Snow - how is it affecting your business

[Blush]

Just wondering how the current weather is affecting everyone?
We can still get to work, but customers are having real problems gettign to us, unless they live quite local.Town centre is like a ghost town. We can still get deliveries out, which is good, but we have several suppliers now who can't get their orders out to us.
And my poor mum is still waiting for her new washer from a major high street shop, its still stuck in theor warehouse and she ordered monday!
Surely someone somewhere must have been able to predict this weather and local councils must have had some idea? We get some white stuff and the whole country seems to grind to a halt!

 

[Pete Crane]

I've noticed open rates for several customer email marketing activities have tumbled over the last few days, showing that many firms still don't have a decent policy on enabling staff to access office systems remotely. Well, either that or people are extending their break!

Interestingly though, while the open rates have gone down, the tracking shows the percentage of positive responses has climbed.

 

[telemax]

The first week of January is never very busy, but my problem is with the schools closing and kids being at home. It seems that the schools are terrified of being sued in case someone slips over in the snow.

 

[Blush]

The first week of January is never very busy, but my problem is with the schools closing and kids being at home. It seems that the schools are terrified of being sued in case someone slips over in the snow.

I know, its quite sad really as I remember snow ball fights in the school yard
But the schools closing has a knock on effect as parents struggle with childcare, have to stay at home, not all businesses can lend themselves to working from home. Now the kids have only just gone back , and they are off again driving us parents up the wall!
Even if you can work from home you can't ignore the kids all day can you?
We do normally have a rush in teh shop with dance schools going back, I have loads of pointe shoe fittings to do and customers can't get down they are ringing on a daily basis and at this rate when the snow clears I will be fully booked every week for next two months just to clear the backlog! I can't even get to these people to do fittings in their homes which I would have done if they weren't snowed in

 

[extremedistro]

im closing early to go sledging..... lol

 

[Kirsty ELB]

We've been quieter than usual. A few customers have cancelled due to not being able to travel with the bad weather.

The town (Glasgow) is also a lot quieter. Was shopping the other day and one of the fitting room girls was saying their store had been dead.

 

[Stuart Walker]

it is costing us around £1200 a day due to engineers/office staff not being able to get to work, fortunately the sub contractors cost us nothing, no work no pay!

the calls from customers requesting work is up as people are getting their houses in order and finding reminder letters we sent them months ago

so why am i the only one working?

 

[Jenni384]

I didn't bother going into the office yesterday but I took a chance today to grab some food and paperwork. Really didn't enjoy driving in the snow, very glad there was hardly any traffic about as there were places where I needed the whole road

Luckily I used to work from home so have been doing so again and I don't think it's really costing us much money but it's a bit annoying to say the least! Oh well, it's not like it's the busiest month of the year...............

 

[DanMartin]

I be interested to know whether any of you have tried to actually benefit from the weather by introducing snow-related special offers such as this one from The Alcohol Free Shop.

 

[samklein]

We've noticed a big slump in website traffic that we are hoping is just related to the holidays, but if we don't see an increase in the next few weeks I'll gladly blame the snow!

 

[cycloneuk]

Very slow on our website, i'm still dispatching but many areas including mine have suspended postal deliveries due to the 1 inch thick layer of ice/snow covering paths and roads.

 

[vvaannmmaann]

It's meant two of my best clients have been stuck overseas.

 

[sineadnorton]

We have had no customers today in the laundry and ironing shop and no collections for laundry and ironing... that said, we were overwhelmed on Monday and Tuesday with post-holiday chaos (you'd think we disappeared and they don't own an iron)

the leaflet distribution is all set to go out, but can't go out until the footpaths can be walked on...

A nightmare really, but experience tells me the customers will come with their ironing when it clears up, they are spoiled and never do it themselves...

 

[papverpoppies]

We have had no customers today in the laundry and ironing shop and no collections for laundry and ironing... that said, we were overwhelmed on Monday and Tuesday with post-holiday chaos (you'd think we disappeared and they don't own an iron)

the leaflet distribution is all set to go out, but can't go out until the footpaths can be walked on...

A nightmare really, but experience tells me the customers will come with their ironing when it clears up, they are spoiled and never do it themselves...

I would climb over mountains never mind a bit of snow...for someone to do my ironing.

I hate doing it.

Poppy

 

[thebigIAM]

Seems to be a wide variation in how much snow has fallen in different parts. About five inches here, but this area's deluge has not been reported nationally.

