Retailer struggling to survive!

[m.o.v]

True, it doesn't take a genius to work out that discussing this with someone with more experience is likely to be somewhat fruitful as you prove with it doesn't require one but still no grapes. however your stance has softened from 'steer clear of simpletons'...I did say you where see through. 'Guide' Ryvere is a slant on the truth also, the metaphor i used was obviously a clear suggestion that he considers new ideas which everyone but yourself is throwing out there. Try not to dodge again, keeping costs down is not new.

Although I don't have much experience selling furniture (note I didn't say none) doesn't mean that my opinion won't be as strong if not stronger than yours. House prices falling, first time buyers struggling for credit....doesn't take a genius to link this to furniture. With this thought do you still consider yourself an authority? Do you know what my generation needs? perhaps this is a time you should be more open minded and listen to people starting out after all you want us as customers right?

 

[Jheath]

Ok some ideas for any struggling retailer.
Contact Business Link and meet with one of their advisors - it's free and could help you get a perspective on the business. Make a post in the UKBF Marketing / PR forum and get some help from the Gurus there.

Reduce overheads: Talk to your landlord if you have one and see if you can reduce your rent. Better for him that you stay afloat and pay something than the shop be empty and the landlord would (eventually) be liable for business rates. It's worth asking.
Are you paying the right rates? Can the rates be challenged with the shop carefully measured and every reason for a reduction tabled to the VO? Maybe there are unused upper floors that could be divided and classed as residential.
Could you sublet part of the premesis to offset the rent, even if it's just a parking space around the back it could have a value.
Are your human resources effectivelty deployed? You say there are two of you in the business, do you need to be both on the shop floor or could one of you be spared during certain hours to focus on marketing and sales promotion?
Are you getting the best value for other overheads? Although it will only make a smaller difference, look at heat, power, phone charges, insurance, bank charges etc and reduce where possible. Consider joining the FSB to gain reductions in utilities and insurance etc.

Promoting sales:
What does the store front say about the business? Is it clean, fresh and inviting?
How well is the business promoted to your target audience?
Have you looked at the product mix in relation to the local market? Define your catchment area then study Acorn and Mosaic profiles for the neighbourhoods (you can use one of the free websites like Upmystreet etc to start with).
How are you currently marketing? What about themed events in the store, manufacturer supported promotions?
Can you sell more higher margin items to an upmarket clientelle? Much better than fighting it out with chain store quality gear for the hoi polloi.
Or is there another niche related to your neighbourhood? Bulk low cost furniture for students or developers? Could you form partnerships with kitchen installers / architects / home decor experts?

Just a few quick ideas - who's got some more?
Surely together we must be able to help the OP - the power of UKBF!!!!!

 

[Lee Jones Jnr]

True, it doesn't take a genius to work out that discussing this with someone with more experience is likely to be somewhat fruitful as you prove with it doesn't require one but still no grapes. however your stance has softened from 'steer clear of simpletons'...I did say you where see through. 'Guide' Ryvere is a slant on the truth also, the metaphor i used was obviously a clear suggestion that he considers new ideas which everyone but yourself is throwing out there. Try not to dodge again, keeping costs down is not new.

Although I don't have much experience selling furniture (note I didn't say none) doesn't mean that my opinion won't be as strong if not stronger than yours. House prices falling, first time buyers struggling for credit....doesn't take a genius to link this to furniture. With this thought do you still consider yourself an authority? Do you know what my generation needs? perhaps this is a time you should be more open minded and listen to people starting out after all you want us as customers right?

My stance has not changed at all. People who peddle nonsense about 'steering your ship through stormy waters' etc are seldom people with anything to say.
Saying 'try new ideas' is no help, the OP needs to know what ideas. Rather than offer up try this, try that without knowing anything about the business and thus not knowing what is and isn't viable I would rather not. Luckily there are plenty of people like yourself who are clever enough to be able to solve the OPs problems without knowing anything other than the business is struggling. Unfortunately I am not wise enough to be able to help without knowing a little more than that.
Do I know what your generation needs? What generation would that be?
I am always open minded sweetie pie, but that doesn't mean that I have to take everyones word as rock solid guidance.
I don't consider myself an authority, I just consider myself to be someone in the same business not far away from the OP who isn't struggling so might be able to offer something useful rather than pointless buzzwords and generalisations.
It doesn't seem like the OP agrees so perhaps I'm wrong.

 

Have sent you a pm as this thread as sunk beyond repair.

