Preparing for the worst

[Andre78]

I'm not deliberately misunderstanding you but you are misunderstanding me.

I have built a business within a specific industry with the ability for some diversification which has been very beneficial in getting us leads due to our capacity to deal with a range of other challenges often found within the fencing industry. And as stated I am struggling to get materials intermittently and the prices of the are skyrocketing.

My particular business makes most of its money on mark up of said materials and VAT input. I always turn down work if we can't supply the materials. Not only that we must supply them but we must obtain them from our main supplier also for maximum mark up and vat input.

If I send guys out on a labour only job, once VAT, wages, pensions and business debt and running costs come out I'm not left with much. But yes they all have top end packages for their job roles and they are very happy staff and I'm fine with that.

So yes, I understand that some marketing whiz can get me endless leads in other industries and that we can offshoot into those industries to stay afloat but we absolutely will make less money and that is a fact.

I've taken slight offence to the fact that you imply that doing 5-15 quotes a week is foolhardy for 2 two men teams but those 5 -15 quotes per week pay all my costs and debt and a very good surplice income to the point that even remaining at the status quo, with zero expansion, I'll be wealthy in 10 years (if the economy doesn't crash). Some random marketing person on the internet is not going to make me change a system that is working almost perfectly, so sorry about that.

 

[The Byre]

All well and good except 2 of my 5 staff are competent in this area and I'm 1 of them and I'm 100% admin.

OUCH!

I do not do admin. I point-blank refuse to go near the books, the accountants, HMRC, lawyers, the telephone, or indeed anything else that smells slightly of administration. I stick strictly to those things I do best. Division of labour and all that - what Americans call 'Business 101'.

Tree work is difficult and when Joe Blo has a go, dangerous. As in very dangerous. I do my own tree work as we have about 15 acres of mixed woodlands and there's nothing quite like getting a heavy Stihl chainsaw flying through the air because you were not paying attention for a split second.

In short, what are you doing in the office?

I would simply the quotation process by having a simple rule-of-thumb calculation for all work and make quotes subject to confirmation. That should free you up for more lucrative tasks and thinking about restructuring the business.

I understand that some marketing whiz can get me endless leads in other industries and that we can offshoot into those industries to stay afloat but we absolutely will make less money and that is a fact.

Amen!

There was once a German importer of Polish and Rumanian sheds and greenhouses and similar stuff and it was managed by a chap called B. He was a small chap and a bit slow and methodical, but sort of OK. He had a marketing whizz of a brother who was dashing, tall and handsome. Predictably, one was called Short B and the other was known as Long B.

The company owner wanted more profit, so Short B hired Long B to get out to the supermarkets and gardening centres and get more orders in. And boy, did he get them in! He was just so good at his job that all the weaknesses of the suppliers and the company itself soon started to show.

Shoddy workmanship, broken glass, bad packing - it was all there as the German company and their suppliers desperately tried to keep up with Long B's orders that were still flooding in! He organised shed and greenhouse 'events' in supermarket car parks and where a shop sold one or two sheds a week, they now wanted 20 or 30.

Except that when they arrived, they all had to be sent back. Long story short - the company went bust!

Marketing starts with production and the structure and ethics of the company.

(But @AllUpHere does have a point - your website and the copy and pics do need reworking - seriously!)

 

[Andre78]

20 hours per week meeting people and understanding their requirements. 20 hours per week writing up quotes and calculating materials. 10 hours per week correspondence with customer on confirmed quotes, scheduling, materials drops, neighbour issues etc. 5 hours per week juggling finances. 5 hours per week planning the week. Which team is where, job specifics etc. And just lately another 5-10 hours a week sourcing materials, drawing up further materials lists, calculating weights and picking up stock from god knows where as well as switching job schedules around depending on availability.

The above is an approximation and has only been the state of play the last 7 months since my daughter was born.

I like my website and get lots of compliments on it. Copy and images could be better I agree but I haven't got that kind of time atm. Most of my work is seen on site or from other platforms any way so it's low on the list. SEO is pretty good. We are on page 1 for fencing New Forest and no. 2 on maps most times. I keep 2 teams running without ever touching the city and staying in low density very local areas.

As stated previously though to other guy. It's all working. We don't rip people off, we do a good job, have a sterling reputation, and don't hardly ever travel and I make good money. Why would I change a single thing if I didn't have to?

Admin sucks yes but I'm around my family most of the time and I'm definitely earning more and the guys are more organised as a result. Less quote errors, correct materials on site, customers are kept fully updated and they do appreciate that.

 

[The Byre]

As stated previously though to other guy. It's all working. We don't rip people off, we do a good job, have a sterling reputation, and don't hardly ever travel and I make good money. Why would I change a single thing if I didn't have to?

Or as Dwight D Eisenhower wrote, "Farming is mighty easy when you are a thousand miles from the field and your plow is a pencil."

But you are here and asking these questions because (as @Ozzy would say) someone has been moving your cheese. In this case, it is the supply cheese that is being moved. Although I wrote that supplies of wooden products are easing in the US, that may not happen here as we get a large part of our posts and other stuff from Norway and the EU. If that situation remains, you will need fresh cheese.

I think that rather than trying to think of ways to ride out a possible collapse of supplies, I'd be working out how to be the one guy with his own supply.

 

[Andre78]

Or as Dwight D Eisenhower wrote, "Farming is mighty easy when you are a thousand miles from the field and your plow is a pencil."

But you are here and asking these questions because (as @Ozzy would say) someone has been moving your cheese. In this case, it is the supply cheese that is being moved. Although I wrote that supplies of wooden products are easing in the US, that may not happen here as we get a large part of our posts and other stuff from Norway and the EU. If that situation remains, you will need fresh cheese.

I think that rather than trying to think of ways to ride out a possible collapse of supplies, I'd be working out how to be the one guy with his own supply.

Funny you mention it. Been working on that since just prior to Covid. Was difficult then but doable with the purchase of a 2ton+ forklift and lorry loads. Now they wont touch us with a barge pole. No new accounts being taken.

My long term future plan used to be to obtain the experience and capacity to take down large douglas furs and the like and do some kind of deal with a saw mill. No longer entertaining that idea.