I actually tried to go to my retail unit today. Not sure why. Saw 4x4s in trouble, but my battered old automatic Saab was holding up comparatively well. All the same, I turned tail when I saw our region's most major route as it was a complete whiteout and I had 15/16 miles to go.

I have contingency for three/four weeks. Beyond that, the plug on the retail unit will be pulled. Hopefully it wont come to that.

 

[thebigIAM]

Serious question: loads of snow banking up against the outside of my house. Am I best to try to move it? Will it make the house colder or insulate it? Will it probably cause some kind of lasting structural damage if I leave it there?

 

[David Griffiths]

Nobody made it to the office yesterday, including me. I suspect that if I hadn't been able to log in remotely I would have made it. I probably did at least as much work from home as if I'd got in. Last time that I failed to get in was in 1982.

Three of us got in today, but phones were quiet and most other people in our building didn't bother. It seems that those in the private sector get in, but the public sector offices were closed.

 

[otrcomputing]

Despite there being hardly any snow here all of it's now frozen over so and the roads are rather slippy too.

Given that I travel to any on-site work by scooter I'm pretty much stuck til the side roads are cleared of ice, and a lot of our residential customers will walk to us or expect home-visits so they've not been coming through and it has dropped off a bit compared with normal.

Still, took the time to get my filing in order, road tax and mot's all up to date so felt quite good by the end of today


Other than those work issues - my partner took a fall on the ice and she's been keeping me up winging about how much her arm hurts now. A&E has a 4 hour wait, no one can talk on the phone and NHS Direct will only deal with urgent enquiries. It seems when it snows, suddenly the NHS becomes next to useless for anyone that isn't dying.... which is ironic in a way cos it's surely when most minor accidents (broken bones from falls on ice etc) happen!

 

[malcolm oxley]

With the cold weather, less people tend to go outside unless necessary. Lesser people means lesser buyers/clients. And that could greatly affect your business specially if your business is more on retail.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Not much happens in the first two weeks of the year so we are just enjoying the weather and mostly shut for about the first ten days..

We are here if anybody needs us

We more than went beond the call of duty last week and christmas week when we subbed in Land Rovers in Norfolk and South Wales .Nobody else would do this not even TNT !!!!!

Its going to take 2 or 3 hours to dig the ice away to get one of our Sprinters out of here and its not worth the effort ..

I was listening to Jeremy Vine yesterday and people were complaining that people could not be bothered and business was being effected.

I do understand both points of the argument .My own veiw nowadays as Im getting slightly older is that I have missed out on many things in my life by chasing money I have done all that ..!!!..Now Im in this 2010 deepfreeze Im going to make the most of this .Is anybody else here in the same frame of mind as me ?

 

[Peter Bowen]

I'm on the Isle of Wight - it's been chaotic. (They haven't had decent snow for 20 years).

Town is post apocalyptic - quiet, very few cars on the road, people walking instead of driving.

I work from a little coffee shop in Newport most mornings. They've been open every day but it's very quiet. The owner says they're losing money hand over fist.

 

[iridessa]

The main problem for us has been school closing at such short notice and having to make alternative arrangements. Post has been getting out but had no postal deliveries for 2 days now!
Love the snow though .... especially now it's nearly weekend!

 

[Blush]

well its -7 here, snowed again last night. even more schools off yet the town seems busier than usual? had quite a few parents in the shop today making the most of the extra time off I think . Fortunately all our orders are still leaving the shop .the courier is still collecting and the main post office is opposite our shop more or less so we can always walk over.
I do feel for those small businesses though that rely on footfall, like the coffe shop that was mentioned.I wonder if the government will do anything to help small businesses as jan is quiet to start with for lots of businesses, this weather must be the final nail in the coffin for some though.
I am gutted that our delivery of new tiaras can't get here though for the snow

 

[Brightpearl]

Our logs show that 90% of our users are still running on all cylinders, so either they have all staff in the office or else they are all working from home.

We're actually offering a massive 75% discount off subscription to Pearl if you sign up today whilst there's snow about!

More info here:
http://blog.thisispearl.com/2010/01/06/theres-no-business-like-snow-business/

 

[jane p]

Hi,

we are ok. Sometimes we can gain extra customers in this weather. Not far to go to work either so ok. Cold in the shop of course but thats the nature of the job.

 

[Ashley_Price]

The weird thing for us is we're all in and answering phones for our clients - who are all away (because of the snow)!