 

[Jheath]

Have sent you a pm as this thread as sunk beyond repair.

I see your point, it's a shame. Surely our focus should be helping the OP.

Maybe we'll hear back from the original poster with further info and his thoughts on the comments so far?

 

[Ryvere]

Hi and thanks for taking the trouble to reply. I agree with you. We cannot sit back and wait for the economy to improve. I disagree with you in that the market has clearly contracted ... I hear from too many sources that other businesses are struggling not to believe that. It is clear that if there were huge numbers of buyers trawling the market place for what I offer, I would pick up x% of those customers and my share would be enough to make the business a success. As it is, there are less customers out there than there have been in the past and my x% is no longer sufficient. The challenge I face then is to increase my x%. The problem is .... how? Do I reduce my prices? Do I double/treble/quadruple my advertising spend? Do I change my product range? Do I try to come up with some totally new marketing concept to set me apart from my competitors?

Whatever is the solution, it is clear that there must be one somewhere. As long as people are buying product from my competitors, these are customers that I should be able to win for myself.

I am not afraid to spend money (though precisely where that will come from is debatable) but that money must be spent wisely. This is whyI need advice. I have to identify the correct routeforward.

 

[Ryvere]

Hi and thanks for taking the trouble to reply.

You may have some good ideas there. I am going to go away and give them some serious thought. There may be something I can add to my offer.
Thanks again.

Yes hear what you say, many buy new furniture when they buy a new house! ouch
Op just a thought, when I have purchased large furniture before I have thought it might be nice to have confirmation that it would actually fit and if not what might! Perhaps a free design, delivery and fitting service! I will never buy 'diy' furniture, so never sure if it will go throught the door! No Ikea double beds will, as i found out once some time ago:redface: Not sure if same market but you have Sofa sofa on yr doorstep don't you...

 

[Ryvere]

Getting back on track.

Do you have a website.?

You may be able to sell via the site and at worst spread the word in a greater area as to the existence of your shop and its wares.

Most bricks and mortar business's I have been involved with do considerably more business over the internet than from there Shops.

You have a very large potential customer base on the internet 1.5 billion as opposed to the UK's 60 odd million.

Earl

Hi, thanks for taking the time to reply.

I have just started work on a web site. My problem there is twofold. I am having to teach myself how to build the site since we simply do no have the funds to employ an outsider. Secondly, even though I seem to have made a pretty good fist of building the site, the next problem is driving traffic to it. Has anyone got any advice based on experience for a suitable budget to throw at the problem of drivng site traffic?

 

[saxondale]

I have to identify the correct routeforward.

it is not the web, the web is just a glorified advert, nothing more, nothing less.

your dollar may be better spent advertising more locally.

Other than that keep on doing what your doing (you have sales and have made money) - but (platitude time) "do it better" - thats all there is to it.

 

[Tej]

I would suggest you go and visit The Trading Post at his premises. Talk to him as he is in a similar trade as yourself. He has already offered to help, which to my mind, is a very generous offer. Would also give you some ideas, when you look around.

A day spent doing this kind of research will produce dividends for your business.

IMO

 

[Spongebob]

I have first hand experience of the retail furniture trade over the last 25 years, and the simple truth is that life for the small independent operator has never been harder. I know countless owners of such businesses all over the country and the vast majority are strugging to survive, even after many years trading.

This started happening a long time before the credit crunch; I first noticed that the independent retail furniture trade was going into recession in around 2003 with the advent of the internet and the expansion of the ubiquitous IKEA and the chain sofa and bed shops. The collapse in house sales has simply compounded the matter.

In my view the key is specialisation and concentrating on a niche market for which you can get well known. A perfect example was the pine shops which flourished during the 80's and 90's while pine furniture was fashionable. Now of course, you can't give the stuff away; the poor businesspeople running pine shops went bust - the good ones simply slid across into the next fashionable niche.

 

[Ryvere]

Ok some ideas for any struggling retailer.
Contact Business Link and meet with one of their advisors - it's free and could help you get a perspective on the business. Make a post in the UKBF Marketing / PR forum and get some help from the Gurus there. YEP, will definitely do this.

Reduce overheads: Talk to your landlord if you have one and see if you can reduce your rent. Better for him that you stay afloat and pay something than the shop be empty and the landlord would (eventually) be liable for business rates. It's worth asking. Never thought of this. Worth a try as you say. Will look into it.

