Whose business is busy and who is not ?

[Justin Smith]

My business is very slack, in fact it's only because I have bought the shop (and get the rents from the flats above) that we'll not be losing money at the moment. For July we may even do our lowest turnover ever.....
I have been asking other businesses in my trade and pretty much all quite candidly admit "everyone is quiet". I think that's reassuring, but I'm not sure !
On the other hand builder I sometimes use says they're "stowed out with it".
What is it like in other businesses ?

 

[fisicx]

I get more leads now but that's because of covid. Could be even more busy but I prefer to be lazy.

The trick is to pivot your business to meet consumer needs. Anyone still doing the same old thing they always have will likely struggle.

 

[Justin Smith]

I get more leads now but that's because of covid. Could be even more busy but I prefer to be lazy.

The trick is to pivot your business to meet consumer needs. Anyone still doing the same old thing they always have will likely struggle.

I have done that multiple times during my business life, the latest was catering for Starlink installations, and, in fact, if it weren't for that we'd really be in the altogether. The problem is our Starlink installations page is very highly ranked gets one to two thousand on it every week but most (90 to 95%) are from abroad and very few are not going to buy anything off us because of the cost of carriage.

 

[NickGrogan]

My business is very slack, in fact it's only because I have bought the shop (and get the rents from the flats above) that we'll not be losing money at the moment. For July we may even do our lowest turnover ever.....
I have been asking other businesses in my trade and pretty much all quite candidly admit "everyone is quiet". I think that's reassuring, but I'm not sure !
On the other hand builder I sometimes use says they're "stowed out with it".
What is it like in other businesses ?

It's the "New Normal" for many businesses, a lot of things have changed.

Can you find a way to ship internationally?

 

[fisicx]

I have done that multiple times during my business life, the latest was catering for Starlink installations, and, in fact, if it weren't for that we'd really be in the altogether. The problem is our Starlink installations page is very highly ranked gets one to two thousand on it every week but most (90 to 95%) are from abroad and very few are not going to buy anything off us because of the cost of carriage.

Team up with local suppliers and sell them the leads.

 

[Ecommerce&MailOrderGuy]

Quiet for us.....gardening products online.....40% down on last year.
Level pegging with 2019 the last non-Covid affected year.
Recent good weather means we will have a better than expected July.

I find that you just have to keep motivated somehow.
eg, we used to send out one promotional email per week but have doubled the activity this year.
It always raises sales and is our cheapest form of advertising.
Just got to to find the energy to communicate an energy-filled 'BUY NOW!!' offer when I personally feel pretty flat, unmotivated and low on energy.

 

[Justin Smith]

Can you find a way to ship internationally?

It's the cost of it that's the killer, esp for stuff which is relatively heavy or bulky.

 

[Justin Smith]

Quiet for us.....gardening products online.....40% down on last year.
Level pegging with 2019 the last non-Covid affected year.
Recent good weather means we will have a better than expected July.

I find that you just have to keep motivated somehow.
eg, we used to send out one promotional email per week but have doubled the activity this year.
It always raises sales and is our cheapest form of advertising.
Just got to to find the energy to communicate an energy-filled 'BUY NOW!!' offer when I personally feel pretty flat, unmotivated and low on energy.

You have my empathy.
It's the opposite for, me, work, even when slack, is something I really enjoy. We all get on and have a laugh all day. I can never understand anyone wanting to work from home !

 

[TSL Services]

My business is very slack, in fact it's only because I have bought the shop (and get the rents from the flats above) that we'll not be losing money at the moment. For July we may even do our lowest turnover ever.....
I have been asking other businesses in my trade and pretty much all quite candidly admit "everyone is quiet". I think that's reassuring, but I'm not sure !
On the other hand builder I sometimes use says they're "stowed out with it".
What is it like in other businesses ?

Hi Justin may I ask what business you are in, thanks. TSL

 

[estwig]

I design house extensions and loft conversions.

A month ago all was quiet, the media with their Boris is a tosser, we are at war, energy prices are rising, inflation going mad, it was doom and gloom all round.

Now it's, Boris is on the way out, house prices are going up, the sun is out, all is right with the World, low and behold the phone is ringing again!

 

[SillyBill]

Volume not particularly the issue, seldom is, maintaining margin on said volume is the challenge this year with inflation biting. Biggest challenge I've ever seen on maintaining acceptable profitability and ridden through a lot.

 

[BustersDogs]

We're always quieter over the summer, but we're quieter than usual as people are moving home out of my area, all at once! Possibly delayed during the pandemic. The quality of employee is not what it once was, so I decided to just work with it this year so I can keep it just my son and i working and see what next year brings. Unfortunately at the moment I'm the only driver so I can't leave my son the dog walking and increase my other services as I normally would. I've always updated and renewed services to meet what people want and need, that's how I survived through covid, and I'm going to be doing that again shortly to try to get new clients.

A lot of the problem is that other dog walkers charge so little, and walk so many dogs at once that my fees look expensive. That's never been a problem until this year.

