how's business?

coming to the end of q1 and thought i'd check in to see how sales / profits are going for folks here.

speaking with our oldest son last week (he has a commercial / residential alarm biz in so. cal.), i was pleased to hear him say biz is very good, across the board.

my clients (i do a bit of small software company sales / management consulting) are all experiencing good sales results, with most >50% yoy growth for q1.

how about your biz - how's things?

I'm in the construction biz, and it's horrible. Builders are burning us left and right, closing their doors and making a run for it leaving us unpaid. I've never seen so many people blatantly breaking the law and acting with such unethical behavior.

And you should see some of these guys houses. One guy’s house looked like the white house, but he refuses to pay a few thousand. Ridiculous. There was once a time people did business on a hand shake. Those days seem to be long gone.

Then there are the slow sales, which a large percentage are not paying either.

Sucks.

Zishan said:

I'm in the construction biz, and it's horrible. Builders are burning us left and right, closing their doors and making a run for it leaving us unpaid. I've never seen so many people blatantly breaking the law and acting with such unethical behavior.

And you should see some of these guys houses. One guy’s house looked like the white house, but he refuses to pay a few thousand. Ridiculous. There was once a time people did business on a hand shake. Those days seem to be long gone.

Then there are the slow sales, which a large percentage are not paying either.

Sucks.

Click to expand...

sorry to hear these things. i'm curious, what new / modified approaches are you taking as your "work around" in today's economy? (maybe folks here will have helpful suggestions.)

Technology sales are bad. I make up by doing some graphic design, and some IT work for my friends start up company. The design thing was more of a favor for a friends business, but stuck around from time to time for magazine ads, flyers, menu's, etc.

What new approach are we using? We are suing everyone. I've never in my 3 years with this company worked with so many different lawyers. Throwing more money after crooks that don't pay. But what can you do, let them go scot-free? Not a chance.

Or you can be more careful who you do business with? It kind reminds me of the auto loans, when they made it more difficult for consumers to be approved, what happened? Sales take a dive. Same here, BUT, if we don't get the business, our competitors do.

And speaking of competitors, the big guys that can absorb the loss, take it a step further and cut costs even more. They ended up putting the little guys out of business.

On the bright side, I have a job. :smile: And when the market turns and business is prosperous again, I will be here not complaining, but buying go fast goodies! :biggrin:

Zishan said:

I'm in the construction biz, and it's horrible. Builders are burning us left and right, closing their doors and making a run for it leaving us unpaid. I've never seen so many people blatantly breaking the law and acting with such unethical behavior.

And you should see some of these guys houses. One guy’s house looked like the white house, but he refuses to pay a few thousand. Ridiculous. There was once a time people did business on a hand shake. Those days seem to be long gone.

Then there are the slow sales, which a large percentage are not paying either.

Sucks.

Click to expand...

That kind of behavior comes from the top down. Look how our "leaders" are acting.

White92 said:

That kind of behavior comes from the top down. Look how our "leaders" are acting.

Click to expand...

interesting comments. please explain.

My company wholesales clothes and is beginning to pick up here in beautiful socal... Anyone else here wholesales clothes??

This may be very local to the San Francisco Bay area, but I take a taxi every morning and then another taxi a few hours later. Every time I get into a taxi I make a habit of asking the driver, "How's business?" I would say that 99% of the time I receive the same answer, "Terrible." This morning for example my driver told me that business hadn't been as bad as when the Internet bubble burst. He said that not that many people take a taxi to work as before and that more and more people are now utilizing public transportation. He said day time business is down dramitically, but the business in the evening is non existent. He said people aren't going out for dinner and drinks as in the past.

The other day a driver told me he made $13 after paying for his taxi lease and gas.

Another two drivers showed me the computer request for a taxi while I was in their cabs. On the first occasion, there was one request for a taxi that was equipped for a handicap passenger. On the second occasion, there were no requests for a taxi out of the 230 taxis in the fleet.

Once a driver told me that prior to picking me up, he had a young lady in the back and she was crying during her conversation on her cell phone. He said she was talking to some one and was saying that she lost her job and didn't know how she was going to pay her rent...

I think we hear about this company that is cutting 10,000 jobs or that other company that will lay off 6,000 jobs. We don't hear about those organizations that have 20 people and 15 loose their jobs.

It's tough out there. Good luck to all of you.

Business has been slightly slower than normal, but not terrible. A couple of projects lost financing part of the way through with the bank stiffing us on a payment. Recently we were contacted by the bank to come and finish the home and work our outstanding balance into the new bid.

One things for sure in this market I now have to follow. Never, ever order product until it's been paid. Especially if the project is being financed by the bank. If the bank cuts off your client, they will stop paying all the contractors and your money will be in limbo until its all worked out. When you owe a bank money, they have every resource to nail you to the wall and recover it. When the bank owes you money, have fun chasing them for it.

It's not the business I'm currently doing but the business opportunities lost that have impacted me most. I'm extremely busy but my international projects ground to a halt before getting off the ground and any and all projects requiring substantial leverage are now completely off the table. I still have a lot of friends looking for extra work so I'm thankful to still have my plate full.

queenlives said:

sorry to hear these things. i'm curious, what new / modified approaches are you taking as your "work around" in today's economy? (maybe folks here will have helpful suggestions.)

Click to expand...

