when to start

[plankd]

Hi all, was wondering if the summer was a bad time to try to start a business. Do people find that business falls in July and August?

thanks, David

[Abacus]

Hi david

We find our year follows this pattern:

Jan-feb. Quiet to dead
Mar-may. Steady
June. Mad busy
July-oct. Steady
Nov-dec. Mad busy

Starting in a reasonable quiet time may make some sense as it would give you a chance to find your feet before the madness of Christmas. So long as you have a large enough float or overdraft.

Regards

[Graysalchemy]

I agree with the above. Nothing worse than starting when you are busy not coping, making mistakes and losing the good will of customers whilst you are still finding your feet.

[plankd]

Thanks guys, that's really helpful.
David

[stcstc]

this year for me has been

Jan-feb. Mad busy
Mar-may. Mad busy
June. Mad busy
July-oct. Mad busy
Nov-dec. Mad busy

i have never been so busy

have recently put up my prices by about 20% and still mental busy

[A Few More Words]

As above, I would agree that the Summer is probably a great time to start - as you can then build up to Christmas , which can be a considerable peak, dpending on your location / business mix etc.

Interesting to learn of the "mad busy" time being experienced.........just an interesting comment on this .......Once I attended a management course and mentoring sessions by a great guy called Blaise Brosnan.... a guy who takes a very common sense approach to business. When we would meet and he would ask how things were....if you answered "busy"........he would then present the case of how that was not nesessarily a good thing...basically along the lines that if you were "busy" , as the owner manager you then did not have enough thinking time ....time to stand back and look at your business and perhaps deploy yourself to tasks that you might be less busy at but would get a greater return / business advancement from. Busy can be a relative term.It can often be too easy to be a busy fool. He has strong views on the difference between activity (busy ? ) and output.

As stated above, increasing your prices (and again if necessary) may give a better balance between busy and output and profitability.

For what its worth, I would highly recommend this as a read " You are the limiting factor - unlocking your true business potential " by Blaise Brosnan
ISBN 978-1-906926-00-7 I know of some businesses saved by implementing some of its content.
He has also launched a new book last week which I havent seen yet..."Jack" - Business lessons from life life lessons from business'


I didnt mean to digress buy "Busy" always gets me going !!

[Roboframer]

What type of business?

Framing, obviously, but what sort? Retail, from a (primary or secondary or less) high st shop or from home - or commercial from an industrial unit or home, or a combination and how are you going to start it - with a kick or just with a hope?

[Gesso&Bole]

Hi David

Good luck with your new business.

As to when to start. The chances are whenever you start it will be quiet, but hopefully it will build up from there. Just go for it.

Oh, and keep asking for advice on here. I really wish there had been a resource like this when I started out - I could have saved £thousands that I spent trying to re-invent the wheel when there were others out there who knew how to do it.

Apart from this forum, also get yourself out to the trade exhibitions, open days, and FATG events (There is meet learn celebrate this weekend for example).

[plankd]

Thanks again to all, it's v. difficult to know how to proceed and there's a lot of sense spoken here which I'm sure will be invaluable. At present, I'm inclined to think that I should try to offer a more specialised bespoke service, perhaps focusing on specialist finishes (I'm an art student, so this should be right up my street) and more specialist jobs, also with a focus on high quality personal service. I wonder if people think this is a good strategy or a a bit fanciful? And I'm still not sure how to get the practical skills under my belt that I'd need. there's obviously a choice of training on offer, most of which is quite costly, and even then it occurs to me that much of what you'd need to know would be stuff you'd only learn with experience. And lastly, with very limited space in particular I'm wondering what my strategy should be in terms of stocking mouldings etc. Perhaps just a narrow range of unfinished mouldings which I can customise according to demand? So much to think about, and it's really something I'm not taking lightly, given that it might mean (hopefully) packing in the 9-5. As always, v grateful for any thoughts you guys have.

All the best, David.

[AllFramed]

Hello David. I have to concur with Jim when he says "also get yourself out to the trade exhibitions, open days, and FATG events". With regards hand finishing, you will often see techniques demonstrated that you can then take away and practice and adapt for yourself. You will find other posts in the forum about experimenting and practising, it is probably the best way to understand the effects you can create. (That is not to say don't take training!) I have had great fun experimenting and am now confident in reproducing about a dozen gold effect finishes, in fact they are more popular than manufactured ones.

With regards to stock, I have limited space so still buy moulding for each job (though I am lucky enough to live in easy distance of both Wessex and Lion). It would be good to have samples of the finishes in different shaped bare wood mouldings as the appearance can differ between timbers (e.g. openly grainy or smooth) and width/shape of the moulding.

Hope that helps, good luck, Tim