What is Everyone Doing This Year

[Darren B]

I just wondered what everyone is upto this year, now that the UK economy seems to have settled a bit and the election is over has anyone made any big plans or have you shelved them due to other commitments or uncertanty

I know some who are making some life changing experiences and some who have their heads buried deep into thier work with no time for any major changes.

This year is a big year for us with with a relocation of my current office / warehouse to our purpose built distribution centre, just trying to plan this is a headache itself let alone the move itself. Im hoping BT dont let me down with the switch of the phone systems and internet connections, the rest of the build seems to be going fine.

So what are you all upto then?

[guccij]

Actually I think the economy is very, very rocky. The markets are in a bad way, thanks to the Eurozone and Greece. Having a so-called coalition government is bad for consumer confidence, too. Inflation and unemployment are rising. VAT is going up and public sector cuts are imminent.

We were planning to build this autumn. Have now postponed it until next year at the earliest. Not because things in Snorestore land aren't good, far from it (we have had another year of record % increase in turnover), but because we have the jitters.

[leehack]

I only have one goal:

Never get talked into colonic irrigation ever again.

[Mike Hughes]

now that the UK economy seems to have settled a bit

I pretty much agree with Jules. The economy has settled because of all the money the government has been pumping in and this is all borrowed on our behalf. This year is when they'll stop pumping money in and start clawing it back.

So the next 5 years are going to be spent paying back the borrowing. Some of it will come from 'savings' (which means job cuts), VAT will go up and there'll be higher taxes all around.

So I expect there to even higher unemployment, less money around and everyone to be feeling the pinch.

Personally, I'll probably use this year to consolidate the business rather than invest in growth. I'll also be getting some building work done as it's been planned for years and we have the money in the bank.

Mike

[Sean Williams]

Thanks for the laugh Lee

We've had very good growth the past three years, but we're already seeing a downturn in sales this year.
It doesn't surprise me as half of our products have a high RRP (250 - 800 squid)

We've just been hit hard on a shipment from the US due to the failing Ł/$ rate, so that was nice.

We're holding off on a further employee and we're wavering on the (relatively minor) building work.

Bacon sarnies for elevenses have been binned in exchange for a single (plain) Nice each, to go with the 3rd-time-round tea bags and tepid water.
Laughing, jokes and whistling have been outlawed of course.

Otherwise, we're going to work even harder to try and make sure we're ahead of the competition. What else can you do really?

Biking holiday around France? Not this year Sir, no.

<sigh> One day I'll get my life back ....

[TraceyHand]

well, it's funny you should ask but I think I may be one of the people making "life changing experiences"!

As some will know, we (as a family) are upping sticks and moving to the Algarve in July!

Both/all businesses will be continuing "business as usual" and we've put seemingly thousands of procedures in to place to enable us to make the move whilst keeping the businesses running smoothly in the UK.
It's been no small task.... but, then again, it's no small move!

So much to do, so little time (54 days until our move!) and so much Portuguese to learn!
Mine is coming on ok but the kids will have a huge culture shock when they start local Portuguese schools in September! Luckily, the eldest is very bright (although reluctant to move!) so will learn quickly and..well...the youngest is...young! He'll pick it up.

That's our plans, anyway. Just in case there was anyone who happened not to know LOL

[Darren B]

Yep you are one of those Tracey


Well just maybe we are bucking the trend here http://blog.casupply.co.uk/

Seriously though Jules i do not understand why theres this major panic about a change in goverment, lets be honest when was the last time you believed any MP would carry out more than 50% of what he promised.

Sure its a hung parliment but in reality it means more time will be spent trying to please a bigger bunch of MP's on something instead of getting the job done.

I do agree we will now have to pay back all this money and im sure everyone knows it will be by taxes and job cuts. Perhaps the goverment departments will now start to work like a business, cut the mountains of paperwork because you dont have the staff to deal with it anymore. It could be a good thing you know, in the long run of course. But thats the thing with politics and democracy your never please everyone all the time and someone could have always done it better

But lets be honest the UK has been a bit lax over the years and lets just hope that the pain people are going to feel will pay off in the long run.

