# business has just died...



## bobbyg (Nov 7, 2006)

i started a small bobcat service operation last year in June, i have been very busy right up until now...ive always had at least 1 week of jobs line up...

this upcoming week i have no jobs lined up and am getting a little nervous...im not even getting many phone calls anymore

my jobs are mostly small 1 or 2 day jobs and i work by myself

i really have only used Craigslist for advertising (i can now see on their website a lot more contractors offering the type of service i offer)...i probably got 50% of my jobs thru that website, the rest was from word of mouth, referrals and my Truck...

anyone else experiencing this type of slowdown?


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## plazaman (Apr 17, 2005)

Is that all what you do? You may want to look into adding another service. With a bobcat, you are limited in a sense. Ever thought about an excavator? You can take on larger projects.


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## Vinny (Jul 21, 2007)

Plaza man has a good point, with more available services to offer you would be a little more diversified. 

The other thing to remeber is its typical to be where your at after a your first year of buisness. Typicly in that first year you get all the stuff you would have gotten anyway from freinds, family, real close word of mouth referals. But without advertising, and a growing network of leads you hit the wall eventualy. This is not uncommon and can change to the better just as fast as it has changed to the worse. 

In the north east money areas not too much has changed in the work loads for the contractor / home owner stuff but the contractor speculative and related makets have experienced a drop off.

Was all your work contractor based? Maybe you should see if you could market your services directly to home owners looking to do clean ups, lanscape projects, and odd jobs. Regular people are still spending money.


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## bobbyg (Nov 7, 2006)

im actually ahead of my goal for the year, and am happy w/ where i am for my first year...but for the past 2 weeks I haven't booked a single job, and haven't even a phone call, its just my first real down turn

im now looking to expand on my marketing/advertising, and coming up w/ some other plan/ideas to generate more business...example, im going down to visit a hSpa company today and see if they recommend anyone for site prep for their Spa's

vinny, most of my jobs are/were for homeowners...

plaza, i'd love to add a mini to my fleet but for now i dont have the cash or jobs...i do have a mini backhoe for the skid that i do small trenches and digging jobs


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## Bill (Mar 30, 2006)

I had slowed down here last week. No calls, nothing going on. That usually happens this time of the year. Thats why I do plumbing, roofing, siding, framing, decks, moving houses, just about anything. It helps to be versitile.


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## nywoodwizard (Sep 10, 2005)

abp said:


> I had slowed down here last week. No calls, nothing going on. That usually happens this time of the year. Thats why I do plumbing, roofing, siding, framing, decks, moving houses, just about anything. It helps to be versitile.


Ain't that the truth.


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## Joasis (Mar 28, 2006)

Diversify.....a Bobcat is versatile...if you can, get an auger for it, and maybe a grapple bucket and do demolition and site/debris cleanup. I get calls to bore holes for fences often, and I don't advertise.....we do demo work occasionally, and the grapple is a life saver on cleanup work.


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## Alan Mesmer (Jan 5, 2006)

ABOUT ME -
I own a very small excavating business in n.e. Ohio. I specialize in utility work, drainage, and septic work. I also have seen a slowdown late this summer and fall in new calls. In my seventh year of business I have always had enough business (usually referals) to pick and choose what and how much I wanted to do. I have always had more than enough to keep me busy until the ground deep freezes and snow work kicks in. This year I have not been able to be as selective, although I have enough work for the remainder of the year. 

WHY I THINK A SLOWDOWN -
I attribute the slowdown to the local economy and to additional companies in my area. I know that there has been an influx in new companies in my area. In my new phone book in n.e. Ohio there are 175 excavating companies. Seven years ago there were 80 in the book. I believe that this influx has come from the loss of local factory jobs (about 1,000 jobs in the last 2 years from our county alone). If you have worked at a factory all your life and know nothing else what do you do for 20 more years until retirement if you can't find another local job? The answer around here is start a lawn care company or an excavating company. 

THE LURE OF EASY MONEY -
It only makes sense that if you spread business over more contractors you all end up with less. The new ones in the business soon learn that the money isn't what they thought it would be but after they invest a load of money in new equipment it is often too late, so they cut their prices to get more jobs and end up taking good work and turning it in to break even money. For instance I was recently told about a septic job that should have been priced at about $10,000 ($6,800 mtls. & $3,200 labor) and was done for $7,300 total! How could you do a 2 day job for $500 factoring in labor, fuel, insurances, equipment and maint. costs. I keep telling myself that these guys won't be around too long pricing the way they do, but as soon as one goes out of business and it seems another takes their place. 

I ADMIRE SELF STARTERS -
Please don't misunderstand my stance on startup companies. I think that anyone that sticks out their neck deserves any success that comes their way. I did it. It is a scary thing starting a business and trying to obtain enough work to make things work. It is a natural instinct to cut your prices to get more business but you won't make money doing it that way. You should instead use your assets, skills, and prior achievements as a contractor to sell your services to the potential customer and get paid a fair amount of money for your services. If the customer is going to make their decision based exclusively on cost then you probably really didn't want the job anyway. 


