small firms showing their resilliance

[Murphy The Cat]

Over the last few months, BBC News Business, Online has been following the fortunes of ten very different small companies - and seeing how they are managing the current economic turmoil.

To me, it is VERY interesting reading and gives me a great deal of thought for who/how and when the Country will be dragged out of the ****ty mess that the government, big business & financial institutions have placed us.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8013817.stm.

What do others think ? Unfortunately, I'm unable to find the articles for the previous months, where you could compare how they were doing.

[Da_Pimp]

A change of government is all that's needed. Even if the Conservatives don't do anything radically different at the offset, the positivity caused by removing Brown & Co. will help immensely.

Gordon and his lot should throw the towel in, but he's either a megolamaniac or his advisers are telling him everything's fine and hiding him from newspapers and TV

I am limited company and the VAT change has cost me £1500 a year as they've changed the flat rate scheme in their favour by 1%. Shocking.

[Murphy The Cat]

Did you get the chance to read the article ?

I'm also a small Ltd Company and I feel that I've been shafted by HMG and the banking system left right and centre.

But I'm still here. Still fighting and still driving things forward.

[UK CHRYSLER 300C]

if you're a LTD company you should be ok if things go bump in the night,at least they cant take your house,etc.I'm not LTD but I own everything I have so as long as I still do a good job(which I do,lol) and keep my customers happy I'm ok,I must say though that this "recession" has not concerned my business,we have not stopped since christmas,I suppose it all depends on how you run the business and what services you give(not you personally just generally).I like to keep things simple,no courtesy cars,etc but a proper job and service for a proper price

[Peter James]

Originally Posted by UK CHRYSLER 300C

if you're a LTD company you should be ok if things go bump in the night,at least they cant take your house,etc.I'm not LTD but I own everything I have so as long as I still do a good job(which I do,lol) and keep my customers happy I'm ok,I must say though that this "recession" has not concerned my business,we have not stopped since christmas,I suppose it all depends on how you run the business and what services you give(not you personally just generally).I like to keep things simple,no courtesy cars,etc but a proper job and service for a proper price

Im a ltd co, but if I were to go bang Id have no way of paying my mortgage so would lose everything. On the bright side security companies do well in recessions because crime goes up. I seem to be busier than ever, and everyone I speak to is the same (in my trade)

Much as I dont like to be drawn into a political debate, I cant think you can blame labour for what the banks did, the tories had plenty of opportunity to regulate banks whilst they were in and never did, so what makes them any different from the labour party, hindsight is a wonderful thing but no one has a crystal ball and no-one saw it coming.

And before you all start labeling me as a Commie I would definitely be far better off personally if the tories were in, I am a capitalist and proud of it

[2008uk300c]

they are all just a different shade of grey, a new party is not suddenly going to scrap or reduce certain taxes that we pay

[Murphy The Cat]

Originally Posted by UK CHRYSLER 300C

if you're a LTD company you should be ok if things go bump in the night,at least they cant take your house,etc.I'm not LTD but I own everything I have so as long as I still do a good job(which I do,lol) and keep my customers happy I'm ok,I must say though that this "recession" has not concerned my business,we have not stopped since christmas,I suppose it all depends on how you run the business and what services you give(not you personally just generally).I like to keep things simple,no courtesy cars,etc but a proper job and service for a proper price

Except that in a lot of cases, the banks demand your house as security for any loans/overdrafts that you have in place, as well as debentures on your business assets.
Glad to hear that your doing well, BTW. I come across quite a few people in a similar situation to you - doing a proper job, looking after the customers, keeping everything ticking nicely over. Without any fuss and without any big deal being made of it.

