Times are getting harder

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
21

Chas:

B1 GGK:

Easter-Star:
The biggest amount of failures will be new start up concerns who have failed to do their figures correctly , most will fail in the first year. Sad but true.

But on the other hand, if you can start up and maintain a business in the current climate things are promising for when the climate turns to good.

It is often said that the best time to start a business is during a recession, I disagree.

The best time to start a business will always be ASAP.

It’s true that if a business can survive being started during a recession, when times get better it will thrive.

But a business can just as easily fail by being too successful !

I’ll give you some cause for thought : Harry Monk buys a lorry & starts out on his own account, he’s so damned good at the job that within 5yrs Harry Monk has 35 lorries on the road. Harry Monk’s sat his desk with an intray that touches the ceiling of his posh office, 5 lines on hold & 2x secretaries to do his typing !

Is Harry Monk a good truck driver or is Harry Monk a good accountant?

All Harry ever wanted to do, was to drive a truck & not drive it for an [zb]. Nowadays, Harry cannot possibly spare the time to get behind a wheel, he has to meet with the bank manager at 9, the tax man at 11, there’s 5 people waiting in reception & still, that intray reaches the ceiling !

If you are on your own, then being able to earn a fortune this way has got to be the tastiest it can be.
Don’t we dream of clearing £2k+ per week running our own tractors up and down the country pulling someone else’s trailer wherever?

Once you start expanding (Why bother?) then you’ve got all that executive stress described, and also that niggling thought that most of your takehome pay NOW comes at the expense of under-paying your staff… Employers who don’t underpay their staff after all, lose money. Larger firms also mean more shrinkage to the bottom line because you’ll not know 35 as well as you’ll know yourself and a couple of relatives/mates.

Then comes the additional risks related to recessions, which are a cyclical thing. You want your business to last for life, or at least so you can flog it and retire when the time is right. Running a firm that consists of you on your own with your girl answering the phone & doing the office bits means only having to find work for one person, but actually employs two. Expand to 35 trucks, then you’re looking at anywhere from 40-120 staff, assuming you’re going to have the wheels turning 24/7 and all. This is going to require not only a steady stream of MUCH higher work “intray” as you put it, but it has to be sustained at all times - especially during a recession when you’ve otherwise got the choice of lay offs, short hours, or taking a hit for as long as the recession lasts, and paying everyone full pay still. This has GOT to be harder for a larger firm than a small one - recessions just represent the tide going out. Small firms represent how many staff can keep themselves decent when there’s only a half dozen pairs of trunks to go around, a bit like that Buffet analogy.

A good idea for the business of the future is one that can properly organise work required by the worker, rather than by an industry that has its highs and lows. If I sign up for an agency for instance, they don’t give a hoot if I can program/repair a computer, assist on scientific projects including archaeological digs & laboratories, or even run a retail outlet - they just want to know if I’ll go somewhere and drive for them. The agency is tailored for the premises client, rather than the WORKER who should be their FIRST client! :bulb:

…"The economics of the future NEED to be "somewhat different"…

22

WHOS THIS PROPHET ?

23

At a guess it would take. 4 or 5 months of missed payments to get to repossession stage. Sure is tough in lots of business and general haulage one of the toughest. Only way I can see you making money is keep trying to double shift motors but that’s easier said than done.

24

kr79:
At a guess it would take. 4 or 5 months of missed payments to get to repossession stage. Sure is tough in lots of business and general haulage one of the toughest. Only way I can see you making money is keep trying to double shift motors but that’s easier said than done.

This is correct , double shifting on mid distance fridge work is making money , base to Avonmouth , load trays or collection on way back , next driver does same or two locals if time doesnt permit .
Subbies I know doing this are turning a coin , subbies I know doing one job a day and parked up for eleven are finding it not worth the hassle , after Christmas the one hit jobs will be few and far between these jobs will be kept for their own drivers .

25

I know a bloke with a few hiabs doing ok but it’s a specialist game and big investment in equipment. And he has been in that game years and a lot is based on your reputation and the old pals act.

