The world’s governments and economists are now catching up with what this blog – and, indeed, practically any entrepreneur – could have told them months ago: recession is upon us.

However, this is not necessarily being negative. Every cloud has a silver lining and one man’s threat is another man’s opportunity.

There is money to be made in recession. Indeed, some businesses make more in “bad years” than good.

Of course, it helps to be in the right business. It may be difficult to get into it at short notice, but here are just some ideas of businesses that have little to fear from the dreaded r-word:

1    Insolvency practitioners and debt collectors – obviously

2    Lawyers and accountants – who find that there is as much work in break-ups as start-ups, and who are usually good at making sure that they get paid

3    Businesses with government contracts – who enjoy the nearest thing to immunity from recession because government spending rarely stops just because the poor taxpayer is hurting

4    Businesses with cash reserves – who can buy assets while they are at their cheapest

5    Businesses that are strong enough to survive the recession while their competitors go under

Recession is like a forest fire: it looks horrible, and it feels worse if you are caught in it, but one may be necessary from time to time if the environment as a whole is to thrive.