how was it for you 2011 good or bad

nickj_2

has 2011 been a good year for your business .
my company has had it's best year for sales , i'm hoping that i can at least equal that for 2012 , although i think ,even tho i live in afairly affluent area that i may see a bit of a slow down of trade .
luckily i have had 3 years where i've had a lot of business expenditure and am now at the point where i have no major buys needed for the next 4-5 years

meg72

Woul d just like to say, well done I dont have a business now but 2011 has been pretty good for me thanks to MSE.

tumbletots

nickj wrote: »

has 2011 been a good year for your business .
my company has had it's best year for sales , i'm hoping that i can at least equal that for 2012 , although i think ,even tho i live in afairly affluent area that i may see a bit of a slow down of trade .
luckily i have had 3 years where i've had a lot of business expenditure and am now at the point where i have no major buys needed for the next 4-5 years

Can I ask what line of business you are in? All you seem to hear are the negatives of being self employed / having a business at the moment!

raineshoe

We've had a really good year too. Couldn't have been better.:beer:

heathcote123

nickj wrote: »

has 2011 been a good year for your business .
my company has had it's best year for sales , i'm hoping that i can at least equal that for 2012 , although i think ,even tho i live in afairly affluent area that i may see a bit of a slow down of trade .
luckily i have had 3 years where i've had a lot of business expenditure and am now at the point where i have no major buys needed for the next 4-5 years

Cracking for us, taken on some good new clients & I'd guess we're up about 40% up on last year.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

We have had a good year, with increases, but the strong market have seen having to adjust our pricing to stay competitive, so our profit margins have slid a bit...plus a huge increse in various insurances havent helped..

My mother's business ( retail ladies clothes boutique) has seen a dramatic down turn.... really struggling to pay bills....where in the lead up to christmas she would take a few grand a day, taking the hid 100's now is good....

One good thing is her lease is up for renewal in september, so only a few more months to struggle on....as she is nota ltd company... I am going to have to give her some/maybe most of my savings up until september..to pay rent , running cost and outstanding invoices... otherwise she could end up losing her house...

I havent got loads saved.....I was ment to be trying to save for my dream smallholding......but.....mayho...family comes first.

So I think it all depends on what line of business you are in.... retail def taking a bashing.......

BaggieBoy_3

We've also had a good year. Have started to achieve my goals of attracting bigger clients as well which is a bonus. Always been dealing with smaller companies before where money has always been the main issue.

I know its tough out there for many but hopefully more of the same for 2012 for us. Have total admiration for anyone who runs their own business. Its not easy but with hard work and dedication it can work. I wouldn't change it for the world!

greyteam1959

Worst year trading in 28 years................
Retailing fine quality food.....
Margins are still good cos not in the 'discount' market.
Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity !!!
2012 can't be any worse can it ???

nickj_2

tumbletots wrote: »

Can I ask what line of business you are in? All you seem to hear are the negatives of being self employed / having a business at the moment!

i work in the building trade , and my wife does cleaning , home help etc ,
i've lived in my village for 20 years and have done no end of village stuff to make sure everybody knew who i was and what i do , ie , was chair of kids school for 4 years , run the youth club and village fete and now i help with another youth organisation and run i organise a mega succesful talent night once a year and this year i hope to run a village olympic event
although i don't advertise at these events people do know who you are and hopefully bear you in mind whenh they want something done , it has been hard work and has taken up a lot of my spare time but i've enjoyed doing it and it has worked out really well., but the more people you get to know the more chances are of them using you
i'm fortunate in that the people are cash rich time poor and have better things to do than the services i provide

would just like to add that i'm in the position i'm in now thatnks to great advice from people in this section of the forum which i acted on , so big up to them

texranger

2011 has been a strange year as part of my business has done better than previous years but parts have been slightly down on previous years. it just depends on what line of business you are in

tibawo

It's had it's up and downs but determined to make this one a real step in the positive direction!