Award-winning magician and Inside Magic Favorite Joshua Jay is on the Forbes website today discussing . . . economics. The article is an enlightening look at what to do to prepare for the next recession. Mr. Jay would know as a businessman and magician. He and Andi Gladwin began the very popular online magic store, Vanishing Inc. in 2009 and has done well. According to Forbes, it is one of the largest such stores in the United States.
He doesn’t need magic powers to see that a recession may be on the way, “The things I observe happening now are things that happened before the last recession.”
Mr. Jay says you get a feeling for a tightening economy by how event planners work with you. “Now the company event planners have to tell me as a magician, ‘I’m sorry we can’t have you this year,’ or, ‘Last year we had you do two shows and walk-around magic. This year, we only need you to do walk-around magic.'”
But also magic hobbyists and amateurs are slowing their spending.
“Secondly, we have seen a slowdown in magic sales because, for most of the amateurs and hobbyists that make up a large portion of the magic community, magic is purchased with disposable income. So we aren’t seeing a total overall slowdown in numbers, but we’re seeing ramped-up marketing efforts result in the same sales numbers. And to me, that spells, not doom, but certainly a potential slowdown.”
But Mr. Jay survived the 2008 recession by diversifying and exploring new avenues for his business.
“I had outlets that were under my control,” Mr. Jay said. “The guys that really suffered in the last recession were the guys that relied on calls from clients. They relied on work to come into their phone and their inbox, and those people really suffered because those things dried up.”
Check out the full article to get some very helpful hints and advice from someone of our ilk who has survived downturns and came out even better on the other side by visiting the Forbes site here.
Visit Vanishing Inc. here.
Check out Mr. Jay’s website here.
The Session is billed as the UK’s only close-up magic convention; it is “a conference for serious close-up magicians.” This year the two-day fete was held in Cheltenham.