Now Lee im glad you mentioned that, i had been considering colonic irrigation but i think i might give it a miss. Can you let me know what specific bit you did not like or was it the whole process

[Sean Williams]

Way to go Tracey!
I'm impressed - I spent 10 years in Greece and am hankering to move back out to somewhere warm and gentle like Portugal / France (I think Greece atm might be a bad judgement call!)
I'd be very interested to hear how you're going to keep the bizz running at this end - I'm assuming you'll be using a fulfillment agent of some kind?

I'm being optimistic about the Coalition - if they really can be grown up about their differences and actually DO govern for the good of the Country and it's People then I think things will work out.
But I think we're in for a bit of a s***-storm over the next 3 or 4 years and commerce is going to take a beating.
Which can only mean ecommerce being more resilient than bricks and mortar due to it's lower overheads and better flexibility. And with some luck the storm may even bring down the ridiculous busy fools that ruin the market by working on margins of 1% or less just to get the business. We can only hope

[Darren B]

Which can only mean ecommerce being more resilient than bricks and mortar due to it's lower overheads and better flexibility. And with some luck the storm may even bring down the ridiculous busy fools that ruin the market by working on margins of 1% or less just to get the business. We can only hope

This to me is were its at, we make good margins, we also sell at good prices, sure theres always someone out there going to undercut you just to get a sale but it will be these who will fall foul and disappear.

As you said making a stupid margin is just not going to pay the bills, unless you can ship huge volumes with low overheads. But in reality few can do this.

Our exspansion is for a number of reasons but we brought the land when the price was pretty good, the building layout is to our requirements so we can improve the service at our trade counter and better still hold more stocks and a larger range whilst improving on our nationwide delivery service.

I dont doubt we will get things wrong but we have spent months planning, changing and adjusting things to make sure its pretty damn close to what we want.

As a company we have been through a number of reccessions and down turns since 1968 and i honestly believe the main reason is not getting everything on HP or LH If you own it you dont have to pay for it when you have no money in the bank, if you rent it and dont pay then your loose it.

You cant run a business if you dont have any tools.

[pinbrook]

Which can only mean ecommerce being more resilient than bricks and mortar due to it's lower overheads and better flexibility. And with some luck the storm may even bring down the ridiculous busy fools that ruin the market by working on margins of 1% or less just to get the business.

As a host - the pattern I am seeing is ecommerce sites that have been set up as sidelines (back bedroom businesses) are generally the ones going to the wall.

The sites that are going from strength to strength are those concentrating on marketing and mailing lists.

Big sites are getting bigger, small sites are getting smaller.

[guccij]

We've seen a competitor go under this year. Their prices were cheaper than ours and they thought if they copied us*, they would make money. They left out the customer service element.

We considered buying their stock but they wanted silly money for it and their customer database, which we didn't believe to be genuine anyway. In the end another competitor bought it all. I am intrigued to know when they're going to see a return on their 30 grand investment.

Our investment continues to be in sourcing new products (great one found just today) and being nice to people. Price isn't everything.

*including our words and pictures

[Darren B]

We are expecting to see some of ours disappear during the res tof this year, theres a few that will still be around too

But we tend not to get to hung up on how they are doing but more seeing what they are doing, you can learn alot from your competitiors. Competing with them is not just about being the cheapest its about being smarter and looking after the customer, sure we drop the ball sometimes but its how your deal with it that is important.

[Rich Brady]

It's actually looking like I'm going to be quite busy over the next few months.

I've attended a few Networking events and help a presentation of my own and the efforts really paid off.

Lots of interest. I think that the economic downturn is actually working for me. Business owners that haven't got a website, want one and those that have want to make sure their getting the most from it...

[Darren B]

It's actually looking like I'm going to be quite busy over the next few months.

I've attended a few Networking events and help a presentation of my own and the efforts really paid off.

Lots of interest. I think that the economic downturn is actually working for me. Business owners that haven't got a website, want one and those that have want to make sure their getting the most from it...

I had noticed you seemed very busy lately Rich, i hope it all pays off

[Rich Brady]

I had noticed you seemed very busy lately Rich, i hope it all pays off

LOL Me too, Rach wants new sofas