It can work both ways. You might find that sharing it will highlight problems you had not thought of, and as a result you get to keep your shirt. Remember also that not everyone is going to be in a position to take advantage of the "good idea" even if they wanted to.
Sure there was a time when counties kept their own markets to themselves. A Portuguese phone wouldn't work in UK and neither would a French telly. British cars had bulbs which were different to those on the continent. When a technical solution to keeping products out of the country wasn't applicable there was always customs duty. It's surprising how a few % import duty could make foreign products (which were already disadvantaged by shipping costs) uncompetitive.
It worked for the UK for over half a century and longer in the case of dutiable goods and taxing imports raised revenue we can only get now by attempting to tax each other.
Cheap Chinese manufacturing means there's no money to be made in manufacturing in the UK any more. Nowadays if your product can be copied you are up sh*t creak and the UK has very little going for it.
The weather's lousy and worsening, thank god the food's improving a bit.
Derek
John Rumm coughed up some electrons that declared:
And there's market share.
For example, TMH has an idea that worked brilliantly for him (ie he says he's happy with the dosh/stress balance). It's hardly a novel idea but evidently not enough people are doing it in his area to impede his ability to make a living.
The dangerous ideas are where it is brilliantly simple and quick to implement (which makes it trivial for a competitor to clone) and makes a fast buck (which means everyone wants a piece).
Then there are novelty ideas like the "million dollar webpage"
This is not entirely true.
There is a balance between high wages and high transport costs.
A lot of which could be reversed if the government stopped taxing success (people who work) and rewarding failure (handouts to those who dont) and switched from rewarding debtors (bail outs to banks and their borrowers) and started taxing spenders (more VAT).
Every single income tax is a hidden subsidy to chinese manufactiring. Think about it.
Most of them earn their fortunes by selling the labour of a dozen paralegals
Owain
Its not just mark up on materials, its the project management people will pay for as well. So if you did stuff like kitchen fitting, people will pay a premium to only have to deal with you, and of course, you can charge a mark up on the subcontractors you employ.
Mat
Emergency call systems for elderly people? Just plug into phone line, power, check the pendant is working and programme in the numbers to call? (There are even some battery powered ones that don't need a mains supply).
Get the units at trade prices, obviously.
You might even be able to become an installer for Aid-Call (run by Age Concern). They offer a discount of =A380 for people who self-install, so I suspect that's an indication of what they pay.
Surely you've heard of bump and (angle) grind...
Bear in mind transport has seen a revolution comparable to manufacturing. Small items can be brought from India or China for essentially nothing. Example, a set of mole grips in the £1.00 bin at a petrol station and have been manufactured in and shipped from China. Compare the cost of just shipping a pair from Sheffield where they used to be made 20 miles or so. We'd pay 15 quid for the cheapest courier service.
Sooner or later that has to happen.
People don't have confidence that our beloved leaders wouldn't just add the extra VAT onto all the other costs they currently burden us with. A VAT registered sole trader (Like me) is currently paying Ca.
82 % of his receipts from customer billings (less materials cost) in taxes of one sort or another.Derek
Glad I have had my breakfast before I read that...
(no offence Dave, but I have seen your photo, and there are some images one really does not want to get stuck with!)
Or get them free from the social services and have a support network of people that will respond if you actually need to press the button.
Do not install emergency call systems unless you know they will actually work to the point that someone will respond!
Indeed - just about tenable selling to SMEs but even then it would need a fair amount of sales time to generate adequate work. End user stuff is only really worth doing if its convenient. Having said that, you never know where that sort of contact can lead.
I find the only way to deal with that is to offer them the choice - when they ask if you can come and fix it, then answer is "yes, but it might be cheaper if I collect, and return later since that way I don't have to charge you while it does whatever time consuming but ultimately non interactive process is required".
Loft flooring and ladder installs? Interior wall/ceiling insulation? Under floor heating? Mounting flat panel TV sets (profit on the bracket)?
Sun beds? Home fitness equipment?
Adrian wrote: .
Thats not my experience, I've done lots of quotes so the interest is certainly still there and I don't think I'm being undercut on price. I think people are just hanging onto their money. Kitchen & bathroom fitters I know have experienced a downturn as well.
Thats something I didn't want to do. Having been invilved in selling to small business for years I could see their problems; staff, stock, premises, cashflow. I decided to set up TMH to avoid those problems, which by & large it does.
Interesting, its only seems to be Howdens & Magnet who operate the 'trade discount' route to market and AFAIC it makes them uncompetitive.
The problem nowadays is that people are aware or the cost of things in the sheds & would rather buy it & pay someone to install. Difficuly to get a mark up on many items, hence looking at things like awnings.
Trouble is there are lots of guys already specialising in that.
I wouldn't have a problem with that - sort of revenge attack against the tree huggers. If they are daft enough to want it they are fair game IMO.
Thanks for a helpful reply Dennis, given our history. It embiggens you.
Thats more the area I'm looking at, especially if its grant aided.
My view is that, certainly in the area job uncertainty is the main problem, so those that have the cash are hanging on to it 'in case'. The kitchen/bathroom fitters I bump into don't seem to be doing well.
Thanks, I'll look into that.
You are one funny bumpy jumper inhabitant :-)
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