Are you paying the right rates? Can the rates be challenged with the shop carefully measured and every reason for a reduction tabled to the VO? Maybe there are unused upper floors that could be divided and classed as residential. We manage to get the rates reduced last year


Could you sublet part of the premesis to offset the rent, even if it's just a parking space around the back it could have a value. It's a possibility (though not allowed within my lease). The issue would be finding a suitable renter


Are your human resources effectivelty deployed? You say there are two of you in the business, do you need to be both on the shop floor or could one of you be spared during certain hours to focus on marketing and sales promotion? We already work like this, though not in a particularly structured way.


Are you getting the best value for other overheads? Although it will only make a smaller difference, look at heat, power, phone charges, insurance, bank charges etc and reduce where possible. Consider joining the FSB to gain reductions in utilities and insurance etc. We have been reviewing utilities. We managed to reduce our monhly phone costs by the princely sum of £10. We had to pay out anout 15 times that to effect the change! I am somewhat sceptical that there are huge savings to be had in changing utilities suppliers.

Promoting sales:
What does the store front say about the business? Is it clean, fresh and inviting? We think it is good. But then we would ... we designed it. We could use an unbiased outside view. Anyone up for looking at photos outside of the Forum?

How well is the business promoted to your target audience? Good question. I would like to look into alternative advertising promotion ideas. We ask every single customer how they found us and our advertising spend is well represented in the answers. The question is, could we do better?


Have you looked at the product mix in relation to the local market? Define your catchment area then study Acorn What are these????

and Mosaic profiles and these????

for the neighbourhoods (you can use one of the free websites like Upmystreet etc to start with).

How are you currently marketing? What about themed events in the store, manufacturer supported promotions? Good idea. Any ideas on potential themes for a bed shop?


Can you sell more higher margin items to an upmarket clientelle? Much better than fighting it out with chain store quality gear for the hoi polloi. This is one of my questions. Do we go for a more upmarket segment and make more profit per sale or do we look at going towards cheaper products and less profit/sale but more sales?


Or is there another niche related to your neighbourhood? Bulk low cost furniture for students or developers? Students is pretty much a non-starter since we are not a university town. Developers is a market I would like to look at but can't see a clear route into it.

Could you form partnerships with kitchen installers / architects / home decor experts? Good thinking. Will look into this.


Just a few quick ideas - who's got some more?
Surely together we must be able to help the OP - the power of UKBF!!!!!

Thank you very much for your extremely useful reply! Very thought provoking.

 

[Ryvere]

I would suggest you go and visit The Trading Post at his premises. Talk to him as he is in a similar trade as yourself. He has already offered to help, which to my mind, is a very generous offer. Would also give you some ideas, when you look around.

A day spent doing this kind of research will produce dividends for your business.

IMO

I have replied to Trading Post via PM

 

[thebigIAM]

What a polite OP. Thanks for coming back with your thoughts.

 

[lesliedocherty]

I agree with asking for the rent reduction, years ago our landlord in Edinburgh put the rent up by 30% at rent review, we told him it would tip us over the edge, but up it went regardless.
We went bust, and now 4 years later it is still sitting empty, and now rent is 25% less than we were paying BEFORE the rent review, i believe its karma.

 

[Ryvere]

I have first hand experience of the retail furniture trade over the last 25 years, and the simple truth is that life for the small independent operator has never been harder. I know countless owners of such businesses all over the country and the vast majority are strugging to survive, even after many years trading.

This started happening a long time before the credit crunch; I first noticed that the independent retail furniture trade was going into recession in around 2003 with the advent of the internet and the expansion of the ubiquitous IKEA and the chain sofa and bed shops. The collapse in house sales has simply compounded the matter.

In my view the key is specialisation and concentrating on a niche market for which you can get well known. A perfect example was the pine shops which flourished during the 80's and 90's while pine furniture was fashionable. Now of course, you can't give the stuff away; the poor businesspeople running pine shops went bust - the good ones simply slid across into the next fashionable niche.

The idea of specialising was the reason we went into beds rather than general furniture. We did our sums regarding the population of our town, the frequency of bed-buying by the averagle household, the number of beds being sold by existing retailers n the town and so on. With allowances made for internet sales and people buying out of town, we wer comfortable that there was was sufficient capacity within our catchment area. Within 12 months of us opening, 3 other businesses selling beds opened up!

