Which Business Niches Are Safe & Which Industries Suffer in A Crisis?

Now let’s look beyond the initial crisis and the coming economic troubles, and see what niches are set to be okay or even prosper during these tough times.

Safe Niches In Crisis

These are the niches where money will likely continue to be spent during the upcoming economic crisis, and some of these niches will even grow.

Here are a few examples…

• Legal niches – BK 7/13, divorce, estate & will attorneys, child custody, immigration. A negative society tends to argue more often, and arguments lead to legal action. Expect an increase in divorces.
• Tattoo removal – this niche grows during a declining economy probably because people pay more attention to a clean physical appearance to compete in the job market and undo more carefree actions from the previous boom.
• Medical Aesthetics – beauty treatments and plastic surgery. Again likely to be in higher demand as people want to look good for their employers.
• Dentists – People continue to need the dentist, and like medical aesthetics, they tend to be more concerned with keeping an employable appearance during crisis times.
• Accounting – tax rates and laws change in response to crises and businesses need to find a way to write-off costs or minimize their tax. Nothing is certain but death and taxes.
• Debt consolidation, management & refinancing – despite government efforts appetites for loans will decrease, but the need to manage debt will increase.
• Survival products – Economic crashes make people uneasy about the future and they prepare for the worst.
• Online Marketing – The internet is going nowhere, and recent quarantines have only strengthened people’s relationships with the internet. This means the internet is an even more important source of traffic.
• Plumbers & electricians – While they won’t be getting as many jobs from new builds, the industry will stay steady serving existing businesses and households.
• Baby Goods – While the birth rate does dip during recessions, parents still need to look after and provide for their babies and children. Any drop in births is overall quite small and delayed 9 months anyway.
• Physiotherapists, Doctors, Nutritionists, Osteopaths & Chiropractors – If people are in pain they seek treatment and after long periods at home with fewer exercise treatments may increase. Plus, the overall stress of economic decline may cause more health issues.
• Day Care & Child Services – Parents will be forced to work longer hours to make ends meet and so likely childcare will stay steady or possibly even increase.
• Holistic & Alternative Medical Practitioners – Faith in the system wanes as the economy does worse and alternative approaches to healthcare become more popular, especially if priced well.
• Storage Facilities – People still need to store things, and if people move into smaller homes or get evicted then storage facilities see a growth in business.
• Budget Stores – During hard times people need to save money

• Pet Care & Vets – As members of the family, pets continue to have their needs
• Retail & Marketing Technology – While businesses overall may suffer, they still need the most efficient ways to process payments, advertise, track, and other marketing and sales technology that help them cut costs and increase profits
• Jobs & Employment Services – With fewer jobs around the demand for help finding jobs increases
• Mechanics – Cars will keep on breaking down, and old cars will stay on the road for longer. While searches for auto dealers is down -42% demand for Vehicle Repair & Maintenance is up +44%
• Solar Panels, Water Supply Installation & Alternative Power – During a crisis, more people want to be self-reliant
• HVAC – Air Conditioning & Heating – Physical discomfort drives sales, people will still keep buying air conditioning and heating.
• Bankruptcy Services – Unfortunately a record number of businesses are likely to go bankrupt and/or need some kind of bailout so the need for legal services related to this will increase.
• Therapy & Life Coaching – The crisis will take a mental toll and this is an industry that can even continue during a lockdown. 
• Dispensaries/Pharmacy – People will continue to need medicine and supplements, and the outbreak has only increased that demand. 
• Insurance – People will still need insurance, and are typically more concerned about things going wrong in the future during an economic downturn. Whether it be health insurance, life insurance, business insurance, or something else, the industry will likely stay steady and some sectors may grow.
• Funeral Homes – Even if the pandemic passes with minimal casualties, sadly people will still continue to die as before, and during economic struggles, the death rate may even be a little higher.
• Residential Care & Elderly Care – The elderly will still need care and if anything people will be more concerned about the quality of these establishments.
• Pet Supplies – Pets still need food and supplies
• Tree Surgeons & Landscaping – Overgrown areas will still need addressing and while this industry may see lowered demand during an economic decline, there will still be some demand.
• Pest Control – If a property gets infested it still needs to be cleared and pests keep on working in economic declines just as much, if not more, than times of growth.
• Security Services – Fear and crime are increasing, so the need for security systems will increase. This even includes specialty industries like armored transport.
• Gun Shops – Already seeing an increase for the same reasons

Niches That Will Suffer During The Economic Crisis

Unfortunately, there are also many losers, and some of them will lose in a bad way. It’s important to know which niches are likely to suffer so that you can prepare, by either changing industries, cutting costs, or finding some way to counteract the downturn in clients. 

