Recessions can be difficult on any small businesses, but avoiding classic mistakes that many entrepreneurs make in such economic times can help your business weather and even thrive in them.

Small Business Trends identifies four specific areas that entrepreneurs should concentrate on when it comes to making business decisions during a recession.

One of the four particularly caught my attention, as it is a primary area that I’ve been “thinkin’ on” as more and more experts back themselves into agreeing that it is possible a recession is maybe in the offing.

4. Forgetting that some products, or even whole businesses, are counter cyclical. When customers cut back on their spending, they often substitute one product for another. For instance, in a recession, people might cut back the number of steak dinners that they eat out. But, because they still want to treat themselves, they increase their purchase of cheaper foods, like pasta, making pasta a counter cyclical product. So, entrepreneurs need to avoid assuming that demand for everything goes down in a recession.

Ah, but what is going up. Certainly not the amount of sleep I’m getting trying to figure that out. Check out the whole article for great tips for trying times.