Originally Posted by 2008uk300c

they are all just a different shade of grey, a new party is not suddenly going to scrap or reduce certain taxes that we pay

I appreciate that, but they could start by reducing the endless list of pointless legislation that they keep inventing, and which i have to comply with

Originally Posted by Peter James

Im a ltd co, but if I were to go bang Id have no way of paying my mortgage so would lose everything. On the bright side security companies do well in recessions because crime goes up. I seem to be busier than ever, and everyone I speak to is the same (in my trade)

Much as I dont like to be drawn into a political debate, I cant think you can blame labour for what the banks did, the tories had plenty of opportunity to regulate banks whilst they were in and never did, so what makes them any different from the labour party, hindsight is a wonderful thing but no one has a crystal ball and no-one saw it coming.

And before you all start labeling me as a Commie I would definitely be far better off personally if the tories were in, I am a capitalist and proud of it

My ex-partner always maintained that he made more money when things were tight/in a recession than when things were 'cosy in the garden', so it will be interesting to see how things pan out.
I was blaming the banks/financial institutions AND the government for creating the climate that has made such a balls up of things for GB Ltd. I saw the housing crash coming, but as I'm not a highly paid flapping jaw that appears on the media on a regular basis, sadly noone got to hear the benefit of my foresight
& a big thank you to New Labour for making employing someone so damned expensive and a PITA. I'm sure that I'm not the only small businessman (on here ?) that has held off adding to his work roster and has instead decided to do the work himself. Or am I ?

[Russell]

when owning your own company its hard to see it die and so you go to the bank for that "oh so short term loan till it comes a round again" and then they have you. not only do they give you the overdraft facility against your house or pension they also then sell you a whole heap of insurance products you dont want like cover for the loan, life insurance to pay it off, critical health care etc and all coming at you hard and fast when you least can cope with it emotionally and of course they are trying to help you arent they.....

the banks have owned my house three times in the 20 years i have had the firm but i would never do that now.

be very afraid if you have a single large client in the main. forget how you are doing, look very close at them though. favourite current trick for the banks is if they have a large client going under they then audit the firms accounts, highlight all the suppliers to them who bank with them and the spend, then they pop round to you and cut your overdraft, get you to take a loan secured against assets of yours.
then.......
go pull the plug on your client.

if you suddenly get a call from your bank wanting to see you etc all smiley then for christ sake have your wits about you as they arent looking to do you any favours.

[Murphy The Cat]

Originally Posted by Russell

when owning your own company its hard to see it die and so you go to the bank for that "oh so short term loan till it comes a round again" and then they have you. not only do they give you the overdraft facility against your house or pension they also then sell you a whole heap of insurance products you dont want like cover for the loan, life insurance to pay it off, critical health care etc and all coming at you hard and fast when you least can cope with it emotionally and of course they are trying to help you arent they.....

the banks have owned my house three times in the 20 years i have had the firm but i would never do that now.

be very afraid if you have a single large client in the main. forget how you are doing, look very close at them though. favourite current trick for the banks is if they have a large client going under they then audit the firms accounts, highlight all the suppliers to them who bank with them and the spend, then they pop round to you and cut your overdraft, get you to take a loan secured against assets of yours.
then.......
go pull the plug on your client.

if you suddenly get a call from your bank wanting to see you etc all smiley then for christ sake have your wits about you as they arent looking to do you any favours.

Russell, thank you very, very much for sharing that advice.
Thankfully, my sales ledger is spread out amongst over 350 accounts and no single customer owes me more than 5% of the total -- but your thoughts about becoming tied in with one particular customer are absolutely valid.

[Russell]

i was heavy into the building contracting business doing wholesale supply to electrical contractors the last time around and when normally you would love to have a large new client call you and want to place lots of orders on you when times were hard but unfortuantely the reality we realised early and learnt was that they were on stop with the entire planet.
if you dont have some leverage with them they will take you down. any court action they can block for at least two years.
some were massive names too and they dont give a monkeys.

look a gift horse in the mouth ? oh yeah.

those times are back now.

spread your losses like laying off a bet and collect collect collect.

by the sound of it Murphy you have it really well balanced. i deal in larger sums but way fewer clients at any one time so i dont have as good a risk profile as you have. 5% would be utopia for me. i wish.
add to that loads of russians so we play roulette daily........