 

[Justin Smith]

Hi Justin may I ask what business you are in, thanks. TSL

It was mainly TV aerial sales (95% via our website) and the installation products necessary for that (poles, clamps, brackets etc), but it was obvious years ago that aerials were on a downward path. So I have tried to focus more on the poles, clamps and brackets for fitting stuff other than aerials, e.g. data links, CCTV, weather stations and (particularly at the moment) Starlinks.

 

[Justin Smith]

I have been asking other businesses in my trade and pretty much all quite candidly admit "everyone is quiet".

Just to clarify, when I say "my trade" I do not mean just TV aerials, that also includes CCTV installations and stuff like that (though we do not actually get involved with CCTV).

 

[MarkOnline]

Margins are being squeezed, too many sellers chasing the same customers. I see many calling it a day and going back to full time employment. When margins get cut it then gets down to who can produce the most product in the shortest time scale at a given quality standard. Machines that offer that type of production are expensive thank goodness.
Its gonna get tougher out there.

 

[tony84]

Its been busy, but this week has been dead.
I expected it to quieten down next week but it looks like I miscalculated when the school holidays started. My daughter finishes next week so I assumed all kids did.

Im not worried if this week, next week and possibly the following week are quiet. But I would expect it to pick up by then.

I dont know how many years trading you have, I have sort of 4-5 years worth of spreadsheets, I can more or less work out when my quiet periods will be. I used to worry about quiet periods but now I just try to make the most of them. Catch up on admin, chill out etc.

 

[Justin Smith]

Its been busy, but this week has been dead.
I expected it to quieten down next week but it looks like I miscalculated when the school holidays started. My daughter finishes next week so I assumed all kids did.

Im not worried if this week, next week and possibly the following week are quiet. But I would expect it to pick up by then.

I dont know how many years trading you have, I have sort of 4-5 years worth of spreadsheets, I can more or less work out when my quiet periods will be. I used to worry about quiet periods but now I just try to make the most of them. Catch up on admin, chill out etc.

I've been trading since 1994. The turnover we are O/T to do this month will be the lowest ever, so a quiet period does not excuse it !

 

[tony84]

I've been trading since 1994. The turnover we are O/T to do this month will be the lowest ever, so a quiet period does not excuse it !

I think it depends...

Lets say you have a shop and this is your quiet period. Its going to be quiet, its expected. But then there are roadworks outside your shop preventing people from seeing the shop front/parking outside or even going past your shop then its going to lower than normal.

The other year when England were in the Euros and started doing well, all of a sudden business just vanished. Which I found very odd because it was almost like everyone stopped wanting mortgages because of 3-4 x 90 minute games.

I suppose the point I am trying to make in a convoluted way is that there could be other factors beyond the norm.

Going back to the Euros, as soon as it finished we were snowed under. We did not quite level off as there is only so much work I can take on but despite spending 3 weeks doing barely anything we were only marginally behind where I expected to be for that period.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

It has been very busy here for the last two years but I do see signs of a slow down

 

[Justin Smith]

I think it depends...

Lets say you have a shop and this is your quiet period. Its going to be quiet, its expected. But then there are roadworks outside your shop preventing people from seeing the shop front/parking outside or even going past your shop then its going to lower than normal.

The other year when England were in the Euros and started doing well, all of a sudden business just vanished. Which I found very odd because it was almost like everyone stopped wanting mortgages because of 3-4 x 90 minute games.

I suppose the point I am trying to make in a convoluted way is that there could be other factors beyond the norm.

Going back to the Euros, as soon as it finished we were snowed under. We did not quite level off as there is only so much work I can take on but despite spending 3 weeks doing barely anything we were only marginally behind where I expected to be for that period.

What is particularly concerning is there are effectively different strands of this business, e.g. I don't really see who aerial sales have much to do with Starlink install eqpt sales and therefore the seasonal effects on one area might not be expected to affect another ?
Yet it is all down !

Interesting sidelight : I just worked out the average T/O per month for the last 5 years and I was surprised how consistent it was for all the months through the year, despite the fact that over that 5 year period aerials have come down hugely and Starlink has only been significant for just over a year.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

Our business has a degree of seasonality and we are traditionally quiet during July and August but usually field lots of enquiries for September onwards. They've not started yet but I think most peoples priorities are to make up for the holidays they've missed with lots of folk trying to get away?

 

[MBE2017]

I think many people, understandably listen to the news and tv coverage, where things are usually put over in a very exaggerated and negative way. Even the most positive type people can be worn down by these reports.

The economy will go through a downturn, no idea how bad it will be, but it will then recover, for those that are willing to take advantage. Many people, even business people, often prefer to sit back and see what will happen, whilst others are already taking action.

Even in most recessions, sales are normally only down 2-10% for the economy overall, which still leaves plenty of sales to be taken from competitors. The first bad recession I went through in the 80’s, my employer at the time refused to accept low sales for any reason.