 

[FaerieB]

Hi again Ryvere … thought this may be worth posting on your thread. Forgive me if I’m going off at a tangent or repeating others as I only have a few minutes to spare at the mo.

If you’re going to have a web presence then it needs to be spot on … take a look in the SEO and IT forums. Also have a look in the marketing forum and think about free marketing … story in local press etc …see if you can get your main accounts to sponsor an ad in the local press.

I personally think that you need to diversify … add other lines … become more “lifestyle” orientated. Work out who you are predominantly aiming at and accessorise to suit their tastes.

You have 2 huge windows which gives you a great opportunity to merchandise effectively … take a look at how even the likes of ikea merchandise their beds (link below). If you don’t have the budget to invest heavily in additional lines at the mo then take a look at this site http://www.coachhouse.com/default.aspx ... they have a vast amount of choice and you don’t have to volume buy.

Selling smalls could easily double your turnover in time and the profit margins are good.

Could one of you go back to paid employment for now?

Will post anything else I can think of later …

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/categories/departments/bedroom/tools/bedroom_style_selector

 

[Jheath]

I am somewhat sceptical that there are huge savings to be had in changing utilities suppliers. Agreed! Sometimes you can get reductions just by telling your current supplier you intend to switch even if the tariff of your implied new supplier is somewhat imaginary!

We think it is good. But then we would ... we designed it. We could use an unbiased outside view. Anyone up for looking at photos outside of the Forum? I'm not an expert but I'd gladly give you a consumers first impression.

I would like to look into alternative advertising promotion ideas. We ask every single customer how they found us and our advertising spend is well represented in the answers. The question is, could we do better? You could always do better even if it's fine tuning rather than radical change. A/B testing is a good plan but always maticulously measure the results

Acorn What are these????

and Mosaic profiles and these????
There is loadsa info online about socio-economic profiling. Here's a link I found http://www.developingaudiences.com/mosaic/handbook.pdf
Search for Acorn profiling / Mosaic profiling - it's powerful stuff and not just for the big companies. You don't need to pay for anything, you can use your eyes around your neighbourhoods to make your own judgements.

Any ideas on potential themes for a bed shop? Loads! Valentines Day could be an opportunity for an amourous bed related theme, Special promotion offering discounts for customers who come in wearing pajamas, run a poll to discover what people do in bed (not in a smutty way) eating, talking on the phone watching tv, knitting - whatever! Spend the day doing your office work in bed in your shop window wearing a wee willy winky hat, or hire a local student to do it. Get the local press / radio involved it would be great fun! Ask for ideas in the PR forum.

This is one of my questions. Do we go for a more upmarket segment and make more profit per sale or do we look at going towards cheaper products and less profit/sale but more sales? Cheap products and competing on price is the road to ruin (usually) in my opinion - other people may disagree. Better to sell more exclusive items to discerning clientele and make a healthy margin to pay those overheads.

Developers is a market I would like to look at but can't see a clear route into it. Offer your specialist advice and exclusive products to show houses in upmarket developments. Become the local bed / sleep experts in the eyes of the local media.

Just one more thing: Please can you PM me with a quote for a Rest Assured Centenary Orthotonic Bonnell Sprung double mattress or your nearest equivalent delivered to LD7 1 (Just over the border in Powys).

 

[avantime]

It's turning into an interesting thread!

Spongebob mentioned the old "pine shops" and correctly said that pine is on a low ebb shall we say. Oak is very much the flavour of the month now and most of the old pine school have moved towards it.

I supply several pine/oak shops, all private ones, with sales of between £500k and £1.5 mil. One of the main trends for them in the last 10yrs has been the reduction of bed sales. At one time bed sales vs living / dining furniture was 50:50. Talking the other day to one customer it's 80% living/dining. I have had several discussions about this and I feel the reason for it is twofold -

Firstly oak furniture costs more than the old pine. Secondly there is less money around.

This means that people are more careful about what they spend and make sure that their furniture purchases are visible to visitors (vanity!!).

I would, at this stage, suggest you look at some living / dining furniture to sell alongside the beds. Someone in an earlier post mentioned Coach house - a great place to start. Also look at Devonshire Pine (Don't be put off by the name); they do some very popular oak ranges and carry vast stocks in the UK.

Best of Luck.

 

[m.o.v]

Or is there another niche related to your neighbourhood? Bulk low cost furniture for students or developers? Students is pretty much a non-starter since we are not a university town. Developers is a market I would like to look at but can't see a clear route into it.