26

kr79:
I know a bloke with a few hiabs doing ok but it’s a specialist game and big investment in equipment. And he has been in that game years and a lot is based on your reputation and the old pals act.

The old pals act goes along way in this game , where we are the bloke double shifting a motor is ex transport manager , he is never parked up when its quite , but he is reliable , makes sure his truck is there seven days a week and reaps the rewards .
Reputation takes a while to earn and drinking with the boss is a easier cheaper option as he found out :wink:

27

Harry Monk:

bigvern1:
I do reposessions in my game but don’t like to talk about it. There’s irony for you! :wink:

No, if I did repossessions I wouldn’t want to talk about it either.

Well when your turn comes around…Let’s see if you talk about it. You like to talk.

28

I would like to say in defence of the owner driver. It may not be a pattern of repeat missed payments which caused his repossession. It may be that he missed one payment, but then wasn’t able to catch back up again. That means that despite his paying like clockwork for the past five months, the missed month six months ago has put him in arrears for six months and the court can order a repossession.

And if it had happened to me, I wouldn’t have unlocked the doors until the police arrived. If they are going to repossess my only way of getting back to my car, they can satisfy plod that its legal before they even talk to me.

29

Chas:

B1 GGK:

Easter-Star:
The biggest amount of failures will be new start up concerns who have failed to do their figures correctly , most will fail in the first year. Sad but true.

But on the other hand, if you can start up and maintain a business in the current climate things are promising for when the climate turns to good.

It is often said that the best time to start a business is during a recession, I disagree.

The best time to start a business will always be ASAP.

It’s true that if a business can survive being started during a recession, when times get better it will thrive.

But a business can just as easily fail by being too successful !

I’ll give you some cause for thought : Harry Monk buys a lorry & starts out on his own account, he’s so damned good at the job that within 5yrs Harry Monk has 35 lorries on the road. Harry Monk’s sat his desk with an intray that touches the ceiling of his posh office, 5 lines on hold & 2x secretaries to do his typing !

Is Harry Monk a good truck driver or is Harry Monk a good accountant?

All Harry ever wanted to do, was to drive a truck & not drive it for an [zb]. Nowadays, Harry cannot possibly spare the time to get behind a wheel, he has to meet with the bank manager at 9, the tax man at 11, there’s 5 people waiting in reception & still, that intray reaches the ceiling !

An owner can in a way dictate how big or small their company wants to be, a company I have an interest in we downscaled as it was at a time getting too big for us to manage, it went from being a nice tidy number to being a full on nightmare and not meriting the rewards, scaled it back to somewhere close to how it was and back in happy times.

30

moneyweek.com/

ukpublicspending.co.uk/

I’ve narrowed that down a bit it was a bit too long. If you can find the link then by almeans insert it,i did have a quick look to no avail.
Mike-C

31

Sorry dont know how to post a link,just copy and paste

32

Something that has slipped under the radar somewhat is that the Bank of England appointed a new Governor this afternoon to take over from Mervyn King next year, Mark Carney. Although he’s generally considered to be in the same mould as King, it is possible that there could be a shift in economic policy either before or after he takes over, particularly with regard to interest rates, which would be a game-changer for a lot of people, particularly the indebted.

33

wel thats chered me up

34

He’s the first foreigner ever to be appointed as Governor of the Bank of England and I think that’s a bold move, after all look how successful foreign managers have been at managing the England football team. :wink:

Anyway, bring on higher interest rates I say, let’s stop kicking the can down the road and get the recession over with.

35

Harry Monk:
Something that has slipped under the radar somewhat is that the Bank of England appointed a new Governor this afternoon to take over from Mervyn King next year, Mark Carney. Although he’s generally considered to be in the same mould as King, it is possible that there could be a shift in economic policy either before or after he takes over, particularly with regard to interest rates, which would be a game-changer for a lot of people, particularly the indebted.

