Starting a business in the midst of economic hardship like today is just suicide. You can see so many businesses closing down these days because of the recession. Not to mention that starting a business requires capital - and spending a lot of money during a recession is not a wise thing to do - and there is no guarantee that you will get customers when you spend that much money. So it is a difficult situation and it is not easy to say that because we have not experienced it.
It depends on what business you start during the recession. The food business always works, especially cheap fast food. Meal delivery service also works extremely well. During the Covid pandemic, local malls were full of people who were buying clothes. It's not like people are poor and don't have money, the reality is quite the opposite. Many people cry that they don't have money but that's very different from reality. I am a UI/UX designer, who recently designed a website for a fitness company, that only focuses on rich, premium clients. Believe it or not, they are getting new customers every day despite the fact that they are extremely expensive.
My country is still a net importer of food despite our vast arable lands, so investment in agriculture is one of the best anyone could think of. So, we could collaborate and make some cool money in that area.
My country is like that too but faring is not profitable here because people are very lazy and it's very hard to find a workforce. Tractor owners charge you so high prices that it looks like they want to become rich tomorrow. Also, a modern girl won't marry to you if you work in farming or similar job. Everything is messed up.