ALL PIGS MUST DIE -
The housing boom is OVER. I also mentioned that the local economy is down. I have a friend that sells real estate and he says the only homes selling are under $60,000 (with a few exceptions)and are being bought for rentals. There have been very few new homes started in our area. Our local health department has only issued 20 or so new septic permits -vs- a couple hundred last year. Watch the FED and the interest rates. If they keep the rates low then they see it happening too! We have been living off the fat for too long and we were well over due for a correction. Money has been flowing like water and it has been nice but not realistic.
I actually think that we are just really starting into the real slowdown. Historically I have looked at work and booked work up to a year ahead and right now I have nothing for next year and many other contractors in my area are telling the same story.

SLEEP WILL COME EASILY!
My suggestion to you is to continue to do the best work that you can do, as others suggested; explore offering additional services(a local equipment rental service does a good business renting bobcats to farmers to clean barns out - sounds like a crap but it's $$$). Do things that others will not do to seperate yourself from the others- find a specialty. Explore advertising alternatives(flyers, phonebook ads, newspaper ads, direct mail marketing). Do a great job for customers that award you their work and charge a fair price for whatever services you perform. My father told me something that has always stuck with me. He said even if you are digging a ditch then dig the best ditch that you are capable of digging. Take pride in everything you do in life then work and sleep will come easily! 


Good luck! 

Alan Mesmer


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## Vinny (Jul 21, 2007)

bobbyg said:


> im actually ahead of my goal for the year, and am happy w/ where i am for my first year...but for the past 2 weeks I haven't booked a single job, and haven't even a phone call, its just my first real down turn
> 
> im now looking to expand on my marketing/advertising, and coming up w/ some other plan/ideas to generate more business...example, im going down to visit a hSpa company today and see if they recommend anyone for site prep for their Spa's
> 
> ...


Bobby, I just talked to a freind in Glouster. He is in the roofing buisness and he is slow too, dead slow. Not any help I know, but at least your slow down isnt from anything you did. It may be possible from your limited time in buisness, it may hit a little deeper and a little longer for you but at least your in good company. 

I remember in the last real big slow down of 1991 after the market crash of 1988 and the real estate decline of the same years, my friends and I would go to auctins of equipment. Not realy to buy but just for the entertainment value. I met a guy there that had a saying. He said "you know what the problem with these buinesess is?" (he was speaking of paving, excavating, masonry, landscaping etc) He answered, "too many ditch diggers with ditch digger heads". 

He couldnt be more right and every time the bad times go away when the good times return there seems to be more and more ditch diggers with ditch digger heads. Guys who buy equipment and desire to run it so bad the dont take the time to understand what value they bring to the industry or consumer and then simply dont charge enough. Then, someday they wake up, start to charge enough and ***** that someone is undercutting them. 

I loath those who dont educate themselves about thier industry, regardless of what it is, and never push the possibilitys envelope. Things have alway been that way with plenty of good old usa born and bread guys but now we get to deal with the whole immigrant thing. Down here these immigrants that were cutting lawns fro the ****** jusy a couple of years ago are now going into buiness for them selves. I have nothing against that . But what do they do? They employ more immigrants, pay them squat, and they do the work cheaper than the ****** boss was doing it three years ago, and its all because as tomato pickers they made 10 dollars a day and now they get 10 per hour and wow, its like hitting lotto to them. 

In the mean time some stock broker that makes between 500k and 1 million per year, or more, gets a 2 acre lawn manacured for $50.00 per week. 

Sorry for the rant. But at times we are our own worst enemy


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## woodmagman (Feb 17, 2007)

bobbyg said:


> i started a small bobcat service operation last year in June, i have been very busy right up until now...ive always had at least 1 week of jobs line up...
> 
> this upcoming week i have no jobs lined up and am getting a little nervous...im not even getting many phone calls anymore
> 
> ...


It may not be that there is a slow down, you market yourself in one listing and you say there are more contractors using this form of listing then before. This means the consumer has more options and if you do not get called the guy listed just ahead of you likely got the job....do not put all your eggs in one basket. Be creative, sitting by the phone is advised, but the phone should be mobile and you need to be out telling everyone how busy you have been and that you would like that to contuine by them hiring your service....
Convince yourself there is a slow down and you can convince everyone that that may have hired you there is one.


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## rino1494 (Jan 31, 2006)

Whatever happened to you doing the site prep for the swingsets ??


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## Bkessler (Oct 8, 2005)

Try some new marketing, I started with a little ad in the newspaper on a monthly basis and it has always paid off. but be patient. bk


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## bobbyg (Nov 7, 2006)

its funny...a few days after this posting i nailed about 3 wks of work...

rhino, out of season for the swingsets now...i did a few this spring but most of the jobs were just too far away...im a one man operation and they wanted me to give them bids on $300 jobs that were over 1.5 hrs away...too time consuming


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

When I started out if I had a day or two of slack time I would be like you Bobby and feel panicked that the end was near, and feel I had to run around and find something....anything! seems I always ended up cutting my rates or selling the job short and end up working for next to nothing.

I have slowly learned to bid jobs for a fair profit and when the short weeks and slow periods come along, (and they always do) I would be able to catch up on maintenance, repairs, clean-up out back, and do some paper work, and not really worry...the next job is right around the corner, (as you have found).

You seem to be doing well for your first year, keep it up!


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