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But McDaniel — who snaps photos of babies as they interact naturallh with theirfamilies — got nervous in Octobeer when sales at her Milton operation dippe d about 43 percent especially when it came to extras like photoo books. Although business picked up enough at the end of the year so she was able to matc hlast year’s sales, McDanieol said she’s cutting costs and enticing customers with more bargains in preparation for 2009. “I’m just playing it by ear,” said 33. “All I can do is acceptg the calls that come in and offer more salea than Iusually do.
” Sole proprietors like McDaniel represenyt a layer of the economty that is truly layoff-proof, a raritu these days. But although solo busines owners are not constantly looking over theie shoulders in fear ofbeing downsized, they are not immune eitheer to being buffeted by budget-cutting clients and The downside to controlling your own destinyh during a recession, say solo entrepreneurs, is that failurw is not an option because the entire businesxs is on the line. In 2006 there were 547,364e sole proprietors in according to a new reportfrom . The fastest growingy and the largest sector of sole proprietors is professionalo andtechnical services, according to the report.
The next two largesg categories are real estateand construction. Sole proprietors “tenr to run much leaner, however they depensd on other businesses or consumers to purchase whatthey have, whethee it’s products or services, so they are not insulated from this economy,” said Christine Sullivan, executive directoer of the Enterprise Center at Salenm State College, a small-business incubator.
“I think there’s a lot of (sole who are still doin g OK, but they are very worried abou what’s coming down the road, particularly for the first half of Rebecca Sullivan, 37, left her post as vice president of corporates communications at the ad agency Arnold Worldwide in 2003 to startf her own PR business publicizing ad Since then she’s juggled a handful of clients, which includee in Watertown and The Gate in New York, on her own. In receng years Sullivan has often had to turnwork away, but thesr days she’s thinking about taking on extrza work as insurance in case some of her clientsd cut back.
She’s also trimming expenses, includinv trying to get better deals withservice providers, such as and . “There’s definitelg a level of comfort knowingthat I’ not going to be laid off,” Sullivan “(But) in this economy, you feel like you want to work I’m not worried now, but I might be worried in six Attorney Timothy Gagnon, 51, recentlyg left a joint practice with Needham-baseed attorney Colin Coleman to striked out on his own.
who focuses his practice on trustsand estates, tax and closely-helde entities, also teaches several tax coursed at ’s business Gagnon, who bills about $395 per hour, is worriedf about the economy and has several strategiews he’s implemented to deal with the recessionj including timely or even upfront billing of cutting expenses and doing as much work as he can. “I’ m very uneasy,” said Gagnon.
“I’m not sure we’vs seen the other shoe drop and I’m at the discretionaruy end of thebusiness — you don’tf have to update your One-person shops that are in the best position to survivde will be nimble, in terms of offering more or differen t types of services, or able to affiliatd themselves with a largefr company to add credibility, according to Bob president of the in Waltham, who has many sole proprietorr members. “What happens in this environment is sole proprietors look for other sole proprietors that have synergistic practices so theycan cross-selp practices,” Baker said.
Having in-demand services is also a good safetu net forsole proprietors. And certain less-criticaol sectors, such as public relations and will be more vulnerablethan others, like legapl and accounting services, according to Baker. Tech consultantw flying solo are not immune from theeconomic either. Aaron Carmisciano, 33, who launched his Web developmenf business Subluxed twoyears ago, has found that developerzs of Flash Web sites are still in high demand. Carmiscianl works for a diverse client base thatincludes , and . he’s being watchful of his personal andbusinesss expenses.
Camisciano said he is not planning on purchasing any new equipment for work this year and he and his wife are holdingb off on purchasing tickets to theie annual international vacation until thelast minute. “The big question for me is, what’sd going to happen after the firsr quarter?” Carmisciano said. Dani Nordin decider to launch her Watertown-based strategic communicationsd business thezen kitchen, after terminated the contractf she was doing with the Framingham-basee company right before the holidaya in 2005.
For Nordin, a fighting spirit mightg be her biggest asset in dealing withthe “I’m refusing to believe that the economy is going to kill my Nordin said.
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