Business people are apparently turning to alternative strategies in these troubled economic times.

Russell Grant Astrology, run by the famous TV psychic, said that over the past few months the number of people calling his team of psychics seeking advice on business problems has rocketed.

“Many worried self-employed men and women have been calling me during the past few weeks” one psychic commented. “I was very pleased to be able to guide a number of people into opening their minds to other avenues within their businesses to limit the losses they have been facing over the past few months”.

Unsurprisingly, at least for them anyway, the whole psychic business is currently enjoying something of an upturn at the moment. And whereas relationship problems were once the bread and butter of the crystal ball game, questions nowadays are more likely to focus on which candidate should get hired or whether this merger is better than that one.

Professor Gita Johar, an expert in consumer behaviour at Columbia Business School in New York, told CNN that many people simply feel like they have to do 'something'.  The reason people go to psychics is that they want to feel like they’re in control, he said.

Though you may scoff, there’s real money in the business and many of the practitioners take it deadly seriously. Should you fancy cashing in on the demand, Psychicnet.co.uk can help you set up your own psychic business. For just £1,300 they’ll set you up with premium rate hotlines, a swanky psychic website and an ecommerce store.

However, if you don’t fancy running a business but still want to share your psychic gift for the benefit of humanity, you can contact the psychic recruitment agency psychicjobs.co.uk and earn up to 30p a minute.

I’ve put in a request for some psychic help from Russel Grant Astrology and will be having a reading. What business question would you ask? Leave your comment below.