Gone very quiet

Author
Discussion

bigweb

828 posts

234 months

Tuesday 19th October 2021
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pmanson said:
Just finished Q1.

Revenue was 3x up on the PY and 19% up on the previous quarter.

Biggest challenge for us in recruitment (although I made two job offers yesterday). Team has grown from 4 of us this time last year, to 13 people (soon to be 15).

I have to say though it's not a bad problem to have.

In just over two years we've grown from operating out of the bedroom at my house to being one of the largest dedicated email marketing agencies in the UK.
This is great! Mirrors my businesses performance reasonably well too.

We don't have massive expertise in email marketing though so might be worth a chat?

pmanson

13,387 posts

259 months

Tuesday 19th October 2021
quotequote all
bigweb said:
This is great! Mirrors my businesses performance reasonably well too.

We don't have massive expertise in email marketing though so might be worth a chat?
Sounds good. I've pinged over an email to you via the forum

PopsandBangs

971 posts

137 months

Friday 3rd December 2021
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How are things for everyone?

I've had a terrible few weeks.... nearly all my emails are going ignored, and very few are in the office to get on the phone.

Bashed out 200+ emails over the last few days to existing and potential customers who had communication with before... only 5 or 6 replies. And half of them haven't responded after suggesting a teams call. Very worried about my dripping pipeline.

Compounded by the fact my colleague in the North is busy.

MFR of Electronic components.

Maybe it's me hehe

clockworks

5,971 posts

151 months

Friday 3rd December 2021
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Perfectly normal for me. I always get a bit of a rush before Christmas, as people want their clocks repaired for when family visit.
It'll quieten down over the holiday period, then pick up again at the end of January once the credit card bills have been paid.

sagarich

1,239 posts

155 months

Friday 3rd December 2021
quotequote all
PopsandBangs said:
How are things for everyone?

I've had a terrible few weeks.... nearly all my emails are going ignored, and very few are in the office to get on the phone.
This is a similar story for us. I don't really know how to plan for the next few months, when my clients have gone silent.

Engagement on all outbound marketing has dropped 65% on analytics.




classicaholic

1,876 posts

76 months

Friday 3rd December 2021
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This year has steadied down to a regular order base but a bit less order book than I would like, still not seeing much confidence though. Engineering.

DSLiverpool

15,035 posts

208 months

Friday 3rd December 2021
quotequote all
Across all the firms I see it’s been good, however next week is pick up week after BF CM so let’s see.

Personally I’m busy with new enquiries / new projects. Lead generation seems to be finding me (one of the few things I’m fully allowed to do while handcuffed.)

Dr Interceptor

8,009 posts

202 months

Friday 3rd December 2021
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Quiet time of it here, but then it is usually our quietest month of the year by far.

Keep having to lift the receiver on the phone to make sure it's working laugh

jammy-git

29,778 posts

218 months

Friday 3rd December 2021
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It'll only spin off into other markets if everyone can get their supply chain issues sorted!

pmanson

13,387 posts

259 months

Friday 3rd December 2021
quotequote all
Still motoring on.
A couple of recent hires are working well and are giving me more time to actually work on the business which is good.

We're on track to double turnover for the year whilst still maintaining a healthy profit margin.

Plan for January is to expand the board then I'll drop down to four days a week and look for a side project or two

VEX

5,256 posts

252 months

Friday 3rd December 2021
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This month has been like a light switch being turned back on for the install business.

The industry has been very buoyant, but my sub segment has not been. I look after international clients here in the UK and they have just not been coming back.

What happens now we have another variant here it may get switched off shortly.

fridaypassion

9,148 posts

234 months

Saturday 4th December 2021
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Car trade here and wow what a difference our big switch in the sky well and truly off. We have come off the back of 18 months of total chaos that's been a roller coaster and honestly for my business almost life changing with more than double a normal years level of trade. Almost overnight its gone dead. Really it was about the end of August things calmed but in the last couple of weeks it's really slowed up almost completely.

I must admit I'm actually embracing and enjoying the quieter times as looking back it was not sustainable the amount of work I've been doing. It will come back next near but for now it's great getting some catching up done and just feeling like a normal person again!

Steve H

5,656 posts

201 months

Saturday 4th December 2021
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Also car trade but on the repair side. Most of the workshops I know are flat out and have been since the first lockdown lifted.

Hugo Stiglitz

38,038 posts

217 months

Saturday 4th December 2021
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I imagine alot of recruitment companies went to the wall in the past 2 years?

sagarich

1,239 posts

155 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
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Hugo Stiglitz said:
I imagine alot of recruitment companies went to the wall in the past 2 years?
We have survived... just. Although things aren't looking great again.

Frimley111R

15,857 posts

240 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
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Still very busy for us with the rush to get things installed before Xmas. Was actually looking forward to a quieter week for a breather. Our sector is a growing one though so not an established one like many others. it'll only get busier over time.

nunpuncher

3,442 posts

131 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
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Hugo Stiglitz said:
I imagine alot of recruitment companies went to the wall in the past 2 years?
I might have the wrong end of the stick but in IT the job market has been crazy. So many people moving, so many messages via LinkedIn.

bearman68

4,758 posts

138 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
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I'm steadily busy. and in the car industry. I don't want much more work, but if another 10% came along, we could cope with it.

But we are thinking of expanding the 'shop' to rent a small industrial workshop in Bristol - I have a new employee, and he's exploring the opportunities to set up a sister shop in Bristol.

What's completely surprising, is the lack of available commercial workshop space. It's like bloody hens teeth, and when it is available, workshop space is generally more expensive than fully serviced office space in a very nice office in the centre of town. Completely bonkers.

Since I work from old farm buildings, I'm not up to speed on the value of commercial property, but can someone tell me, is this normal, or is it more expensive / less available than normal?


Hugo Stiglitz

38,038 posts

217 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
quotequote all
sagarich said:
Hugo Stiglitz said:
I imagine alot of recruitment companies went to the wall in the past 2 years?
We have survived... just. Although things aren't looking great again.
I remember in 2008 it was scraping along the bottom for months. It must be hideous now compared frown

fridaypassion

9,148 posts

234 months

Wednesday 15th December 2021
quotequote all
bearman68 said:
I'm steadily busy. and in the car industry. I don't want much more work, but if another 10% came along, we could cope with it.

But we are thinking of expanding the 'shop' to rent a small industrial workshop in Bristol - I have a new employee, and he's exploring the opportunities to set up a sister shop in Bristol.

What's completely surprising, is the lack of available commercial workshop space. It's like bloody hens teeth, and when it is available, workshop space is generally more expensive than fully serviced office space in a very nice office in the centre of town. Completely bonkers.

Since I work from old farm buildings, I'm not up to speed on the value of commercial property, but can someone tell me, is this normal, or is it more expensive / less available than normal?
Commercial property is scarce everywhere. I bought last year but looking to get a bigger place or second smaller place to rent and theres nothing around!