# Economy?



## Guest123 (Oct 10, 2006)

For those of you that already have a business up and running, I have a few questions. 
1. How is current economic state affecting your business?
2. What are you doing to change if it is affecting you in a negative way?


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

You have probably read about mine in other posts.

I have been getting hammered on ebay. I have been bummed about the low sales.

I have always preached that when times get tough in business, forge ahead with new products, ideas, research, cold calls to new clients, etc. 

I have always believed that the slow times give us opportunity to plan and prepare for future growth.

In fact, I have read many accounts that when times are tough for business, it is a great time to launch new products, or invest in your business. While others are hoarding a little cash and crying the blues, this is a great time for others to rebuild, rethink, invest in new equipment, update, etc. When the economy does turn around, those that worked hard at reinventing will be poised for massive profits. 

With that said, I have been chomping at the bit to work on new products, and have been for months and months. 

In fact, I have so much new work ready for the pipeline that even my wife said 'no more'.

I have a pile of new work that I would like to get into the ebay pipeline, but have had a huge slow down with my supplier. His wife died a week ago, and he had been doing all he could to take care of her in her illness in the past 7 months. 

That put many of my new projects on the back burner. 

I could have run off to another supplier, but I feel very loyal to my current supplier, and know that he is going to need every dime he can get to stay in business.

The bottleneck has been frustrating. But then again, what would I want if I were in his shoes?

I know what it is like to lose clients over a family medical emergency.

Clove


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## gunsmithgirl (Sep 28, 2003)

Well the economy has affected certain parts of my business, but not all.

I still have plenty of hunting work come in. Just plain-jane repairs and scope mounts. Even though times are tough people still need their guns repaired to hunt with.

I do see less of the restoration work and fancy stuff, get a lot of calls about it, but a lot of people can't afford extensive restoration, so I get a lot of " I'll have to bring it back when I can save up some cash". 

But then there are some of the collectors that always have a new gun in the shop. (literally,I have a few customers who will go out and buy a new $800 gun and bring it in to have another $3-400 in custom work done on it, before they even shoot it or take it out of the box) Some people will always have money for things, I guess.

All in all, I could say it has affected me some, but not all that much. I haven't got to the point that I have had to really change anything to make up for it. I haven't been investing as much in tooling and fixtures for some of the higher-end jobs, I just order what I need when the job comes in if I don't have it. 
I also have a new policy in the shop of no checks over $100, taken from advice of a local gun shop owner here, he said he has had a lot of checks bounce, so if it is over $100 now I require either credit/debit or cash. Just to cover my hide so if a check does bounce, I am not taking a huge hit on my finances.


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## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

I'm just "reactivating" my artwork/ art studio again this year, probably not the ideal time to work on something that is definitely a "luxury" item for people, but I am doing more smaller pieces that can be priced lower. I am also being very careful to keep my own start-up expenses very low ... and expect to do quite a lot of trading-for-services kind of thing as well.

My horse business, which has been established for years, has definitely taken a hit, although the well-bred trained ones have sold and because I do have an established reputation in the type and discipline, I've pretty much sold what I needed to sell, though overall prices are lower.

On the other hand, DH, who has a travelling welding "mini-shop" on a trailer has had as much work as he wants with local field repair work ... or work here ... for neighbors that are having equipment repaired rather than replacing.


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## sisterpine (May 9, 2004)

I have definately noticed the difference this economy has made in my business. I have lowered some prices, implemented free shipping on most orders. I have also reduced and am reducing my stock of stone (though I really need to order a couple right now). My supplier for stems has gone into backorder hell and after two months has not come up for light. Therefore I have been forced to search and find another supplier...Only problem with this place is...the stems are 12 cents more each and I had to purchase a thousand to get this price. After the guy ships he tells me he does not take credit cards so I will have to pull the money out of savings . Normally I credit card supplies and then use the next few orders to pay off the card. Works well, and gives me a nice record for taxes. The new stems should arrive this week. I also have been really wanting to try some new projects along the same lines. I have been trying to make what I call Ocean Chicklet knobs but am having a terrible time drilling the glass cubes- they keep breaking. Have not given up yet though. Also planning other things.

Due to the recession I am considering not doing any more christmas/holiday shows this year as it just seems folks are not buying and the price for the shows gas and time is costly. sis


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## MN Gardener (Jan 23, 2008)

I am a real estate appraiser and due to the time of year and the economy I have seriously been looking for alternative income. If a very stable, good paying, good benefit job was offered to me I would probably take it. I am at less then half of what I made last year. There are new regulations requiring a third party vendor to order appraisals that will come into effect Jan 2009. I have no clue what is going to happen to our business then. I have signed up with as many as I can, but who knows what will happen.


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## lharvey (Jul 1, 2003)

The numbers aren't in yet on my business.

As I posted on another thread, typically, my slower months are Nov and Dec.

This year seems to be a typical year where last year was not a typical year and we were way above the norms for Nov through March.

Is it really typical or is it the economy? Hard to say but..

I've noticed, after talking to my customers, that they are feeling the crunch and are opting to hold off on buying the big ticket items, servers, etc.

I've also noticed that my call volume is down for desktop support as they are trying to do their own fixes and repairs. Unfortunately, this does not work on some of the network environments they operate under. In the long run doing the work themselves cost them more money as I have to come in and undo what they have done and then redo it the proper way.

I don't really have a product but provide services. Servers and hardware are purchased by the customer and I do the installations and other work they need for them.

I've still got enough work to keep all of us running 7 days a week but it's more relaxed. In other words we are keeping up with it and there is less, I need it done yesterday type of stuff.

What I HAVE noticed for sure, and I can only blame it on the economy, is that payment for invoices is slower than usual which chokes my cash flow tighter than I'd like to see it. But no real issues that I can see in the immediate future.


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