COLUMBUS, Ohio — Lisa Gutierrez is the CEO of Dos Hermanos.

When she thinks of the potential of a recession, she said her main priorities are her customers and employees. 

What You Need To Know

  • Goldman Sachs raised the probability of a recession from 20% to 35% 

  • Dos Hermanos CEO, Lisa Gutierrez said their small business is preparing for a potential recession by having conversations with their employees and hoping to collaborate with other local businesses

  • Scioto Analysis economist Rob Moore said tariffs are a major contributor to the probability of a recession 

“First and foremost, I think about our consumers, right. Our loyal guests that have been so good to us. And what does that look like, not only for the single guest that comes in, but also for the families that maybe have little ones or a family or three or four and also a workforce,” said Gutierrez. 

Dos Hermanos is a small business in Columbus, and Gutierrez believes the best way to prepare for a potential recession is by collaboration. 

“I believe, for us to compete with our competitors, it's really a time for us to collaborate. So finding ways that, you know, if we are going to get a certain spice or something that normally would come in maybe on a tariff or the cost would be more than what we're used to, you know, can we source it locally,” said Gutierrez.  

Although we aren’t in a recession, Gutierrez is having conversations with her employees to ensure them of their job security.

“We hear a lot from our employees that they're afraid, you know, will people not place orders or come to the restaurant? The restaurant seats are hard to fill. So they worry about if they're a server with us, you know, will they have a job?” said Gutierrez.  

Scioto Analysis economist Rob Moore said the probability of a recession in the next 12 months has increased because of the recent tariffs. 

“The reason that people think the risk has potentially increase is potentially because of some of the actions that have happened at the federal level, in particular tariffs are a threat to the economy because people get a lot of their goods and services across national borders,” said Moore. 

Moore said businesses and consumers shouldn’t worry about a recession yet and should continue to contribute to the economy as usual, which would prevent a recession. 

“The thing that can bring on a recession the most is mass hysteria where people start saying, Oh, this is happening, I need to stop spending money or I need to stop hiring. But if the fundamentals of your business are strong, you're going to know that a lot better,” said Moore. 

Uncertain times can bring anxiety for businesses and consumers but Gutierrez remains optimistic. 

“We're concerned about a potential recession. We have a strong brand. We have loyal customers. We have an amazing workforce, and we will get through this,” said Gutierrez.