For Immediate Release:

Contact: Eric Yaverbaum
646.507.5830 or 914-834-2199

RUMORS OF THE RECESSION BEING THE “WORST OF TIMES”
ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED

Self-made Billionaire Bill Bartmann Says:
It’s Actually the BEST OF TIMES…for Entrepreneurs to Start a New Business

NEW YORK (March 17, 2008) – It seems that no matter where you turn, you can’t escape the topic of the “recession.” Some analysts say we are already experiencing it, while others would argue that we’re descending into one. And with the cost of living rising fast and majority of Americans already living paycheck to paycheck, the topic of the recession automatically brings fear, economic uncertainty, job cuts, and the ‘what’s next’ factor.

According to Business Expert and two time National Entrepreneur of the Year, Bill Bartmann, “The one predictable way to achieving financial success is to own a business.” And the solution on how to do it may just surprise you. “The current economic landscape is a most opportune time to start a new business. It is all about applying basic common sense,” adds Bartmann.
And Bartmann knows business. A leading authority in entrepreneurship, he is the pinnacle of entrepreneurial achievement, who at one point was one of the top 25 richest men in America, wealthier than Ross Perot and Rubert Murdoch.

His success has resulted in top accolades and accomplishments, such as being named One of the Top 100 Entrepreneurs of the Last 100 Years by the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, Allbusiness.com and Apple Computer; being a Harvard Business School case study, having his management techniques published in college textbooks that are still being taught at universities today; and starting a company during the last recession that grew to 3,900 employees with revenues in excess of one billion dollars and with earnings in excess of $182 million.

Through his roadmap to success, he has followed simple guidelines to achieving goals. Following are easy steps entrepreneurs can take, to not only start a business during the recession…but become profitable.

• Consider a home office or a virtual office – Who said you can’t start a business right out of your own backyard? There is no reason to purchase property. And if your FFE (furniture, fixtures and equipment) doesn’t directly produce revenue, postpone purchasing it. If you can’t postpone it, lease or rent it. DON’T BUY IT!
• Take advantage of great opportunities – Now’s the time to obtain cheap credit, as rates drop. You can also get great bargains on equipment AND grab market share from weakened competition.
  
• Cut operating costs - Contract services. Everything from your payroll and your book-keeping, to your personnel can come from third-party companies.
• Hire temps rather than FTE - Every announced “lay-off” should be viewed as an opportunity. Great way to obtain “top notch” employees looking for work.
• Beef up Marketing - Narrow your target customer (i.e. those who still have money to spend) and then produce products or services to target these new customers…then market directly to them.
• Trim inventory – Keep tighter control over merchandise. Order only what is moving and order in small volume.
• Quit extending credit – Instead offer discounts for cash. If they cannot pay you now, they definitely won’t be able to pay you when times get tougher.
• Expand your financing capacity and draw it down NOW – If you have a lending relationship, increase it. If you don’t have one, then get one.
• Sell receivables – YES, you get less money, but during a recession cash flow is more important than “profits.”

Having applied these easy everyday tools to his thirty-five years of experience, Bartmann’s altruistic mission is to reverse the business failure rate in America. While 90 percent of businesses fail within the first ten years, that’s 9 out of every 10 new businesses (and that’s not even during a recession!), Bartmann believes if you are prepared, starting a business now will be the greatest opportunity of a lifetime.
As opposed to academic professionals, the ‘instant, overnight experts,’ those that talk about success through other people’s accomplishments and of course the ‘experts’ who’s claim to fame is preaching the power of positive thinking, these principles have been tried, tested…and worked in his life. What better teacher then one who became a billionaire!
For more information, please visit www.billbartmann.com.

About Bill Bartmann:
Bill Bartmann is the "Billionaire Business Coach".  He is the only self-made billionaire who has exclusively devoted his life to teaching others. Bill is the leading authority on entrepreneurship in America. He has created seven successful businesses in seven different industries, including a $3.5 billion, 3900 employee international company that he started from his kitchen table with a $13,000 loan. He has been named National Entrepreneur of the Year by NASDAQ, USA Today, Merrill Lynch and the Kauffman Foundation. His companies have been named by Inc. Magazine as one of the 500 Fastest Growing Companies in America - four years in a row. He has been awarded a permanent place in the Smithsonian Institutes Museum of American History and awarded the American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award as one of the Outstanding Achievers of the 21st Century. 

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Business Expert, Bill Bartmann, is available for interview.

Review copies of his book, Billionaire, are available upon request.
“Eight Steps to Recession Proof Your Business” DVD available upon request.