I have tried to spur some creative thinking before being blasted by Trading post for not having much experience, blah, blah, blah... but I hope you noticed the suggestion of community furniture. Unfortunately you pointed out that you are not in a student town because this may work there. However could you approach letting agents with the same. I was thinking that perhaps you could provide your stock to allow them to lift the appearance of there offerings and offer payment options similar to hp. They could write the price of your furniture into there lettings in many ways.

1. letting agent could offer your furniture built into there rent, should a struggling letting agent go under then the furniture was on a hp basis anyway and you should? get it back.

2. As another product that letting agents can recommend to there prospects that will be renting for now but intended to buy or move again in not so distant future. your product could be sold with monthly payments or hp type option where your company will take care of removals they require on your furniture during the life the payment scheme.

3. If you can restore the quality of furniture you deal in then perhaps you can start a pool of furniture amongst people who would like to decorate more often but are not flush enough to buy new items such as your own each time. This way they can decorate more often and change furniture with the cost of the pooled furniture and paint wall paper only vs out right purchase each time.

I hope this make sense, bit rushed but its a thought anyway.

I also mentioned finding some marketing partners, they may be able to help you make your product more accessible to these niche scenarios.

Good luck ryvere.

Lastly little dig back at trading post; please notice in every post I have put up since your rant, I have prompted you to offer up some ideas, yet you continue to dodge this point.
Will you be suggesting anything new at all? a straight yes or no would be refreshing.

If your in the furniture industry and couple go to your store saying; 'they are just starting out' what stage in life would you think they were in? would you also blast then for saying this? Wouldn't mean that you know what furniture in your store best suits them either. So try applying the same logic to someone who is just starting out else where also. Might actually be good for you. Trading Post-Total Plonker-TP

 

[m.o.v]

Do I know what your generation needs? What generation would that be?
I am always open minded sweetie pie, but that doesn't mean that I have to take everyones word as rock solid guidance.

If a couple go to your store and say; 'they are just starting out' what stage in life would you think they were in? would you also blast them for saying this? Wouldn't mean that you know what products in your store best suits them either. So try applying the same logic to someone who is just starting out elsewhere also. Might actually be good for you. Trading Post-Total Plonker-TP

 

[m.o.v]

You freely admit to having limited funds and limited knowledge so why post at all when it seems clear that any 'advice' you offer up us purely speculation?

Couple; 'hi, We need a affordable bed, one to go in our new home if all goes well.'

TP-' Look your just a young couple with little money so why don't you let me do the thinking here, forget about the cheaper bed let me introduce you to one of our most expensive products.'

TP-Total Plonker

 

[Brad Naylor]

people are more careful about what they spend and make sure that their furniture purchases are visible to visitors (vanity!!).

Very true.

When money is tight people prioritise their spending and will make do with their existing bedroom furniture in favour of tarting up their living room or kitchen. The money stays downstairs!

I am currently quoting for some work. The clients happy to spend £25,000 with me on a bling kitchen but are jibbing at £3500 for fitted wardrobes.

They'll spend more on their fridge than they will on their bedroom! This is not untypical.

Cheers
Brad

 

[oldeagleeye]

I might as well add my view on this. When your back is to the wall it is all too easy to find reasons why your not getting the business and dwelling or listening to advice on those is pointless because no-one's right and no-ones wrong.

Earl says the recession has hit the high value items like furiniture hard. Along with others I presume because the housing market has virtually collapsed again.

On the other hand we only have to look at B & Q and Homebase and as with the member that just quoted £25K for a new kitchen all are doing well. The reason of course. When people are forced to consider other options to moving the no 1 is home improvements.

In theory then the recession itself shouldn't make much difference to DIY or furniture retailers. In theory Sysops is right too. GDP is only down a few percentage points and when we recover it will only go up a few percentage points. Would that make much difference to the OP.

We are down say 2 points now so it recovers and GDP goes up 3 points. Would 5% more profit really make that much difference to the OP's balance sheet - I doubt it.

What would and what Sysops missed out is that while GDP may only be down a few points there has been a dramatic change in peoples spending habits over the last 18 months. The government for example may be taking on more debt - most people are reducing it because of a lack of confidence in the economy. What's more savings have rocketed despite the appaling low interest rates offered to savers.

So where does this leave the OP. The good news is that I have seen all this before and as with then we have had this period of being in limbo. Come the election however - whoever gets past the winning post there will be a new confidence brought about- not by a fantastic recovery but by stability. Given stability the British will adjust and come to terms with the situation.

