Will a lot of small domestic tree firms go bust?

[Steve Bullman]

11 hours ago, Barney said:

When we went through the 2008 recession, i can't think of any tree firms in my area that went bust. They're all still out there now and they probably will be in years to come. I'm a small, domestic comany and feeling positive!

I think that largely depends what part of the country you’re in. For us here in Suffolk I don’t think the recession was really felt at all, whilst on other parts of the country there was real suffering going on.

 

this times it’s going to be a proper recession. 

[doobin]

23 minutes ago, Sutton said:

I agree. I'm just saying in the context of belt-tightening there are options.

 

Here's a non-arb example of a difficult secretay.

 

I phoned up a quarry wanting to buy 10ton of limestone for tracks (not grey scalpings) and asked about an option for dust and fines mixed with small rejects rather than clean stone, The secretary wasn't too helpful. She went round in circles along the lines of "I've never been asked that before so I'm sure you can't have it and even if you could I'm too busy to find out". 🤣 She was based in an office in another city. I got another number of the quarry direct. "No problem that's £5 a ton when do you want to collect?"

Almost the same thing though isn't it.

 

My heart always sinks when a secretary says 'yes, what do you want to know/how can I help' in relation to a technical query of any kind.

 

Invariably, they don't know shit, and it's just a total waste of everyone's time.

[doobin]

4 minutes ago, Steve Bullman said:

I think that largely depends what part of the country you’re in. For us here in Suffolk I don’t think the recession was really felt at all, whilst on other parts of the country there was real suffering going on.

 

this times it’s going to be a proper recession. 

Depression more like!

[Steve Bullman]

2 minutes ago, doobin said:

Depression more like!

I believe so 

[Sutton]

8 minutes ago, doobin said:

Almost the same thing though isn't it.

 

My heart always sinks when a secretary says 'yes, what do you want to know/how can I help' in relation to a technical query of any kind.

 

Invariably, they don't know shit, and it's just a total waste of everyone's time.

It's just a question of education and experience.

Why do think we have to go through automated menu options when phoning big companies? It's the same form of gatekeeping and filtering. Think of virtual secretaries as chatbots in the flesh. They'll get better in time.

 

I'm not arguing with you.

 

You've said many times your business model puts the emphasis on kit rather than employees so you having direct control over customer enquiries makes perfect sense. My customer base is small now and all well established repeat business so I'd never use a third party. They just know I only ever answer the phone in the evenings because I can't always answer during the day when the machines are running.

[doobin]

6 minutes ago, Sutton said:

It's just a question of education and experience.

Why do think we have to go through automated menu options when phoning big companies? It's the same form of gatekeeping and filtering. Think of virtual secretaries as chatbots in the flesh. They'll get better in time.

 

I'm not arguing with you.

 

You've said many times your business model puts the emphasis on kit rather than employees so you having direct control over customer enquiries makes perfect sense. My customer base is small now and all well established repeat business so I'd never use a third party. They just know I only ever answer the phone in the evenings because I can't always answer during the day when the machines are running.

A decent set of bluetooth headphones have been a game changer for me. It's easy (and often a welcome distraction) to talk a job through with a customer whilst having both hands on the joysticks.

[Barney]

On 25/10/2022 at 08:27, Steve Bullman said:

I think that largely depends what part of the country you’re in. For us here in Suffolk I don’t think the recession was really felt at all, whilst on other parts of the country there was real suffering going on.

 

this times it’s going to be a proper recession. 

Check back in 4 months and see how positive I am then 😂

[Clutchy]

There does seem to be more kit going up for sale, I can't tell if its just my head trying to connect the dots where there aren't any but certainly seems so. 

 

Anyone on here who went through the 2008 recession? What did you or the company you worked for do differently to survive?

[doobin]

I've noticed a large uptick in kit for sale. Things like secondhand loaders, which are normally pretty rare.

[Mick Dempsey]

53 minutes ago, Clutchy said:

There does seem to be more kit going up for sale, I can't tell if its just my head trying to connect the dots where there aren't any but certainly seems so. 

 

Anyone on here who went through the 2008 recession? What did you or the company you worked for do differently to survive?

I had only been out here 3 years and was just getting going before it all fell off a cliff very rapidly.

 

I owned my own gear outright so it was more a case of dealing with the boredom and feeling of being adrift.

 

It did cause me to change my focus away from working mostly for Brit expats and towards the French clientele, I worked harder on the lingo and started advertising in French publications.

This paid off over the years as I now have a good mix (eggs/baskets etc.)

 

The worst thing I did was buy a Land Rover tipper because I thought I’d rationalise by selling the 4wd and the transit and run just one vehicle that would do both.

It ended up being the quintessential Witch’s curse of a truck, costing me a fortune and my self confidence regarding big purchases. Sounds like an exaggeration but it really set me back.

Edited October 30, 2022 by Mick Dempsey