Actor Jacob Young, left, president of eHomeNeeds.com and co-star of ‘All My Children,’ stands with with Slavco Tuskaloski, co-founder and chief executive, in the company’s office in Totowa. [Christina Mazza]

Actor Jacob Young plays a character on TV’s “All My Children”, but he moonlights as an entrepreneur. In June, he launched Totowa-based eHomeNeeds.com, a Web site where homeowners can find contractors, preview videos of their work and watch home-repair videos aimed at the do-it-yourselfer.

“I’ve been an actor since I was 17, and I’ll still keep acting, but I’m looking for a second career,” said Young, 30, who plays JR Chandler in the soap opera; he’s also a singer and producer with credits that include Broadway and film.

Launching a new business during a recession is a time-honored path to success, experts say. In part, that’s because demand for many goods and services — food, auto and home repair, medical care — holds up pretty well during an economic slump. And entrepreneurs hope if they can get a new venture off the ground during a recession, they’ll be positioned to cash in on any upturn that comes once consumers and businesses start spending again.

Young and co-founder Slavco Tuskaloski had no qualms about starting a new business tied to the depressed housing industry. Young said he’s banking on a home-repair boom to drive Internet traffic to sites like eHomeNeeds.com.

“Foreclosures have taken our country by storm, housing prices are low and people are snatching up those homes,” Young said. Foreclosures are often distressed and neglected properties, “and whoever buys them will need to fix them up quickly — and that will provide more work for contractors and other services providers.”

Howard Dorman, a CPA with Weiser, in Edison, isn’t surprised that people are jumping into startups: “We still see the entrepreneurial spirit out there — people are not intimidated by today’s economy.”

But he said the entrepreneur’s style is being cramped by a severe contraction in available credit for businesses and consumers. Experts say the credit crunch has not eased — and may actually be getting worse, despite the billions of dollars in capital, guarantees and other economic aid that has flowed from Washington to the financial services industry over the past year.

“Raising capital is the biggest roadblock” facing startups, Dorman said. Ironically, because of the credit crunch, early success could put the startup at risk. “If the business grows too quickly, how are you going to finance it?” Dorman said. “If you have some luck, and your product hits the market and a major distributor wants to pick you up, then you have to worry about how to finance your growth. If you grow too fast and you’re not well-capitalized, you have a problem.”

Retired oral surgeon Dennis Christensen received a loan backed by the Small Business Administration through Indus Bank, and in June opened an Aamco transmission repair franchise in Bergenfield with his son.

“We are doing very nicely, and the potential from this business, even in a recession, is very good,” Christensen said. “People aren’t buying new cars, and they have to maintain their vehicles so they can get to work.”

The pair decided to go into a franchise “because we were looking for an existing structure and a company that has a history of success — so we didn’t have to reinvent the wheel,” Christensen said.

Ted Morgan, senior vice president at BNB Bank, in Fort Lee, said franchises are a popular choice for startups during a recession, as entrepreneurs play it safe by going with established brands like IHOP or Subway. Entrepreneurs also are snapping up established businesses, Morgan said: “dry cleaners, restaurants, nail salons, beauty parlors, car washes, gas stations — the whole gamut of retail and service businesses.”

One reason why there’s a brisk market in the sale of established businesses is “there are a lot more of them on the market, and the prices are a lot better than they were,” he said.

Edgar LaChica decided to go the franchising route by opening a Wing Zone in Parsippany last month. Fewer restaurants are opening now, which LaChica said gives him an advantage.

“We didn’t want to wait until the economy is up and everyone is doing this. When the recession ends, we’ll already have a market and an established clientele,” he said.

LaChica decided to go with a franchise because “they have an operating system and suppliers already in place,” which minimizes some of the risk associated with running an independent venture.

Noting his restaurant offers an affordable option to consumers who still want to eat out while trying to economize, LaChica added, “I have faith that people will still eat, and people will still spend.”