Coming to a county near you?

[firewood]

The price cw charge for their product tells you all you need to know. Even with subsidy they are way above market rate. I cannot see how, as a standalone business, it can ever work. As a component of a farm business it may just manage to wipe its face.

 

I've asked this before but does anyone actually know someone who has or does buy their logs from a national supplier?

 

http://www.kinnoirwoodfuel.co.uk

[BurnerLogs]

Find out how much the haulage is to West Yorks and Ill take some ;-)

 

For you though, if you can sell it through then it would make sense to grow a bit and take it steady.

 

The landowners are like any supplier or wholesaler, they're always shortsighted and will see the big players as their next cash cow. Unfortunately for some of the ones who start sending everything they've got to the likes of CW their customer can end up folding and they'll be left with no sales, even if its in the short term while they find another buyer they will suffer.

 

If you're worried about being too small or for like me in this business, just starting out, the only thing I've learned after having a few successful and a few complete failures is to get you're head down and focus on your own strengths while keeping an unsentimental eye on what's happening in the rest of industry/ market.

 

I know I'm new to the game and to be honest this is a sideline for me so not the best person to offer anyone advise by a long mile, but its a growing market and that will attract investment. Its the same in every area I've been involved in. My main competitors in my last UK business were Palmer and Harvey and 3663. I outsold them in the North of England with a specific product simply because I was small enough to provide the same product with a more personal and tailored service, and I was more expensive.

[ThrustSSC]

Dont forget though that WE bore some of CW's costs.

 

A very good point indeed. What angers me is that the small, local producers could use the money better - but the large centralised ones who get the subsidy are the ones with the time and contacts to apply and drive the applications through.

 

We should not all despair, though. Look at the pressure on the supermarkets for local produce rather than trucking (or even flying) it miles. We have a competitive edge that CW cannot match - the word is "local" and we should use it to the full. It means reduced carbon. It means lower cost. And it means good service.

 

After all, what would you prefer? A scruffy truck/van driver offloading a pallet with a bag on it and saying: "Sign 'ere, luv", or a well-presented local supplier who brings a product just as good, better for the environment, cheaper and who is prepared to discuss your needs and offer advice.

 

The CW can occupy no more than the middle of the market. We can occupy the high end. The real losers at the bottom end will be the scruffy merchants selling green rubbish cheaper than the rest in order to shift as much as possible and taking no time to get to know their customers' real needs.

[BurnerLogs]

 

I've asked this before but does anyone actually know someone who has or does buy their logs from a national supplier?

 

kwfhomepage

 

My bet is that the vast majority of CW's sales will be unique customers buying a load in for their newly installed woodburner and more importantly have bought it and dont have a clue about which type of logs to burn, seasoning etc. They'll buy it after a quick google search and will have found a 'local boy' before their first load runs out.

 

CW will ride the wave while logburner sales are what they are now and possibly will be the next few years.

 

After that my bet is there will be a fair few massive kilns for sale on ebay.

[BurnerLogs]

The real losers at the bottom end will be the scruffy merchants selling green rubbish cheaper than the rest in order to shift as much as possible and taking no time to get to know their customers' real needs.

 

Amen

 

Heres the convenience store market by number of stores. Independents and Symbols are your local family owned store.

 

And the value. While the multiples (tesco etc) are the big players, they are outnumbered and outsold by the symbols and independents who own nearly 60% of the market.

 

 

And this is the convenience grocery market, arguably the most competetive market in the country.

 

I wouldn't be thinking of giving in just yet

[Crazy Cutter]

 

After all, what would you prefer? A scruffy truck/van driver offloading a pallet with a bag on it and saying: "Sign 'ere, luv", or a well-presented local supplier who brings a product just as good, better for the environment, cheaper and who is prepared to discuss your needs and offer advice.

 

What i like most now about log deliverys and being a small player is the fact that i have over 100 customers where i will stop, have a cup of tea and a chat! And struggle to get much more done that day! Thats where repeat custom comes from service? And we get a lot of cards at christmas.

[ThrustSSC]

What i like most now about log deliverys and being a small player is the fact that i have over 100 customers where i will stop, have a cup of tea and a chat! And struggle to get much more done that day! Thats where repeat custom comes from service? And we get a lot of cards at christmas.

 

Spot on! And I'm tempted to say you can always turn those cards into paper bricks and sell 'em back. Hehehe