A one-time regular contributor to a popular financial column within the pages of this magazine was previously a highly successful trader based in the City. One of his constant pearls of wisdom was that it doesn’t matter whether a market is moving up (they call it a bull market or down (a bear market) there is money to be made in either – and believe us when we say he made a quid or two.
Unfortunately, City Dave is no longer with us – the good life eventually taking its inevitable toll – but even allowing for the unprecedented challenges of the past couple of years, with pandemic induced lockdowns, full scale war on our doorstep, chronic materials shortages, and ever spiralling energy and fuel prices, all leading to one of the worst cost of living crises in a generation, our “loads of money” old friend would be at pains to point out that there are still plenty of opportunities for the more savvy minded individual to turn a profit.
And in that respect few are surely better placed to take advantage of the current situation than the nation’s army of builders, plumbers and electricians, whose customers are crying out for sound advice and practical help to improve the efficiency and comfort of their homes. To this end there are a number of things you can do to increase business opportunities at a time of what looks like a sustained period of distress for many households as the nights draw in. One is to consolidate business around your core offering – or those aspects of your business that really turn in to hard cash. It is a general rule of economics (Pareto’s law) that 80 per cent of your profits will come from 20 per cent of your activities, so focus on the 20 per cent and cut away the chaff that makes less money – leave that up to someone else.
Alternatively, you could try diversifying your business into emerging sectors. The impact of Covid on employees working from home is unlikely to be reversed any time soon, whilst the recent record breaking summer heat has only further exacerbated the trend in the UK to outdoor living and all that entails. Furthermore, a rapidly aging population is guaranteed to create demand in the conversion of existing properties to accommodate elderly and infirm family members.
Another possibility may be the repositioning of your business into the sustainability sector and being able to offer what is already a vast range of environmentally friendly and energy saving devices. It shouldn’t require too much of a leap of faith to upsell these products to customers whose homes you may already be a frequent visitor to and will actively seek your advice on future-proofing their homes. With what also now appears to be an unprecedented rise in fuel and utilities costs for the foreseeable future, the time after so many false dawns, really does appear to be ripe for an explosion of “green” solutions to everyday scenarios. In fact, new research shows more than sixty per cent of UK homeowners now plan to upgrade their property over the next ten years in a bid to reduce energy bills.
In addition, investigate smarter ways of working to save time. There’s been an explosion of simple-to-use online estimating and bookkeeping software systems launched in the past few years, allowing you to move on to the next job more quickly and keep an all-important handle on cash flow. Just because your first boss showed you his way of working 20 years ago when you were an apprentice, it doesn’t mean that his way is still the best option. New technologies and equipment, often devised by ex-pros at the sharp end, means builders can work faster and more safely than ever before. Take advantage of them. Even planning more carefully your trips to the merchant for materials can save vital time and money. Perhaps it’s even time to grasp the nettle and go fully electric with that new van you have been promising yourself. We’ve been arguing for ages that for those workhorses that are often parked up outside a customer’s house for most of the day, the limited (although improving) range is not necessarily a drawback, as indeed are the increasingly competitive purchase prices. It also makes a statement to potential customers of your sound environmental credentials.
These are a few ideas, to weather what increasingly looks like a stormy winter, but there are many more out there. As always, Professional Builder will keep abreast of all of the latest developments in print and, of course, online to make sure we can all pull through the uncertain and difficult times ahead. City Dave knew a thing or two about turning a few readies in a bear market and the answer isn’t to work harder – he believed we should all being beavering away as hard as possible all the time anyway. When times are challenging the key is to work smarter. It is what City Dave himself called the “bear” necessities.
