Do you dream of starting a business, but have put the thought aside because of a bad economy?  Well, it’s time to dust off the dream and get to work.

If you watch the news all day you will hear horror stories about downsizing and bankruptcies.  What you are not hearing about are the many companies that are thriving, not despite of the bad economy, but because of it.

Mary Kay Cosmetics is thriving.  McDonalds is thriving.  Cinemark is thriving.  And loads of small businesses that we’ve never heard of are thriving too.

What’s their secret?  Simple pleasures.  Those companies offer you a way of getting something for less money than people ordinarily spend when there is a good economy.

There is no arguing that the economy is bad, so ask yourself, “what do people do in a bad economy?”  The answer is that they tighten the belt.  They look for ways of getting what they want for less money.

One of those small companies that you have probably never heard of and is thriving is Rosebud Hearing.  The company sells the same hearing aids found at hearing aid clinics, but at a fraction of the cost.

“We started the company around the time that things were really getting bad.  We new that people still needed hearing aids, but most baby boomers could not afford to spend thousands of dollars to get them,” said Eric Rosenberg, founder of Rosebud Hearing.  “We worked with manufacturers to sell private label versions of the same hearing aids being sold for thousands at the clinics, but our customers pay under $300.”

Rosebud Hearing distributes their hearing aids through a number of online vendors, including PerfectHearingAids.com.  “Waiting a few extra days to save thousands of dollars is well worth it for our customers.  We have a wall full of thank you letters from folks that just couldn’t afford to pay what the clinics were asking,” Rosenberg went on to say.

Rosebud Hearing is just one example of small startups that are thriving in this bad economy.  The key to doing well in this climate is value.  Let the customer know that they are saving money, while getting a quality product or service and the world can be your oyster, no matter how bad the economy gets.