Good Dog Creative

In the midst of great adversity come oodles of innovations. For example, the entire cosmetics industry came to life in the depths of The Great Depression. Offering ladies a little inexpensive luxury made the people who sold lipstick, rouge, and eye makeup extremely wealthy!

In an economic slump (currently coming out of one if reports are correct) the opportunities to succeed are available if you use some innovation. As creatives our job IS innovation and we should be leveraging this aspect of ourselves to find ways to move ahead, grow and succeed. What are some ways you can grow your business? Are there new avenues needing your services that haven’t been explored? Is there a new way you can provide your services or team up and pool resources with others to create a new business model?

Innovation and success stories during economic down-turns, slumps and full out depression have happened in the past. Check out this amazing list of familiar companies that began during “less than ideal” business conditions:

Proctor & Gamble started during The Panic of 1837 as a small household-goods business in Cincinnati. Today they spend more on advertising than any other company – over $2.6 billion/year.

GE (General Electric Co.) was established in 1876 in the middle of the Panic of 1873, a six-year recession. GE is now the third largest company in the world.

United Technologies Corporation started in 1929 as a holding company for airlines, airplane parts manufacturers and aviation companies. The Golden Age of Aviation was in full swing and kept them aloft.

Hy-Vee began as a small general store in Iowa in 1930 that offered what people really need during tough times – low prices. That and good service helped grow the general store into a chain of 225 supermarkets.

Ocean Spray Cranberries started in 1930 when three cranberry companies pooled their bogs in order to expand their market. Today the cooperative employs about 2,000 people, with sales over $1.4 billion.

HP (Hewlett-Packard Development Company LP) was born in a Palo Alto garage at the end of the Great Depression. The electronic company now operates in nearly every country in the world.

Burger King Corporation began during the 1954 recession and in 1957 (another slump year), the company introduced its successful signature burger – the Whopper. Today, the company operates more than 11,100 locations in 65 countries.

FedEx Corporation began operations on April 17, 1973 as Federal Express, and delivered 186 packages to 25 cities on its first night of operations. It now manages more than 7.5 million shipments everyday worldwide.

CNN, or The Cable News Network as it was orginally called, started during recession-plagued 1980. Today, 1.5 billion people across the globe watch CNN.

MTV Networks debuted in the economic slump of 1981. Today, MTV is a global brand with dozens of shows, music-related and not.