q4 - how's biz for year-end looking?

[queenlives]

i was having lunch with one of my former founders / clients today and during lunch we discussed their sales results for the year. his company (5 ft, 2pt employees) are in the b2b software business.

turns out they've had > 25% increase in new sales revenues, though fewer new customers; they've achieved ~95% retention rate of their subscription product customers.

talking to another client the other day (also software company, ~13 employees), they're experiencing >35% rev growth (my take is they should be doing 50%+ growth, but that's another thread).

speaking with another client early last week, they're seeing ~10% rev growth this year, and working fewer hours than before. (business is in borderline cruise-control mode).

so how about you / your company - how's business looking for year end (?) and what major hurdles do you / your company have in front of you?

 

[tosugrad]

Im in the last 3 weeks of my FY. Enterprise software. Sales are roughly 40% YTD figures. In other words, the worst year ever.

 

[queenlives]

Im in the last 3 weeks of my FY. Enterprise software. Sales are roughly 40% YTD figures. In other words, the worst year ever.

i spent an awful long time in enterprise sales, myself.

are you saying sales are only 40% of last year's sales?

 

[NetViper]

My web design and SEO/PPC business is slow. Might be time for a sale!

 

[tosugrad]

i spent an awful long time in enterprise sales, myself.

are you saying sales are only 40% of last year's sales?

40% of my FY09 number. FY09 number > FY08 number

 

[queenlives]

40% of my FY09 number. FY09 number > FY08 number

uh oh, that's not good.

public or privately held company?

 

[queenlives]

My web design and SEO/PPC business is slow. Might be time for a sale!

are you able to accurately forecast biz @ this point in time or is it anybody's guess?

 

[SilverStone05]

WAY slower than last year but we're still chugging along. Still paying a good divvy as well. :wink:

I work for a tier one Carrier/ISP.

 

[queenlives]

WAY slower than last year but we're still chugging along. Still paying a good divvy as well. :wink:

I work for a tier one Carrier/ISP.

good for you!

 

[JonBoy]

We just released our Q3 results and we beat Wall St. expectations by about 70% on our EPS. We're expecting Q4 to be even better as end-of-year spending is usually pretty strong for oil and gas companies trying to take full advantage of oil/energy credits before year end.

That said, we were still down 80% (!!) on our profits compared to Q3 2008 and hoping to bolster that in the upcoming quarter. The price of oil and natural gas has helped us tremendously but we're still practically idling along compared to our level of business in 2008.

 

[queenlives]

We just released our Q3 results and we beat Wall St. expectations by about 70% on our EPS. We're expecting Q4 to be even better as end-of-year spending is usually pretty strong for oil and gas companies trying to take full advantage of oil/energy credits before year end.

That said, we were still down 80% (!!) on our profits compared to Q3 2008 and hoping to bolster that in the upcoming quarter. The price of oil and natural gas has helped us tremendously but we're still practically idling along compared to our level of business in 2008.

good news on the eps results... at this point, idling is better than reverse, eh?

 

[NsXMas]

A lot of things that should have closed in Q1 / Q2 / Q3 are moving into Q4 because customers are delaying purchasing decisions. Hopefully Q4 is a good quarter because they might actually buy something!!

 

[queenlives]

A lot of things that should have closed in Q1 / Q2 / Q3 are moving into Q4 because customers are delaying purchasing decisions. Hopefully Q4 is a good quarter because they might actually buy something!!

yep - that's what i've seen in a couple of enterprise-focused clients. big, complex purchases have been delayed whenever possible. the things that can't wait any longer are starting to pop.

good luck w/year-end.
hal

 

[NSXrunner]

Slow but chugging along like everyone said. Come on Canada!! Stop buying on the cheap and go with premium brands!! :wink::tongue::biggrin: