 pieces of jewelry, order forms and catalogs.

The additional $500 to $1,000 she earns every month makes “a huge difference” for the household income, she said.

“In essence, I feel like I'm part of a franchise, but with a very low franchise fee,” she said.

Most people who get involved with direct sales have a specific goal in mind — a way to pay for a family vacation or a new car, said Robinson of the Direct Selling Association. The median income for a direct seller is $2,400 annually.

It can become a full-time job

But with flexible hours and little risk to get started, there's potential to turn the opportunity into a full-time career, she said.

Patti Levenda made the transition from selling at house parties to opening a showroom in Palm Desert called Simply Divine.

While she started it with the idea of creating a space for people to host direct sales parties, she also sells handbags and accessories there like the traditional retail model.

Call it customer service or a throwback to her days in direct sales, Levenda is holding workshops for women to show them how to work with accessories they already own. If they buy a new item or two to supplement what they already have, even better.

“Spending a dollar is more of a conscious choice right now,” she said.

Her advice to those looking to start a new career in direct sales: “Start small, and be creative with the marketing. Provide extraordinary customer service.”

Additional Facts What are direct sales?

Direct selling is the sale of a consumer product or service, person-to-person, away from a fixed retail location. In 2008, sales in the United States totaled about $30 billion, with more than 74 percent of the American public buying goods or services through direct selling.
The history of direct selling started in the earliest days of commerce, as traders would go to marketplace to barter for goods and services in person.
The introduction of the home party in the 1950s added a new dimension to the direct selling industry. Hostesses would invite friends into their homes, setting the stage for product demonstrations.
Today, direct selling still takes place in living rooms and kitchens around the country. But some parties are going online, with hosts sending out e-invitations to come buy wares.
The Direct Selling Association

Interested in these businesses?

For more information on the local businesses included in this article:
Dave Barton, Pampered Chef consultant, at (760) 799-2499.
Keron Gustafson, lia sophia consultant, at (760) 289-8133.
Patti Levenda, owner of Simply Divine, at (760) 799-4425.