Whether we are in or heading toward a recession is debatable among economic gurus, but the slowdown of the United State's economy is definite. For some small business owners, weathering the storm means refocusing on the basics, experts said.

Businesses that are likely to realize the biggest negative impact are those offering upscale goods and have a significant middle-class customer base, said Doug Boyce, director of the Small Business Development Center at Binghamton University.

"Those are the kinds of businesses that might show the first signs in a recession," he said.

They don't offer necessary items such as gasoline or health care, he said.

"Anything that is dependent on that disposable income that Joe citizen has," will likely see problems, he said.

To keep a business afloat during an economic downturn, Boyce said, business owners need to focus on three areas: diversifying their product base, stepping up customer service and increasing marketing efforts.

Whether facing an economic slowdown or not, each of these areas are important for businesses, said Martha Rogers, author of "Rules to Break and Laws to Follow" and an adjunct professor of marketing at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.

"All three of them go hand in hand," she said.

Paying attention to those three basics has done well for Tom Kelleher, owner of Tom's Coffee, Cards & Gifts, a Binghamton store offering everything from gourmet coffee beans to hand-carved jewelry boxes to formalwear.

In business since 1982, the store has weathered more than one recession -- even seeing an increase in sales during national economic slumps, Kelleher said.

"We've actually gone up during recessions," he said.

Diversification

Bringing in new and more affordable products and services to a business can mean the difference during economic downturns, Boyce said.

Rogers noted that when diversifying a business, owners need to realize their customers' needs first.

It might be as simple as adding to inventory or developing a partnership with other businesses, Rogers said.

At Kelleher's business, offering customers a variety of items and "a style for every taste and a price point for every budget" have helped Tom's thrive to $2 million in annual sales, he said.

An example of his diversification came three years ago when he started to sell prom gowns, Kelleher said. Three young customers came in and purchased women's evening gowns to wear to their local high school prom.

In an effort to attract more of those same customers, Kelleher said he began purchasing an annual array of prom gowns. This year the store expects to sell 250 gowns, he said.

"It's really become a big part of our business," Kelleher said.

Choosing what to offer at his store is dictated by his customers' desires, he said.

"I define my business around their needs," Kelleher said.

Customer Service

Holding onto existing customers and gaining new ones can sometimes boil down to offering exemplary customer service, Boyce said. Businesses that make their customers feel like they are treated right will reap the financial rewards of returning patrons, he said.

Rogers said customer service is "not just being polite."

"Real exemplary customer service really takes a look at the customer's point of view," she said.

If a customer waits a long time in line, having a friendly experience at the cash register is not enough to garner regular customer patronage, Rogers said. To make an improvement in each customer's experience, a business owner needs to examine "every single part of their (customer's) experience," she said.

"This is more true during an economic downturn than any other time," Rogers said.

At Tom's, customers often browse at their leisure because there is always new merchandise on display, Kelleher said.

"This is a whole new store every month," he said.

Regular customers, who come in to purchase a pound of coffee beans -- a staple since Kelleher opened -- will have something new to see and perhaps buy, he said.

"Your current customer is always your best future customer," Kelleher said.

Marketing

Increasing a business's visibility, whether through billboards, radio, television or print advertising, can increase revenues in the long run, but "that has to be tempered by cost," Boyce said.

Rogers said that for many small businesses, getting current customers to return more frequently and attracting new customers can be realized through innovative marketing campaigns.

An example, she said, is a fast-food restaurant that opened in Manhattan with a $35,000 marketing budget. Instead of buying a small advertisement in the New York Times, the eatery decided to print and distribute fliers that announced free burritos on a particular day.

Little money was spent on the actual fliers, and most of the marketing budget covered the costs of the burritos, which garnered a fast way "to spread the word" about the restaurant's offerings, she said.

Offering food samples is an ongoing promotion at Tom's, Kelleher said. At least 24 tasting stations are set up at the store each day "so people can taste the product," he said.

From gourmet coffee to preserves to cookies, giving his customers chances to try his offerings is an inexpensive way for him to market his products to buyers.

To get past customers to make a return trip, he also "aggressively" uses his mailing list of 13,500 people, Kelleher said. With eight mailings a year, he uses special promotions to attract them back to the store, he said.

"One thing we do is offer them a gift," Kelleher said.

A free half-pound of gourmet coffee is often a good incentive to get them to come back to the store, Kelleher said. It also helps build good will and develops a traffic pattern.

To attract new customers, Kelleher is installing a 19-foot-tall sign with a full-color LED screen that can showcase photographs of merchandise to travelers on busy Main Street.

"There's nothing like it around here," Kelleher said.

The long haul

Staying in business during economic slowdowns is possible even if the merchandise you sell isn't a necessity, Kelleher said.

"The things I sell here are not the things people need," he said.

But he said he sees repeat customers even during recessions because he offers them something unique in form, design and color.

Many of his customers will put off buying bigger ticket items during tough financial times, such as taking a vacation or buying a new refrigerator, Kelleher said. For a lot less money, however, they can buy a pound of gourmet coffee or a new piece of jewelry not found at chain or discount stores to bring a little brightness into their day.

"That's what makes the difference here," he said.