The bad news is that I think it will be a least 6 - 9 months before we come to terms with those tax increases that make no mistake will be forthcoming be it vat or income tax. That then is the period the OP has to get through. Can he do it.

My advice would be to have a big sale and use the money to turn the shop into a used furniture shop because quite frankly as with used cars there is more profit per sale than discounting new.

Now then guys. Lets put the handbags away and see in anyone else has any constructive ideas like what about asking the landlord and bank for a 3 month payment holiday - and there is one other tip that I found worked when I was in retailing.

That door to the store is a barrier. Leave it open come rain and sunshine and I guarantee you OP you will double if not quadruple the footfall.

Robert

 

[Lee Jones Jnr]

Couple; 'hi, We need a affordable bed, one to go in our new home if all goes well.'

TP-' Look your just a young couple with little money so why don't you let me do the thinking here, forget about the cheaper bed let me introduce you to one of our most expensive products.'

TP-Total Plonker

Wow you must have been into one of my shops, that is exactly how we treat people.

What a fool.

Unless you are a child you can't be that much younger than I am, but you look at things in such a childish way.

I have been speaking with the OP privately but thankyou for your concern m.o.v


On another note a reason that bed sales in independants has dropped over the last 20 years is the growth of a few specialist bed chains like Dreams and to a lesser extent Bensons. I believe at last count Argos was still the biggest bed supplier in the UK by volume.
A poster with no knowledge of how businesses work suggested selling to letting agents with a payment plan. This is not really advice as letting agents don't furnish other peoples properties. Letting agents are usually happy to recommend you to their property owners if you can offer a good product at a good price, we fit kitchens and supply furniture to a few.
This market is dominated by 'packs' so for an easy life the landlord will just buy a '2 bed pack' or '1 bed pack' which is essentially a basic set of furniture delivered and installed for a set price. Most places offering this service are quite expensive for what is being offered but the fact the landlord gets an easy life without worrying about getting to the property and building flatpacks etc is why it can work. I will give the OP some suppliers better suited to the budget market.

 

We are down say 2 points now so it recovers and GDP goes up 3 points.

Do you believe those figures.?

Many vested interests in making the figures look better than they may be.

Earl

 

[Ryvere]

Thanks to all of you that have taken the trouble to reply to my post. Among the "spirited" discussions,there have been some really great suggestions. We shall definitely be taking up some of them. In fact, our front door is already permanently propped open!!! BUT, please don't stop the contributions. I am already feeling a renewed sense of purpose and the more ideas and suggestions you guys (and gals!) come up with, the better our chance of climbing up out of our hole.

 

[Ryvere]

I have just been re-reading the entire thread of posts and a lot of the argument seems to be about whether or not the current general economic situation is the cause of our problems. The answer is probably both Yes and No!

That the pattern of sales in our sector has changed is demonstrably true. I speak to enough people around our industry to be certain that we are not the only ones to be suffering. BUT, blaming the recesson and absolving one's self of responsibility are very different. Until 100% of sales in my town are from my shop, there will always be more business for me to go after. It is my responsibility to find ways to access those sales.

So there was the first part of my plea for help and your replies have been fantastic in that regard. The second element of my dilemma was to get advice on how to navigate my way through our financial difficulties. On that score, I haven't really found a solution. Maybe there isn't one and we have to deal with each individual situation on it's own merits. The ideal would be to find a pot of money to see us through these hard times. I rather think that if we found one, there would be a long queue of people outside our door seeking the location of the pot!

Again, my thanks to everyone for your input.

 

[Ryvere]

Ever thought community furniture?

Not sure what "Community Furniture" is. Could you expand a little for me.

Many thanks.

 

[FaerieB]

Hi Ryvere

Someone mentioned Zopa on another thread ... I've never used them myself but you could google them and have a poke around ... outside shot but worth a look at maybe ~x~

 

[m.o.v]

Community Furniture???? errrgh. I was thinking along the lines of establishing a group of people who have a strong desire to keep there homes newly decorated by allowing them to access a pool of reconditioned furniture so that they can make complete changes to there homes without having to fork out for new furniture each time.

Also, letting agents in my view could help more than landlords with hp scenario's on furniture with there clients. The landlord could decorate in neutral colours and then allow the letting agents guide there clients through your furnishings? feel free to criticize some more trading post it will only strengthen any ideas others put out there good or bad.

