How Are Home Businesses Doing After Katrina & Rita?

Tomorrow I’m told starts the new hurricane season.

MSN reports that contractors are “cleaning up” by cleaning up.

But how were some Gulf Area home based businesses doing?
Here’s one report from the trenches…

My sales did drop, but only for a couple weeks. Then some of the missed orders were placed a bit later than usual.

Hurricane Rita had a much bigger impact, but that was due to the fact that we live very close to Cameron where it made landfall. We live in Calcasieu, where most of the population was evacuated and stayed gone for two weeks or more.

Rita hit late in September and killed my sales for the next two weeks. October was our worst month in years. The only thing that kept it from hitting rock bottom was a two day sales trip I made to Houston, TX. Those two days generated half my sales for the month.

But, the population began returning and business started getting back to normal. There is a construction boom, with all the gov’t and insurance money, and my sales are booming.

Except for NYC, I don’t believe 9/11 had much of a permanent impact on advertising. However, the numbers are flat for mass media, while promotional advertising is growing faster than any other media.

You might consider approaching some of your past clients and inquire if they are buying promotional advertising. Some businesses have shifted a portion of the advertising and marketing budgets over to promotional products, which can be better targeted to specific clients and niche markets.

Dennis Bevers

Do you have any more “front line” reports about home businesses in the aftermath of last year’s hurricanes? Leave a comment…