Cost rising is a huge part of my business right now ( auto sales) Used cars are at their highest value in a long time. I am paying double to get some cars ( mostly cheaper sub $4000 cars ) meaning a car that used to cost me 1000 is now 2000 and so on. They are next to impossible to get. We do On lot financing ( buy here pay here ) and do not take advantage of people with super high 24% interest rates but we had to raise it to help cover some of the cost.
I used to get say 4-500 down on a car that costs me 1000 now I get 3-400 down on a car that cost me 2000. Meaning if I sell and finance 30 cars in a month at that cost it now costs me another $30000.00 to do business. THAT is a HUGE increase. And we have felt it.
However any good business person will tell you that you have to adjust to times that are changing. I believe in the MSI ( multiple streams of income ) method..
In order to try to offset the rise in cost to do business I analyzed what we spent the most money on. I came up with the repossession end of the business. We spend A LOT of money on repo's. So I then formed a new company and started a repo business in mid Feb. Since then I not only do my own repo's I have gained at least 10 clients sending me an average of 15 new repo's a day. At $250 a pop that adds up quick. It covers the additional and is actually already a profitable business.
My advice ( not that you really asked for it) is to branch your business out. Look for (MSI) opportunities and take advantages of them.
My.02