Its said he led Canada successfully through the global turmoil, and whilst Britain is a different machine than Canada a different body rather than 1 of King’s understudy’s is a great move IMO.

36

B1 GGK:

Harry Monk:
Something that has slipped under the radar somewhat is that the Bank of England appointed a new Governor this afternoon to take over from Mervyn King next year, Mark Carney. Although he’s generally considered to be in the same mould as King, it is possible that there could be a shift in economic policy either before or after he takes over, particularly with regard to interest rates, which would be a game-changer for a lot of people, particularly the indebted.

Its said he led Canada successfully through the global turmoil, and whilst Britain is a different machine than Canada a different body rather than 1 of King’s understudy’s is a great move IMO.

Comparing us with Canada is like comparing chalk and cheese.His hands are tied by the trade deficit built up here by the loss of our coal mining and manufacturing industries,and the massive trade deficit and national debt caused by it,just like anyone else’s would be.The only way that anyone could pay for higher interest rates is with more borrowed and printed money which they won’t get anyway because the employers would prefer to shed yet more labour in the few jobs we’ve got left than pay more wages anyway.

37

I had money trouble a few years ago when I lost my job, baillif trouble etc wont say too much but soon as I suspected they were coming I sold the lot and changed the log book of my car into my dads name made a auction on eBay and he bought it (obviously he didn’t really) and i cleared the house out sat for 6 weeks with nothing but a crap tv. When they come in they see you have nothing so they have no choice other then to sell the debt to the courts.

This is why some people pay stupid money like £5 per month to repay debts which quite clearly will never get paid

I lost my job through no fault of my own and I had to go on the Dole £65 a week and debts had to be paid out of that it was impossible. Baillifs will not accept small payments (from my experience) they ask you for big amounts in 2-3 instalments if you miss a payment they add more, they charge £200 just for knocking on your door

It’s crap and horrible, this is why debts don’t get paid an average Joe can not just come up with vast large amounts of money in 2 months

There are ways around it, but you have to act quick, I wasn’t going to be bullied I was determined to beat the ■■■■■

38

keebs26uk:
I had money trouble a few years ago when I lost my job, baillif trouble etc wont say too much but soon as I suspected they were coming I sold the lot and changed the log book of my car into my dads name made a auction on eBay and he bought it (obviously he didn’t really) and i cleared the house out sat for 6 weeks with nothing but a crap tv. When they come in they see you have nothing so they have no choice other then to sell the debt to the courts.

I lost my job through no fault of my own and I had to go on the Dole £65 a week and debts had to be paid out of that it was impossible

This is why some people pay stupid money like £5 per month to repay debts which quite clearly will never get paid

There are ways around it, but you have to act quick

I think what’s coming might make that look like a tea party.Mass evictions with councils that can’t afford to keep people housed because of bank foreclosures in the private mortgage sector combined with housing benefit cuts and therefore no money to pay rents in the private rental sector and no money left in the council social housing budgets.Just like Greece. :open_mouth:

39

Social unrest can be a very dangerous animal,just take the riots in London last year this was a small minority kicking off n plod cudnt cope,
Now just imagine 0ne in ten of the population rioting
That’s ok will use the army
Wait we can’t because we’ve cut it back that far we can barly manage changing of the guard at buck house
things need to change defiantly
But will we ever get a government that tell the youth of today you want money you get a job and earn it,you want a house you pay for it , you want sky tv you pay for it you want kids pets you pay for them,I’ve got a lot of time for people who come unstuck n need the states help , but this generation of free loaders I havnt!
I’m not perfect but everything I’ve got iv worked for
Why are the poles prospering here simple there not frightened of workin for a livin
Troubled times ahead defiantly but life is what you make it

40

True was small scale but just trying to make a point, there’s ways around every scenario

People go bankrupt then start up again running businesses that on paper ain’t run by them

True life is what you make it, my life is great now, no debt, written off and a permeant full time job working for a very big firm, doing what I enjoy and won’t ever get a loan or credit card ever again. Lets just hope they keep going for many years