The history of business is full of ups and downs. The present (or past?) recession is worrying many businesses and people. Indications are that corporations and management have more to learn from this recession than from prior recessions. For one thing, increasing global competition has made business survival more difficult than before. Under the new conditions, many of the old ways of dealing with recessions or downturns cannot work; they may even debilitate firms using them. New means of surviving economic banes need to be considered. Examines some of those means, in particular: planning, cost‐cutting strategies, core strategy versus diversification, re‐structuring, post‐restructuring, and some positive aspects of an economic downturn.