Here are some of the examples of the industries that will be hurt by the coming economic decline:

• Tourism & Travel – One of the hardest-hit industries from the virus, and with people uncertain of the future, along with less disposable income all around, this industry will see a decline. Expect major airlines and hotel chains to go into liquidation.
• Restaurants – After already suffering through lockdowns, now with less disposable income, fewer people will eat out, especially at more expensive restaurants. Expect to see many restaurants go bankrupt. Low priced budget restaurants doing takeout while driving through and home deliveries could do well though.
• Antiques – These often raise a lot in price during booms, but crash during economic declines as demand drops.
• Luxury Goods – Many people can no longer afford them or are just being frugal due to an uncertain future. Even the rich can think twice about owning luxury goods in fear it makes them a target or it’s in bad taste.
• Weddings – During the banking crisis, the amount spent on weddings dropped $6000 on average. Expect to see a similar trend this time around.

• Real Estate – With lots of debt-fueled construction across many countries and high prices built on a strong economy, expect to see prices fall and people hold out on buying real estate while they see what happens.
• Construction – with falling real estate prices and an uncertain future, construction will slow down. Notice how the world’s biggest skyscrapers always start getting built during booms while people are positive about the future.
• Home Improvement Services – Whether it’s kitchen remodeling, or redecorating the bedroom, with less money going around people will be choosing to make improvements to the home less frequently or just opt to do it themselves.
• Retail Fashion – Especially higher-end fashion will suffer as people cut back on excessive purchases. You will see some new fashion trends emerge though as people become more focused on sharing their identity and belonging to a tight group, so there is always an opportunity
• Recruitment Agencies – With a flooded job market and companies with less money recruitment agencies will see their business decline.
• Organic & Expensive Health Food – With fewer money people will spend less on high-end food. See craft breweries, high-end meat, organic brands, etc. will see a decline in revenues.
• Weight Loss & Gyms – With a higher demand life due to economic stress people will put personal weight loss goals to the side and many who are casual but not regular gym goers will cut those gym memberships as a way to save money. However, home workout equipment is seeing a boom during lockdown.
• Banking industry – Expect bankruptcies and bailouts as the already poorly funded and irresponsible banking industry suffers in a 2nd banking crisis.
• Auto Industry – With less money going around people buy fewer new cars.
• Advertising Industry – While smart businesses that measure their metrics or know that their advertising is working will keep spending, large brands especially that advertise for ‘branding purposes’ and are unsure of their results will cut advertising spending to be safe. This creates a big opportunity for super cheap advertising and is a major opportunity for online entrepreneurs.
• Live Entertainment & Events – With a lockdown these events simply cannot happen.

Certainly, nobody is safe, but those are the industries that will hurt the most. If you are already working in one of these industries, put a plan in place on how you can cut costs, save money, and stay efficient during the period of economic struggles. There may even be ways that you can pivot the business to address the new situation, or maybe even change the industry entirely depending on the individual situation.

Of course never just take action blindly and out of fear. Always be sure to check your actual metrics first. Are sales up or down? Are conversions up or down? Are you getting more or fewer inquiries? How is your traffic? Many businesses make the mistake of stopping activities that were actually profitable in an effort to save money… so always act on your numbers.

A tree surgeon for example might see a decline in inquiries from his website, and so to save money he turns off his advertising, and now his inquiries decline even more and he goes bankrupt. His competitor on the other hand kept his profitable ads running, and ends up with even more clients as others go bankrupt. 

These metrics can tell you what is happening now and how your business is responding to the situation, and you can project out some good and worse case scenarios to understand your situation and how you could respond.