If it is a person that has a view to buy in the future then this may take away from the reluctance to invest in a property that they do not own. Further more it would allow the letting agent to rent out unfurnished properties to clients without furniture by removing the initial outlay on top of deposits etc.

Establishing a removals partner would also allow you to sweeten any package that you may come up with for those that have taken furniture from yourself for a rental property with a payment facility over lets say 3 years vs moving every 12 months.

 

[m.o.v]

What a fool.

A poster with no knowledge of how businesses work suggested selling to letting agents with a payment plan. This is not really advice as letting agents don't furnish other peoples properties.

 

[m.o.v]

Not suggesting they furnish, but it could be worth looking at as an add on. I'm saying 'could be', better than dismissing everything. If this is not viable maybe something else with come up when exploring new ideas. Either why still haven't seen any suggestions posted by yourself yet Trading Post. Will you be...again a Yes or No would be refreshing.

 

[adventurelife]

Sorry to hear you are in this situation.

However, get every single thought out of your mind that you are no responsible for your situation, because the reality is right or wrong you are living it and no one is going going to come and help.

No amount of advise on forums like this is going help that much as well but I will try with some advice as I have rescued a few companies

The situation you are in requires a very simple 2 prong attack which is as simple as reduce costs and increase sales. Do not spend any time or effort on the 2nd part until you identify significant cost savings in your business.

Costs

You need to go through each cost line and I mean every single one and and spend enough time on each one until the monthly cost is reduced. Do not move from one cost line until to the next to you find significant cost savings.

Hint each line in costs can be reduced the majority of the time try every single aggressive trick you can think to reduce costs. The only cost I have never found that I cannot reduce year on year is energy ie petrol, electric etc even then savings can be found. Everything else can be reduced.

Rent may be a big one so walk in proud and speak to the landlord and tell him the situation, deal hard, he knows if you go under he will lose and at the present time he is unlikely to get a tenant on the deal your on.

Try to move any costs you have to variable rather than fixed. Most businesses never make this move but once you get your head around it life becomes much more comfortable.

Sales

Retail trusts footfall to walk past the door and then walk through then look and buy!!

How many retailers get outside their shop and try to engage potential customers ??

Hint, they are not coming to you anymore you have to go to where they are.

Study to what has happened to high street travel agents and learn as that is coming to you soon.

Finally, you really need to study the numbers , you mentioned 2 of you pull no money out after 2 years. What level of TO and profit growth do you need to enable this to happen? If the number is huge you have some hard thinking to do. So many businesses just exist with making their owners nothing, it masks the unemployment figures.

It is hard and the reality is we cannot help that much, good luck

Peter

 

[Logic]

I do feel it would a shame for you to go under now, as you've weathered the worst of the storm in terms of the recession.

Small percentages or not, the fact is that more businesses have gone under over the last couple of years than ever before*. And whatever you want to say about MFI, the likes of Woolworths and co don't go under after over 100 years of successful business over a small not so important 2-3% drop in profits. As oldeageeye said confidence is down, people are watching their pennies and banks are keeping their credit close to their chest.

I assume by "surviving" you mean the business is coming in at a small profit. But not enough to re-invest into the business and build on its growth.

As a result I'd say your personal finances are a major concern. The stopwatch on going bust starts from the second you as a business owner can no longer afford to fund your business. You can go to the bank, sell personal assets, use credit cards and all the rest but your just buying time. The bottomline is the business must fund itself and after 2 and a half years it should be!

My question to you would be, where are you now and where do you need to be for it be a sustainable business for you and your partner? Do your sums! And is the difference something that can be realistically achieved in the relatively small space of time which you have?

You've been doing it for 2 and half years, so what's going to change in the next 4-6 months? The economy's slowly improving but it's not enough, you've got to turn this around yourself or swallow your pride and pull the plug before you get in too deep.

If your selling beds, your obviously heavily linked to the property market. Yes it's slow, but its still a market.

Ideas to boost sales:

BIG CONTRACT! That would be the winner. A contract to supply a hotel? Perhaps furnished new builds, hostels, retirement homes? Anything with lots of beds basically!

TARGETED MARKETING. Could you not hand out flyers outside local property auctions or even advertise inside them targeting developers and buyers? Find property exhibitions/home improvement shows and again advertise to potential customers.

PROMOTIONS. During a recession special promotions become even more important. Try discounts on bigger orders for developers etc and hit your everyday consumers with that four letter F word! FREE! You could combine this with your marketing e.g. get an ad in the local paper to maximise your results.

