recession--or no?

I'm currently working on a story on how to best prepare for a recession (as you can ask 100 people and get 100 different answers, the story doesn't touch on whether we're in a recession or not but rather operates on the supposition that we are or, at the very least, are headed that way.)

What to do? Some ideas to weigh:

* Trim debt as much as possible--possibilities of layoffs or hiring slowdowns is no time to carry the excess baggage of credit card debt and the like. If you have extra, pay off the plastic.

* If you don't have to, don't sell your house. The fact that home prices are plummeting isn't news--if your home is down 10 to 20 percent or even more in value, sit tight and wait for prices to rebound.

* Pursue additional skills and training. The first to be laid off are often those deemed the most expendable. Boost your security by broadening your value to your employer.

Jeff

Business License--don't ask, don't tell

I recently finished a column on the rather mercurial topic of business licenses--who needs one, who doesn't and how to determine where you may fall in that continuum. Although the article was fairly empirical, one element that really didn't fit poses a potential danger to businesses of all sorts.

Simply put: need a business license? It all depends who sees you.

What that means is that, in effect, many businesses--particularly ones located within a home--do, in fact, need some sort of licensure, be it at the state or local level. How that bears out in practice is whether someone is going to take the time to report you to the licensing authorities.

How can that play out? Noisy traffic coming and going from your home, traffic and parking headaches and other logistical issues are often the catalyst for complaints. Sometimes noise and, all too frequently, a neighbor with nothing better to do can prompt a phone call to the state or municipality.

And, the fact is, no matter how legitimate your business is, running it without the necessary licensure and getting caught can be pricey and painful--you can get shut down, fined and, in extreme cases, even face criminal charges.

Bottom line: protect yourself. Visit your state's website--usually tucked into the secretary of state's section--to see if what you do for a living mandates some sort of license. Visit your town or city hall to find out if anything local applies.

You can always choose to toss the dice, save some money, and hope nobody spills the beans on you. To wit: about a mile from my home there's a guy who has stacks of junk and rusted out cars spread throughout his property. He's running a junk yard but hasn't a scrap of a license to validate its legality.

He's been doing this for a couple years now--and only because no one has had a hankering to pick up the phone.

How safe a strategy is that? Decide for yourself.

Jeff