How they did it...

So how did these businesses do it? Below are a bunch of great ideas, but head over to my blog for daily updates. (You can also hover your mouse over a company's logo on the Good Guys page to see if I have interviewed them.)

 

We avoided layoffs due to little overhead and publishing books about the meltdown. Bear Trap, The Fall of Bear Stearns and the Panic of 2008 by Bill Bamber and Andrew Spencer published in September 2008. Two follow-up books this year include The Murder of Lehman Brothers - An Insiders Guide to the Global Meltdown by Joe Tibman and Tower of Thieves - An Insider's Guide to AIG by John Falcetta.

John Colby, Brick Tower Press - bricktowerpress.com

Our response to the awful economy is to work harder than ever to give existing customers reasons to buy our products and to use every opportunity to tell more people about mental_floss.

Toby Maloney - mentalfloss.com

What recession? Some years are tough, others are good. Staff are integral to success, as are authors. You can only be in business by staying in business and we have immense faith in the growth of our company.

Clean Slate Press

We haven't done anything different, but have noticed a large rise in calls from people who have break and enters over the past 3 months and would like to "bump up" their security in the home.
We have a 24hr service so we try and answer all our calls straight away. I think people are feeling quite vulnerable these days, and this has helped our business tremendously. Shame it has to be like this.

Automatic Security Systems, Queensland, Australia

There's a global recession on; sales cycles are slow and it's tough out
there, but at Codec we remain optimistic about the longer term for NZ. We
recognise that laying people off is sometimes unavoidable for any number
of reasons, but our philosophy is that we will avoid that course of action
wherever possible, knowing that our clients and our team recognise the
value of the Team Dynamic that builds over time. At Codec, we continually
look to be creative and innovative in generating new revenue opportunities
even if this requires short-term investment, and so far this is working
for us.

Codec, Software for Business

Our business is about laying people to rest not laying people off. We lay
people to rest with dignity and compromising on the costs involved to do
that, due to a recession, is not in line with our company values.

Auckland Memorial Park

"We heard there was a recession going on but we decided not to have one. We basically think it would be a pain in the ass."

Chris Williams - King St Advertising

"My current major activity to support the key players in my business support team is "paying it forward." My first speaking contract this year I gifted to someone who had been a tower of strength to others. I demonstrated my faith in the universe and paid it forward, paving the way for others to do the same and support the notion of abundance. Drop a pebble and create a ripple effect!"

www.joyology.co.nz

We, as a company, have passion for our people and our place... We place value
on our people and our environment. They exist for us as one, and it defines
who we are, as to how we treat them.

Dive! Tutukaka

We won't be making anyone redundant; we will be thinking of how to better
utilize them, so as to keep them, and we all come out stronger.

Flux Animation

Our team work together, and we will stay together. There are many things we
work together to change and adapt, in the many variables of business, and of
life, and we think together outside the square.

MTA Travel Australia

Other alternatives to Lay Offs

Some companies offer either an overall 5 percent pay cut, or a four-day work week reflecting the appropriate decrease in pay.

Others offer 5 percent mandatory pay cut, plus an additional 5 percent volunteer pay cut is tempered with increased stock options.

Charles Schwab Corporation guaranteed a $7,500 bonus for any affected employee who gets rehired within 18 months. In addition, company founder Charles Schwab and his wife have created a $10 million educational fund for these workers. The fund will cover as much as $20,000 worth of tuition over two years at accredited academic institutions.