We've staff who live up to 15 miles away, yet with snow problems etc., we're all in and at the coalface; apart from my wife (who is off because of a bad back).

We're really busy because a number of our clients are off but they're getting lots of calls.

 

[weareable]

The car sales side is written off for now. Nobody will buy a car that they cant see.
As fast as I clear them I have to start again.
It gives me plenty of time to get my web sites and other ventures sorted but Im getting little revenue from them.
Car sales are my bread and butter, If it stays like this for much longer thats all I'll be eating.

 

-14 in the workshops today!!!! BRRRRR no chance of starting huge 100 year old cast iron machines into life, so i sacked the day and whent home to some paper work instead

 

[SussexHazel]

I can't get out of my road so I've been working from home. I've had three new clients in two days - it's given people the time to sort out all those things they've been meaning to do. My work phones are on divert to home and the rest of the staff are also working from home so I just email them their messages.

If there's no more snow later, I'm going to go in to work tomorrow. Fancy it snowing in January when we have all these Tax Returns to do!!

 

[Ashley_Price]

I guess I have two advantages:

1/ I live in the town that I work in; and
2/ I don't drive.

I'm used to walking to and from work (3 mile round trip) each day and so snowy conditions don't really affect me as much as those who have to rely on transport. It only takes me 10 minutes longer to get to work because of the icy pavements (perhaps if I slid down the hills I'd be in 10 minutes earlier).

 

[Matt1959]

Workshop with asbestos roof that condenses if the area is heated so no heat and icicles hanging off the roof girders inside. Can hardly do anything, 3 to 4 hrs a day at a push

 

[Frankus]

I am a same day courier. I have been working every weekday except for Monday just gone - no calls.
Two jobs a day on occasion. I had to be in Exeter by 8am yesterday, left at 4am. No problems. The only trouble I've had is getting my screen washer to thaw!
Just lucky I guess...

 

[Blush]

just looked at five day forecast, more snow for next week here. More schools closed today. I still can't beleive taht we still had customers calling into the shop, but they all left a lovely trail of snow and sluch on the floor! We have carpets so no slipping but how do you keep it dry. She shop round the corner had cut up cardboard boxes and had these on the floor next to the door. Doesn't look nice but may have to resort tot his too tomorrow

 

[szacky_]

samklein so do I ! pageviews on my internet shop decreased dramatically. I hoping that is related to the holidays/snow either :f

 

[movietub]

Bit of a pain to be honest!

We have a shop in an industrial estate that acts as warehouse and packing place for our online shop.

The weather has as expected reduced footfall tp the physical shop a tad, but normally crap weather encourages people to stay at home and shop online. Except that side is quiet too! Quieter than last January

That said Xmas spending was way up this year so quite possibly people are just very broke this January.

But you know what? Business ain't everything. Shops quiet but I love the snow. Bring it on I say

 

I be interested to know whether any of you have tried to actually benefit from the weather by introducing snow-related special offers such as this one from The Alcohol Free Shop.

Had quite a few enquiries for our snow ploughs.

http://www.atvquadshop.co.uk/plough.htm

Earl

 

[movietub]

Had quite a few enquiries for our snow ploughs.

http://www.atvquadshop.co.uk/plough.htm

Earl

Earl,

1) stop posting links to your site! - its not ready for public viewing yet.

2) you're going to have to shift those things bloody quick to get them delivered in time before the snow melts...

 

Earl,

1) stop posting links to your site! - its not ready for public viewing yet.

2) you're going to have to shift those things bloody quick to get them delivered in time before the snow melts...

memo:

1) I must tell the bank manager that.

2) you forgot about Scotland and scandinavia.

Must be a southern softy.

Earl

 

[movietub]

memo:

1) I must tell the bank manager that.

2) you forgot about Scotland and scandinavia.

Must be a southern softy.

Earl

1) No excuses will be accepted for the site. I don't care if it makes you or your bank manager £1,000,000,000 a month. Cleanliness costs nothing

2) Not a southern softy! I was bought up in the peak district! I only moved southwards because things work better and there is more money

Although I do miss the 'proper' snow I used to see up north. Driving down here is no fun.

 

1) No excuses will be accepted for the site. I don't care if it makes you or your bank manager £1,000,000,000 a month. Cleanliness costs nothing

Rubbish cleanliness costs effort that could be better used in other areas.

Sign on my office door:

CAUTIONBOMB SITE BEYOND
BEWARE OF
FALLING DEBRIS

Earl.