anyone else out there with a business starting to really see the 'economic slowdown' everyone is talking about? I mean, my shop is busy, but the phone and emails are slowing down.(which can be a good thing cuz now I can do work instead of fielding calls about cars that should be going to the local collision shop...lol) My suppliers arent chatting about new products to buy- sounds like everyone is just trying to stay afloat. Maybe its just the calm before the storm of gold chainer show season- who knows... Just seeing a strange lull over everything.
In my business we slowed down a little over the past year because of the tighter credit from banks. Seems like three years ago banks were throwing cash at businesses, but now they are so tight fisted that a lot of places are having trouble finding capital for expansion and R&D. It'll turn around within the year.
The place I work, making automotive related dies, is circling the drain. I took a buyout and am gone in June. Our problem is that all the car interior work is done in Mexico and no one wants to pay to ship dies from Michigan to Mexico; can't blame them. Hard to compete with $2.40 an hr. labor.
Lenny, I think that the bigger you are the more you're gonna feel the crunch. Just a hunch. I am real small here at my shop, I kept it this way on purpose (low overhead). I am actually getting busier. I'd like to get a bit bigger but than again that means more overhead. Maybe my low overhead and relatively low labor rate have saved me from the economy? I'm sure that it helps. Anyway, it's gonna be up and down at some points. Hopefully the ups can carry you through the lows. I'd love to come up for your open house but I'm just getting back from Mexico a day before so the wife prob. wouldn't like that. Post up some pix.
My wife has a small manufacturing operation here in Baltimore. Same business in the same location doing the same thing since '47, die cutting gaskets. The last couple of years have been a little slow but over the last 6 months, she has gotten very busy. Most of her customers are defense contractors. At 4 months into the year, this could be her best year since buying the company from her father 10 years ago. I guess I don't understand economics !
We build nostalgia drag cars and a few project cars...shop is still full and my waiting list is still growing. We have tried to cut back, but they still keep coming. We work in a small niche market and it is my guess that the ones with the money to spend will still do it and the others just will find a way if they want to race. The attendance this season will surely show a downturn in spectators and racers that can and will travel the distance to race in the big events, but like us, many will find a closer venue to race in. Promoting a few more "local" events here...that means less than 400 miles from Dallas and getting some good response from the Nostalgia Super Stock racers. Looking to have a full 16 car field at all events and we are expecting over 60 cars at the Monster event in St. Louis. M.
every four years people freek out about the election,and stop spending money.this year we don't have a single person that is worth a flip to vote for,so people are really hanging on to their money.as soon as the bookies in vegas decide who is going to be president,it will get back to normal. down here i'm busy. we are trying to sell our current building and move into a larger complex,but the maket has stalled and the building buyers are nowhere to be found. -danny
Very busy here. My pal who went full time with his hotrod shop cant keep up with all the ch***is and tin work. hot rod pro is right. Stop worrying and keep workin.........more millionaire were made from average folks in the Great Depression than any other Era in US history.
I'm a small, but growing parts dealer (www.shiny-hiney.com) Our business isn't great, but I'll tell you what's killing us; people that want us to advertise in their mag's or on their sites and the rates they are charging. I truly believe in investing for growth, but we would do all the setup work (ad design etc...) and they would either publish in a mag or do 20 seconds of publishing to their website and they are asking a fortune! I agree with the above; once we know who's running for Prez, the press will have more to talk about than our non-recession. Hang in there! 51FourDoor
Its slow up here in michigan, alot of people pulling out and moving south. Weve been thru it before. Probably just lean out a bit and work smart, and wait it out. A friend in the rental truck buiz, was saying to me just the other day that hes got no equipment. Everyones renting it one way. (Texas, Arizona, South West) and it isnt coming back up this way.
I retired 5 years ago and started doing part time finish carpentry. I get referrals fro a Senior's job center, a lumber yard, a couple of hardware stores and a home medical supply business. While january and February are traditionally slow they were stopped this year. Generally things pick up in March & April, the phone hasn't rung with a business call in 2 weeks. Other friends in the contracting business who are usually very busy are also not getting any work.
I work in home remodeling (resurfacing bath tubs). The last half of 06, and all of 07 was the worst time for my business, ever. O8 is looking better, but nowhere near 3 years ago. I think most people are concerned with how they will feed their family or how they will pay for gas and heat as the price of everything slowly goes thru the roof. I hope things get better, old car weather is just around the corner!
been slow at the shop here too. gives me more time to play with side projects though then again it's less money to play with them. ****ing paradox...
Port Huron, eh? C&A shutting down didn't affect you, did it? It cost me the job I held for 11 years. Tim D.
Business has been the slowest we've ever seen for the past 6 months. I'm in the oil field business, drilling and exploration, and it's getting bad. We've been in a recession since last October for those who aren't paying attention. We have some prospects on the horizon but in the mean time we've laid off half our employees. If you have a job hang on to it. It may not be the best thing but at least your working. The idiot in the whitehouse couldn't care less about the American working poor, just like his dad, and only wants to play war at our expence. I don't care what anyone says, the war is breaking America and if something doesn't change very soon, items like hot rods and boats are going to just be a dream for most people. Now back to work.
Not a huge slow down, but the tire business has dropped off some. It seems people are buying tires on a need basis instead of when they want them.
I quit a printing company and got a better job in IT. The commercial screen printing market is getting killed by Chinese copies. Guess where the stimulus checks are coming from.
Lenny not just busness. I was planing to go to the nostalgia drages in bowling green, With the car club for the 3rd time,But now it's not going to happen. Iam planing to stay close to home with the rod this summer.
By definition, WE ARE NOT in a recession. What is strange about your field is that oil and gas is booming up here in Wyoming,Sodak, Nodak and Montana................
I am a design engineer, and I design prototype machinery and automation for industry. Of course, a lot of what I do is ***ociated with production machinery for the automotive industry. Although my past year has been fairly good, it seems to have stopped with a "thud" about 3 weeks ago!!!
I'm in the cl***ic car business. The market has REALLY slowed up in the past 6 months or so. We are still selling our high dollar cars to the serious collectors but the low buck enthusiast market has completely dropped off. Of course foreign sales are at an all time high with the weak state of our dollar. The running joke in our office is about the recession we're "not in"
Our buisness builds tooling for plastic and die cast injection.We have seen lots of ups and downs over the last thirty years i been involved with it.We have been pretty steady.I have given up ranting about off shore competion beacause it is not going away any time soon or ever for that matter.As soon as china catches up some other country will be right behind to pick up the s****s.Just go to work every day with the additude on how to make our company better.
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