Being young and knowing no different I got a 60% annual growth increase for my depot, the national company averaged 30% across the UK, after increasing their prices and profit levels. That taught myself how you do in any recession comes down primarily to your mindset.

You can sit worrying about it like most, or you can go out and find ways to increase your sales, profitability, reduce credit, reduce stock etc. Put simply, you as always just have to beat your competition even more than during the good easier times.

 

[IanSuth]

Just to clarify, when I say "my trade" I do not mean just TV aerials, that also includes CCTV installations and stuff like that (though we do not actually get involved with CCTV).

My wife works in cctv support for a distributor and has on a few occasions had to source/get quotes for bespoke fittings to mount stuff.

If you pm me your details I will pass it on to her as a "just in case"

 

[SillyBill]

Being young and knowing no different I got a 60% annual growth increase for my depot, the national company averaged 30% across the UK, after increasing their prices and profit levels. That taught myself how you do in any recession comes down primarily to your mindset.

You can sit worrying about it like most, or you can go out and find ways to increase your sales, profitability, reduce credit, reduce stock etc. Put simply, you as always just have to beat your competition even more than during the good easier times.

Absolutely. Recessions I find are the best times to improve your business. You're forced to look under the bonnet. If we didn't have them you'd (likely) neglect at least some of the essential pruning, economizing, innovation and analysis that typically comes about predominantly because you're forced to. The "beat your competition" is also key too - they're in the same boat and important you remind yourself of this. They are never enjoyable though as invariably we all do worry, usually the fear porn put out by the media results in this, as you allude to. There are lots of believable stats and stories about how innovation goes into overdrive in recessions and you can quite understand why. You don't think differently unless you need to.

 

[MrStar]

I started doing some consultancy and business coaching a few months ago, I find that those who need help the most are often the ones that are least likely to look for it or really be interested in exploring it.

As I’ve primarily been working with really small businesses it’s also fairly unethical to see them perhaps more than once every month or two as a hour hour meeting can give them plenty to be getting on with.
I’m delighted to give people great value but would love to be a bit busier.

 

[Paul FilmMaker]

We're yo-yoing a bit. Situation is I was in hospital with Covid, took me a year to recover as I was so weak, I couldn't even peel a banana! So it's just spinning up business gradually. It's almost like being back in the first year!

At first, it was all last-minute hand-to-mouth. Then, there was a pipe of leads, but not booked business, going forward.

Now, we have bookings going forward to September with a couple in next year plus a pipe of leads going forward to next year.

It takes a while for marketing to kick in so the pipeline gets full and healthy. And we'd see ourselves getting fuller and healthier irrespective of recessions. Bizarrely, with recessions, we get an opportunity to pitch for the bigger stuff.

E.g. A well-known highstreet retailer wanted to do a Xmas video. Normally, in good times they'd spend £100k on this. In bad times, they want to spend £30k so open it up to smaller, cheaper agencies. For us, £30k is great for a 3-day shoot plus editing! So opportunities open up if we position ourselves correctly.

 

[Ecommerce&MailOrderGuy]

It's certainly been an 'interesting' few years.
Hopefully the natural forces of creative destruction will be allowed to take place.
Don't like the idea of any business people suffering BUT that's the game we have chosen to play.
I reckon it's going to be a super-tough next 18 months.

As a seasonal business just wrapping up 5 decent months of peak trading I know we'll finish in the black this year. We are nowhere near original forecast but still profitable.
First hurdle jumped.

 

[LanceUk]

Our holiday letting is doing OK... August pretty well booked out, but July has been mainly last minute bookings. There's a couple in Septembert and October, but that is normal for this time of year. Over COVID, we did rent one cottage out as a normal letting, but knew the tenants and they were only going to be there for a year, anyway.

 

[Ecommerce&MailOrderGuy]

0.5% growth now forecast for UK by IMF for 2023.
With inflation heading towards 10% does this suggest a 9.5% drop in volume?
Pretty spectacular if true!

 

[SillyBill]

0.5% growth now forecast for UK by IMF for 2023.
With inflation heading towards 10% does this suggest a 9.5% drop in volume?
Pretty spectacular if true!

The GDP number I stopped paying attention to years ago. Too cooked to decipher any meaning out of it for us mere contributors. The latest point of interest was a better than expected number because doctors in the NHS had finally started seeing patients again prompting a boost in activity. Great to know that makes us richer. Or similarly when test-and-trace was boosting GDP in proportion to the billions we effectively printed to pay for it...to get absolutely nothing "out" at the end. When you factor in everything else, imputed rents and the like, it is wonder the ruse isn't called on it altogether. The way we're going anyway, the public sector is increasingly becoming the economy as private sector % GDP becomes less and less. Do they even need us anymore?

 

[waynecad]

We are doing pretty well and have just opened a small unit to deal with with traders.
We are a Mobile Leather Repairs business servicing cars and furniture at their home or premises.
We do a fair bit of online advertising and my 20 years in online marketing has helped a lot.
Good luck to you all if your struggling, it won't last forever.