This is my column that will feature in Saturday's Financial Times, which can be found in the entrepreneurship pages of the Money section. You can also find my columns on the FT web site here: http://www.ft.com/mikesouthon

One of the major advantages of an economic downturn is that there are great deals to be had; the challenge is that many of us are very bad at negotiating.

There is clearly an element of 'nature vs. nurture' some of us are clearly genetically more inclined to haggle, while for others the process is more unpleasant and degrading than having teeth pulled.