Robert Siekert spotslights businesses there were founded during a recession.

1. BUSINESSES
FOUNDED DURING
A RECESSION
Robert Siekert

2. Introduction
When is the right time to start a business? Some
would say when the economy is good. Others
would say there is no right time. Yet, everyone
would agree starting one during a recession is not
a smart idea. During these tumultuous times,
people were tightening their budgets even more
and many families were going hungry. And getting
the capital to start a business was nearly
impossible.

3. There were a number of reasons why businessmen started
their companies, but the main reason was that there was no
(or little) competition. They had an idea to start something
new, and the determination to make it a success. These
men embodied America’s entrepreneurial spirit, which still
running strong with the explosion of startups in the past 20
years. Below are a few of those businesses, which have not
only become icons in their industries, but have created
products and services that have made our lives much
easier.

4. Allstate
Insurance
Company
Insurance operates on risk. Starting a company during the
Great Depression (1929 – 1939) was certainly a big risk. It
was founded by General Robert E. Wood, chairman of
Sears, Roebuck & Co.(Sears) in 1931, as part of Sears
(until 1993). Wood saw the need to bring quality auto
insurance to the public. Policies were sent to customers
via mail and the first claim was paid on May 17, 1931 for a
broken door handle on a 1930 Studebaker, which was a
theft attempt. It wasn’t until 1933 when Allstate (the name
borrowed from a tire) hired its first agent, who set up a
card table at the Chicago World’s Fair. Allstate has grown
to become the largest publicly held personal lines insurer,
offering a range of insurance and financial products.

5. Microsoft
It’s hard to believe this company started
during a recession. Yet, there was one in the
early 1970s (1973 – 1975). Bill Gates and
Paul Allen formed this company in 1975,
originally called Micro-Soft, to produce
microprocessors and software. What
increased the risk is that Gates dropped out of
Harvard and Allen quit his job as a
programmer in Boston. They company started
in Albuquerque, New Mexico, because it was
the home to MITS, an electronics firm. The
risk paid off; sales were over $1 million dollars
in 1979. Gates and Allen moved the company
to Bellevue, Washington, where the two grew
up. The company licensed the MS-DOS
operating system, and the rest is history.

6. This company was founded during the Panic of 1873
by Thomas Edison. It was originally called the Edison
General Electric Company, where Edison had merged
all of his interests into one company. Edison was an
inventor, who was fascinated with dynamo and
electricity (devices). In addition to the economic
turmoil of the period, which caused half of the nation’s
railroads to declare bankruptcy, Edison experienced
many failures before he successfully created an
incandescent lamp. In 1892, Edison merged his
company with the Thomson-Housten company, to
form General Electric. It has expanded to offer
products in many sectors, including healthcare,
finance and entertainment.
General Electric

7. Robert Siekert
Thank You
for your
Time!