I've been in the film/video production business for nearly 40 years and have never seen ANYTHING like what's happening. Starting last November, almost all of my Fortune 500 clients have cut back on marketing, travel, promotion, etc. I've taken a proactive approach by writing proposals and submitting them on spec. Because we have the time, we are also working on several pro bono projects.

And....posting in this forum!!! Contact me if your business needs anything we can help you with. www.youngquistandcompany.com
:biggrin:

In general it's quite good :smile:. The company I work for does software for the Law Enforcement market... so in these tough economic times, with the crime rate going way up and the Stimulous package handing out big grant $ to local, state, and federal agencies, we're seeing a sizable growth in our business.

-Wick

Second tier manufacturing for us is about 50-60% of what it was a year ago. Medical device, industrial equipment, instrumentation customers all down. Appliances have gone through the floor. Utility and infrastructure seems to be doing fine, no surprise there. We manufacture the control panels and warning labels that go on machines and devices.

Most everyone I have spoken to is doing their best to break even.

Zishan said:

What new approach are we using? We are suing everyone. I've never in my 3 years with this company worked with so many different lawyers. Throwing more money after crooks that don't pay. But what can you do, let them go scot-free? Not a chance.

Or you can be more careful who you do business with? It kind reminds me of the auto loans, when they made it more difficult for consumers to be approved, what happened? Sales take a dive. Same here, BUT, if we don't get the business, our competitors do.

And speaking of competitors, the big guys that can absorb the loss, take it a step further and cut costs even more. They ended up putting the little guys out of business.

On the bright side, I have a job. :smile: And when the market turns and business is prosperous again, I will be here not complaining, but buying go fast goodies! :biggrin:

Click to expand...

hey Z im in the same boat your in, we own a plumbing company and have been around for 20 years. Builders are burning us by not paying, its horrible. we used to have 50 employees and now were just down to 8. dont know how much longer we can stand on our feet without going belly up. i miss the good times.:frown:

Could always be better...oh well, time to go to the track for some stress relief.

I work for a tax software company. You know how that goes, death and taxes. Things are fine. People have to pay taxes, and they really want their refunds early and to the max during these times (Refund Anticipation Loans, etc...). Not to mention the stimulus and all of the new credits complicate things and they are turning to professional preparers to help them get the most. We are seeing software budgets tighten with preparers who are sole proprietors who's software spend is directly taken from their income.

queenlives said:

speaking with our oldest son last week (he has a commercial / residential alarm biz in so. cal.), i was pleased to hear him say biz is very good, across the board.

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Good to hear.

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84161&page=50

If ya'll are interested in what I'm long, I just finished building LT positions in:

Brinks Home Security (CFL). Very cheap valuation, no debt, growing nicely with the potential to really ramp up its subscriber base this year. It's a potential 5 bagger (18 mos). Soros and Pequot are also in it.

Napco Security Services (NSSC). Cheap valuation. Potential to see nice revenue growth if security products market keeps heating up. Potential 10 bagger (18 mos).

These, and Smith & Wesson, are my only longs.

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Dtrigg said:

This may be very local to the San Francisco Bay area, but I take a taxi every morning and then another taxi a few hours later. Every time I get into a taxi I make a habit of asking the driver, "How's business?"

snip

I think we hear about this company that is cutting 10,000 jobs or that other company that will lay off 6,000 jobs. We don't hear about those organizations that have 20 people and 15 loose their jobs.

It's tough out there. Good luck to all of you.

Click to expand...

like doug, when i interact with people in their workplace, i often ask, "so, how's business?" (i find it interesting how different people interpret that question and the metrics they apply, but it's an intentionally open-ended question so whatever they want to answer works for me.)

these days, most non-high tech employees in interact with comment that "things" are a bit slower, but they're getting by. each of the pet store managers / owners i know say business is very good-to-great; i suspect by the calls i'm getting from our dentist's office that things are a bit slower for them so they're try to get us to catch up on our routine cleanings, etc. a very good friend of mine is a flight instructor at a local airport and says continues to be great.

but i'm also hearing / observing that there are "smaller" job reductions, work hours, benefits, etc, are being reduced that never make the headlines / news.

m3456y said:

I've been in the film/video production business for nearly 40 years and have never seen ANYTHING like what's happening. Starting last November, almost all of my Fortune 500 clients have cut back on marketing, travel, promotion, etc. I've taken a proactive approach by writing proposals and submitting them on spec. Because we have the time, we are also working on several pro bono projects.

And....posting in this forum!!! Contact me if your business needs anything we can help you with. www.youngquistandcompany.com
:biggrin:

Click to expand...

interesting: one of my clients is a maker of software for film / video production and they're seeing reductions in budgets, etc.

good idea on being proactive... in these times, it's s.o.p.

sahtt said:

I still have a lot of friends looking for extra work so I'm thankful to still have my plate full.

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i hear ya about being grateful.

My R.E firm is quite busy this 1st quarter. I noticed many properties are being sold. Many buyers are out shopping. We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I have'nt had a day off in months. Thank god for the busy.

I am in the collections industry and while we are getting a lot more accounts, they are are harder to collect. We are probably doing a bit better than last year, but not what you would expect for a collection agency, people just don't have money to pay their bills....

If you do medical collections wait till people have to pony up more for cobra coverage.

We do medical collections along with a few other areas. I have already been hit by our payroll company telling us we have to send out letters to the employees we fired because of performance issues and ask them if they want us to pay for 65% of their cobra. This is going to put a ton of small companies out of business. I feel like we are living in the old USSR.