For many businesses the recession has unfortunately proven to be too much for them to cope with and they have been forced to close.
This is not specific to a particular sector, or even a particular size of business. A firm's ability to survive is down to a number of things, including luck, opportunity and, of course, the people that make the decisions.
A recent article in CNN Money entitled 'Rebooting your business model: Hit by the recession, a restaurateur revamps from scratch' highlights the way in which one business owner decided to start over.
The coverage gained by that business owner will have done a great deal for the company's notoriety as a result of the numerous benefits of online PR.
Nandini Mukherjee owns a business called Indian Bread Co. While this business is now a reputed catering firm (it catered for the Slumdog Millionaire New York film premiere), it was once also a café that served Indian food in the city.
Having started well, the recession caused the owner to revaluate her business and the direction in which it was headed.
As such, she took the brave decision to revamp her entire business model. In the middle of a recession, it was a brave decision, but very much a case of being forced into a corner.
Part of the fresh start was the rebranding of the business, which is now called Aamchi Pao - "my bread" in Marathi.
The cafe has been redesigned, with the kitchen ripped out and a new menu designed by a top Indian chef.
The change has worked really well, with lots of the old customers and new faces reacting to local press coverage of the reopening.
Profits have begun to pick up again and the company now projects 2009 sales of $315,000 - a significant rise on recession levels.
The increase in business revenue has allowed Ms Mukherjee to hire a full-time manger to run the restaurant and leave her to do what she does best – marketing, networking and strategizing.
Evidently, sometimes good things can come out of desperate situations.
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