I have just returned from a visit to the UK. Spin it as you wish, her majesty’s economy ain’t doing too well. The country’s credit standing has just been downgraded by Moody‘s. I walked past a previously thriving parade of small shops, whose fronts were all boarded up. Chains like HMV are in trouble.

The horsemeat scandal is just another part of the syndrome. Too many large retailers were trying to save costs at the risk of cheating the customer. In the end, everyone loses out…except for the sellers of fresh meat.

Through all this turmoil, two companies in the retail sector have shown how to make good sales and move ahead, even in an economic downturn.

Sports Direct sells sports equipment to the whole family. Its shops are prominently located in many a high street. It deliberately sets out to discount as aggressively as possible, despite the highly competitive arena. For all that, the company has just reported a 23% rise in profits and is hitting its own financial targets.

As its main rival, JJB Sports is going into receivership, it is fascinating to analyse how Sports Direct has taken a lead. Two factors seem to be at play. First, it adopts a sophisticated and active approach to internet selling. John Lewis, another retailer doing well, has also been prominent in its web-based service for customers.

Further, Sports Direct has increased the number of its sales staff on its floor space, as well as offering them better bonus schemes. In other words, it has followed an important rule of thumb; In a downturn, you do not cut your marketing and sales budget.

Lego is the world’s fourth largest manufacturer of toys. It is still less than a decade ago when this private Danish multinational giant was reporting significant financial problems and stagnation. Last year, 2012, profits shot up 25% on stronger sales. Why?

The answer was in identifying a new market, the female market, which had been underplayed for decades. Lego created a new brand called ‘Lego Friends”, and the company cannot sell enough of these pinky-coloured items.

It would appear that two prominent lessons from these case studies; never to take success and growth for granted and always look at difficulties as an opportunity or challenge to improve rather than a recipe for disaster.