Good luck hope you stick with it and make it work.

*The Independent 23/11/2009 "Record Number of Companies Go Bust"

 

[Lee Jones Jnr]

Community Furniture???? errrgh. I was thinking along the lines of establishing a group of people who have a strong desire to keep there homes newly decorated by allowing them to access a pool of reconditioned furniture so that they can make complete changes to there homes without having to fork out for new furniture each time.

Also, letting agents in my view could help more than landlords with hp scenario's on furniture with there clients. The landlord could decorate in neutral colours and then allow the letting agents guide there clients through your furnishings? feel free to criticize some more trading post it will only strengthen any ideas others put out there good or bad.

If it is a person that has a view to buy in the future then this may take away from the reluctance to invest in a property that they do not own. Further more it would allow the letting agent to rent out unfurnished properties to clients without furniture by removing the initial outlay on top of deposits etc.

Establishing a removals partner would also allow you to sweeten any package that you may come up with for those that have taken furniture from yourself for a rental property with a payment facility over lets say 3 years vs moving every 12 months.

There are plenty of useful suggestions on this thread, and some which are perhaps well meaning but simply not of any worth.

m.o.v I will not be posting suggestions on this thread. Anything not covered that I think may be useful I will email to the OP.
Don't think I am just blindly disagreeing with you for no reason. I'm sure you are well meaning but saying 'try something new' and then all this secondhand shop talk along with not knowing how the letting industry works but giving advice anyway is bizarre. Maybe I've got you all wrong, how old are you? What is your business?

 

[Lee Jones Jnr]

Whats the news OP?

 

[patientlady]

Whats the news OP?

I was wondering too?

I have been looking for a shop premises in our local area for around six months now. Just waiting for the right one but realising that I will be very lucky to find it. All I really want is somewhere with some sort of parking with potential for A3. Not much to ask I thought, well it is. We live in a town of pop 60,000 with neighbouring town a further 40,000 and fairly prosperous. The only shops available are convenience stores which I note are now asking around £140,000 for each lease. Found the above thread very interesting and have really decided that the demise of many struggling businesses must surely be down to having no parking. Can these councils not look further than one year in advance and see what they are doing? I wish I had a business selling yellow paint! I think I might be changing my mind on A3 and a cafe style business.

 

[oldeagleeye]

PL

The are a couple of options that you may have overlooked. I know for example my local council are trying to create a balance in the local shopping centre and have actually be ijnviting equiries from anyone interested in opening a restaurant.

Another possible option. Do you have a large shopping mall in your area. Mainy are renting out space in th main ailes and our main shopping mall has a number of rather trendy coffee & juice bars with seating. Nice little earners they are too. As for finding a site. My daughter Jade was in PR (mainly new product launches ) and these spaces by these companies. She is abroad now but I do have access to her database which lists availability and rent of every space in every shopping mall in the UK.

There is another option. A project that I looked at some time ago and could earn you a fortune and I mean that. I couldn't proceed because quite frankly I am a bit long in the tooth now for all the running around getting it off the ground and I am forced to work from home anyway due to a back injury.

PM me if you wish with the rough area your in and I'll see if can help with option 2 & 3.

Robert

 

[Simply Bedrooms]

Hi all. As a newcomer to this forum I hope I get this right. If I step on any toes, please let me know!

We are a small furniture retailer struggling to survive. We opened our doors 2½ years ago and the day after we got the keys I think was the first time I heard the words "Credit Crunch". Since then we have managed to survive but only just. In some ways we have done remarkably well. Until last month we have shown consistent growth in the business and have established a good reputation in our town. The problem is that we simply have not grown enough and certainly not met our (I thought at the time) modest growth plans.

We are now surviving, just, but without paying ourselves salaries (there are 2 of us in the business). My question is simple. Can anyone suggest somewhere we can go to get advice?! Our bank have been as helpful as they can and came up with some money last year but they have just about reached their limit.

We know that we have a sound little business were the general economy to be in a better state and it will be a crying shame to see it go under but that eventuality is now on the horizon, if only because our personal finances are now shot. We're not able to pay personal bills and this will soon begin to affect the business.

Any ideas?

Well we started of the same way, but we found that advertising was the key. The customers need that little extra encouragement to choose you over the bigger stores.

I realise your budget does not allow for that right now,but hopefully another year or so from now the recession should be over.